Survival Gardening Tips: How To Enhance Your Disaster Preparedness
It is as good a time as ever to begin your own survival garden for you and your family. This year 2020, increased food prices, economic uncertainty, natural disaster, and recent record disasters pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) have definitely elevated our concern about the safety and availability of food.
A desire for a survival garden may also be habitual in the fact that you crave fresh, organic and non-GMO vegetables, fruit and herbs year-round. Or else like our parents and grandparents during World War Two, “victory gardens” save money, while allowing commercially grown food to be directed to areas that need it. Whatever the reasoning, survival gardens are easy to construct and following these additional suggestions can allow your family to eat a healthy way from home.
How To Start A Survival Garden:
- First, make a decision on what your gardening goals are.
- Are you looking to add a few more fresh fruits and vegetables to your daily or weekly meals?
- Perhaps you want an emergency food supply? Or, maybe take it a step further and completely live off the grid?
Whatever you decide, it’s best to practice to begin by planning a 4-foot wide area for your garden. You do not want it any wider or you’ll have some difficulties planting, harvesting and weeding in the center. You may make the length as long as you prefer, yet many like to begin with 4×12 feet and the possibility to grow larger as need be. Pick a location that’s pretty flat and receives daylight with some shade at certain parts of the day.
Since you have found an excellent location, dig an area about 1 foot deep. You may dip deeper to add more vitality to your garden, but keep in mind that you’ll need more soil to compensate. Using sized pieces of wood, form an “L” at one end of the garden and use a power drill to set each screw in. Do the same for all four corners until you have a strong rectangular shape. Fill in the hole with nutrient-rich, natural soil, leaving some space a few inches at the top. Use compost periodically to boost the soil’s needs.
Take a decision What To Plant:
Growing any type of fruits, vegetables, and plants you favor, but do keep in mind that some plants are profitable to grow together while others will literally stealing nutrients from the plant next door. Check our Buddy Gardening blog post to see a complete list of companion plants.
Planting medicinal herbs and plants is a good practice for those who aspire to grow a garden for emergency purposes. Garlic, onions, aloe, cloves, anise plant seed, and other herbs have proven medicinal qualities that could be helpful for injured and other ailments in a crisis.
Emergency Preparedness Seed Banks:
- Fruit Bucket of Preparedness Seeds
- Culinary Herb Bucket of Preparedness Seeds
- Medicinal Bucket of Preparedness Seeds
- Salsa Bucket of Preparedness Seeds
- Everlasting Bucket of Preparedness Seeds
Various of us want to be prepared in any type of natural or economic disaster, and creating your own emergency seed bank is one way to ensuring your seeds are viable when you need them most. Begin by selecting a wide variety of seeds that are non-hybrid legacy and non-genetically modified. Next, make sure your seeds are completely dry and place them in a vacuum-sealed bag. The bag may also be used to ensure tight sealing. Then, place bags in an airtight, waterproof container or a solid storage case. Carefully label your seeds and keep planting guides in the container as well. These simple steps will increase the service life of your seeds while giving you more control and self-sufficiency over your food supply in a worst-case plot.
Storing Fruits and Vegetables:
Kept your leftover fruits, vegetables, and herbs from your survival garden can prevent waste and can prepare you and your family for most unforeseen emergencies. Using mason jars and two-piece lids will suit you just fine for preserved foods. Make certain the food, cans, and lids are sterilized before you label and place the jars in storage for later use. Freezing food in airtight bags will also retain most of the nutritional value while blanching vegetables before freezing can stop the enzymatic activity that slowly causes the quality of the food to consume. Remember that freezing is better for short-term use, as a loss of power could mean the loss of your food if you do not have a backup generator.
Do you have a prepared food source for your family in an emergency?
Once it comes to family safety and home security, top of mind concerns usually involves a crime or household accidents. However, environmental factors force millions of people to leave their homes or shelter in place every year. An emergency kit, also known as a survival kit, is the basis of emergency preparedness for these situations.
