Tips for Survival Food Gardens

Food storage is a good way to go to be prepared for the future, but so is a garden for having fresh produce. Here are some tips on how to start a survival garden that will make you more self sufficient.

1. See what grows well in your area- If you don’t know where to start or what to grow, a good first step might be to see what is possible for you to grow. For example, it might be a good thing to know that if you live in Alaska, you probably won’t be successful at growing pineapple. Looking into what grows well in your climate helps you narrow your search and make decisions about what seeds to buy.
2. Analyze the space you have- Another thing that will be helpful with starting a survival garden is knowing how much you can plant. If you live on the 4^th floor of an apartment building, your options for planting are a lot more limited than someone living on a farm property. Because some plants take up more space than others, you can use this as another deciding factor for what you will plant.
3. Strive for a well-rounded grow- If you decide to use your entire space to plant nothing but peas, and an emergency occurs, you won’t be able to live off of your garden alone because peas don’t have every nutrient you need. Try to include a variety of different plant foods. Think of what produce would go well with your food storage items so that you can have complete meals. Doing this will make it so you have lots of different vitamins and minerals that your body needs to live.
4. Keep in mind the seasons- Because different plants have optimum growth in different seasons, it might be helpful to plant by categories of season. If you have all the plants that need to be harvested in September in one area, you are less likely to forget about one and waste all the food. This can also help with when you re-plant next year. You will remember that one section of the yard needs to be planted in the spring, one in the summer, and one section needs more shade or water than another.
5. Get creative- If you live in a small space, don’t despair! There are lots of ways to grow a survival garden without having an actual yard. Use your deck to store pots with tomatoes or wood pallets to grow smaller plants in.

Just remember, every step toward being completely prepared is important. Don’t get overwhelmed, and just keep improving. Click here to visit a social media page with more emergency preparedness ideas.

Author Bio- Dirk Puckett works in the emergency preparedness industry and also enjoys mountain biking and spending time with his family. Click the link for another gardening and food storage resource.