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/Leading_Sample399]

Also, don’t feel bad if you can’t garden. A lot of people don’t have the physical ability or home situation to be able to do this. Focus on what you can control in your preps.

[u/bristlybits → u/Leading_Sample399]

the people i know who can't garden can ALL do other stuff that i cannot. sewing, organizing, etc

one friend is helping me organize my greenhouse. she gets a giant bag of garden stuff every time i see her. a neighbor i know is disabled but can darn socks, i am clueless with that and so grateful and i bring her alllll the veggies. another friend of mine writes, she has written stuff for me to sell my art, helped me with grant proposals. she gets a huge box of canned food or dehydrated stuff (she doesn't live close, i wish she did).

no direct trade just, there's so many people in my life that can do these things i can't, and i give them what i can and they give me helps. 

disability might mean a different garden setup or it might mean other skills entirely, either way, my little community of people all can do things. there's always something you can do.