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As the economy continues to tank and grocery prices continue to rise, survival gardening is becoming more than just a pastime. For some, it's quickly becoming a way of life. I don't blame them. Growing your own food is one of the healthiest and most fulfilling activities that you will ever discover.
On the other hand, if you're patting yourself on the back, thinking you've covered all the bases but you haven't started a survival garden yet; think again. Once you decide to start gardening it can take 30-60 days or more before your garden is producing food. The time to get started on it is now.
Survival gardening may even end up saving your life someday. Are you really prepared for a catastrophe?





http://www.survivalgearguru.com/survival-food/survival-gardening/
 
Perhaps you are right. Then again maybe your garden will provide roving hungry folks a point of interest. Your garden might become the first target after a SHTF scenario after the grocery stores are emptied.
 
In this area (Oregon Rain Forest) you also have an over winter garden option. When fall is coming, try your hand at sewing green manure crops that will put nutrients back in your tired soil, like Buckwheat groats. Sew turnip seeds, buckwheat , carrots, rutabaga, parsnips. Plant onion sets and garlic cloves. These will over winter and grow. Come spring, you will be amazed with the early spring crop. You may have to lay down some straw if your frost or snowfall warrants it. Depending on weather, your root crops may start then look like they are gone. Your buckwheat will grow tall then fall over and get brown. Kale is also an excellent ocver winter crop, as are brussel sprouts.

Turnips, parsnips and carrots can be subtrituted for mashed potato's (in my experience, potato's do not do well here [ymmv]. The Kale will go to seed in the spring if you have over wintered it. Blueberries and yellow, ground cover raspberries can take alot of neglect and still amaze you with their ftuit production, both are heavy frost / snow survivors with ease.

Swiss Chard is also a great over winter garden addition. Extremely frost and snow hardy.
 
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Am I prepared with a survival garden?

No.

But I have the land (~20 acres) and I am preparing an area for a garden.

Not only does it take a while to grow food, but during any given year a crop can fail for any number of reasons.

This is why I put away food in storage.
 
Last year, I removed about 40% of the lawn from my back yard, and turned it into a vegetable garden. It was a little late in the year for a lot of the crops, and the only one that really did well were carrots. A couple of weeks ago, I weeded, tilled, and planted, and hope to have a little better success, while still learning from mistakes. I have even higher hopes for next year, and the year thereafter......so am I prepared? No, but I'm doing it.
 
Here is my info dump
"it takes time". weeks is 'fast'
every bit of nitrogen you put into the soil will pay you back, next year!
Want fast pay back? plant 'Starts'
 
I think if I had to die I would rather die protecting my food than die from not having any food... Just a thought.

Dead is dead. I do not think it matters much why, or how simply because you will not know you are, be sad, or even care. Dead is dead. Just a thought, it might be more successful, if staying alive is your goal, to be more mobile, as static positions are pretty futile.
 
Dead is dead. I do not think it matters much why, or how simply because you will not know you are, be sad, or even care. Dead is dead. Just a thought, it might be more successful, if staying alive is your goal, to be more mobile, as static positions are pretty futile.

Define successful. A shtf scenario in which everyone in the US is required to be mobile in order to survive is one in which less than 0.1% of the population survives. Such scenarios are unlikely and making it your main planning scenario over having a garden is pretty futile.
 
As I noted, success was simply staying alive. I sort of relate it to the market place, the big box stores overwhelm the mom & pop stores. If you have a big fixed position, the resources, manpower and are reinforceable, then yes I think a fixed position might be sustainable. In Bosnia the story I read was a collective of family units were located in one city block area. They had the man power to have guards on duty 24/7, to have scavenger patrols, traders for after dark, medical folk, ... sounded to me like a small garrison. Even so, the guy cautioned about having anything visible that looked of value. The street, the houses, the buildings looked desolated, already stripped, and even a body here, or there was an effective camouflage. The point was, 'Do not stand out'. To me a nice freshly kept garden looks like a first class target. Maybe you do not plan for a SHTF scenario to rise to what took place in Bosnia. Maybe the government troops will keep the local police from going rogue like they did in New Orleans, maybe .... I think the biggest gang will be dominant and it will get ugly, very ugly, if the SHTF rises to that level. A couple week power outage in the area ... a garden will most likely be very useful, but then a good supply of freeze dried goods covers that base. It is just two different views of SHTF and defining success subsequent to same. Good luck with your garden.
 
Always struck me that freeze dried, canned, properly stored dry goods, and fresh from the garden is a multi pronged attack on the food problem. I think that one neglecting any single aspect is reducing their chances for success.
As an aside gardening is fun, healthy, tasty and can be very inexpensive!
 
There are several plants that are easy to grow, onions, garlic, root veg. even beets that will not require huge input but that will be a good nutritional addition to a high starch diet like rice, beans, spuds.
Raised beds with galvanized 1/4" wire mesh keeps gophers out, increases yield in back yard gardens
 
Even though we are in a rental house in North Portland, my landlord is the best and allows me to do just about any upgrades I want.
Last month I built three 3' x 12' raised beds for our new garden, fenced it in to keep my dogs out and viola! everything has come up!
I even planted a crop of Hopi Tobacco!
 
I just cracked open my sealed #10 "garden in a can" from Everlasting Seeds to try them out. My 1st attempt I had 3 /150 seeds sprout. 2 weeks later my 2nd attempt was 4 / 150. 2 weeks after that my 3rd attempt was 2 / 150. Then I bought some different heirloom seeds from a local store and now I have about 30 / 150 sprout in just 1 week after planting. I wouldn't trust those seeds in a can.
 
I just cracked open my sealed #10 "garden in a can" from Everlasting Seeds to try them out. My 1st attempt I had 3 /150 seeds sprout. 2 weeks later my 2nd attempt was 4 / 150. 2 weeks after that my 3rd attempt was 2 / 150. Then I bought some different heirloom seeds from a local store and now I have about 30 / 150 sprout in just 1 week after planting. I wouldn't trust those seeds in a can.
I'm surprised but not shocked. There are many seeds that planting depth is critical, some seeds are planted on the surface because they are too tiny to "plant".
Last season my store bought seeds had a 90% success rate and this year I will be planting seeds that are many years old, stored in a tin indoors to see how they sprout. My previous experience with old heirloom corn was susprisingly good but I do sprout them indoors in small containers
 

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