# renewable food sources?



## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

I've been reading a lot of people packing away food...but not so much about wether they have a plan for long term food sources. If you have food for a few years, and eat through that food, what then?

Is it wise to have a garden going just incase?

Thats what I'm torn on. I have a decent sized property, but I am in the middle of the city so to speak. I have already planted:

Navel orange
Avocado
Apple
2 pecan trees
2 plum trees
2 peach trees
Lime tree
Grape plant
Blueberries
Strawberries

already here were
valencia
apricot
tangerine?
tangelo?
grapefruit
lemon


I have a small garden going, but have just cleared a spot for a larger garden.

I also have yuccas for soap, cactus for water filtration and prickly pear fruit, AND protection from the north :mrgreen: I heard roses were edible. I have a few rose bushes too, just incase..


Any other suggestions on what to grow? Anything vital, useful, or more nutritious than what I have?


Thanks for taking the time to read my post


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## WoadWarrior (Oct 10, 2012)

What you are describing is a seasonal source of food that will be difficult to defend from hungry neighbors. Keep in mind that most city dwellers (in and around a city) have devolved to the point that they will stay in the city, strip it bare, then hang around until the govt comes to feed them or somebody courteous comes by and kills them. Your trees will be visible to everyone around you... And... they may turn zombie and destroy them in the process of harvesting them... and then may follow you home. So... it's a good plan A... but you still need to work on plans B, C, D, etc....


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## Maximumbob54 (Nov 12, 2012)

Ha, I thought that would be the reply to this. I too planted a bunch of fruit trees this last year. Apple, pear, peach, and cherry trees. The cherries went crazy and I already had some for them being such small trees. My tomatoes may has well have been burned. Six plants and besides some tiny cherry tomatoes from the one I got horrid looking tomatoes from the rest. And without Sevin dust most of it would have been eaten by bugs. I planted some raspberries and blackberries but only the raspberries are still going good. I had no idea they are vines since they were labeled bushes. They are very NOT bushes...


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## joec (Nov 12, 2012)

Perhaps what one would by seeds to grow crops. Just saying as I have enough for a lot of crops that will then make more seeds.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

You know, I can put away a 5 lbs bag of pinto beans or I can buy a 1.99 cent pack of Heirloom Beans and grow about 20 lbs plus. Which one do you think is gonna put more gas in your tank?

One of the things I find amusing is the number of Preppers that go out and buy a #10 can full of seeds thinking they are good to go when the SHTF. There is a whole lot more to gardening than just opening a pack of seeds, putting them in the ground and dumping some water on them occasionally. You can read a lot about it and you can watch You Tube videos on it till the cows come home, but its a skill and one you will need to learn by actually doing! Growing a garden successfully that will feed a family of 4 is no easy task! Thats a pretty good sized garden even when your soil is prime. Then there is crop failures whether its due to weather, insects or other pest. The time to learn and build these skills is right now when you can afford to have a total crop failure, not when your under the gun and learning while you burn so to speak.

Doesnt matter if you live in the city and only have a small piece of ground to work with or if your in the country and have acres to spare. Doing some gardening now and learning the ins and outs will pay off in hefty dividends later down the road when it might really count and mean the difference in eating or going hungry. A small "Victory Garden" in your urban back yard can give you invaluable experience right now. The added benefit is that it can shave a good bit off your weekly grocery bill now and that will free up funds that could be spent other wise on preps in other areas. I like to look at it as "investing in my future".

I would seriously look at growing some things that I can dry, dehydrate, freeze, can and more importantly get seeds from for the years follow on crops! I would also consider things that require the least amount of work from myself to produce and what taxes my soil the least. For example, I love corn but lets face reality here. Corn has a long growing season before it produces. Further more I am going to get on average 1 or 2 ears per a corn stalk, so you need a pretty good size stand of it. Third, its labor intensive in that it needs a huge amount of steady water and fertilizer to produce well. 5th you will need to rotate it as it will quickly deplete the nutrients in your soil. There are a lot of other things that I could plant in the same space that will give me a more bountiful harvest. One of my favorites is Okra. A couple of 50 ft rows of this deer resistent plant will easily yeild a 5 gallon bucket of pods a week easily! They dry well for use later in Gumbo and Soups. Of course if your from the south its hard not to fry a bunch up in a black skillet like Grandma used to do. Collecting the seeds for the next years crop is easy...just let a few of the plants Pods mature and then dry with the first frost then collect the dried cracking open pods and strip the seeds from them and store them for next year. This is just one example.


