Saturday, July 9, 2011

What if I can't get food at the store?

Why grow a vegetable garden? (Part 3)

Survival.


I don't have enough growing in my garden to live off. But I'm working on it.

As I've mentioned before, parts of the world have seen record droughts while others have had terrible flooding. Add in a few natural disasters, rising f
uel costs and gmo contamination and you have a recipe for food shortages and starvation. Several economists predict that in the near future, food will still be available but it will become so expensive that most people won't be able to afford it.

What if nothing happens?

GREAT! I'm all for a harmonious balance in the economy and nature but I'm not going to sit around and wait. I don't expect to be able to produce a sustainable garden in a few short days or weeks so I've got to start now. Practice, practice, practice!

Be aware when starting a garden what grows best in your area. The best resource I have found for guidance is Mother Earth News. They have a carefully planned month-to-month guide for what to plant and when to plant.

Once I have a garden large enough to produce more food than my family can eat, I'll use several methods to store produce for later. Freezing, canning and dehydrating are 3 ways to store food (more on those methods later).


My tops 5 favorite (and easiest) plants to grow are:
Tomatoes
Peppers
Cucumber
Eggplant
Spinach


For more information check out Mary's Heirloom Seeds for growing instructions.

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