Homesteading

by Nate Smith

If you have made the decision that you would like to try your hand at keeping some chickens in your backyard, there are a few considerations that you might want to make first, and although you have probably thought of some of these, there just might be a few that might come as a surprise.

Legality of Raising Backyard Chickens

Probably the very first question you should ask yourself about raising chickens is, can I raise chickens in my backyard?’ You know, legally. I know, I know. If you are slightly stubborn like I tend to be you are probably saying to yourself, ‘this is my property, so surely I can do whatever I want on it’! Am I right? If that thought crossed your mind, or anything at all along those lines, trust me, I know where you’re coming from. Here’s the deal.

If you live within the boundaries of a city as most (but not all) of us do, you will want to start out by getting info on whether or not you can even keep chickens in your backyard while staying within the confines of the law.

The last thing you want to do is to build or buy a chicken coop, purchase a few starter hens, buy some food, get the entire family excited about the adventure that lies ahead, only to have a bureaucrat pay you a visit and let you know (kindly or otherwise), that what you are doing against a city ordinance and that not only will you have to get rid of your new chicks, you will also have to pony up for a fine they’ve decided to hand you. What a slap in the face!

Basic Types of Zoning and Chickens

There are a few different types of zoning that exist, each one having different laws and regulations on what you will and what you will not be able to do. If your property happens to be zoned as agricultural, then you probably won’t have any problem raising chickens or constructing any type of chicken coop you might want to have. Most people reading this article will not fit that description, however, and will live on property that is probably zoned as residential.

Don’t let that discourage you in regards to chicken-raising, as many, many residential areas will allow people to raise a few chickens on their property. The best thing that you can do to make sure is to contact your city offices and simply ask them if there are any ordinances on raising chickens in your backyard, and what they are. You will find typically that there are two different areas of laws that will affect what you are able to do. First, there are often laws specific to the actual birds.

How many birds you are able to have on your property (it might depend on the size of your property), what sex they can be (roosters, anyone?), and in some cases, although not extremely common, you might even have to get written permission from your neighbors! I know, that last one sounds a bit strange.

You haven’t burned any bridges there, have you? The second set of laws have to do with the type of housing you use for your chickens. How large can your chicken coop be? Do you have to get a permit to build or even own a chicken coop in your backyard? Will this chicken coop need to be inspected?

I hope I haven’t scared you away from the idea of even wanting to start raising chickens in your backyard, and honestly I believe I have found some of the more extreme laws that you might want to, as your own city ordinance might include anything from having nearly no regulations at all, so maybe just one or two of these issues, which might not seem like much of a problem at all.

Remember, as you are going into this and inquiring about the local laws of your city just remember that joy of fresh eggs, chickens and the family experience is all very much worth it in the end!

A Personal Example on Chicken Keeping Laws

It has been a number years now that raising chickens in your backyard has been allowed here in my city. In regards to how many chickens can be kept here, a person can keep up to 12 chickens, depending on the size of your property.

Anywhere from house lots as small as 5,000 square feet keeping just two chickens, up to larger lots being allowed 12. There was a small public hearing where people were able to voice their opinions on the matter. For the most part, it was thought that people being able to raise chickens in their backyard was fine and that there wasn’t really any detriment at all.

Even public officials mentioned that when it came to complaints about chickens from neighbors (which were extremely rare as it is), the complaints were never about noise, and never about a smell (neither of those things seemed to be any problem at all).

The only complaints on file were for the occasional chicken getting loose, which was always promptly gathered and put back in its place. I’m sure we can all point to that neighbor of ours that would be the first to complain about the slightest inconvenience, or really anything at all.

Whatever the case may be where you live, make sure you have it on good authority that you are able to keep chickens before going out and finding chicks and a chicken coop. Don’t take the advice of a friend or a neighbor or a real estate agent even someone near you that might be raising chickens.

Sometimes when laws are passed that ban certain things, those who were practicing before the law came into effect are exempt from the new law; they are grandfathered in.

What if My City Does Not Allow Backyard Chickens?

If you find that your municipality does not allow raising chickens, don’t panic just yet. All might not be lost. The process of getting a simple law like this changed is often times much more simple than you might think.

You might be asked to attend a city council meeting to state your case, and often times that will be enough for the city to take a vote on the issue, and I think often times you will find that no one wants to be the lone councilman putting their foot down on people wanting to become more self-sustaining. Be patient on the matter as this process doesn’t usually happen overnight.

