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Survival Gardening and Seed Storage
Survival Gardening
Between rising food costs and global unrest, many people are looking for a way to save money on food and to lessen their reliance on grocery store supply chains. For many, gardening is the answer. It is much cheaper to grow your own fruits, vegetables, grains, and herbs than to buy them. It also means you have food supply right in your own backyard in case the stores close or food delivery is interrupted. In a disaster, being able to supplement freeze dried foods, MREs, and other long-term storage foods with fresh produce will be a valuable addition to your survival food storage plan.
Growing a survival garden is similar to any other type of gardening for food, and anyone who plans on a garden as part of their survival food supply would do well to start a regular backyard garden as soon as they possibly can. This will give the gardener time to learn what grows in their area best, how to keep the plants healthy and producing well, and what sorts of additions the soil may need to be most fertile.
Before you plant a survival garden, it is important to have a plan. First, decide what your goal is. A garden designed to supplement a supply of freeze dried and dehydrated foods will differ from one that is intended to be the main food source for a family or homestead. Plan on growing 2-3 times the amount of foods you normally eat, because most people underestimate their needs when there are no grocery stores or restaurants to run to for a quick bite. Once you know how much your garden needs to produce, then it is time to calculate how large it should be and measure off a space with good drainage and the proper amount of sunlight. Prepare the garden area by clearing off rocks and other debris, eliminating weeds, adding compost or fertilizer, then tilling or digging up the top 6 to 12 inches of the soil to mix in the fertilizer and aerate it.
When choosing plants and seeds for the garden, seeds need to be open-pollinated heirloom varieties. Avoid hybrid and genetically modified seeds because the seeds produced from their plants are usually sterile. Additionally, many GMO seeds also contain a pesticide which will kill beneficial insects along with the harmful pests; this will reduce pollination and could make your garden produce less or even fail. For a long-term garden, you will need to replace the nutrients that your plants have taken from the soil, so it is important to grow plants that produce plenty of compostable biomass, like corn and wheat. John Jeavons, of the Biosphere II project, calls these “compost and calorie” crops and recommends they take up about 60% of a garden, with 30% devoted to high-calorie root crops like potatoes, and only 10% planted in garden favorites like tomatoes, lettuce, and other greens and salad vegetables.
Choose plant varieties that are easy to grow and highly nutritious, and include plants and herbs with medicinal properties as well. Some suggestions are broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, Lima beans, artichokes, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes, and garlic. Vegetables that do well in storage, such as potatoes, onions, beers, and carrots, are essential for the months in between growing seasons. Perennials are also important, because they will spread and re-grow yearly; these include Jerusalem artichokes, some onions, asparagus, horseradish and garlic, as well as native plants like wild rice and greens, plantains, cattails, edible mushrooms, berries, and prickly pear cactus pads.
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