Interested in Survival Gardening? Contribute to an ATS Research Project

reply to post by kdog1982


Yes, it actually is some work, that's why I needed to be clear about what the project entailed up front. Not everyone is interested in a formal project and that is absolutely fine. I just happen to be one of the ones who doesn't have a life and thinks this a good way to spend my spare time

Please do share your thoughts informally - I'm very interested in what you've learned. The 2013 Garden Thread is a good place for this (see my sig below).

Thanks for expressing an interest anyway!

otherpotato

Originally posted by Covertblack
reply to post by otherpotato

 

I have been kicking the idea around to start a tilapia aquaponics system. With the cold weather, there is currently snow on the ground, I am going to build a green house that could support both plant, and fish year round.

Now that's ambitious... Do you think you'll give it a go this year?

Originally posted by otherpotato

Originally posted by Covertblack
reply to post by otherpotato

 

I have been kicking the idea around to start a tilapia aquaponics system. With the cold weather, there is currently snow on the ground, I am going to build a green house that could support both plant, and fish year round.

Now that's ambitious... Do you think you'll give it a go this year?

I'm going to give it a shot. The problem is I wanted to have my sub-structure done by now, and last night we got a couple inches of snow. I don't know how crops overall will be this year in the Midwest, its been terribly cold so far.

If I can't get an aquaponics system going I will be planting a regular garden.

reply to post by Covertblack


I've been hearing that the weather is off out there. Over here in the Northeast (zone 5/6 line) we're a few weeks late but not by much.

Someday I'd be interested in expanding my experiments beyond just vegetables and fruits. We were going to get chicken last year but then a friend of ours had his flock decimated by coyotes. They tore down the fencing. It made me nervous because I have young kids and putting up a big supper invitation for coyotes didn't seem wise.

reply to post by otherpotato


Exactly, with all that food sitting out you will be attracting predators. That's another reason I have been floating the tilapia idea around. They work pretty well with plants, and you would be able to fulfill your protein and fat needs also.

reply to post by Covertblack


Let me know if you get this going and decide to document your results. That's a really interesting project to take on and I would be curious to know what it takes.

I doubt I'll have a lot of things in place by the time of completion of your research project, but I'll be happy to contribute my own efforts.

This August, I will be starting my first "survival garden" (we have horses so will use compost and horse manure to help). The garden area is already pretty well fenced in, but we'll be completing the fencing around it. Our property already has a lot of fencing, so any predator generally has to get through about three fences to get to the garden.



In addition, next spring we'll be adding chickens to the ranch (mostly for eggs, but with the possibility of adding for meat as well). We also have rabbits, though it would take a SHTF scenario for me to convince the wife to breed these as food.

More long term, we will be planting some food producing trees. We're looking to plant a Banana tree and an Orange tree this month, 3 Apple trees (Florida varieties) and a Pear tree come December, and then an Avocado tree in February. (planting Garlic around the base of these to help deter aphids). We won't see food off of them for a few years, but have to start somewhere. We have a Tangerine tree that already fruits, but none of us really care for them all that much. Still, in a pinch....

I have some Pineapples growing along the side of the house, but they will take a while also. We'll be adding grapes next spring (just too much to do to add them this spring) also.

We're doing a medicinal/culinary garden in the front of the house, surrounding a koi pond (we have a neat little fountain that empties into it). It's my wife's "Gnome Garden". We chose plants like Roselle (Florida Cranberry), Chives, Lavender, Rosemary, Shasta Daisies, Parsley, Witch Hazel, Aloe (and we have some Aloe growing along the side of the house), Sage, Catnip, Chamomile, and Oregano. We also have some Roses growing around the house as well.

Am here as well, great idea and I will be glad to help out where I can.

First addition to the thread is to go with the flow and do not look to the old weather patterns to be of much help any more.

I should add that we plan on doing a lot of canning when it is harvest time. It is something I used to do years ago with my grandparents, but never did myself, so looking forward to starting that. (before they ban pressure cookers!)

