The Self-Sufficient Gardener. How to Grow and Store the 5 Crops You Need to Survive. October 20, 2010 | Like this article?
Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. In an age of erratic weather and instability, it's increasingly important to develop a greater self-reliance when it comes to food. And because of this, more than ever before, farmers are developing new gardening techniques that help achieve a greater resilience. Makenna Goodman: Many gardeners (both beginners and more serious growers) come across obstacles they might not have planned for. Carol Deppe: The basic issues are getting more control over our food, getting lots higher quality and more delicious food, and enhancing the resilience of our food supply. However the person who has learned to make spectacular applesauce or cider or apple butter or pies can often trade some of the processed products for all the apples needed. So the first thing I would say is, garden if you can and if you enjoy it. We humans trade. How to Grow 100 Pounds of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet.
On many occasions, we've been tempted to grow our own potatoes.
They're fairly low maintenance, can be grown in a pot or in the ground, last a fairly long time if stored properly, and can be very nutritious (high in potassium and vitamin C). Here's more incentive: according to this article, you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 sq. feet. Learn how after the jump... According to this article from the Seattle Times, potatoes planted inside a box with this method can grow up to 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet. All that is required: Lumber Seed potatoes Soil Careful attention to watering The Times' guide for building a potato growing box yields up to a 100 lbs. of potatoes in a mere 4 square feet is shown below: Plant as early as April or as late as August 1, with an approximated 3 month till harvest turnaround time.
Here are some pointers from the article: Cut apart larger seed potatoes, making sure there are at least two eyes in each piece you plant. Square Foot Gardening 101. Update!
Check out our new Square Foot Gardening Infographic for even more tips, diagrams, a plant list and much more. I recently stumbled upon a book (All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! By Mel Bartholomew) with an interesting gardening method called square foot gardening, and decided we would give it a try. I’ve always thought the idea of having a vegetable garden would be a lot of fun. Walking out to your square foot garden and picking a fresh tomato for tonight’s dinner appeals to the self-sufficient nature of most frugal individuals.
I know just enough about gardening to know that I am not very good at it, and that it is a lot of work. What is Square Foot Gardening? The idea behind square foot gardening is that you can plant fruits, vegetables and flowers in raised beds, above infertile soil and even out of the reach of pets. Materials Needed to Set Up a Square Foot Garden Material costs are variable, depending on the size of garden you plan to build. How to Save Your Seeds. I think the practice of saving seeds is due for a revival.
Seed saving is rewarding in so many ways. It’s very easy. If you find yourself smitten by it, there are ways you can get more expert about it. However, even a little seed saving is an empowering and powerful thing to do. Basics What you basically do when you save seeds is this: you go to the seeds when they are ready and get them; you make sure they’re really dry, and then you store them. It’s as simple as that but … Getting good seeds at the right time involves knowing the usual life cycle of a plant and whether a seed will stay true.
You can gather them in different ways such as plucking, rubbing, shaking or grabbing. Making sure seeds are dry enough means having a good drying space for them. Storing seeds well involves having appropriate labels and containers for them. Plant Types and Specifics Plants are annual, biennial or perennial. ~Annual plants (such as lettuce and tomatoes) flower and mature seed in the same year. Lettuce Whew. Survival Gardening - Tough Times Ahead. And a Way to Relax and De-Stress Survival gardening can be fun, relaxing and actually quite simple… Many people seem to think they don’t have enough space for a garden but the areas where you can learn how to grow a basic vegetable garden are endless.
Yep, I am talking about those spaces we try to fill in with all kinds of flowers, shrubs, and even in some cases, gravel, so that it looks nice…. :) Plant your veggies there. Along Side Your House The area alongside the house is perfect for plants as it is protected from many things, such as: Frost, will stay frost-free longer in the fallcritters, we have to protect everything we grow here in Montana from hungry deerhail, heavy rains, strong wind… plus the plants seem to grow faster and I think it may be because heat is magnified. Survival Gardening: Part 2. Survival Cache The answer to everyone’s question is “No”, we are not too late to get started on our Survival Garden for this year, not for most of the population living in the United States and Canada.
It keeps snowing on me here in Utah, so I’m still waiting. Gardening in a drought. Guest post by Mark M.
NOTE: This may be something to print out and store in your SurvivalMom Binder for future reference. image by International Center for Tropical Agriculture I have lived in many countries over the years, and have always had a vegetable garden. Not just for cost, as many of the countries I have lived in have had what we considered dirt cheap food, but for the quality. Nothing compares to the taste of veggies fresh from the garden.
Recently, some friends told me about the bad drought in Texas. Kenya and Botswana. So how do they manage that? The technique involves three separate things, all of which are easily made by anyone with the ability to use a shovel, hammer or a trowel. Raised beds When we rented our home in Botswana, in the yard behind the house was a series of concrete troughs, roughly 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep and 15 foot long, running north to south. Shade netting Every 3 feet in the troughs was a hole, just the right size to take a ¾ inch PVC pipe. Thread watering. Survival Garden, Be Prepared For Disaster or Food Shortage Emergency. Growing A Survival Garden May Soon Become A Necessity!
Have you considered that... survival gardening may soon be a true matter of survival and not just a choice? With the rapid decline of our financial system and food supply, grocery store produce and other products, may soon be at a crisis level shortage like we have never seen. At that point, gardening would no longer be a "choice" for a more self sufficient lifestyle, it would be a matter of survival for everyone!
This scenario is fast-becoming very probable and real. With the costs of living rising all the time, you can see the practical benefits of growing your own garden... you can save money, increase your family's health, and become more self sufficient all at the same time by growing vegetables in your backyard.