As a teenager I was able to visit DisneyWorld, and among the time I spent there I remember passing through the Epcot center and seeing their hydroponic gardens. They were amazing systems that displayed the potential for growing food without dirt. As a kid of course I thought this was something designed simply for use in spaceships, why else would you not have *dirt*? I learned how the workers needed to make sure the water had the correct nutrients for the plants, all that good soil would normally provide. Continue reading “Aquaponic Gardening”
A Simple Fix For Farming
I was recently pointed to a great op-ed piece in the NYTimes discussing the results of a research article titled: “Increasing Cropping System Diversity Balances Productivity, Profitability and Environmental Health“. Now of course most people aren’t going to immediately associate that title with something useful to a prepper, but given a second to review it you’ll see it makes absolute sense. The basic purpose of the article was to test different processes of crop rotation on large scale farming, to see if it reduced water and fertilizer requirements.
The summary, it did, and incredibly well.
Why is that important for a prepper, or people in general? Because it’s not just important to store food, but to be able to grow it. To grow healthy, tasty food that your family can thrive on. Even if you have a tiny lot and are producing just a little food, crop rotation concepts are very important. By changing what and where you plant you can avoid buildup of various plant diseases, fungus, or pests. Just think, the best prevention for squash bugs is as simple as not planting in the same place every year.
The benefits absolutely increase the larger your production. By adding in animals into your rotation, you get natural soil improvement without any of the chemicals commonly used today.
Preparedness items at local Sam’s Clubs
I work near a Sam’s Club and sometime head over for a lunchtime visit. It is hard to beat a Polish Dog and soda at $1.50 for lunchtime frugality. While I am there I often browse through the store to see what seasonal items are on display. Over the last couple months I’ve noticed a few preparedness items at local Sam’s Clubs.
Testing Seed Germination Rates
If you have seed saved from prior years, it is a good idea to test the germination rate before planting your whole garden with it. Depending on the rate of germination, you can decide if you want to plant normally, plant more thickly, plant single sprouts, or just toss the seed out and start with fresh seed.
Testing seed germination also just happens to be a requirement for the Boy Scouts’ Gardening merit badge, so my son got to do this project for us this year while I took pictures. Here’s how we do it.
1. Gather the seed you want to test. Just for fun, I gave him some cucumber seed I had left from the survival seed can packed for planting in 2000. That’s 12 year old cucumber seed.
Continue reading “Testing Seed Germination Rates”
Spring garden
It’s finally time. I fertilized and prepped the soil the best I could last fall. I’ve been picking rocks throughout the year. The dirt has been nestled under a blanked of grass clippings all winter.
The dirt was perfect this morning—dry enough to work but moist enough for a good till without dust. I spent several hours working the soil and picking more rocks. Finally it was ready to plow. The carrots and peas are planted. The lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, and tomatoes (under wall-of-waters) will go in Tuesday after the storm passes.
Dealing With Squash Bugs
The following is a guest post from Fern Miller a homeschooling Mom, wife, small business owner, internet marketer, and staff to two cats, who finally lives in a state with concealed carry. She blogs regularly at Fern’s Fronds which is her blog covering a wide swath of topics from preparedness, gardening, firearms, all from a distinctly wiccan point of view. Enjoyably candid, she has a great practical approach to why and how somebody should be a prepper. Also available on twitter @Fernwise.
Blessings Darlings!
Lately lots of folks have been blogging about their plans for their upcoming gardens, and sighing about he bug-based problems they encountered last year. I know that my neighbors and I had LOTS of problems with our squash from bugs, both from them simply sucking the life out of the leaves and from them turning the vines to mush.
Now, unlike my neighbors, I DID get a really good crop before the bugs toasted the squash plants. But my squash season ended earlier than it had to. I don’t want a repeat of that.
This year I plan on dealing with the insect problems better than I did last year. Which is why I’ve been researching the problems and solutions NOW. Continue reading “Dealing With Squash Bugs”
Backyard Chickens
Over the past year, I have noticed an increased interest in raising chickens arising all over the nation. Locally, KSL has published several articles recently about this phenomenon (see below) as has the Wall Street Journal (also below) and most prepper blogs. My family started keeping backyard chickens about four years ago and have had some good success. In this article we’ll summarize some of the benefits to raising chickens, what you’ll need to get started and some links to resources to help you out once you’ve got your flock.
Review: The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers
This book also stood out to me, because I often wonder *how* my family managed to get enough food to live. My mom’s side of the family was that oft-discussed “hearty pioneer stock”. However I have noticed that while many farmed to live, I have a long history of blacksmiths and military. There is no hiding that this must be because I inherited a really lousy black-thumb, they took up other trades because of this family curse. I’m one of those people who has to work really hard to make part of his garden succeed. I enjoy blaming my heritage on this, as it cannot be some failing of my own, right? So I felt driven to read this book, and find out how they managed to live, despite my inability to grow enough of the right foods in the wasteland of Utah.
Continue reading “Review: The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers”
Food Production Systems DVD Giveaway Winner Announcement
We recently posted a review of the Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm DVD (see it here. As part of the review we were proud to offer a free DVD to one of our readers who commented on the review. Friday night I used Random.org to randomly select a winner from the 40 eligible (Sorry Jayce and Connor) entries.
The winner as determined by the random number generator is…
Continue reading “Food Production Systems DVD Giveaway Winner Announcement”
Food Production Systems DVD Review and Giveaway
Can a two hour DVD turn you into a self sufficient farmer, providing all the food for your family on your postage stamp sized yard? Of course not. (If you think this is possible, let me know. I have a unique business opportunity to discuss with you :D ) However, the Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm DVD Is a wealth of information on how one family managed to do just that (on a bit of acreage) through trial and error over a decade. A full review of the DVD after the jump.
Continue reading “Food Production Systems DVD Review and Giveaway”
Upcoming Giveaway!
Next week we’ll be posting a review of the Backyard Food Production DVD
We will be selecting one winner at random from those who comment on the review post that will be published next week. Complete details on how to enter to win will be included in the review post.
In the meantime, check out this DVD preview.
Book Review: What’s Wrong With My Plant?
The other day I picked up a new gardening book from the hardware store. Its cover wasn’t cluttered with photographs like so many other gardening and home improvement books; in fact, the only photo on the cover was of an obviously-distressed leaf. The rest of the cover was largely devoted to the full title of the book: What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?): A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies, by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth. This was actually the first thing that caught my eye. I don’t like when books try to glam themselves up in an attempt to conceal the vapid content inside. This book looked like it was ready to get down to business, and so I picked it up and started leafing through it. It didn’t take me long to decide to buy it. Continue reading “Book Review: What’s Wrong With My Plant?”