I'm thinking about putting up some netting too, for birds and insects. The garage roof and fencing make pretty good anchor points. Still researching that.

As in the OP, I think that many of these skills are being lost as we go on. Not too long ago, I was out of work due to a layoff, and though only a minor prepper at the time, our stores really allowed us to stretch our food budget, and all of a sudden, my prepper ways were "prudent" instead of "cooky", and now my wife is solidly onboard. She likes spending less on groceries. Of course, now we need to replenish the supply a bit, but there are some real world applications for becoming more self sufficient. Heck, the Great Depression pretty much MADE our grandparents and their parents prep for leaner times. There are some good lessons to be learned here.

reply to post by otherpotato


I grew up on a working, self sufficient farm in southern Minnesota. We only went to town for staples like flour and sugar- such like that. I can easily tell you what it takes to be completely self sufficient, even up to a family of 7. If you are insterested in hearing from me further, U2U me. I will gladly share what I know. We did this as a regular way of life, not as some sort of survival experience. We had a garden, as well as raised animals and foraged for wild asparagus, and fished in local lakes for whatever we could catch. We ate well, I can say that. I also know how to preserve just about anything, whether it be by freezing, canning, drying, whatever. I know exactly what our family did to make it work, from the first time the garden was tilled to when I moved as an adult to my own life. I can even remember the layout of our garden and just how much we planted and yeilded. And what was done to get that yeild. If interested, contact me.

Sk

Thanks for the invite! I'm in too.
I grow as much as possible following several methods and some of my own. To truly live off the land in the harsh climate that I live in, I have to forage, hunt and fish as well as growing my gardens.

As already stated above, the old weather patterns seem to be out the window. I should be planting on May 10, and I still have feet of snow on my garden beds. With an already short season, I may not get the harvest that I was hoping for. As of now I am retooling for shorter season cool weather crops. My family will have a lot of cabbage, broccoli, spinach, carrots and potatoes for this coming winter, but probably not much else at this point if things don't turn around. I hope it does soon, I shoveled about 3 feet of snow off of my veggie beds the other day, just to wake up to fresh snow on the ground.

Check your U2U's and let me know what you need!

Originally posted by otherpotato
reply to post by kdog1982

 

Yes, it actually is some work, that's why I needed to be clear about what the project entailed up front. Not everyone is interested in a formal project and that is absolutely fine. I just happen to be one of the ones who doesn't have a life and thinks this a good way to spend my spare time

Please do share your thoughts informally - I'm very interested in what you've learned. The 2013 Garden Thread is a good place for this (see my sig below).

Thanks for expressing an interest anyway!

otherpotato

The first thing you need to do is assess what and how much ground for planting you have.
Do you have a house ,or do you live in an apartment?

That alone splits it up in to two different categories.

If you have your own property,that is one thing.If you don't,there are community gardens.

If you are serious,,you need a piece of ground that would support the number of people you desire.

This would be useful to me,making Mulberry wine for trade.I have a couple of Mulberry trees.
There is plenty of fruit to be harvested.But I would think in the worst case scenarios,making wine out of the fruit would be a bigger gain.

winemaking.jackkeller.net...

Originally posted by Gazrok
I doubt I'll have a lot of things in place by the time of completion of your research project, but I'll be happy to contribute my own efforts.

This August, I will be starting my first "survival garden" (we have horses so will use compost and horse manure to help). The garden area is already pretty well fenced in, but we'll be completing the fencing around it. Our property already has a lot of fencing, so any predator generally has to get through about three fences to get to the garden.

In addition, next spring we'll be adding chickens to the ranch (mostly for eggs, but with the possibility of adding for meat as well). We also have rabbits, though it would take a SHTF scenario for me to convince the wife to breed these as food.

