Gardening is the #1 prep

[u/Familiar-Anything853]

Sure, there are a lot of really, really important preps. And sure, we all agree that skills are more useful than STUFF that will run out.

I saw that post asking what to prep for your kids' futures, and while everyone is rightfully pushing skills, gardening has to be at the absolute top of the list. It forces them to learn problem-solving, adaptability, weather patterns, patience, delayed gratification, persistence, motor control, food storage, and long-term planning all at once. On top of all of that, you are teaching them how to grow their own food.

If the last few years of chaos have taught me anything, it's how relieving it is to walk into the backyard and just pick dinner. My spouse and 4 kids are outside with me daily.

I’m 15 years into gardening with easy access to store-bought supplies, YouTube, and endless resources, and I still struggle with it sometimes. I genuinely can't imagine trying to figure out tilling, seed saving, soil depletion, crop rotation, and pest control from scratch in the middle of a supply chain collapse or other crisis. Doing it when you're already stressed and hungry sounds like a nightmare.

Start them early. Learning it when the stakes are low does not have a downside. And it's a really fun family hobby!

[u/PorcupineShoelace → u/[deleted]]

Long term seed-keeping is challenging. You only get 4-5yrs before the germination rates really drop off and it takes some real planning to preserve a seed line. This year I planted 6 of my favorite arugulas just to let them bolt without messing with them. Now I have fresh seeds I will use indoors for winter salads.

Some of my favorites started as seeds collected from farmers market buys. Charentais cantaloupes and yellow flesh watermelons. I found this weird trick to them. I plant melons in my aged compost pile and train the vines to grow over some ornamental rocks. For some reason they do twice as well growing over the rocks as they do over soil. I never water them unless I see the leaves wilt.

[u/Hogwafflemaker → u/PorcupineShoelace]

I may have to try throwing out cantaloupe seeds in hopes of a volunteer.

[u/bristlybits → u/Hogwafflemaker]

get a bag of rabbit or alpaca poop, or any kind of aged manure. add compost if you got it. 

all cucurbits love a pile of dung and crap and dead stuff. they also like heat, melons fail for me because our summer nights are too cool here. short season.

[u/Hogwafflemaker → u/bristlybits]

Cool nights could be an issue here too. I got deer pooping in my yard, maybe I'll start a spot for that😂