It can takes months for the ball to get rolling, but you can be a part of making great changes in your area if you stick with it. If you can find others in your area that back you on this issue and will be willing to work with you, even better.

Nate Smith has been homesteading and dealing with backyard chickens for a number of years. He encourages people who are looking to begin raising chickens to gather information first on the best breeds of chickens, types of chicken coops and requirements that go into raising backyard chickens.

by Jason – www.theselfsufficientgardener.com

It’s generally considered blasphemy these days to be a survivalist and not garden.  Food is the most important survival consideration next to water for the survival minded.  It makes sense to be at least somewhat self-reliant when it comes to food production for you and your family.  In other words, if you don’t garden you should really consider starting.

For those of us who do mix gardening and prepping/survivalism, the perennial question waits:  What to grow?

Gardening prior to SHTF can be a challenge and doing so afterward will be even more of one.  Therefore I’ve devised a rating system for choosing the best vegetables for my garden if I have to rely upon it in an emergency situation.

On a rating scale of 1-5, I rate the following attributes for each crop.

*Reliability—How susceptible is the plant to disease and pests.  Can I count on production?

*Season—How often can the crop be grown?  Does it take long to produce or can multiple crops be grown in one year?

*Nutritional Value—Not only calorie count but also vitamins and minerals.  ATSHTF this will be critical!

*Sustainability—Can the crop be propagated year after year?  We won’t know how long a disaster will last in some cases.

*Storage—Feast or famine?  Eating great for a week won’t sustain a family.  How easy is the crop to store long term?

*Yield—No sense growing things that won’t produce.

*Stealth—If TSHTF, how vulnerable will my garden become?

Of course, everyone’s rating scale will be different.  You can even weigh some things heavier than others or disregard certain ones.  The important thing is that you think about this beforehand and put it to use.

As an example, I will rate three of my go-to crops if I had to survive on garden produce.

Beets

Reliability—4

Almost no pests eat beets.  They are slightly temperature sensitive for germination and initial growth so planting at the right time is crucial.

Season—3

Can be started early and grown late.  Germination, as I mentioned above, is the critical phase.

Nutritional Value—4

High in carbs/sugar.  The green tops can be cut and come again harvested and the root, of course, is very nutritious.

Sustainability—2

Does not produce seeds until it overwinters.  This makes seed saving difficult.

Storage—4

Excellent capabilities.  Beets will store great in a root cellar.  They can be stored in a small box full of sand for a long time.

Yield—3

The greens and the root can be eaten as I mentioned.

Stealth—4

Other than the burgundy color, beets and inconspicuous lying low to the ground.

Tally the numbers and I get 24 for beets—not bad.

Potatoes

Reliability—2

Several pests like potatoes and we can’t forget about the blight that caused the great famine in Ireland.

Season—2

Potatoes grow well in cold weather but the require a long growing season.

Nutritional Value—5

This veggie is off the charts in nutritional terms.

Sustainability—3

The tubers can be divided or even just a small chunk can be used to grow another plant.

Storage—5

Outstanding storage life.  Kept in a root cellar these will last quite a while.

Yield—5

Use a tire or tower setup and one plant can produce ungodly amounts.

Stealth—3

Potatoes don’t really have an obvious appearance for non-gardeners but they do get rather big in some cases.

So potatoes score high as well with a 25.

Amaranth

Reliability—4

Almost no pests or diseases to speak of effect amaranth.

Season—2

The growing season is somewhat long and limited to warmer times.

Nutritional Value—4

Very high in many vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.  Both the greens and the grains can be eaten.

Sustainability—5

Produces tons of seeds!

Storage—5

Though the greens do not store well at all, the grains will store almost indefinitely once dry.

Yield—4

Outstanding.

Stealth—1

Tall with bright flowers.  The only saving grace is that most people have never seen amaranth.

Amaranth scores a 25.

Just, for example, I’ll give you a crop that most gardeners love but I consider a poor choice for survival gardens.

Tomatoes

Reliability—2

Cutworms are a problem.  A disease is the real killer here.  Early and late blights combined with blossom end rot leave tomato harvests in doubt.

Season—2

Only grows in warmer weather and takes a while to produce.

Nutritional Value—4

Good nutritional profile.

Sustainability—3

The seeds are easy to harvest and store and are generally reliable but only if the plant makes it to production.

