Gardening for Preppers: A Beginner's Guide

By Robert Paine

Are You and Your Family Ready to Survive the Next Disaster? 

Do you know how to feed your family yourself? 

Prepping is a lifestyle choice. It is when we look at ourselves and finally say, “I am going to stand on my own two feet and live the life I choose to live.” In today’s modern society, we rely on others way too much. We rely on people to give us food, shelter, jobs and everything else we feel that we are entitled to. 

Well, the day has come for us to stand on our own two feet and take responsibility for our own actions. It’s time to learn how to become self-sufficient and grow your own food! 

In this book you will learn what it is to be a Gardening Prepper. You will learn tips, tricks and techniques that you can use to become more self-reliant in your day-to-day activities. 

You’ll learn more than you ever thought you could, including: 
How Gardening Could Save Your Life 
Finding the Perfect Land for Gardening 
Working with the Tools and Skills You Have 
Composting: What You Need to Know 
Should Animals Be a Part of Your Plans? 
Water Storage Options for Gardening 
Sustainable Gardening Techniques 
Essential Pest Control Ideas 
Designing the Ideal Survival Garden 
Seed Saving – How to Do It and Why You Must 
Easy Ways to Build Your Seed Bank 
Preserving Your Harvest 
Shopping Tips for Building Up Your Food Storage 

At the end of this book you will have the foundation you need in order to take the next steps in order to become an even better prepper or to embrace the principals of the prepper lifestyle even more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roja Publishing
• Release date: Jan 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781513004242

Robert Paine

Robert Paine es un supervivencialista, en todos los sentidos de la palabra. Es un ex oficial de inteligencia del ejército estadounidense y ahora es un bloguero, un asesor de retiro y un escritor freelance. Robert es ávido para los deportes y pasa mucho de su tiempo libre cazando o escalando en las montañas, haciendo ciclismo de montaña o, si está cerca del mar, buceando y navegando. Vive en el noroeste del Pacífico con su esposa e hijos. Su meta es una sociedad que prospere ante cualquier colapso económico, falla de la red eléctrica, precipitación radiactiva, o alguna catástrofe que requiera que las personas se valgan por si mismas cuando la estructura colapse de nuevo.

Book preview

Introduction

Prepping is becoming a way of life for people from all walks of life. What was once something only a handful of people took part in is becoming more and more common as people realize just how unstable our world is. Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, an unstable economy and various scenarios involving civil unrest have made it clear we don't life in a safe, uneventful world. We live in a world where tomorrow is not guaranteed to be as normal as today.

With so much uncertainty, governments from around the world are encouraging citizens to do what they can to prepare to survive without any aid for at least three days. If there is a widespread catastrophe, that number will double or possibly triple. For people in rural areas it could be even longer. For people in heavily populated areas, there may not be enough aid. It is up to you to do what you can to sustain your family.

You, your neighbors and everybody else in the community will be forced to rely on wits alone. Food and water will be scarce and with so many people fighting for it, it would become extremely dangerous to even try. Governments know this and we have already seen it happen in the past. We have seen the rioting and violence that occurs when people are fighting for survival. This is why citizens are encouraged to stock up on some necessities to try and minimize the danger.

Building up a supply of food and water is a must, but can you feasibly store enough food to sustain your family for months? Cans and cans of food lining the shelves in the basement or pantry seem adequate and you may feel prepared, but are you really?

Imagine eating nothing but canned food or freeze-dried food for months on end. It would get old, really quick. Your body needs raw fruits and vegetables, which is why you need to learn all you can about gardening. You would not be as healthy as you could be. Health is an extremely important factor in a survival situation. When medical aid is impossible to get, you have to do whatever you can to stay healthy. Eating a proper diet is one way to help bolster your immune system and keep your digestive system functioning properly. Man cannot survive on canned food alone.

Prepping and gardening go hand in hand. You need a garden to help offset the cost of stocking up on commercially packaged food. Your garden will produce enough food for you to preserve and add to your food supply. The garden will also provide you with a steady supply of food when things do get crazy. Fresh fruits and vegetables will boost your immune system, regulate your digestion and provide your body with many of the vitamins and minerals it needs to stay healthy. You must expect you will be doing more physical labor in a post-disaster situation. You need healthy muscles and bones to keep up with the demands of living in a world that is akin to living in the 19th century. A bowl of sweet strawberries and some fresh spinach will give you the energy you need to chop wood, pull weeds and haul water.

This book will help you understand the necessity of a garden and how to go about building up a garden with prolific crops that will feed your family as well as provide you with some valuable bartering supplies. Fresh, juicy strawberries will fetch a fair price when supermarkets are nonexistent. Your family will appreciate food that reminds them of a time when all was right with the world. Your bodies will appreciate the vitamins and nutrients only fresh fruits and veggies can provide. Canned, freeze-dried and dehydrated foods do not contain nearly as much of the nutritional value of foods in their raw state. Just because you are eating dehydrated banana chips, it doesn't mean you are getting all the potassium you would from a fresh banana. Raw is always best.

