Category: Gardening

The Un-Secret Garden–Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Grow my Garden, by Jason A.

For a lot of survival-minded folks, gardening is one of the first, most logical steps to take toward self-sufficiency.  Most of us agree that when the Schumer hits, the thin veneer of society will be removed so fast that in weeks we won’t even remember it was once there.  Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that during hard times, a garden could become a prime target for theft, destruction, raids or other attacks.  The most discussed hypothetical garden raids include a Golden Horde or Mutant Zombie Bikers who, like locusts would descend upon your garden and rip it to shreds, …


I Thought that I Had a Clue, by K. in Florida

So since the balance of power change in the Federal Government I thought I was sitting pretty good for my ability to survive a possible TEOTWAWKI . Man was I so wrong. I have learned in the past three months that I am so far behind that if The Collapse happens in 20 years I will still not be as prepared as I thought I was. Yes I have some basics and am a bit off of the beaten path, but there is still so much more that I am not ready for. Let me explain. I have lived in …


Living Like TEOTWAWKI Could Come at Any Time, by Mrs. C.J.

If you even so much as glance at the news or if you’re like me and check out The Drudge Report every morning, you can’t help but realize the world is becoming more and more uncertain. It seems that anything could happen at the drop of a hat and without little, if any, fore-warning. Volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods seem to be changing or taking the lives of unsuspecting people almost daily. The threat of nuclear warfare is always just beyond the horizon. If we ever experience an EMP, we could be without power and [utility-supplied] water for months. Most …


Letter Re: Some Gardening Comments from a Northern Gardener

As a gardener of over 30 years, I garden for the most produce from my limited garden spaces. I can tomatoes, salsa, beans, relishes, corn, applesauce, pickles, etc. At this point in time I have no illusions that I could feed our family of four on our gardens. I’ve been growing what we like to eat versus what will give us the best nutrition and can sustain us year round. The SurvivalBlog site has been a wonderful wealth of information and the books they recommend have enhanced my gardening knowledge in ways that lead to being self-sustaining. I’ve used the …


Use the Ground You Live on for More Than Walking, by John Z.

I’ve learned that the best way to obtain much needed resources is to look on the ground. Food We grow a large garden at two sites for my family. We can and preserve what we will use later and eat the stuff from the grocery now while it’s cheap. The fruits and veggies we consume come from the ground. We box in one area, add proper compost, manure, sand and dirt and then till until we get the proper texture for the different plants we grow. All the while the ground is the entire reason for this. Everything we use …


Letter Re: Thoughts on Practical Self-Sufficiency

Hello Jim: For supper tonight we are having a meal made with ingredients that I gathered from our place, with the exception of the meat which was purchased. I put a smoked ham hock in the crock pot over night. I also soaked some leather breeches (dried green beans) and some horticultural beans over night. These were added to the crock pot this morning along with a couple of hands full of ramps that I had dug yesterday and a couple of hands full of dandelion greens that Abigail had picked last week. Lastly some red potatoes from our garden …


Six Letters Re: Gardening Lessons Learned

James, I just read [Chet’s article in] the blog on urban and suburban gardening. I wanted to suggest something because I’ve been seeing people want to be more self sufficient by growing their own gardens. I don’t want to come off as a salesman for these two products made by the same person. I’m not someone that sells these items. But to give credit where credit is due, I’m impressed with buying both of these items. I picked up a DVD from Linda Runyon about a year ago, and bought her “Wild Cards” card set for identifying wild plants. The …


Gardening Lessons Learned, by Chet in Michigan

I have been a reader of SurvivalBlog for some time now and have slowly moved into the preparedness mindset. I have been trying to increase my supplies, but this year I decided to try to grow a substantial amount of my food. I have grown small gardens in the past, but this is my first large scale project. The final results remain to be seen, as it is still quite early in the growing season, but I’ve already learned some invaluable lessons. I hope I am can offer some new insight, and not just repeat what others and experts have …


How to Get Free (or at Least Inexpensive) Fruit Trees, by Jason E.

Anyone following my blog might get the sense that I’m independently wealthy due to all the fruit and nut trees that I’ve planted this year alone. Any person making that assumption would be wrong, I’m simply very cheap. Doing a rough estimate, I’ve come to the conclusion that over 60 perennial fruit and nut trees, vines and bushes have cost me somewhere just south of $250. When you look at a big name nursery catalog and do the math, I’ve avoided costs of close to $1000. In the spirit of teaching and helping us, as Americans and people, I’d like …


Turning the Corner, by F.J.B.

Today there seems to be any number of reasons for the average American to turn the corner towards preparedness and being self-reliant.  Back in 1993, I would have been able to give you just as many reasons based on my observations through the 1980s.  Not surprisingly there are twice as many reasons for the average man to not start around that corner.  The reasons I have heard the most include the cost factor and objections to living so primitively.  Simply put: today’s average American is too poor and soft to endure hardships like camping, physical labor, and no TV.  These …


Letter Re: Sustainable Rural Cabins

Jim; In the article, “Sustainable Rural Cabins”, under the headline, “Designing the Outer Periphery”, the author wrote, “Evergreen windbreaks should be planted to block winter winds”. That works fine if the evergreens, (or other trees), you plant and the way you group them is consistent with the way the same trees occur naturally in the area. For example, if white pines grow naturally in the woods around where you are establishing your homestead, then you can plant more white pines and they won’t be noticed. But if you plant, for example, blue spruce where none normally occur, you can see …


Letter Re: Scam Alert on an Heirloom Seeds Dealer

Hello Mr. Rawles: Back in February we ordered a batch of 100 vegetable seed packs from Vegetableseed.net. To date we’ve not received them and the company steadfastly refuse to respond to e-mails, either to their direct e-mail address or via their payment people, Digital River. Now they may just be incredibly busy but we’re beginning to think we’ve been scammed out of our £42.09. We’d hate to see any other SurvivalBloggers getting stiffed Very best wishes to you all. – Michael JWR Replies: Thanks for your warning. There are indeed a lot of fly-by-night mail order companies. But at least …


Letter Re: The Sustainable Rural Cabin

Many people spend a considerable amount of time making evacuation plans, but seldom are people properly prepared when they arrive to their destination. The purpose of the article is to incorporate proper site planning into your rural cabin. All factors are broken into general relationships allowing the user to adjust the factors to meet the unique conditions at your rural retreat. All factors are overshadowed with the emphasis on silent security. By incorporating these fundamental ideas, you are ensured a safer and prosperous retreat location. Selection of Property Landscape conditions vary widely. Effective site planning works with existing site conditions …


A Southwesterner’s Experience in Family Preparedness, by C.F.

I always assumed that I would relax when I retired from my life’s vocation. I have now retired from working; however, there is no relaxation. As I absorb the news of the day my other life long avocation, family survival preparedness, continues to plague my mind. The current probability of a societal collapse looms ever closer. I am sure everyone concerned about their family’s safety understands the problems in America . I have been preparing for over 50 years to self sufficient that my family, including children and grand children, would have the ability to survive hard time and hunger. …


Stealth Edible Landscaping With Unusual Berries, by K.W.

Want to eat a wolfberry? How about some vaccinium jam? Some chokeberry wine? They don’t sound too appetizing, do they? Few people know it, but the fruits of these plants are not only edible, but delicious. They have unappealing names and don’t look familiar to most Americans, so if you incorporate them into your landscaping you will have a supply of fresh, nutritious fruit that your neighbors won’t recognize as food. This makes them ideal for people who must shelter in place in a small-town or suburban environment, where houses are close together and others can see what you have …