Storage—3

Tomatoes are horrible for storage.  The best bet is to harvest green and let them ripen on their own.

Yield—4

Good yields

Stealth—1

Everyone knows what a tomato plant looks like and bright red fruit does little to disguise it.

Tomatoes score a 19.

I hope this rating system has at least caused you to look at garden crops in a different way.  Its good to know how to grow a variety of things but it’s also good to know which we can rely on when it comes down to it.

by Robbins

I have strived for the last 10 years to become more and more self-sufficient. This was not the result of any event or premonition. I had no inkling there was a prepper movement or survival community. It was just something in my DNA. I wanted the security and peace of knowing I was prepared.

I wanted to take care of my family if something were to happen that would interrupt our modern existence. I was very interested in how people existed on small homesteads in the ’30s and ’40s.  This led to my interest in raising and eating livestock on my small piece of property.

If our modern infrastructure were to become disrupted for 1-2 weeks our supply of animal protein would disappear. This means all canned tuna, ham, salmon, spam, beef stew, chili, roast beef w/ gravy, chicken, and turkey would be used up very quickly. The fish, chicken, and beef in our freezers would go first, then the canned meat products, and finally our long-term stores.

Our menus would change immediately. The ability to raise your own meat supply would be vital. The time to learn how to raise your own food is before you have to. The learning curve is steep and unforgiving.

The gestation period of the animal considered would be important. The number of births and days to maturity also. I would want an animal that can produce the most offspring reliably. It would help if it could accomplish this with little assistance. Can the animal feed itself? Does it compete for resources with you?

What type of workload does it generate for you?  Ideally, I would look for the highest gain with the least input.   Can it be butchered easily at home? Is the amount of meat at butchering a quantity that can be preserved in one day? Preserving meat without refrigeration would mean a race against time on butchering day.

How much land and fence is needed. Are you going to be able to manage its health yourself? These are all questions that I hope to answer below.

The animal I would promote for consideration is the modern sheep. Sheep are the oldest domesticated animal used for food. They have been raised by man for  7-9000 years. I have raised the Katadhin/Dorper breed for many years. I know that a lot of people don’t think they like sheep\lamb.

Usually, this is from a bad experience eating badly prepared lamb. Some can’t reconcile the image of eating a small adorable baby lamb. Some think it is too gamey. Let me explain.

The Lamb you buy at the grocer is by no means a benchmark for lamb palatability. They are usually from wool breeds of sheep which have a stronger taste. The katadhin\dorpers that I raise are hair sheep; they do not grow the thick wool coat that is so strongly associated with sheep.

They, in general, are much milder tasting than wool breeds. Also, the idea that you are eating a baby lamb is false. The sheep that you eat are butchered at 6-12 months. This is the age which they would begin to breed and weigh from 50 to 80 lbs.

One of the attributes I find desirable in the hair sheep I raise is, of course, the lack of wool. This means the sheep devote their nutritional intake to growing meat and making more sheep. No large woolen coat to trim. Their hair coat gets thicker in the winter and is shed in the spring.

This means less work for you, fewer parasites making a home out of the wool, and more heat resistance. These sheep will mature to around 125 lbs for a ewe and up to 200 lbs for a ram. The gestation period for sheep is an average of 150 days (5-months). This means you can have 3 lamb crops every 24 months.

These sheep have the ability to breed and lamb year round. While not all ewes in a flock will breed back as quickly as others I consistently have ewes that do with zero breeding management from me.

This means a mature ewe can put a lot of meat walking around in 2 years. I can count on mostly twins out of 1-year-old ewes, younger ewes will throw out single lambs, and I have triplets every year. This means lambs of all ages in your pasture year round. My small flock of 20 ewes lambed in January.

I culled and sold off all but the best 14 ewes in August. Three rams went to the butcher and in the freezer. Last week (8\20) I had a ewe drop a single lamb. It looks like a few more will lamb soon. These few lambs will mature in six months and either be retained for breeding, sold or butchered.

Now the great thing about having a flock of sheep is the MEAT. Walking, baa-ing Meat. If we enter into a SHTF situation these animals are going to be life-savers. A self-renewing resource of hi-protein and hi-energy food.

