People love to adopt and practice their hobbies. These hobbies not only sustain their passion but also are usually able to get something out of it. Whether it is some kind of food supply, or it is any kind of benefit tangible or intangible.
But when you have a hobby of gardening, you get a lot. First of all, you get knowledge and experience from adopting and practicing this hobby of gardening. You would be able to get connected with nature as well as what to plant and how to plant at a particular time.
As is having a hobby, people go for gardening for many reasons. Most people go for it because they want a food supply, in form of vegetables, meat, or fruit. Also, some go homesteading to become self-sufficient. Now a day it is becoming a lifestyle rather than just a hobby.
Along with simple gardening and homesteading for being self-sufficient, gardening is done for survival purposes as well. It is because sometimes people like to use the gardening space for their food supply, as well as for the survival of the family in emergency times.
Now a day it is becoming a hot topic, because of the pandemic and food shortages. It is good to know and plan about the survival gardens, rather than waiting for the need to arise. To address this purpose we are going to discuss planning a survival garden for food and medicine.
This will not only help you in planning and getting food for the family, but also you will be able to act well and effectively in case of emergency. You will be prepared for any emergency situation to face.
What Is A Survival Garden?
Like all other gardens, as the name suggests survival gardens include plants and trees. But here these plants, trees, and herbs are planted to match the needs of the family in times of emergency. It provides almost all nutritional and medicinal requirements at the time of need for the family.
You might think it is alike the traditional gardens. Well, it is not. In traditional gardening, you plant different types of fruits, vegetables, and herbs according to need, availability, time, and effort required for a particular plant or as per your wish.
But here in the case of a survival garden, you need proper planning. Because it is the garden, on which your family is going to rely on rainy days. That’s why it is a carefully thought and planned garden, with respect to the space available, plants to be planted, and the people who are going to depend upon it.
What Needs Survival Garden Is Going To Meet?
As we all know we humans have two types of basic needs to be fulfilled. The food which you can say nutrition, and other is the medicine in case of an emergency. As adult humans, we need about 2000 to 2500 calories. For children, we need 1000 to 1700 calories.
If not calories we need a good amount of vitamins. Protein, fat, minerals, etc. We should make sure that we get the essential amount of these in case of need and emergency. Also, the medicinal needs are fulfilled, in case of need for the treatment of many diseases.
In this way, you would be able to fulfill your needs with gardening. You will see that you would be able to continue your hobby, as well as that you would be able to help your family in surviving during the rainy days.
Selection Of Space For The Survival Garden To Plant
As we all know there are some basic requirements regarding space, which we need to adhere to. It is because this process will ensure the steady growth of the plants. You need to consider some of the basic things.
Light Requirements For The Survival Garden
Wherever you start or plan the plantation of gardening, you need a proper light arrangement. Because plants need light to complete the process of photosynthesis. As these plants need 6 to 8 hours to survive well.
Some of the plants need good light, like tomatoes and others don’t need such an amount of light like lettuce plants. So align the space and plants in a way that gets the lights according to its requirement. If you don’t have space in direct sunlight. You can go for indoor gardening.
You can go for artificial lights. Like you can adopt the grow lights for your containers and pots. These grow lights are commonly available and work effectively. These grow lights will help the plants to get the process of photosynthesis fulfilled.
Climate And Season Of The Area
You need to keep a keen eye on the climate and seasons of the area. Because it will decide how your survival garden is going to survive. Because climate change can even destroy all of your efforts. Also, the consideration of the climate will help you in deciding which plant to choose for the plantation.
Also, you can check your hardiness zones. As the zones are already classified you will have good basic information to decide on plants and any sudden change in the environment.
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Water Access For The Garden
This is essential for any garden. Our survival garden will also need a steady supply of water. Water is essential for all plants to grow and prosper. Plants absorb the water from the roots and then it is supplied to the whole of the plant.
Make arrangements for the water supply. Because water supply can decide the future of your survival garden. It can be costly, but you need it no matter what. Also, you can go for drip irrigation systems to save water and water the plants effectively.
The Soil Of The Survival Garden
As of now, you would have considered all the important items, but one most important is left which is soil. soil is the most important ingredient. It is the soil that acts as the base for any plant. You have to check the soil for the plants so that you can add nutrients to them.
You can get the soil for the test. Because it will not only tell you the nutrient concentrations but also the ratio of the different ingredients in soil like sand, clay, etc. Through this, you would be able to decide how and which plant to decide. It will make your decisions easy.
Also, regarding the health and nutrition of the soil, you can add a variety of products to the soil. You can add chemical fertilizers as well as an organic composed matter to match the required quantity of nutrition.
The Layout Of The Survival Garden
Now you have set the basic requirements of the survival garden you are planning to go for. It’s time for layout planning. There are many types and layouts of gardens, which are adopted with respect to ease, and availability of space, resources, and skills. Also, it depends the upon the plants and herbs you are going to plant.
You can go for row planting, which is quite common in commercial agricultural practices. Also, there are raised beds that can be used for the plantation of survival gardens. Also, mounds are used for the plantation of these items of survival gardens. You can go for containers also.
Also, as setting the layout, keep in mind the light availability of the plants according to their nature. Also, keep in mind how a particular plant needs space and amount of soil to survive well. In this way, you would be to design the layout of your survival garden effectively.
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Selection Of Food And Plants To Grow In Survival Garden
There are a lot of food and medicinal plants which can be grown in the survival garden. But the garden space will not allow you to do all of it. So, you should go for the plants and food which your family likes, are easy to grow and manage, and have good usage in case of emergency for the family.
In grains, you can for wheat, corn, amaranth, barley, etc. In case of the vegetables, there are a lot of choices you can opt for. You can go for carrots, beets, radishes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, green beans, asparagus, kale, peppers, peas, potatoes, ramps, tomatoes, squashes, and a lot of other vegetables.
For fruits, you can go for strawberries, blueberries, grapes, etc. In herbs, there are culinary and medicinal herbs, which include basil, oregano, thyme, chives, sage, mint, lavender, holy basil, ginger, anise, and a lot of other herbs which you can plant according to your choice.
Then there comes the preservation and seed saving. You need to preserve the food and fruit from the plants in an effective way. Also, the preservation of yield from medicinal plants is more important as it will help in case of emergency. Also, saving seeds will help you in avoiding the hectic seed search.
In a nutshell, planning for a survival garden is important. You would be able to get maximum, by planning and effectively executing your plan.