Category: Gardening

Common American Plants, Trees, and Weeds for Surviving TEOTWAWKI Survival, by Christine W.

I once read a very interesting article from a survivor of the Bosnian Collapse of the late 1990s.  This was a true end of the world as they knew it event, and it was fascinating and eye opening to read. One of the things the author talked about in his extensive article was the most useful skills to possess. Medical knowledge was the highest on his list. Lacking real world medical training, people with the knowledge of the uses of herbs and plants were able to trade and use that skill to survive. Most people in America can’t identify even 1% of …


Hydroponics: An Update, by D.P.

Today I have an update for you on my hydroponics adventures. The system has been up and running all season (April 20 – November 1) so there is a lot of information to be shared. The system currently includes 12 beds – 4 outdoors and 8 in a greenhouse – for a total surface area of 56 sq.ft (~ 5.5 m2). An in-depth description of the system was published last year on Survivalblog. I made only 1 substantial change since then and that is in the way the polyethylene drain pipes are connected to the beds. The connections need to …


Return to the Salsa Garden by S.M. in Arizona

When I wrote my first article for SurvivalBlog back in July, I thought I covered about everything I knew or wanted to say about gardening.  As I have worked in my garden over the past few months, I’ve realized how much more there is to gardening and how a garden changes with the seasons.  Perhaps with the exception of August, something is happening every month in a Desert Southwest garden.  The salsa garden goes through many changes as it morphs from summer salsa garden to winter salad garden.  Each year there are new surprises in October and November as some …


Year One at the New Retreat, by Mrs. R.L.B.

Have you been thinking about leaving the crowded city and moving to a retreat? Perhaps you are weighing many factors, finances, age, leaving friends and family, and work.  But the most important factor you should weigh, is the answer to the question, “If the SHTF, can we survive here?”  If the answer is no, then take the leap and move!  We did!  We sold our San Diego house and finally landed in Washington state, on the west side of the Cascades.  We aimed for the Redoubt, but due to work constraints we could not make that work for us.  So, …


Organic Gardening, by Delroy

Growing up in the desert southwest Grandma V always had some kind of a garden. Whether it was squash, beans, and corn in the summer, or lettuce and cabbage in the winter, there was something growing in the rocky soil. She also had a remarkable collection of aloes growing in old coffee cans around her little cottage on the ranch. It was a good time of learning from a gentle soul without feeling like being schooled. Fast forward twenty years and I’m married, living on a postage stamp size city lot and anxious to get off the industrial food merry-go-around; …


Thoughts on Preparedness, by Mom in the Colorado Rockies

Thoughts on Preparedness, by Mom in the Colorado Rockies Most of us have it down to a science on what we are going to do every morning. Wake up, grumble at the alarm clock, stagger in for coffee, etc. You know what time you need to leave to get to work on time, and maybe squeeze in a drive thru run for coffee or a breakfast biscuit. Muddle through the work day and pray for it to hurry by so you can fight traffic and get home in time for dinner, baths for the kids and vegetate in front of …


Prioritized Prepping, by Z.T.

I, like so many people across the country, can’t walk out of my local sporting goods store without buying the limit of ammunition. Now, before you judge me, realize that most places limit you to small boxes of ammunition, and usually one two per caliber. Is it being prudent or just being obsessed? While the firearm and ammo situation is very much a media-hyped thing,  I have even talked about things you must buy every time you are out, like my article on Things Commonly Overlooked.  But what about those items that you pick up, look at the price tag, but pass …


Letter Re: Some Off-Grid Living Techniques

Mr. Rawles, Thank you for a great blog site.  I’d like to share some techniques we use every day at our off-grid homestead that would be applicable for grid-down living With 280 watts of solar panels in the southern plains, a good Xantrex controller, three marine deep-cycle batteries and an inverter we power a 9 cubic foot freezer-turned-refrigerator fitted with an analog temperature controller, a portable dvd player used nightly for movies and documentaries, 1 to 3 small fans in summer, a netbook computer, and a couple of compact fluorescent lights along with charging cell phones and cordless tools and …


Letter Re: Rabbits for a Stable (and Staple) Protein Source

Hello Mr. Rawles, Regarding the recent blog article Rabbits for a Stable (and Staple) Protein Source, by S.F.D. in West Virginia: I too have chosen meat rabbits to be my SHTF meat source. Raising, butchering, and of course eating domestic rabbit has become a great learning experience for myself and my family. The one problem I foresee is providing food for my rabbits. But one possibility, of which I have a friend who has much success with, is growing a substantial plot of dandelion. My friend from northern Maine has a 90 foot-long plot of dandelion which he harvests and then dries …


Considerations for Gardening at the Retreat Farm, by Tony K.

The context in which this article is written is to attempt to give guidance and provoke thought and inspiration to those determined individuals who wish to be as self sufficient as possible by growing as much of their own food as possible. Everything in this article has been tried and to varying degrees produced results for my family. Our little farm rests just below 7,000 feet in elevation with much sun, wind and deep spring snows, with temperatures in winter falling briefly to 15 or so below zero to highs in the upper 90’s and even the 100’s for at …


Letter Re: If Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Salsa!

Dear James, Regarding the recent contribution from S.M.: If Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Salsa! I have to question where exactly in Arizona they are. We’ve been in the Phoenix metroplex for eight years and I have to tell you nothing survives 115+ degrees.   Arizona has an amazing array of climates. Most people picture Arizona as the low desert that really only takes up about 1/3 of the state. With elevations anywhere from 300 feet (Yuma area) to 7,000 feet (Flagstaff area) the growing zones really do vary more than you’d think.   I do agree with S.M.’s first …


Letter Re: If Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Salsa!

Dear James, Thank you to S.M. for the great article about gardening in the desert southwest (If Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Salsa!). I’ve spent most of my years in the desert southwest near the metros of Tucson, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque and have grown gardens in these regions for the past decade. In 2010 a similar article was published in SurvivalBlog titled Starting Your Desert Backyard Garden. I was one of several readers that submitted some helpful comments and tips on that article. This is my fourth season growing in the high desert of Northern New Mexico. I’m at …


If Life Gives You Tomatoes, Make Salsa! By S.M. in Arizona

Gardening in the Southwestern United States is a huge challenge!  Growing a successful garden takes hard work and a commitment to never give up.  My gardening quest began in earnest in October 2010.  Prior to 2010 I had planted seeds in the ground with few, if any, results.  I had one lemon tree and aloe vera plants (part of my first aid kit, used for burns, skin irritations, etc.) that grew without much help from me.  A friend, who was a master gardener, gave a class one Saturday on how to start a garden.  He taught basic desert gardening and …


Letter Re: Questions on Gardening, Livestock and Dogs in North Idaho

Dear CPT Rawles, My wife and I, along with our three teenage son’, are now eyeball deep in prepping, and have reached that stage where we pretty much have most of everybody’s personal gear needs met, with the exception of a few small items here and there.  We opted to take care of that first, as we are stuck temporarily east of the mississippi, in the southeastern US.  Our intent when we began our prepping journey a couple years ago, was first & foremost to be able to make a hasty exit from this area if the SHTF.  Thus, our …


Letter Re: Corn: Our Best Ally Against Starvation

We have begun our corn harvest. We just finished canning the corn from 2 rows of hybrid sweet corn. We planted two rows 100 feet long. We made approximately 400 ears of corn. From this we ate all we wanted and canned 39 quarts and 12 pints whole kernel. We don’t can any cream style, because it doesn’t do well. Many times the corn has a musty taste. We put it in jars rather than the freezer to protect it from a grid down scenario. We gave 20 ears to a local widow, and 48 ears to a local gentleman …