A flock of 1 ram and 3 mature ewes could generate between 0-6 lambs every 8- 12 months. (I include 0 because nothing is for sure, animals die, predators succeed, or you have a bad set of lambs or mother ewes) Let’s say we have a lambing success of 150%. That means you add 4.5 more animals to your flock each year.

You may save the best ewe to raise. This still leaves you with 3 or more sheep that can be added to your food supply. They will be happily grazing (gaining valuable size) until you need them. These animals will be easier to manage at butchering time weighing between 50 to 100 lbs and yielding 20 to 50 lbs of high-quality meat.

They could be staggered every 3 or four months to stretch out your food supply. If you were in a TEOTWAWKI situation you could smoke, can, salt cure, or jerky the meat. (You have been stockpiling non-iodized salt haven’t you?) In a grid down event meat will disappear quickly.

These animals will become very valuable. They may have to be locked up at night and only grazed under supervision or guard. As a self-perpetuating food supply, these animals can be a very important part of your long-term food plan.

A flock of 1 ram and 3 ewes could be raised on an acre and a half with good grass. It would work best to divide it into 3 equal 1\2 acre parcels and move the sheep every 2-3 weeks as the grass gets low. In the heart of winter, you may have to bring in some hay.

These sheep are parasite resistant. Keep the sheep moving from paddock to paddock to beat the parasite load that builds up when they stay to long in one place.

Stockpile wormer, preferably 2 different kinds. Worm them before they show signs of sickness. Be proactive. Sheep have a bad rap as looking for somewhere to die. This is far from the truth. They often don’t show signs of sickness until it is too far progressed to be successfully treated, and then you waste your time and wormer treating a dead sheep walking.

Make a schedule for checking your flock and stick to it. Be a smart shepherd and cull aggressively.

Only the best sheep should be retained. The Ram is 1\2 the herd’s genetics. Breed for parasite tolerance and good mothering. Don’t reward bad mother ewes or sickly sheep by keeping them in your flock.

Each winter I cut brambles and privet hedge and throw over the fence to supplement their food. They go insane for anything green in winter.  These hair sheep are browsers as well as grazers and will clean up brambles like goats do. Start small and remember to balance your number of animals to your amount of grass. They will multiply like credit card debt when you keep them healthy.

If sheep is not a fit for your situation, try rabbits, chickens, goats or ducks. All have short reproductive cycles and can be intensively managed. I like sheep because they eat grass and turn it into meat without a lot of labor from me. —good luck

Also Read:

• Small Acreage Homesteading Guide
• The Lost Ways Book Review

by Sandra O

A number of years ago I awoke to the unpleasant reality that when the stuff hits the fan and people were unable to get food and water, they would spill out into the suburbs, even past the burbs, to our sleepy community, to take what they wanted by any means they could.

Although I lived in a “safe” area with preps, a garden, and neighbors who were hunters, I realized I could not expect them to protect me, nor would I be able to defend the property I owned.  I recognized I was going to have to move out of my comfortable environment.

It was just a matter of where.  I started to search for a country homestead where I would stand a chance of staying alive and protecting myself.  A place small enough to be manageable on a small income, but large enough for my kids and their families to come when “the trigger event” occurs. This is the short version of how I did it.

First, I evaluated how much I could spend.  What could I pay cash for, what could I get a mortgage for, how much tax could I afford to pay once I left my job?  Would I buy just raw land or could I get some kind of a residence on the property?

Once I figured out that magic number, I had to decide if I was going to pay cash up front or get a small mortgage?  I called my bank and ask them what they would offer me and I was impressed with the no points and the very low rate they quoted.

I had to pray hard on what to do because I didn’t have any debt.  If I used my retirement funds to pay cash for a place it might put me in a tight spot later on. I finally decided to take a mortgage out until I could sell the suburb house and pay off the new mortgage.  With a pre-approval letter in hand, I started looking for my country homestead.

Where to go?  I read the recommended books, considered the options, including moving west where my husband’s family is located.  But, I like the state where I live. Tennessee is listed as one of the top 7 “freedom” states and the state legislature, while not perfect, thinks about preserving the people’s rights more than other states I have visited.  Plus, there is no state income tax and while there are four seasons, winter is normally mild and the growing season is about 8 months depending on the year.

I got the map out and decided where I was going to start looking.  I did a lot of research on the internet to learn about the counties and the small towns in those counties. I looked up taxes, best use rights, zoning laws, and restrictions.

