Growing My Urban Survival Garden

Posted by: The_Urbivalist

Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/30/10 10:51 PM

Hey Guys,

I'm just getting going in the whole gardening world, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Now I'm brainstorming a true "survival" garden, and I'm wondering--if I had to limit my garden to 4-5 varieties of produce, what would be the most crucial crops for me to grow?

In other words, which crops would give me the "most bang for my buck" in a survival situation? Taking into consideration different vitamins, most calories, storability (canning, drying), multiple uses, etc.

Any ideas from the pros out there?
Posted by: LED

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/30/10 11:18 PM

Whatever you grow, add sprouts to the list. Good luck.
Posted by: Richlacal

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 12:44 AM

Mustard Greens,Tomatoes,Potatoes,Beans,Corn-All are Easy to grow,& Each Have Multiple Uses,Essential Vitamins,Minerals,Protein,Carbs,Fiber I would Hate to, have to Survive on these only,But I think It would be Doable!
Posted by: sotto

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 12:57 AM

Zucchini. One zucchini plant will feed an entire galaxy. At least that's the way it seems to me. Everyone who has a zucchini plant at work brings in truckloads of zucchini they can't use.

Zucchini bread is very very good toasted with butter. Nothing like the vegetable, thank Gods.

I would add to that a tomato plant. Then you could make gazpacho. I don't know what that is, but it's supposed to be good cold in a bowl with salt and pepper and crusty garlic toast.
Posted by: Blast

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 04:10 AM

Canna lilies. They have the highest percentage of starch of any known tuber, they grow and spread rapidly, they will grow in wet/dry/sunny/shady areas, they are not bothered by pests, they are pretty and most people won't recognize them as food sources. They don't need to be fertilized, weeded, or sprayed with pesticide.

You cook them the same way you would cook potatoes (boiled, roasted, baked, french fries...but for some reason they don't make crispy hashbrowns). In So. California they grow all year long. You can leave the tubers in the ground until you want them or keep them in a root cellar, you can also dry them or turn them into flour.

I believe 90% of one's survival garden should be devoted to calories. It easy to get the vitamins and minerals one needs, either through stored vitamin tablets or any number of wild edibles, but calories are very hard to come by. They are also the most critical thing you'll need in a long-term survival situation. Pretty much any other type of plant is just flavoring in my opinion.

Also get a copy of either Gaia's Garden 2nd Ed. (my favorite gardening book EVER) or Square Foot Gardening. Both books are really good but have very different takes on how to grow a lot of food in a little space.

I recommend you also look into edible landscaping. There are many trees, shrubs, bushes, and flowers that are wonderful and flavorful sources of food. EdibleLandscaping.com is a great place to start learning how to replace your current landscaping plants with edibles.

-Blast
Posted by: Art_in_FL

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 04:19 AM

The Amer-indians traditionally grew corn, squash and beans together. People who have looked more deeply into it have noted that it is a very efficient use of a limited space. The beans climb the corn and squash uses the space in between rows. The combination seems to be more resistant to insects. The combination is also nutritionally complete.

They had several thousand years to get it right. Considering that they science and experimentation was an unknown concept, and they had no way of precisely measuring small improvements it is quite remarkable the progress they made.
Posted by: Richlacal

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 04:43 AM

Canna Lillies,Man! I have grown up around those plants,Have dug up Countless,1000's!& All this time,Up until Now,I didn't have a clue,they could be Edible!Thank You,Sir Blast!
Posted by: LED

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 06:34 AM

+1. Excellent info Blast, thanks.
Posted by: Blast

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 02:39 PM

Quote:
The Amer-indians traditionally grew corn, squash and beans together. People who have looked more deeply into it have noted that it is a very efficient use of a limited space.


I'd be very curious to see reports on the use of Three Sisters Planting in small areas. Everything I've read says you need at least a 30'x30' plot to make it work. Less than that and you don't get enough pollination of the corn. I've actually tried it on a 5'x5' plot twice with very poor results both times. The corn on the upwind side of this plot didn't produce at all, but the farther downwind they were the more kernels the ears produced. Turns out there is a minimum plant density needed to get complete pollination. I was really disappointed in the results as I love the concept of this planting technique. My experience is that it doesn't work in suburbia unless maybe you devote most of your yard to it.

The other plant I recommend is hyacinth beans. These things are amazingly fast growing, can handle fairly extreme conditions, and produce huge amounts of hard bean seeds. However, these beans must be boiled for quite a while to get ride of toxins.

