Why Aren’t You Raising An Emergency Garden?

by M.D. Creekmore on June 9, 2009

Guerrilla gardening is a term used by the local pot farmers, that go about their craft of raising the illegal plants in a secretive way. Before you get all excited with visions of easy money and smoke puffing from a freshly rolled marijuana cigarette, let me clear the air, this post is not about growing the illegal weed, but about growing food crops after a complete break down of the current system.

Having the traditional garden planted in rolls and in the open could make you the target of looters, scavengers and Blackwaterthreats to survival type thugs. Having your garden hid and out of sight could mean the difference between plenty and starvation.

Total Collapse

Keep in mind we are considering a worse case total collapse scenario, reaching far beyond the ramifications of an economic depression. Here we are considering a total Mad Max survival fiction end of the world situation. Plan accordingly.

Secret Grow Rooms

Secret grow rooms or greenhouses should be considered, all that is needed in most cases is to remove the roof from a garage or outbuilding and replace it with corrugated fiberglass. The walls can be painted white or covered with aluminum foil to help reflect light back on the plants inside. From the outside it looks like any other building, while inside grows an abundant garden.

Tables can be made and rigged to pulleys so the plants can be raised closer to the roof and light and lowered back down for watering and as the plants grow. Using this method it would be difficult to grow enough to feed an entire family, but it could be done with planning and enough space. Most likely it would be used to supplement other available resources.

Forest Gardens

A lot of people have mentioned forest gardens, this idea has been around for a long time and could work with a few modifications for the survivor. Find a suitable location that is hidden, well-drained and open to sunlight. Dig up the soil, work in organic matter or timed released fertilizers and plant. If done right such a garden can be largely self-maintaining requiring little effort by you after planting.

Avoid making trails to the garden area, people follow trails and these will lead them directly to your garden, remember the harder it is for you to reach the location the more likely no one else will even try.

Remove all signs of activity, like trash or freshly dug soil. Spread any loose dirt over the area covering any open spots with natural ground cover such as leaves. This also helps form a mulch reducing the need for watering. Try to make the location blend in with the surrounding.

Step back and take a look at the possible approach points and remove anything that catches the eye. Remember to avoid making trails to and from the site.

Blending in

Some plants are easier to hide than others, potatoes for instance would be easier to hide than say tomatoes. Most people would pass within three feet of a stand of potatoes and not recognize what they were looking at. Choosing plants that blend in with the surrounding is an important consideration for the survival gardener.

Gardening Nomad

I know a guy who lived in a truck camper for years, he would move from one hide to another every couple of weeks and had gardens strategically located over the countryside, I don’t know if they were all legal, but I do know, that a majority of what he grew was of the variety and he seemed to do well.

Three sisters of the Cherokee

Another growing technique that I am fond of is often called the three sisters of the Cherokee . This system has been used for thousands of years with great success in both North and South America by many “Indian” tribes and native people.

The three sisters consist of corn, squash and beans that are planted in a circle, with corn in the center than pole beans are planted around the corn and squash are then planted around the beans, the system works together.

The pole beans put nitrogen into the soil which is great for the corn and squash. The beans climb up the corn which acts as a natural trellis and the corn becomes more stable because of this vining effect. The squash with its wide leaves help shade out weeds and cut watering.

What do you think?

Will we need to go to such lengths to hide our crops or will all this be unnecessary?

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