More long term, we will be planting some food producing trees. We're looking to plant a Banana tree and an Orange tree this month, 3 Apple trees (Florida varieties) and a Pear tree come December, and then an Avocado tree in February. (planting Garlic around the base of these to help deter aphids). We won't see food off of them for a few years, but have to start somewhere. We have a Tangerine tree that already fruits, but none of us really care for them all that much. Still, in a pinch....

I have some Pineapples growing along the side of the house, but they will take a while also. We'll be adding grapes next spring (just too much to do to add them this spring) also.

We're doing a medicinal/culinary garden in the front of the house, surrounding a koi pond (we have a neat little fountain that empties into it). It's my wife's "Gnome Garden". We chose plants like Roselle (Florida Cranberry), Chives, Lavender, Rosemary, Shasta Daisies, Parsley, Witch Hazel, Aloe (and we have some Aloe growing along the side of the house), Sage, Catnip, Chamomile, and Oregano. We also have some Roses growing around the house as well.

edit on 3-5-2013 by Gazrok because: (no reason given)

Nice plot and seasonal planning.

I plan on building a solar pump similar to this (below) to disconnect my aquaponics system from the electrical grid. I live in the Arizona desert with great access to sunlight which in a SHTF scenario would allow the system to operate (hopefully) year round. I am not all that interested in solar panels as I feel I would have a much simpler task of replacing parts when breakdowns occur.



Like others have said growing enough to feed yourself is difficult and forced me to completely rethink yields, labor, and what I am actually planting.

Also I should mention that I use a combination of clay pellets and soil with earthworms (aquatic - ie: red wigglers, choose carefully some species are considered invasive) and they have really helped in reducing stress on my filters.

Good growing everyone!

reply to post by kdog1982


I have my own house and garden that's been established since the people who owned the home previously (house was built in 1934). It was clear they were homesteaders as they built a canning room/root cellar in the basement, had a grapevine for making wine, a chicken coop...

My plot is 18 ft x 32 ft. We go a little bit bigger ever year. Let me see if I can embed a picture. This is from last year.



My fantasy is that all that grass over there becomes garden. I will have to be willing to give up my croquet field though....

I have posted an update on this research project in the Research Forum outlining the current list of participants and subject areas.

Feel free to review the project but please be respectful of the forum guidelines by not trying to post a comment there. If you have interest in participating as a committed contributor I'm taking volunteers through the middle of next week - just send me a U2U.

Otherwise keep sharing your wisdom and advice! Either here, in the 2013 thread, or start a new thread and link to it. The gardening threads are gaining momentum and that should continue.

otherpotato

I look forward to participating in this research project. Getting my green thumb ready, and have started my plot as well as preparing a couple of raised beds. If the focus is survival the variety of plants is going to have to be pretty expansive. I will do my best to accommodate a large selection of varieties, as well as a couple of high yield alternatives to give the people with limited space a good edge.

Thought I might show some basic astronomy and how field placement has been done to maximize the suns effectiveness throughout time.
These are red (foreground) and green okra fields that have been properly aligned to capture the suns rays as it travels across the ecliptic each day. Zenith is the top of this line.
The Ecliptic is an imaginary line across the celestial sphere that the sun, moon and planets follow and this grid expands northward in the summer and contracts southward in winter. The planet Mars falls out of the ecliptic and retrogrades backwards at times due to it's exaggerated orbit. All others follow this line and, of course, the builders of Stonehenge-whoever they were-did this with amazing micro accuracy-to the half inch. There is not a word in any language I know to express how incredible that accomplishment was-it really boggles the mind. Here it is represented in 10's of feet.
The biggest reason for failure of home gardens is poor location and a misunderstanding of basic astronomy. I do not know who originally aligned these fields as they had been cultivated for decades before my great-grand uncle bought this land in 1903.

The young bull is standing perpendicular to the field placement and the line represents the imaginary top of the sphere-zenith- if it was at summer solstice. This is impossible to do with only 2D however I hope you understand what I am showing.

It's a "no" on the gardening forum. It's viewed as a subsection of survival, so gardening threads should remain in this forum (other than research projects, of course).