Almost every weekend for a year, I was in the car driving the back roads of Tennessee. Besides my BOB (click here to read M.D. Creekmore’s bug out bag checklist), I always had maps, boots, hat, bug spray, a compass and a handgun with me (M.D. Creekmore’s Top Handgun Choices).  I frequently got lost and would go into the local café or gas station and ask directions.

I talked with the people in the cafes and ask them about the area and if any places were for sale.  Some places were friendly and others not so much, which gave me an idea of whether “outsiders” would be accepted or not.

I had to learn about the topography of the land in different counties. When you look at the pictures on the internet, they don’t show you that 13 of the 15 acres for sale are on a 1500 foot high hill, which would only be good for goats.

I walked quite a few properties so I could learn the lay of the land.  I wanted some acreage, so I learned to use land and farm sites, not realtor.com. I learned how to check google earth to see what was bordering the land I wanted to look at so I didn’t drive 3 hours to a site to find the next plot was a junkyard.  “Prepper” real estate ads and sites were way too expensive for what they offered and real estate agents were not willing to drive 1 or 2 hours from their offices to show you property.

I learned how to work around the agents to go see property myself and talk to the property owner and their neighbors.

Country folks are usually sitting on their porches watching the world go by. I’d pull in a driveway and wave at them and if they waved back, I’d go talk to them. They’d tell me who died and who was wanting to sell.  I would always ask if the land flooded, how often, where the closest stream/river was, if it was good hunting land, and if they would buy the land. I heard quite a few interesting stories!

After about 6 months, I got pretty knowledgeable and narrowed down the counties I would consider buying in.  I programmed my favorite internet sites with the parameters I wanted and then it was just watching, visiting and waiting until the right property came up for sale.

After about a year, I had my choices narrowed down to two counties and two properties.  One homestead I wouldn’t need to do anything to the residence, the land was a pasture with ponds, but it was located closer to a small city than I wanted and the taxes were higher than the other choice.

The second choice I would have to refurb the residence, but the land was raw hunting land with a meadow and natural springs scattered throughout and it was more isolated, but still within 12 country miles of a tiny town.  Both were about the same acreage and had old barns on the property. I spent a week praying and doing “what if” games in my head and finally put an offer on the property with the raw land.

Buying a property from country folks is not anywhere similar to buying a house in the city or the suburbs. There is a lot of poker face haggling going on, but basically what you see is what you get.  If you are not an expert, you have to bring your team of experts with you.

You need to have a guy for the house, the electrical, the roof, the well, the septic, and for the outbuildings. If you are going to farm the land, you need a guy to come check the land.  Depending on how far out in the country it is located, it is not easy or cheap to get this team of experts out to the property when you want them to come.  Did I say that country folks work on their own time schedule?

One thing I will caution readers about is to find out if the property is in any sort of tax relief program.  For example, is it planted with trees for logging?  Does it have an agricultural exemption?  Is it in any program which offers a tax reduction?

My property was in a “greenway”, which was supposedly county sponsored; but after research, I found it was really funded by the state, which was really funded by the federal government.  I had to take the property out of the program, pay taxes from the last year which the property had a tax reduction.  By doing this, the property is no longer considered a tax-relief property and is no longer on the government inventory list.

I purchased the property for a reasonable price, considering I was going to have to redo the residence interior.   The bones were good but the guts were old. I had to find a contractor I could work with, who would drive an hour into the country! Most contractors would listen to what I wanted and tell me no, it was too far for them.

It took me three months to find two contractors who could do the job and get bids; I picked the one I liked the best. The contractor did the work I couldn’t do; wiring, plumbing, moving walls, digging a basement. It was not cheap and it was not fast, but it was good.

Between weather delays, people delays, inspector delays, it was about 8 months to complete the contractor part of the refurb.  My sons laid the new floor, painted the interior, changed lights, fans, etc.  There are still baseboards and crown molding to put back up; plus a hundred other little things to do.  It’s a work in progress.

The house had a fireplace with a 40-year-old gas log set, so I went shopping for a wood stove to put in the fireplace. Wood stoves are not cheap!  Once you find what you need, it has to be installed. I’m not talking about just inserting the stove; the chimney has to be inspected, primed and flued and a topper added to keep the brand new roof from burning up.

Again, getting people 1 hour out in the country was a time-consuming effort; but it ended well. It heats the entire house to between 66 and 70 degrees, depending on the outside temperature.

