Unless you have a huge amount of land, resources, a shitload of free time and a lot of gardening skills, trying to live completely off your own garden within a year is a ridiculous idea.
Most of us can’t do it ever even if we use all our space perfectly. Some of us can do it after years of building those skills, and we might still have bad years. And in the end, what does it get us? Self-reliance is a right-wing preppers dream but it isn’t what we should be aiming for.
If we’re thinking about collective survival and we’re looking at food as part of that survival, there’s two things that work:
Start a community garden. Bring together the resources, time and skills by getting together in a big group.
Or learn to grow a few crops really well and share them with all your friends.
The last one is what I’m going for and it works great. You can chose a few crops that are perfect for your soil, shade/sun conditions, skill level, amount of time, etc. Perfect those crops so you’ll have a huge harvest, and share share share. With a couple of friends doing the same, it’s much easier to get to a point where you’re no longer relying on stores for your fruit and veg.
With all the talk about telling people to start planting and growing crops to feed themselves and their communities during this time of crisis, I’m surprised I haven’t seen much about HOW MUCH to plant to feed people. Here’s a good article to serve as a jumping-off point, to give people an idea of when to plant and how much to plant to keep people fed. Keep in mind that unless you live on a fairly sizeable plot of land that has ideal growing conditions, you probably won’t be able to completely feed a family of four, at least with traditional gardening methods. However, you can still heavily supplement your diet with homegrown food if you plot your garden carefully.
Some things you can do to save space include growing plants in stackable towers rather than flat rows. Not everything can grow this way, but growing herbs or even strawberries or some kinds of tomatoes in them can save a lot of space. Bonus points if you can get some vertical vining plants like beans or tomatoes to grow up the sides of them to maximize the space used.
Hanging planters can also be used for things like tomatoes, herbs, some berries, etc. The people who grew up watching TV in the 2000s may remember ads for the topsy-turvy tomato planter. I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of them, but it may be good inspiration for creative DIY hanging planters.
Many people don’t seem to know this (to be fair, it’s not very intuitive), but small melons and gourds can be grown vertically on a trellis. You will need pantyhose or something else that can act like a sling for when the fruit gets large enough, and you’ll also want to make sure the trellis is very sturdy. Here is an example of a watermelon growing on a trellis, with squash growing in the background:
Other good options that require a bit more DIY are hydroponics towers and walls. It’s basically just a series of pipes with holes for plants to grow out of. The only downside is they will require very regular fertilization and supplementation with other micronutrients that are essential for plant growth, because the plants are typically grown in either a non-nutritious medium like coconut coir or nothing at all.
Planter walls are the next step down, basically just building shelves with pots in them to fill with soil. Put these on a wall that gets good morning sun and some afternoon sunlight for best results. These and hydroponics both also have the advantage of being able to hook up to your gutters so that rainwater will go towards watering your plants rather than just being wasted.
If you want to get really fancy, aquaponics is the next step up. With aquaponics, you create a system that circulates water between plants and a tank full of fish. The fish waste provides fertilizer for the plants, and the plants help filter out the waste so the water stays cleaner. I’ve heard they’re a bit tricky to establish, but once you find the right balance, all you’ll need to do is feed the fish. This has the added bonus of providing a source of fish for people who can’t eat things like nuts and legumes but need protein. Here is a link to an article explaining what aquaponics is, how it works, and how it differs from hydroponics.
I also want to add that if you don’t have the space or ability to maintain a large garden, there are other options. Find or create a group with access to enough food to supplement or completely fulfill your diet, and offer another service. If you have space for a vermicompost bin or tower, that can still help contribute to the garden. Learning other skills like soap making, cooking, sewing/knitting/crocheting, electrical skills like wiring and soldering, welding, woodworking/carpentry, etc. means you will still have valuable skills to contribute towards the group, and this will set up the basis for a larger mutual aid network within your community.
Democrat politicians deliberately sent infected people to nursing homes to inflate the death tolls with the elderly, and their loyal dogs have the nerve to call Trump supporters a “death cult”.
Yeah, my dad’s been talking about this since it happened, saying they have blood on their hands over it, and I agree. All the information they had, they knew what the outcome would be for this.
It definitely gives credence to all the conspiracy theories about covid…
Why am I not shocked this came from NY
As someone who works in a nursing home, I am disgusted. Nursing home residents are ALREADY VULNERABLE
lmao this is crazy.
When the ventilator settings where released for what they where using in NYC our respiratory staff refused to use them because they where settings known to kill people with the level of destruction to the lungs covid causes, a ton of people have died because of the “science” coming out of nyc. This is well known in the New York healthcare circle.
Not to mention PA health commissioner took her 95 year old mom out of a care facility and put her in a HOTEL while PA made these same decisions in their nursing homes. They knew.
Check out all the misdirection in the press.
The WSJ is the only front page story pointing out that it was a New York State mandate requiring nursing homes to accept COVID patients.
NYT is writing pieces about how nursing homes are being shielded from lawsuits and that they need to be redesigned.
Well yeah, they should be shielded, the state forced this on them.
And no, they don’t need to be redesigned.
They are not intended to be Level IV Biohazard Containment facilities.
Meanwhile the WAPO is using nursing home carnage to justify “extreme measures”.
They really do think the plebs are that stupid.
It’s even worse than that. CUOMO is responsible for slipping the “nursing homes can’t be sued” legislation into place. Why? Because how would the nursing homes defend themselves against a lawsuit? By claiming–truthfully–that the were REQUIRED BY LAW (BY CUOMO) to accept the coronavirus-positive patients into their facilities, thereby insuring that the disease would spread and thousands would die. REQUIRED. BY LAW.
But now that they can’t be sued, they won’t even get the chance to defend themselves–or point the finger of blame where it belongs.
All this in NY as the emergency hospital beds are sitting empty.
Today is the launch of a big crowdfunder campaign – #Water4Rojava!
The money raised will go towards repairing bombed infrastructure in Rojava, supporting women’s co-ops, and helping build up the regions’ infrastructure and self-reliance.
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