-Blast
Posted by: sotto

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 03:32 PM

In Iowa, we used to plant green beans. They attracted tons of rabbits which ate the plants and bean pods. We spent a lot of time and trouble trying to keep the rabbits out of the green beans, until we realized we could eat the rabbits. This was much more satisfying than eating the green beans.
Posted by: EMPnotImplyNuclear

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 10/31/10 03:43 PM

two words, hand pollination
Posted by: Susan

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/03/10 03:03 AM

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
Posted by: sotto

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/03/10 01:25 PM

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.
Posted by: dweste

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/04/10 01:02 AM

Aquaponics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics

Edit: urban aquaponics: http://singularityhub.com/2010/06/17/the...isconsin-video/

Think I have seem systems that add a small mammal component, such as rabbits or guinea pigs.
Posted by: Susan

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/04/10 05:20 AM

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
Posted by: Blast

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/04/10 12:14 PM

Quote:
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
Posted by: dweste

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/06/10 11:41 AM

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.
Posted by: dweste

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 11/06/10 08:14 PM

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].
Posted by: bacpacjac

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/02/11 11:57 PM

Thanks gang! We're just planning this year's garden and you've given us a bunch of great ideas.
Posted by: GarlyDog

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/03/11 08:04 PM


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.
Posted by: Richlacal

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/04/11 04:54 AM

Like LED posted,Don't forget the sprouts!All Vegetable/Fruit sprouts are edible & nutritious,some grow in as little as a few days,others longer.One thing for sure is,They require almost No space to produce,ie. Glass/plastic jars,trays,buckets/boxes,etc.In most cases,No soil is Necessary!The sooner you get started,the sooner you'll know which flavors,you'll like!
Posted by: Susan

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/04/11 04:12 PM

It takes a lot of seeds to live on sprouts.

You'd better plant some and make more.

I've tested all the whole grains, beans and seeds from the bulk bins (and Bob's Red Mill brand) that I can find (wheat, quinoa, barley, amaranth, chia, flax, rye, sesame, spelt, teff, triticale, and all the whole beans) and all of them sprouted. The ones that don't are split, processed, milled.

These tend to be cheaper than packaged types for sprouting. And since they sprout, you may be able to grow your own. Granted, all of them may not be suitable for your climate or soil, but it would be an interesting experiment.

If you're interested in growing grains, check out the book Small Scale Grain Raising by Gene Logsdon, in print again after 30+ years. It's a really good book.

But if you live in an area of high rainfall (like west of the Cascades), you WILL need to improve your soil, as much of our nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and boron are washed out every winter. Nothing takes from the soil as much as food crops, including vegetables.

Sue
Posted by: bacpacjac

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/04/11 05:26 PM

Our kids have claimed the garden project for their own this year, especially the 20 year old, who has a summer job in a garden center. They have tight finances and nuclear disasters in mind, and they want to help out. I loved gardening when i was a kid, and it's a good healthy project, so i'm encouraging it but I see disappointment in the forecast.

We have a very small lot, nutrient-hogging trees and a pretty anal HOA. Our current veggie garden is a 6' X 1 1/2', North-facing, full sun bed. We've also got a big round, South-facing flower garden, and another 6' X 1' shaded East-facing bed that we'll try to convert.

We're limited in what we can grow by asthetics and yard invasion, but it's still too early for planting so they're starting with seeds right now.They didn't want potatoes, and don't have room for corn or grains, but I think they got everything else: onions, garlic, leeks, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, peppers, beans, peas, cucumbers, radishes, sunflowers, herbs, watermelon and a pumpkin. They even got some edible flowers.

We've got bunches of containers that we'll employ if they have success with the seeds.

I had to laugh this morningwhen my step-daughter headed out with a shovel to start digging. She came back in shortly thereafter, and with a frown said "the ground's still frozen."

Rather than say "I told you so", I gently reminded her that there's a reason "planting" is on the calendar for the end of May. May 24th is the traditional planting weekend in these parts, and for good reason.
Posted by: Mark_R

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/07/11 03:03 AM

Originally Posted By: bacpacjac
... We've also got a big round, South-facing flower garden, and another 6' X 1' shaded East-facing bed that we'll try to convert...

...I had to laugh this morningwhen my step-daughter headed out with a shovel to start digging. She came back in shortly thereafter, and with a frown said "the ground's still frozen."...


Same project and problem, different climate. We're working on two backyard flower gardens. One's west facing about 1 1/2 x 20 ft, and the others south facing about 1 1/2 x 15 ft.

It's not frozen here, but I've already broken two trowels and a shovel trying to excavate various weeds and patches of lawn. If your step-daughter wants to give it another try, Home Depot sells a 2.5 lb mattock (my new toy).
Posted by: Pete

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/07/11 03:39 AM

I'm just getting started with my survival garden right now.
Sue - thanks for the comments about seeds on another thread. Also, I like the idea of sweet potatoes. Don't know if they'll work in my climate zone, but I'll check.

One thing that I have thought about adding to my survival garden are a few edible wild plants (native plants) that are not recognizable as common "vegetables". It's always possible that hungry people could invade my backyard and pull up some of the vege's. I don't expect that kind of incident under any normal circumstances, but it might happen in a disaster zone. So it occurred to me that growing a few edible wild plants might be a good back-up strategy - since thieves are not likely to recognize them as an obvious food source.

cheers,
Pete #2
Posted by: hikermor

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/07/11 09:13 AM

Dandelions would meet your criterion. I have lots of those. In my neighborhood, avocados qualify as a weed. I pick up perfectly good ones on the street all the time. Blackberries grow spontaneously and easily form an impenetrable thicket with only modest encouragement.
Posted by: bacpacjac

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/07/11 09:57 AM

Great idea Pete! I think I may follow your lead after the kids have had their fun (thanks for the mattock tip Mark)

We've get dandelions by the truckload here Hikermor. The govn't has banned pesticides for residential use so they pretty much take over. We're going to harvest them this year and experiment.