I tried to make all the basic systems redundant, the electric HVAC is backed up with a propane generator, which is backed up by a wood stove and fans. The frig and freezer are backed up by the generator and the kitchen stove runs on propane plus the wood stove is also a backup.  The electric well pump is backed up by the generator, but I’m still working on getting a solar system for the well, then I might add to it later.

The septic, while new, can be diverted to the first owner’s old country line, which runs out in the woods somewhere.  My son installed a video surveillance system that shows 360⁰ completely around the house and which works beautifully. With 7 large dogs outside and 6 yappy little dogs inside, not much goes unannounced.

The last couple of months have been spent fencing the front 2 acres, installing gates, clearing the garden, planning a rain catchment system, and coops for the chickens and ducks!  It has been frustrating slow at times but exciting at the same time.  I have been accepted in the area and my neighbors are friendly and helpful.

I think any horde, gangs, or desperate people leaving the big cities, which are 125 and 175 miles distant, will get tired, lost and discouraged long before getting anywhere near the backwoods, especially if they are walking.  Most people out here have guns and I hear target practice going on all the time.

I feel safe; I can defend myself, and am working towards establishing a home business and being at least half-way self-sufficient!  I hope this inspires some of you to take the challenge and find yourself a country homestead!

by Matilda

With limited space, time and money, I want an optimal, seasonal yield from my cool climate garden.  No matter where I live or how much room I have, the garden is a significant part of my daily life. It also provides an opportunity for appreciation of God’s provision.

Most vegetables are beyond comparison for taste if you grow them yourself.  However, some take up garden space for a very long time or, if the season is too short for heat-loving plants, you may end up being disappointed with the crop.

Everyone can grow something, even if it is only sprouts on the kitchen bench. Everything you grow yourself makes you more self-reliant and can reduce your potential chemical exposure.

Those folk fortunate enough to have a greenhouse (especially one with some form of warmth) can extend their growing season considerably in some cases.

I don’t have a greenhouse so this is the criteria I use to determine what to plant in my garden. Ponder these considerations within your own context and growing zone.  I have included a few of my own examples.

1. 1. Does it grow well in my zone?
      Only fast crops of tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, melons etc ripen or mature for me. Even then, the cool humidity puts them at greater risk of disease.  I only put in a few plants for immediate blissful eating, not to store.  I just don’t have the space to potentially waste.  Of course, every now and then, you might get a bumper crop as a result of an extended period of lovely weather.  In that case, thank God for the crop and preserve what you can.
      For the most part, though, there seems little point trying and trying to grow something that just doesn’t thrive in your garden.
   2. What frozen, dried or tinned foods are cheaper to buy than grow?
      For me, dried beans, grains and legumes are way cheaper to buy as well as frozen cauliflower, peas, corn, brussels sprouts. Tinned tomatoes, pineapple, beans, legumes, and asparagus are better value for my time and space too.  I have a couple of olive trees but they are unlikely to provide all our needs.  Bottled olives are on my shopping list.
   3. It grows well here but how long does it take to grow?
      Cauliflowers, large cabbages, storage onions all grow well in my district.
      But I don’t give them priority because they take up space for a long time.
      So do other plants, but they are better value, which brings me to the next point:
   4. Can the whole plant be eaten or used?
      Of course, you can compost any of your spent vegetable plants. However, I give priority growing space to those with the most edible parts – even the ones that take up space for a long time such as:

Garlic
My favorite cool climate vegetable is garlic.  I plant it very close together in rows, thinning it out as it grows.  First I use the shoots, then the slightly swollen bulbs as green garlic when it just starts to bulb up.

By the time the bulbs really start to swell as the weather warms, the remaining garlic is spaced well to encourage large bulbs.  By that time we’ve been eating fresh garlic for months already!
Any garlic not eaten, dried or planted by the time it’s ready to sprout again in autumn, gets brined and hot smoked in a makeshift smoker – the wok.  I’ve only just started doing this and found that hot smoked garlic lasts a couple of months or so in the fridge.

Sprouting Broccoli:
It makes little flowering side shoots for a long time.  Additionally, you can eat the leaves as greens.  Has anyone tried making little savory rice rolls (similar to dolmades) out of broccoli or other brassica leaves?

Beetroot and Carrots:
Quite fast growing.  The tops are also useful as steamed or salad greens and in soups.  I make pesto out of carrot leaves and it’s not too bad.

