Gardening With the Future in Mind

Last year I really started thinking different about gardening.  Normally my gardens would include what fresh vegetables we might want through the summer months, and what produce I could grow to preserve and use for the winter.  I have always been blessed with great family and friends who have very large gardens / farms who have let me work for produce and such.  My dad has always had a large market garden / berry farm, but when he decided to sell out soon, I started to realize that I have wasted many of my years here, by not starting sooner to build up my own little yard into my own little survival garden.

My grape vine!  So loaded with grapes

Last year I planted cherry trees, Saskatoon bushes, raspberry bushes, some strawberry plants and currant bushes. We already have a really great set up of grape vines which all the juice and jelly that we could use in a season.  However if I had planted these 12 years ago when we moved into this home, I would have a really great little berry farm on my corner lot in the city.  Now I have to wait for a few years to really see the benefits of planting these.

Calendula

I have also planted a few herbs that are perennials. Some of these are herbs that we use on a daily basis, so planting them will help us long term to become more self reliant.  Some herbs are annuals where I live, so they need to be planted each year.

A couple of years ago we built four raised beds, that have proven to be prolific in pretty much whatever I plant in them.  I love them!  They are so easy to weed and water, easy to plant, and easy to harvest the produce.  I have tried to used the square foot method of gardening in them a bit, and it seems to work great.  We have also built some metal sides to the raised beds, that way we can wrap them in plastic to make little 4 by 4 green houses.  It works like a charm.

Okay, so I have some perennial herbs planted, and lots of berry bushes and trees planted, but what other things can I get growing and how can I make better use of my yard to make my family more self reliant?

Beans growing like crazy in a raised bed

Probably one of the first things that you can do when planting a garden, is to try and buy garden seeds that are called "Heirloom" seeds.  These can grow produce for this year, and if you save the seeds, you can use them to grow produce next year and from year to year. The seeds that are called hybrid seeds, are genetically modified to produce a great, heavy yielding crop for the one year, and then you have to purchase seeds again for the next year.  They will not produce fruit from planting the seed the second year.  You can use a mixture of seeds in your garden, depending on what you want, but just make sure you keep notes on which seeds are which, that way you can save useful seeds, and not waste time on others.

It would be wise also to learn which native weeds are actually herbs and food.  Many of these most obnoxious weeds we have, could sustain life, and actually help heal many of our minor complaints.  Weeds like dandelion, plantain, burdock, mullein, and portulaca can be really noxious weeds, but are all really healthy for us to eat, and have some amazing healing properties.  These can be a great resource for our

Black currants and raspberries along the back fence

survival gardening, just learning where to find them and what to do with them.

Some good vegetables to plant would include: green or yellow beans, corn (if you have the space), tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers and squash (if you have the space).  Some of these take up quite a bit of space, so you can either get the kinds that climb, or find another garden space that you can let them spread.  You can learn to plant climbers with stalk plants, like beans or peas with corn, and then plant squash around the base to fill in.

Mmmmm can't wait to eat these little babies!

You can plant things in pots too.  There are many years that I have not had enough garden space, so I grow things in pots.  Peppers, tomatoes, beans, carrots, and even zucchini can grow in pots.  Do a little bit of research because with careful attention, you can do all of your gardening in pots, if you are motivated enough.

This year, I am going to make a couple of more raised beds.  I am running out of room in my yard, so I may have to use up some of my lawn and turn it into garden space.  We can each do little things each year, that can have a huge benefit for the future years.  One day, one year at a time, we can become a little bit more self sufficient.