How Gardening Could Save Your Life

There are plenty of people who plant gardens simply because they enjoy the idea of growing something. Some people grow vegetables and end up giving the food away or letting it go to waste. Gardening is a hobby for many, but for a prepper, it is the one tool that could ultimately save the lives of their family.

Gardening provides life-sustaining food. It is that important. If your food supply runs out or gets dangerously low and offers no variety, a garden that is producing plenty of food will keep you going. Because nobody can predict how long a crisis will last or how long it will take the world to right itself after a major disaster, it is impossible to determine just how much food needs to be stored in an emergency food pantry.

You cannot possibly predict if a year's worth of food will truly be enough. You have to make plans to sustain your family by growing your own food should the aftermath of a disaster extend for several years or forever. Gardening is your only guarantee at having a steady source of food. Even if the world does come back on line so to speak, the food supply will take years to get established again. Prices may be so high families will not be able to afford to buy food.

Growing a garden will ensure you and your family have what they need. You truly can grow everything you need. Corn, grain, fruits and vegetables will sustain human life. For meat eaters, hunting is an option, but there is a good chance that many will need to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, which isn't so bad.

Now, gardening doesn't have to only be for a doomsday scenario. Gardening today is just as important and can attribute to a healthy lifestyle. Tending a garden does require some physical labor. In today's society, that is a major boon. Too often people would rather sit on the couch or play their computer than get outside and soak up some sunshine while doing moderate activity. There is no need to put forth the effort to grow a garden when there is a perfectly good grocery store down the road.

This is an unhealthy way of living. Getting outside, using one's hands, and feeling the earth makes a person feel alive. Growing food that is healthy, fresh and free of pesticides also contributes to healthier living. If you have the makings for a fresh salad fresh from your garden, you are more likely to eat that then some prepackaged food that is unhealthy. It is exciting to pick your snack for the day. You get to pick the best looking strawberries or the biggest, fattest sweet peas. It is like having your own buffet in the backyard. You will discover that while you are out tending the garden, you will have to sample the goods and will end up snacking on healthy fruits and veggies. By the time you are ready to go in, you won't need or want that snack from the fridge that would have been unhealthy anyways.

When people are more active and eat right, they are more likely to stave off heart disease and other common ailments associated with a sedentary lifestyle that includes eating unhealthy foods. Gardening can truly save your life in an apocalyptic world and in the world we all live today.

Finding the Perfect Land for Gardening

Gardening requires rich, fertile soil that isn't too sandy or too dense. Unfortunately, you cannot simply throw some seeds anywhere you find and expect them to sprout and grow into thriving plants. The land you choose to garden plays a huge role in the health of your plants and whether or not they will grow at all. Your garden will also need plenty of sun. That beautiful treed acreage may be great for hiding your home and providing plenty of shade, but it won't do much for your garden.

The following tips will help you find the perfect land for gardening. Whether you are looking for land to buy for your homestead or already have land and are trying to determine where to place your garden, these tips will help you find the ideal place to start growing.

Start by simply scouring the property for an area that is essentially flat and where the sun is not blocked by trees, sheds or other obstructions. You can certainly do some leveling of your own, and growing on the side of a hill is an option, but it requires a bit more skill and work. Level land is your best option. Ideally, you want land with plenty of southern exposure.

Pull a weed and look at the clump of dirt that comes up or look for an exposed bit of earth. Grab a clump in your hand and squeeze. Ideally, you want the dirt to hold its shape and crumble when poked a bit. This means the dirt has the ability to retain moisture along with the nutrients necessary for healthy plants. Dirt that becomes hard clumps or will not clump at all is not ideal. Yes, you can work the land to make it more garden-friendly, but it can take years to build up the soil. Check the area in several spots to make sure the soil is workable throughout the entire proposed garden section. The soil should be dark. The darker the better. Many gardeners refer to this as black gold because it is rich in nutrients and will aid in your ability to grow beautiful plants.

Once you have found an area that appears to have good topsoil for planting, you need to dig down about a foot to see if the soil is ideal for planting where the roots will be shooting into. Is the earth still the same consistency as the topsoil? Are there a lot of rocks? Rocky terrain can make it difficult for root crops and cause problems with your other plants developing sturdy root systems. Small rocks here and there are not a major issue. It is the large rocks that will make it difficult for your plants to develop a strong root system.

After you have dug the hole and you have determined it is still a good candidate for planting, it is time to check the drainage quality. Pour a bucket of water into the hole and let the dirt absorb the water. This should happen fairly quickly. Pour another bucket of water into the hole and leave it for about four hours. If the hole is still filled with water when you check on it, drainage is an issue. You risk planting in a flood zone.