Parsely:
Excellent value for space.  It produces lush leaves until it flowers and goes to seed.  The flowers are among the best beneficial insect attractors.  Then you can collect the seeds.  First green seeds to add to salads and soups, then after the seeds have dried on the plant, they can be used as a cooking spice.  When I eventually pull the plant out, the root is scrubbed and used to flavor stock.

Other “cut and come again” greens:
Lettuce, Asian vegetables, spinach, chard, rocket, celery, kale, and many others all keep producing leaves until they eventually go to seed.  As a bonus, some seed is suitable for saving and sprouting after you’ve eaten all that leaf produce.

Fast growing veggies:
Radish is a great value for everything vegetable.  It grows very fast and there are winter varieties, that if planted at the right time, will overwinter in your garden, to be used as you want until the warm weather arrives and they eventually bolt to seed.  Collect the seed for sprouting before adding the spent plant to the compost heap.  Young leaves are tasty in salads, as steamed greens, and in soups.

Radish also has a surprisingly beneficial nutrient profile.
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/radish.html
Asian greens and rocket are other examples of speedy vegetables.

Edible “weeds”
Truly a survival food.  Foraging is growing in popularity.  There are many edible “weeds” that we like to include in our diet.  There are also lots of books and websites to help identify edible and poisonous plants.  One good thing about edible “weeds” is that most of them self seed.  They will always be in your garden happily cohabitating with your fruit and vegetables.
Dandelion is my favorite “weed”.  The young, tender, slightly bitter leaves are excellent steamed with other greens and in salads.  They also have medicinal properties.
http://foodfacts.mercola.com/dandelion-greens.html

When the dandelion plant gets a bit old, especially after flowering, we chop off all the old bitter leaves and new tender ones emerge from the root again.
Eventually, the root can be dug up, scrubbed, roasted and ground as a coffee substitute.  Caffeine free and delicious! Other edible weeds in my garden are chickweed (for salads), sheep sorrel (adds a citrus tang to salads), milk or sow thistle, amaranth, nettle, fat hen, to name a few.  Here are some great ways to eat your weeds!
http://greekfood.about.com/od/discovergreekfood/a/wild_greens.htm

1. 1. 1. Invest in perennials
         Can be slow to establish but generally low maintenance. Just keep them fed and mulched in their “permanent” bed…  They stay in the same spot for some years and can share a bed with a few fast annuals like radish and lettuce that won’t interfere with their growth..  Asparagus, globe artichoke, bramble berries, rhubarb, horseradish are all examples of edible perennials.
      2. Do I have any “Volunteers”?
         Edible weeds are in this category but also a few others. Potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, peas from pea straw, and anything that germinates from the compost bin.  Tomatoes are some of best examples.  They germinate from compost when they are ready, they usually grow very vigorously and yield a surprisingly good crop – especially the cherry and bush varieties.
         We purchase spent mushroom compost in autumn and spread it on the garden.  One year we had such a yield of volunteers that we had bottles and bottles of dried sliced and ground mushrooms for the pantry!  Be careful with field mushrooms though.  Make sure you can identify them and rule out any poisonous ones.
         So – don’t be too hasty to weed out volunteers.  Assess their potential worth first!

A few final points:

1. 1. • Most people can eat a varied diet of fruit, vegetable, and foraged foods without concern. Do your research about the nutrient profiles of the foods you eat in a balanced diet and plant to provide a variety of nutrients.  Check with your doctor if there are any foods that may interfere with the medications you take.
      • Ensure you have the resources and knowledge to identify edible wild foods. There are some that can kill you like certain mushrooms and others like this one: http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/food/poisonousplants/waterhemlock/index.html
      • Don’t forage for food in places contaminated with chemicals, exhaust fumes, peeling lead paint or dog/cat droppings. Be careful what you put in your compost.
      • You can make the most of any growing space you have from pots on a balcony or sunny window to a backyard patch by assessing the value for space, time and money of the edible plants you can grow.
      • Share your experiences with others. Teach the little ones especially where food comes from, how to grow it and how to find it.

