Welcome to DK Preppers: A place to discuss practical ways to get through emergencies, both short term and long. Topics may include skills for growing, storing and sharing food, lost and historical skill sets, sustainability issues, living and leaving safely, and growing community. Everyone is welcome, and the comments are open. We have open threads on Saturday (noon eastern time) and Tuesday evenings (7 eastern time).
Many of us in the central parts of the US are just starting our gardens. While it is too early here to set out many plants, I’ve seen my garlic, planted last fall, start to show green tops.
I also have a table full of tomato, pepper, melon, and squash starts under florescent lights. As soon as I can get some plastic on my DIY little cattle panel green house, they will go out there, so I can start my brassicas under the lights.
For my home, my garden is my main food source. We raise about 70 percent of the vegetables we eat all year round, and some of the feed for our animals. From a prepper standpoint, our garden is our grocery store. We can, freeze, dry and ferment the fruits and veggies we don’t immediately eat.
While my garden is pretty typical, in that there are garden beds with certain things in certain places, I have also started a section of the pasture to try a ‘food forest’.
In permaculture, a forest type of ecology is planted using food plants, with fruit and nut trees as the tallest story, smaller fruit trees underneath, berries below that, and perennial food plants, like asparagus and strawberries underneath.
I have a couple pawpaws planted, with semi-dwarf sour cherries and hazelnuts around them, and wild strawberries at the bottom. I also have morel spawn in that area, and some logs with Hen of the Woods. In a few years I’ll let you know how it turns out.
The great thing about food forest areas is that it is not an obvious garden. A person wandering by would be able to spot my vegetable garden easily. In a time of upheaval, the food forest might be protected from others taking vegetables simply because it will look like an overgrown area, not a place that is flush with food.
Let me hear about your gardens, your container gardens, your windowsill herbs. If you don’t garden, do you spout? Grow mushrooms?
What have you done, or set aside for your preps, food-wise? I’d love to hear, and we learn from sharing, so comment below!
In the comments, let us know your plans for being more prepared, and the measures you have taken to get there. Anything about getting yourself to a place where, in an emergency, you can care for yourself, your family, and your community is great to talk about.
If you would like to do a story for DK Preppers, I try to have a discussion on Saturday afternoon and Tuesday evenings. The stories can be about your experiences, or just a topic to discuss. Let me know if you are interested.