In a global catastrophe, the vegetable garden zooms to prominence to ensure survival food. A basic primer to plant vegetables for simple survival. Tip on locations of global seed banks, including the doomsday seed bank or Norwegian Seed Bank and the Millennium Seed Bank in the USA.
Your urban survival gear includes: garden hoe, almanac, bagged potatoes and vegetable seeds. If there is no garden supply store, locate a seed bank or a neighborhood farmer. A vegetable garden is your best vitamin and mineral source and your best hope for long-term survival food.
Plant a vegetable garden in any plot or container garden in sunny locations, or plant garden plants on the sunny side of your home. You can plant a garden on your roof too.
Find planting instructions on vegetable seed packets; planting times are in your almanac. I recommend: potatoes, butter and green beans, eggplant, squash, carrots, sunflowers, and tomatoes. Plant collards, cabbage, broccoli, kale, mustard, and rape (vegetable pot liquor is better than a liquid vitamin and cruciferous vegetables may prevent cancer).
Be sure to plant medicinal survival food: garlic (penicillin-like properties), onions, chives, sage, all peppers and herbs. If your vegetable garden plot is big, add corn and other vegetables.
Broadcast fertilizer (or horse, chicken, or cow manure) into your soil and mix. Chop your vegetable garden plot into rows, creating a shallow furrow down the middle of each. Sow vegetable seed evenly. Lightly cover vegetable seed with soil, and tap it down.
Let bagged potatoes sit until "eyes" form. Slice off each eye; place eye-up into your furrow. Lightly pull soil around it and pat down.
Start plants indoors or in cold frames to get a head start. Hardier vegetables include: English peas, onions, asparagus, rhubarb, and Irish potatoes. In the Upper South, begin planting vegetables in early spring after the last frost. To plant earlier, cover plants with thin cloth. As your garden plants grow, thin to spacing recommended on vegetable seed packets.
In tight spaces, put trellises against houses or into containers to grow climbing beans, cucumber (low vitamins but high water content) and cantaloupe. Consider a vertical vegetable garden. Save and store seeds in paper bags. (You must begin with heirloom seeds to save them for next year. Please reference my articles: Heirloom Seeds vs Hybrid and Saving Heirloom Seeds.)
To conserve water, put one cupful per garden plant daily (never in the heat of the day). Pick off bugs and worms. You will need Seven Dust or a natural pest-deterrent solution such as garlic spray. Leave lady bugs! A low fence around vegetable gardens will frustrate rabbits.
The Norwegian government established a doomsday seed bank in a cave on Spitsbergen, an Arctic island, to withstand catastrophes for human survival. Organized by Global Crop Diversity Trust, the collection contains worldwide seeds. Currently there are 1,400 seed banks worldwide.
In the United States, the Plant Conservation Alliance has established a Millennium Seed Bank.
For regional planting times, visit the top ranking almanac, The Farmers Almanac. Learning to plant a vegetable garden will ensure you have survival food during catastrophic events. Sharing your food survival skill, simple survival tip, and knowledge with others will help them survive too! Please forward this article to your friends.
Copyright March 2006 by Sally Morton, Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Sally Odum - A Freelance Writer / Journalist / SEO Copywriter, I enjoy writing for business and pleasure. With more than 10 years of experience, I ...
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