#210664 - 10/31/10 03:43 PM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: Blast]
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Enthusiast
Registered: 09/10/08
Posts: 382
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two words, hand pollination
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#210790 - 11/03/10 03:03 AM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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Geezer
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
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Only five vegetables would be excruciatingly boring, it would be hard to get enough calories, and the more sources you have, the better the complete nutrition would be. At least go for ten, and fifteen would be better.
If you're dependent on a vegetarian diet (no meat/fish/dairy/eggs), your body still needs all the amino acid-rich proteins, so you would need to eat either grains+legumes, or nuts+seeds+legumes, or corn+legumes in the same day to get what you need.
Sweet potatoes Regular potatoes Beans Lentils Peas Soybeans (complete protein, all amino acids) Beet greens Spinach Kale Broccoli Tomatoes Pumpkin/winter squash Artichoke Asparagus Wheat Quinoa (complete protein, all amino acids)
Sue
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#210808 - 11/03/10 01:25 PM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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Addict
Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 450
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Frankly, the trouble with gardens is they are a lot of work. I know because from the time I could walk until I left home, my responsibility was to weed the garden. We had a corner lot with a huge back yard that went all the way from the street to the alley, ALL of which was garden. My parents didn't think that was enough, so we also used part of the neighbors garden across the street (garden the same size as ours). Yes, you can mulch etc etc but it's still a lot of work. This quickly taught me that it was much better for me to study and try to get a job where I could pay someone else for vegetables. Thankfully, I haven't touched a weed in 44 years, and just as thankfully, I haven't mowed a blade of grass in 25 years. However, previous to that for much of the year I mowed 2/3 of an acre with a push mower every 5-6 days.
I'm thinking of planting a tomato plant in a bucket just for nostalgia's sake. It will never get weeded and my lawn sprinkler will water it.
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#210856 - 11/04/10 05:20 AM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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Geezer
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
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It all takes planning, it all takes effort, it all takes water, and it all takes know-how.
In a long-term food shortage, I would guesstimate that 90% of the American population would starve to death.
A cheerful thought, eh?
Sue
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#210861 - 11/04/10 12:14 PM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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INTERCEPTOR
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 07/15/02
Posts: 3760
Loc: TX
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I'm just getting going in the whole gardening world, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.
How much space do you have available for your garden? -Blast
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#210943 - 11/06/10 11:41 AM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
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Be creative in finding garden space in three dimensions. "Think like a plant" seeking the intersection of water, nutrients, and sunlight. Plant there.
You can move the water and nutrients around a bit, but can only supply sunlight equivalents at considerable expense and reliance on electricity; so go for natural, reliable sun!
Taking an aerial perspective, where on property you own, possess, or control does the sun shine? Yard? Pavement? Fence? Roof? Water? Other? Plant there.
A roof or fence garden of vines snaking up and out from planter or hydroponic "beds" to catch otherwise "un-used" sun can dramatically expand planting areas. Be creative, whatever the neighbors think.
"Cheat" into the fourth dimension, time. Start plants indoors, use cold frames and green houses, etcetera, to artificially increase growing seasons, decrease exposure to plant predators and diseases. Plant so tall vegetation protects more delicate "understory" vegetation until the tall stuff dies back or is harvested and the low stuff is ready to take on the unfiltered sun. Preserve the harvest by drying, canning, etcetera.
"Eat everything" by recycling inedible-by-human portions of the harvest through worm composting, heat composting, feeding to animals, etcetera.
Improve your soil but never let it rest. Always have plants ready to go. Enrich your soil every way you can.
Edited by dweste (11/06/10 11:45 AM)
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#210959 - 11/06/10 08:14 PM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
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Check out the tricks developed for French Intensive, Square Foot, and Medieval Monastery gardening. Learn to save seeds, espalier perennials, use sunlight reflector walls, etcetera.
Consider multi-use plants where more than one aspect of the plant is edible/useful [flowers, seeds, roots, stems, fruit, leaves, etcetera].
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#220806 - 04/03/11 08:04 PM
Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden
[Re: The_Urbivalist]
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τΏτ
Old Hand
Registered: 04/05/07
Posts: 776
Loc: The People's Republic of IL
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Dwarf fruit trees can also supplement your food stores tremendously. Within a few years, OK maybe 5 or more, you could get bushels of fruit from each tree every season. We have apple, peach, cherry, pear, and plum trees planted as saplings that produce most seasons.
Also, honeybees are a good source of sugar. They don't take up much space and are generally ambivalent about people.
_________________________
Gary
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