Three strategies to grow a reliable survival garden

Amid any circumstances, food is a fundamental thing for every human. The presence of food stores, supermarkets, and groceries made it convenient to obtain and prepare food for our tables. However, in the long run, it is wiser for us not to be dependent on these providers and to be self-sufficient instead. Food growers will always be the most prepared and safe, no matter the possible outcomes of any crisis.

Since the quarantine has made us all stay home due to COVID-19, why not start your own survival garden to secure your food during these trying times? In case you need some reminders, here are some reasons to start growing food:

1. Assurance. Since you will be growing and maintaining your food crops, you will be sure it’s safe and chemical-free. It will provide you the nutrients that some of the supermarket-bought food lacks.
2. Larger range of options. You will have the capacity to decide which crops you want to grow and consume.
3. Health benefits. Aside from healthy food intake, gardening on your own helps you to have daily exercise, sun exposure, and to reduce your stress.    

When you start your survival garden, take note of these strategies:

Readiness despite the scarcity in resources

During difficult situations, make sure that your survival garden would be able to stand strong despite the limitation of resources.

There are times that you will encounter water interruptions, especially during summer, so it’s better to plan how to raise your crops with a limited water supply. Things you can do is to have self-watering raised beds or collect rainwater in containers. These can provide you spare water to give to your plants during an emergency.

Raised beds and vertical gardening are preferable as these can produce huge yields in just a small amount of space in your survival garden.

Protection

Protect your garden from trespassers. You must protect the yields that you worked hard for. To do this, fence your garden and have thorny bushes that will hinder trespassers from coming in.

Protect your garden from animals and pests. Some animals tend to destroy crops and plants. Plan on how to avoid these situations beforehand before it’s too late. In anticipating insect attacks, one strategy that you can do is to plant flowers and herbs to attract predatory insects.

Protect your garden from too much sun, wind, and water. To avoid too much sun exposure, especially during the summer, providing shade using a cloth can protect your plants. To guard against strong winds, you can shield plants by the proper crop placement or by growing windbreaker plants. To avoid overwatering caused by rainwater or flooding, you must prepare for adequate drainage also.

Identifying the survival garden type

Before putting up a survival garden, you must first determine which survival garden would meet your family’s needs. Your household may choose to grow crops that are not necessarily the same with your neighbors’, as it depends on everyone’s choice and needs. 

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