BillH of FreeinIdaho blog has some important thoughts about how survival seeds are a waste of money for most folks. The seeds are just fine, mind you; it’s the fact that most folks are clueless about farming that’s the problem.
Last week, when that Massa guy showed up on Glenn Beck’s show, all of Washington D.C. actually watched Glenn Beck for probably the first time ever. The next morning, I saw Chuck Todd and Joe Scarborough cracking up about the “survival seeds” ad BillH mentions. They were cracking up because they’re elitists and get their snark from Media Matters, though, not because they know squat about gardening.
Yes I’m an attorney. No, I am not your attorney, and nothing in this post constitutes legal advice or opinion.
I grew turnips and potatoes (small experimental plots, not that I got room for much more) for the first time last year. It’s not rocket surgery, but it does take a certain attention.
BTW — the library came through, and I picked up Adventurers All today. I’m reading Huntingtower right now, and John MacNabb will be next.
Growing and canning veggies is not rocket science. For the Tyro there are thousands of books and pamphlets free for the asking, nearly every County in the Nation has an Extension Service, where knowledge is waiting for a request. The fed.gov, every State, and every chemical manufacturer has free literature on how to grow veggies in a dozen different manners from row crops to raised beds.
In a push comes to shove situation such as a depression, my yard is nearly an acre, and with the green belt behind me, which would be cleared for fuel wood and growing space, makes it at least three. I am disabled, but have already recruited a couple of share croppers, offering free use of the land and water, which is just below the surface. Their share is 3/4 of the harvest, mine is (obviously) 1/4. They seem to think it’s fair. Spuds, tomatoes, string beans, squash, chilis, herbs, garlic and peas are going in this Season, to see how well it works and if the share portions are fair.
I’m also investigating how much fuss is involved in raising rabbits and/or chickens. Without roosters, chickens shouldn’t be a nuisance, and I like the idea of eggs.
I have an old, functional rototiller to make tilling less laborious, and I’m looking for a walking tractor right now, either a David Bradley or a Graves and a selection of implements. I have a couple of good running replacement engines stored. I’ve already driven two 3″ wells for irrigation in case city water is either insufficient or unavailable. Groundwater here is not potable due to bacterial contamination, but is easily treatable. I’ve checked.
One other thing. It’s a good idea to see what your neighbors think. The lady next door is a widow and a shirt sleeve relation of my wife. She will allow her back yard which is as large as mine to be farmed as well. Just not until necessary. She had no idea there was ground water available.
Re: Irrigating with ground water. It is fairly easy to do but I have no idea whether or not it’s legal, and no idea how to find out. Ideas?
Gerry N
Second Gerry N’s comment about the Extension service. They do good work.
Gerry, where are you located? In some parts of California, and this may vary by county, it’s legal but the water department will charge you a small penalty ($3.00 per bill, if memory fails me correctly;) ) because you’ve got this untreated water coming out on your property. You might also get the water tested to ensure no heavy metals or funny chemicals are in it.
Not rocket science, correct. But the varieties of seeds available in that package, or even on the racks at your friendly Kroger or Wally, all have different planting times, different harvest times, different water requirements, different pH requirements, etc etc
Anyone who thinks they can pay 150 bucks, grade off the front lawn, open the box and sprinkle seeds that’ll give them a year’s worth of food is deluded at best. I’d offer to sell you some magic beanstalk beans while you’re in the buying mood, but Nancy pelosi would come after me for trying to horn in on her turf.
If I had an acre, I could plant it. But then my wife and I are familiar with the different growing times, sprouting temps, what grows where and what won’t grow where we live.
And yes, we do our own canning. The problem in our house is a shortage of canning jars in the fall. However, I would say that we’re in the minority, even up here in Wisconsin.
Now, keeping all of that in mind – one acre probably wouldn’t be enough for two people. Depending on what you’re growing, you’re gonna need a flaming assload of it. By the time we had dried and shucked our big pile of scarlet runner beans, we had enough to save for next years planting and not much left over. Potatos? You’d better plant at least one eighth of an acre just for spuds if you want to have any left by the middle of winter. We tried corn. What few plants actually produced ears got eaten by every last bug on the planet.
There’s a reason people left farming when they could. It’s friggin’ HARD, and I doubt most people in America could grow enough food to sustain themselves.
My dad’s parents had a couple of acres of garden over the years: peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, okra and I can’t remember what all else. Grandpa got home from the job and worked an hour or two out there, weeding and tilling and whatever. Grandma canned all kinds of stuff.
It’ll work, but as you say, a lot of people just have no idea how much and what kind of work. And if they’ve got some idea of not needing bug killers…