Posted by: Aussie

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/08/11 01:51 AM

Lots of great info here.
Carrots and cherry tomatoes are favourites with my kids (and visitors) because they can pull one out and eat it fresh - many other things need to be cooked first.

For true survival food, nuts and fruit trees are good, but they require a long term commitment and probably more space than you have, but dwarf varieties can be grown in large containers. Many nuts can keep in the shell for a whole year (until next harvest), and a good fruit tree or trees can produce a huge amount of seasonal produce – with say apples you can get an early, mid and late fruiting variety so you can have fruit for a long period. What you don’t eat fresh, you can store in a cold cellar, freeze, dry, make jam, make jelly and then make wine or cider from the rest.
Posted by: TeacherRO

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/08/11 02:46 PM

Rain barrels? for watering?
Posted by: Pete

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/08/11 05:49 PM

Hikermor ... dandelions. Simple, but great, suggestion. I've never eaten them. But I checked Wikipedia and they actually have a lot of nutrients. Also, the roots are supposedly good for urinary problems, and are reported to help with feelings of urgent urination (something the old guys will appreciate).

Blast - I'll check the canna lillies also. Cheers.

Pete #2
Posted by: thseng

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/08/11 08:02 PM

My backup starch supply started as a couple of jerusalem artichokes dropped in a hole in the ground. They thrive on neglect, look like tall weeds, store themselves in the ground and don't need to be replanted every year.

Sunchokes don't agree with everyone's digestive system. I wonder if 'taters can be left to go wild like that?
Posted by: Blast

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/08/11 10:16 PM

Fall through mid-winter sunchokes consist mainly of inulin, a complex starch that humans CAN'T digest, but fart-making bacteria can eat just fine.

However, in late winter enzymes in sunchoke tubers begin breaking down the inulin into the simpler sugars the plant needs to grow...and that can also be digested as easily as potato starches. It's really quite fascinating, about the time the Native Americans had used up their winter stockpile of food and were facing starvation the sunchoke (aka Jerusalem artichoke) tubers suddenly were able to give them nourishment.

-Blast

edit: fixed to "humans CAN'T digest"
Posted by: thseng

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/09/11 11:49 AM

Originally Posted By: Blast
Fall through mid-winter sunchokes consist mainly of inulin, a complex starch that humans CAN'T digest, but fart-making bacteria can eat just fine.

Blast, my understanding was that the bacteria finally do break it down into something digestible. Perhaps not very efficiently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin#Fate_in_vivo

Good to know that they are more digestible in late winter, though. I had read that they are best following the first hard frost.
Posted by: Susan

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/09/11 06:18 PM

"I wonder if 'taters can be left to go wild like that?"

Kinda-sorta... any little 'taters you missed during harvesting will probably sprout the following spring, although that may depend on how hard your winters are. If any sprout in spring, they also tend to be green with solanine, so you can't eat those, but green ones may be just fine as seed potatoes. (They may not be green if they are deep enough, but my chickens always uncover mind.)

If you deliberately left some smaller ones there, marked the edges of the bed, and sprinkled the area with a complete organic fertilizer in spring (no lime or ashes!), and then covered the bed with 3" or so of collected leaves or fluffed straw, adding more as the tops got taller, you might just have a decent harvest.

I think the big issue is disease -- the longer potatoes grow in the same place, the greater the chance for disease. If you started out with certified disease-free seed stock, you might postpone it, but potatoes have the reputation of being disease magnets.

This just a theory I would like to try someday, AFTER I have tightened up the interior fencing so the chickens stay out of the area. Unless a disease gets started in the soil from repeated use, it should work.

Right now, I just set aside the small potatoes at harvest and put them in an airy container and just let them sprout in spring, and put them in a new bed. This will be the third year for the same potato stock, so I'll see how it goes.

Sue
Posted by: gonewiththewind

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/13/11 01:58 PM

Great, and helpful, information Blast. Thanks.
Posted by: Mark_F

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/13/11 04:49 PM

Who needs buckets? We live "out in the country" by most city slickers standards. We are enjoying partaking of the wild edibles coming up in our yard, which is left to go au naturale (much to the neighbor's dismay I am certain). Currently in are dandelions, wild violets, and wild onions. We are waiting for sour grass to come up, and experimenting to see what else comes up or that we can identify that is edible. Spring is a yummy time of year here laugh
Posted by: dougwalkabout

Re: Growing My Urban Survival Garden - 04/13/11 06:01 PM

The 'buckets' concept has a lot of merit -- not only for urbanites, but for people like me who live in zones with a limited growing season. It doesn't take much to move a few buckets twice a day -- first into the sun once the temps are up, and later to a warm location to avoid the evening frost.

-Doug, who is hungry for gardening, but can't plant until mid-May