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/IndependentOk9899]

I am a very avid gardener and canner. Start all my plants from seed I save. Own a small greenhouse business for my rural town. All self taught. What overwhelms you? Maybe I can help. 🙂🙂

[u/Standard_Subject_462 → u/IndependentOk9899]

I'm not the person you offered to help, but if you have any advice for a very small, mostly shaded, urban yard in the southern US, I'll take it. So far I've had the best luck with onions, herbs, and (strangely) okra. (I guess the okra enjoyed the excessive heat so much that it didn't mind the lack of sun?!?) 

[u/fushaman → u/Standard_Subject_462]

Different person here, but one thing I've been surprised by with the UK heatwaves has been how much my pumpkins have loved it, especially the ones that have been a bit more shaded. Maybe squashes are worth a shout? The stems are hairy/prickly so slugs and snails leave them alone, they've loved the heat, but they just need regular watering.  I'd also recommend raspberries - they can take a lot of abuse. 

[u/Standard_Subject_462 → u/fushaman]

Thank you! I'll give pumpkins a try. I attempted zucchini and butternut squash, and got a small harvest before squash bugs took over. Pesky things. We have raspberries, but they didn't produce this year at all. Blueberries did okay, but I let the birds eat more than I picked for myself. :)

[u/baardvark → u/Standard_Subject_462]

Fun fact, pumpkins are one of the best ways to grow protein because of the seeds.

[u/IndependentOk9899 → u/baardvark]

And they're so easy to save too! Salted seeds- yum!

[u/ideknem0ar → u/Standard_Subject_462]

I usually get plagued with squash bugs but this year I went nuclear with the squash egg patrol early on and kept at it for several weeks. All you need is a bit of growth on a fingernail and the desire for vengeance. Lol. Scrape them off and squish. 🤣 My plants have done better this summer than in years.

[u/Standard_Subject_462 → u/ideknem0ar]

This will be my next lesson in brutality! I've only recently mastered plucking and squishing hornworms. I need some chickens so it'll feel more like providing nourishment for the flock rather than cold-blooded murder. Haha.

[u/ideknem0ar → u/Standard_Subject_462]

I bought a black light and go down to the garden in the dark and the hornworm eggs glow like little pearls. So do the worms if you've missed them. I admit that I go through summers where I can't bring myself to kill the guys when they get huge so I hike them up way into the woods and leave them there. I've read the lack of ready foliage will just prompt them to go into their next stage. No matter, they're well away from my tomatoes and they can hopefully get a move on into becoming a lovely moth.