We will be “Overgrowing the Government!”
In March 1917,Charles Lathrop Pack organized the US National War Garden Commission and launched the war garden campaign. President Woodrow Wilson said that “Food will win the war.”
It is almost a hundred years later and history is set to repeat itself. It is the beginning of Spring and it is time to start planting your gardens now to ensure your access to fresh food later!
According to Numbeo.com the recommended minimum amount of money for food figured by 2400 calories x 31 days is $333.89 per month. Multiply that by two and it would be almost $668.00 a month for the MINIMUM amount of food for just two people to remain somewhat healthy. That figure includes these food items: Milk, White Bread, Rice (white), Eggs, Cheese, Chicken Breasts, Beef Round (0.15 kg), Apples, Banana, Oranges, Tomato, Potato, Onion, and Lettuce. It really does not leave much to ponder when deciding what you are going to have for dinner!
At those prices, with those options alone, one does not have to imagine if they will be wanting for food this year. I would suggest that if you would like to eat a decent meal once in a while you had better start growing your own – at least for long as possible before Agenda 21 comes in and takes over all of our gardens via a seed treaty of some sort. Don’t laugh too hard because it could happen.
Here is an easy idea for those persons who are not lucky enough to have property or even a ‘back-yard’. Bucket Gardens are becoming popular for limited areas. Anyone can put 3-5 buckets on the front porch or even in the Living Room with standard fluorescent lighting.
- Tomatoes – Cherry or bush tomatoes work best. Plant only 1 tomato per bucket. Drive a stake in the middle to support the plant
- Cucumbers – Plant 1 per bucket
- Melons – Plant 1 per bucket
- Squash – Plant 1 per bucket
- Eggplant – 1 per bucket
- Peppers – 2 per bucket
- Beans – Bush kinds work best. Plant 3 per bucket
- Onions – Plant 4 per bucket
- Lettuce – Plant 4 per bucket
- Beets – Plant 4 per bucket
- Carrots – Plant 10 per bucket
- Radishes – Plant 10 per bucket
Additionally, here are some ideas about growing small amounts indoors. Be sure to do a Google search for more ideas on indoor growing. (Yes, there are other plants that we can grow indoors for food besides Cannabis/Hemp!)
In fact, even if you have a garden area in your yard or on your property or farm it would probably be a good idea to start a few “buckets” of vegetables as well. Something you can easily move indoors if the need arises. Heaven forbid, if an event happened whereby you were not able to go out of your house for a period of time, you could still nurse the bucket vegetables by the window or under a light, if you are lucky enough to have electric at the time, and still get some benefit out of them.
In 1943 the US Department of Agriculture estimated that more than 20 million victory gardens were planted. There were approximately 42 million gardens in 2014. The population of the U.S. is about 318 million. There are 124 million households. That means we need to have about 82 million more household gardens started in some form or fashion around the country in order to make a distinctive difference in the amount of money we pay out for our groceries to Corporate entities as well as making a difference in how food-healthy we live.
In 1942 the government urged people to make gardening a family and community effort. Today there are a lot of Community Gardens available to use and volunteer with. If you do not wish to grow at home then make use of a Community Garden. Many times the areas are already prepared and you only have to plant and tend the plants. One of my first experiences with a Community Garden was when my Father had been retired for a number of years and was no longer able to till a garden for himself. He made use of a Community Garden plot in Louisville, Kentucky on Fegenbush Lane and his “crop” rendered us many good meals!
Now, getting back to the issue at hand, the average person still likes to plant their garden in their backyard. So here are a few pieces of information on how to make that a little easier.
*Over 6,000 pounds of food per year, on 1/10 acre located just 15 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. The Dervaes family grows over 400 species of plants, 4,300 pounds of vegetable food, 900 chicken and 1,000 duck eggs, 25 lbs of honey, plus seasonal fruits throughout the year. VIEW THE VIDEO HERE.
*Small Space Permaculture Food Forest Garden on 1/4 Acre Home Lot. VIEW VIDEO HERE.
There is no end to the amount of information that is available online to help you in your endeavor no matter how large or small it may be. The point I am trying to make here is to just make an effort to do something to help sustain yourself and your family! It is amazing how much food you can actually grow on your own with just a few seeds and a little imagination. And even if you do not have any imagination, then just take a packet of seeds (of your choice) outside, find a spot, dig some holes in the yard and put the seeds in them. Water and watch something grow! I promise you that if you do, and you watch even one vegetable grow out of the ground that is eatable, you will be out there again next year with a larger plot to plant! It is worth the work!
The next problem you will have is how to store the vegetables which you reap from your garden! That is where I am at now. I would like to put a “root cellar” in to store my vegetables so that I can keep those fresh vegetables for quite a while. EHow.com has many articles on how to do this in different ways.
Additionally, I would like to add here that if you are Blessed enough to have a piece of property, or a farm, or even just a ‘back-yard’, and you know someone who does not have that available to them, encourage them to share your area and plant a few things. It will make you feel good to be able to help someone else accomplish something and it is always good to have gardening friends. You can help each other succeed!
As another thought, there are many “weeds” that grow wild in your backyard or on your farm that are totally edible! EATTHEWEEDS.Com is a very good website to find out about this and they also have a very good newsletter I would recommend subscribing to! One of the edible weeds that Roundup tries to rid you of is Dandelions. Check out the site and see how much food you have growing free in your yard! BE CAREFUL what you choose to pick out of your yard to eat! Some plants are poisonous and can be dangerous if ingested. Be sure to check first before consuming! PETERSON FIELD GUIDES are among the best books available for this purpose. They can be bought for a reasonable price online. I have the “Medicinal Plants and Herbs” version and would like to get the whole series. Books are still a good thing to have around even though there is so much information available on the internet. There could be a time when we would not have access to electric as we do now and books could become life savers.
One more thing to do is plant a couple of fruit tree’s! You will be glad you did in a few years when you can walk outside and pick an apple off of your own tree and enjoy eating it without paying for it!
Finally, if you are lucky enough to live in a legal Cannabis growing state be sure and plant a few in your garden to use for food! But since it is still illegal in most states to grow your own Cannabis/Hemp, put back a few dollars if you can to to buy Hemp food products. They are very healthy for you!
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https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=buy+fruit+trees
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/dandelion.aspx
http://www.eattheweeds.com/foraging/
How to Make a Cheap Root Cellar
http://www.hempbasics.com/shop/hemp-seed-nutrition
http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=how+to+build+a+root+cellar&skin=corporate&t=all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFDuM2P1E-Q
http://jefferson.ca.uky.edu/horticulture_communitygardens_layout
http://www.garden.org/about/press/press.php?q=show&id=3819&pr=pr_nga
http://www.hightimes.com/read/beginners-how-grow-just-one-pot-plant-your-home
http://www.homesteadingfreedom.com/how-to-grow-organic-popcorn-microgreens-on-your-kitchen-counter
http://www.gatewaygardener.com/tips-techniques-and-tools/growing-vegetables-indoors
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_depopu36.htm
http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/standards/en/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=National%20War%20Garden%20Commission
http://www.numbeo.com/food-prices/country_result.jsp?country=United+States
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