Category: Gardening

Growing Pineapple, by G.J.

In post-Columbian Europe, imported or greenhouse pineapples were a symbol of wealth, often being used for decoration rather than being eaten. Now, imagine a world gone crazy, where even the canned pineapple is only a memory. For those of us who are well-stocked and even have a garden, the loss of trucking and worldwide shipping means a lot of fruits, especially tropical ones, will be simply a memory, kind of like how generations ago received oranges at Christmas as treats. Citrus fruits are not too much of a stretch in parts of the U.S., but pineapples will be rare. What …


Roses Are Red and Healthful Too, by Sarah Latimer

We have had beautiful fall weather. However, my flower gardens are pretty well gone, as the brisk, cold fall winds blow and leave only a few dried flowers, seeds, and various remains to remind me of the brilliant colors that once adorned our property earlier in the year. If asked what is my favorite aromatic flower, I might say stargazer lily, gardenia, or rose. If asked what is the most beautiful flower, I would struggle to come up with just one or even three, as there are many I adore, but the rose would certainly be high on the list. …


Lessons Learned in Livestock – Part 2, by C.K.

(Continued from Part 1) The following are the varieties of livestock that  I would not consider for a prepared homestead: Guinea Fowl. I raised over 300 per year. Feed requirements can be met with them running loose, but that also meets the cat’s requirements on little keets. Also a guinea looks for the best hiding spot for eggs. And if allowed to roost outside they will help your owl population by supplying a midnight snack. And they wander to far from home and make way too much noise. The amount of bug reduction is nice but, chickens and ducks also …


Letter: Advice for Rural Retirees

Dear Editor: My husband and I are older, he is 84 and I am 70.  We are very concerned about the way this country is traveling and are even more concerned if Hillary Clinton is elected.  I realize that we need to start gathering supplies and storing them.  My question is: we live in a small, rural, agricultural community. However, we live on a main road and are within 50 miles of two major cities and about 70 miles of another one.  Our economy took an unusually hard hit in 2008 and is recovering at a slower rate than many …


Letter: Misadventures of a Green Thumb

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: I’d like to address the idea of “prepare for the unexpected” using a real life example that happened to me. I hope this humorous example leads you to take some steps, however small, to begin taking steps to fill the gaps in your preparedness planning; because for all the good intentions you may have, a totally unexpected event could take place that makes it all worthless. So for me, I have never had what had been called a “green thumb”. I never have actually had a return from my spring and summer garden that I feel was …


I Love Sharp Things, by Phil M.

In any survival situation a defective tool is pretty much worthless and will cost you dearly in frustration or even your life. I’m sure you can think of a lot of examples. Effective tools are a big part of my life and most all of them need to be sharp, and some of them very sharp, like chisels and planer blades. When I started thinking of all the tools that I keep sharp the list started running into the dozens, everything from a potato peeler to a chainsaw. A lot of you are like me in one way or another …


Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

James, We lived along the northern shore of the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula  (UP),  in the Marquette area.  This was way back in the late 1960s. (We left in 1972.) We spent the last two years of that living in the middle of a fairly isolated 40 acre tract about half an hour drive (summer travel) from town. The great lakes, Superior in particular, have an enormous influence on the local climate. Varying by distance and prevailing winds, you tend to have cooler summer temps as well as slightly warmer winters.  The lakes effect precipitation, most noticeably snowfall, but cloud cover …


Letter: Another View of Alaska as a Survival Location

My family and I arrived in Alaska in 1974 while I was in the U.S. Army. I was stationed at Ft. Richardson (now part of Joint Base Elmendorf/Richardson. JBER). I spent five years at Ft. Rich. A 3-year tour, with two one year extensions. In 1980 I left the Army and moved my family back to Anchorage, where I currently reside. I grew up in mid-eastern Pennsylvania and spent two summers working on dairy farms in that area. I agree with some of what S.J. had to say in regards to whites not welcome in native villages as well as …


Seed Collecting – Part 3, by Sarah Latimer

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(Continued from Part 1 and Part 2.) Beans Though we try to be thorough in our pole bean picking, there always seem to be a few that hide so well that they become huge before we find them. These are perfect for using as seed. Any bean pods that are fully mature and large can be set aside in a sunny window to finish drying and then cracked open to reveal the beans inside, which are useful for next year’s planting. Just be certain that you allow the bean pods to completely dry before removing the beans, which are the …


Seed Collecting- Part 2, by Sarah Latimer

We are continuing to look at how to collect our garden seeds. I am sharing how I do it simply without the use of expensive seed cleaning screens that most people can’t afford or won’t spend the money on. There certainly are other ways to go about this, many of which I have tried myself. I am not an expert, but I am happy to share what I have learned from observing, investigating, trying, failing, and succeeding at collecting seeds from my garden and planting them in my garden to produce another year’s crop. If you are collecting seed to …


Seed Collecting- Part 1, by Sarah Latimer

The fall season has arrived and so have the cool, or downright cold, night temperatures that go with it. The garden has not only past its peaked but mostly “petered out” with relatively little left in the garden. Though you may feel inclined to clear or burn the garden and till the soil in preparation for winter snow, I encourage you to wait. There may be a treasure to be snatched from it first, if you dare engage in the adventure of seed collecting. If you have grown plants that are a heirloom variety or at least are a variety …


Guest Article: The Real Dirt About Gardening For Survival, by Melisa Mink

I know the “survival” mindset is very popular right now. There’s always a new threat of earthquakes, pandemic, flooding, wild fires, and so on. So, I would like to take a minute to pass on some truthful knowledge to the folks who are not avid gardeners but may find themselves in a disaster or other scenario where it could be a needed skill to survive. You need to be doing it now, to know how to do it later! Should a disaster, such as an earthquake or other event ever occur, your mind, body, and resources will be pushed yet …


Lay The Groundwork for the Future- Part 2, by Sarah Latimer

Building Your Garden’s Foundation Are you ready? Do you even know where you’d put a garden on your property so that it gets optimum light, water, and wind protection? Have you begun clearing and tilling the land so that it is free from rocks, debris, pests, and unwanted vegetation? Have you amended the soil so that it is not too dense with clay or too sandy, too acidic or too alkaline, too wet or too dry? If you haven’t even begun to work on a garden, the fall is the time to do it. Actually, now is a good time, …


Using Canning Jars For All Food Stores and More-Part 3, by Sarah Latimer

Managing Your Jarred Larder Moving a single jar at a time is cumbersome when managing so many. I have kept the original Ball cardboard boxes that the jars came in because they assist in moving multiple jars and placing them on shelves easily, but we are gentle with them to help them last. Occasionally they require some reinforcement with duct tape or replacement altogether; however, so far, most have held up well for a minimum of four years. Labels can easily be placed on the ends of the Ball boxes, identifying the contents and their dates, so that it is …


Using Canning Jars For All Food Stores and More – Part 2, by Sarah Latimer

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What We Store In Jars Dry, bulk goods. This category of items includes grains, dried pasta, dried potato flakes, dry beans, and rice for long-term storage. We buy these in 40- and 50-pound bags from the Mormon storehouse, Costco, and online vendors and then repackage them into the half gallon jars, which are then vacuum sealed, using our FoodSaver Jar Sealer connected to an electric vacuum pump system that Hugh installed into my kitchen. It takes less than a minute to put the lid on, vacuum seal a jar, and put the ring on. All I have to do at …