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## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

WoadWarrior said:


> ..What you are describing is a seasonal source of food that will be difficult to defend from hungry neighbors...


This roof garden in Chelsea London looks nice, it's invisible from zomb eyes in the street below, but whether it's big enough to provide a worthwile amount of fruit and veg remains to be seen-


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## badey (Nov 9, 2012)

Actually, if you have some oak trees, Acorns are pretty tasty, once you soak them in warm water to get the Tannin out of them.

*please research the proper way to do this before you eat them, otherwise they will be incredibly bitter.


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## vandelescrow (Nov 17, 2012)

What exactly are Heirloom seeds?

The reason why I ask is because my father was a farmer. He said the seeds purchased today, can not be used to grow seeds for next year. The seed suppliers altered them so farmers have to buy new seed each year. I've done a search and basically it says heirloom seeds are non hybrid.

Can heirloom seeds actually be used to grow next years seed?


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## Verteidiger (Nov 16, 2012)

OH...I thought this was a thread about rabbits and chickens. My bad.

I have tried victory gardening -- between the bugs, birds, squirrels, rabbits and deer, I was lucky to get a few tomatoes for myself. Unless you do this right, IMO, you are wasting your time. 

To do it right, you need a tall-fenced in area, irrigation source, pest controls, someone who knows how to stop mildew/blight/mold/fungi, a lot of people to care for/guard the plants, and lots of patience and time to tend to the garden. Would work if you had the right ingredients and people; otherwise, it is going to be a very tempting target for everything, and everyone else, all also hungry.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

vandelescrow said:


> What exactly are Heirloom seeds?
> 
> The reason why I ask is because my father was a farmer. He said the seeds purchased today, can not be used to grow seeds for next year. The seed suppliers altered them so farmers have to buy new seed each year. I've done a search and basically it says heirloom seeds are non hybrid.
> 
> Can heirloom seeds actually be used to grow next years seed?


Yes Heirloom seeds are the seeds that you want to plant so that you can replenish your seeds stocks by saving seeds from the previous crop. They cost a little more and they are harder to find but they are an investment in your future too! I still use a lot of hybrid varieties but I am slowly shifting over one or two varieties a year to heirloom types so that I can have a sustainable seed source.


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

Simple explanation 

Heirloom - no genetic modifications, many different "families" of the same type of seed. No inbreeding, can use for many plantings. But have a very low resistance to disease, drought, etc. 

Non - hybrid - Genetic modifications, and also many different "families" so still no inbreeding. Has a higher resistance to disease, drought, etc. 

Hybrid - Heavily modified, and generally only one or two "families" So by the second generation the seeds will be inbred. Very very high resistance to disease drought and what not.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

Heirloom seeds are traditional plants. No modifications. 

I'm not sure I have room for oak trees, but am thinking of cutting down the fruitless mulberry tree, because it's old and cracked down the middle. I am at my father in laws house and just found out about stevia (sp?) as a sugar substitute. I was going to use persimmons, but stevia (sp?) looks like I don't need as big a spot for it. I do have space, but if I fill it with huge items, less fit. 

Good point on aloe vera. I remember aloe growing here when I was younger (grew up CLOSE to here) I don't know why I didn't think about it. Oh and most years, golden poppies grow wild on the north part of the yard. The migrant workers that maintain the city property usually tear them out  This year I'm going to extend the fence to my true property line so that they can't do that. I'd love to keep them growing. 

I am pretty sure I'll have chickens soon. But I don't know if a rooster crowing will attract raiders or not. I figured if I could have at least enough food and water stored for a few good months, most people will have starved, left, or started thriving on their own, that they won't want to steal my stuff. 

I wonder what grows well indoors that is renewable and edible?


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