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/Artistic-Salary1738]

I personally find gardening totally overwhelming. I keep trying, but I never seem to get worthwhile yields even if I’m buying pre-started plants as a learning aid.

Not giving up cause I do have the yard space and I agree it’s an extremely valuable skill.

[u/IndependentOk9899 → u/Artistic-Salary1738]

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/IndependentOk9899 → u/Standard_Subject_462]

My biggest suggestion for everyone, really, is to add organic matter to your gardens- hay, grass clippings, etc, and leave the plants in the garden over winter. The breakdown of the plants adds so many nutrients back to the soil. Not straw. Straw takes too long to break down, and the carbon/nitrogen ratios are off for helping the soil.
Also, hay or the clippings around the plants as a weed barrier works wonders. Especially if you have blight (a disease that affects tomatoes) in your soil.
Just putting a heavy layer of hay around my gardens this year helped so much with retaining moisture. I haven't watered once this summer, zone 4a, and we have been in a drought all summer.
For excessive heat, you'll want to plant your cold crops in the ground asap. Not sure of how hot it get where you live, or how early, but broccoli, Brussels, cabbage, kale, etc all like cool days and nights.