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.
. The producers of the DVD have been kind enough to send us a copy of the DVD to reward one of our lucky readers.
Chicken eggs are an important renewable source of fresh protein that every prepper should consider. Of course they are also a great source of meat! Free range chickens (letting your chickens run loose during the day to eat bugs and plants) not only cost less to maintain, they provide richer eggs – which is evident in the yolks of truly free range chickens. However, if there are lots of potential predators around such as dogs, hawks, skunks, etc. Free Ranging your chickens could be quite dangerous to their health! You also need to take special care to fully fence your garden areas. Chickens love to eat freshly sprouted plants which can quickly lead to ruin for your budding garden. That’s where we turn to the Chicken Tractor.