God bless your gardening efforts!

by Debbie S

I’ve been seeing a lot of people on forums and comments on other blogs asking about how to save vegetable seeds for next years planning, so I decided to write this article to share what I’ve learned through years of gardening and seed saving…

Hybrids are basically for commercial production and flavor is not necessarily what they are after.  Most of us know they are designed for good shipping ability or for ripening all at once for harvest.  Heirlooms are different.  They’re ripe when they’re ready.  Tomatoes have very thin skins and wouldn’t ship well.  But they have fabulous flavor.  If you’ve never had a Brandywine tomato you’re missing out!

Seed saving is a massive subject and I’m only going to be able to scratch the surface.  There are many books and organizations dedicated to this subject.

• http://www.seedsavers.org/
• http://www.seedsofchange.com/
• Seed saving guidebook
• Join this group (yes it costs money) and you’ll get the yearly catalog that lists other seed savers who’ll sell you their seed at a very nice price, plus you can sell yours.  http://www.seedsavers.org/Content.aspx?src=membership.htm

The first step to seed saving is pollination.  Your plants must be true to form and not cross-pollinated.  Some plants are self-pollinating, others via insects (bees, moths, butterflies) and yet others via wind.  To maintain varietal purity you need to watch how your plants are pollinated.  Isolation via distance is great if you’re on acreage.  If like me you’re gardening in a city there are other techniques available for you.

Time:  Time isolation works well for certain crops provided you’ve enough space.  If for instance, you’re growing two different types of corn you could plant corn one and then wait a couple of weeks and plant corn two.  That way the pollen from corn one will have done its job before corn two has pollen ready.

Mechanical Isolation:  This is pretty much what I do given the small garden I have.  Bagging is great on corn.  Cages wrapped with floating row cover or old sheer curtains from Goodwill work well for tomatoes.  Masking tape closes female flowers on squash, cucumbers, and melons.

It is important to have more than one fruit or veggie to save from.  You’ll want to have the choice of which is truest to the parent and grew well in your garden.  Don’t think one tomato or one corn is enough.  It’s not.  You want to have seed saved from several of the best.  Also be sure you are harvesting from fully ripened fruits and veggies.

I think the queen of the garden is the tomato, so let’s look at saving from this plant first.  Oddly enough there is quite the controversy among seed saver over the extent of cross-pollination.  Some believe that crossing is rampant, while others feel after many years of growing there is no problem.  I don’t want to risk mine so this is what I do.

I cage my tomatoes rather than steak them.  This makes it easy for me to isolate them for pollination.  I have floating row cover although you can use old sheer curtains, mosquito netting or something similar.  I quite literally wrap the entire tomato cage being sure the wrap is taller than my cage.  I then twist the top extra material and tie it off.  This encloses my tomato keeping any little bee out.  I leave this in place until I have fruit set (baby tomatoes) then I remove the wrap and tie a small piece of colorful yarn LOOSELY around the stem so I can locate those first few tomatoes.

Come harvest time I pick all the tomatoes with the yarn and head to the kitchen to start the seed saving process.  I’m sure we all know these little seeds are covered with a jelly-like substance.  It’s important to remove this gel before trying to save the seed.  It’s very easy to accomplish.  All you need is a container, a knife, and some water.

Cut the tomatoes in half and carefully squeeze the seeds into the container.  Careful removal here leaves you with a seedless tomato to eat!  Love not having to forfeit eating one of them.  Once you have all the seeds into the container add enough water to cover them with lots of room to spare.  I use an old water tumbler and half fill with water.  Let it sit on the counter for a long time as you’re going to be fermenting the gel sack off the seeds.  This process not only cleans the seed of the sack but also kills many of the seed-borne diseases.

During this process, your container will begin to stink and a grey/white layer of gunk will form on the top.  It’s pretty stinky so it’s best if you can do this outside; hopefully in an area where kids or pets won’t be able to dump it over.  You’ll want to pay close attention to the seeds as if left too long in the water they will begin to germinate.

You want to stir your seed/water mix a couple of times a day.  When you see bubbles rising in the mix or the grey gunk covers the surface then the process is complete.  Add enough water to double the liquid in the glass and stir vigorously.  The good seed will fall to the bottom of the glass and the bad seed will float.

Pour off the water being careful to keep the good seed.  Repeat this process of adding water, stirring and pouring off until only clean seed remains.  The final rinse should be poured into a fine mesh wire strainer and set on a towel to remove as much water as possible.  Then pour out seeds on a small plate and spread out evenly in a single layer.  Do not try to dry on a paper towel, a piece of cloth or flexible plastic (think plastic wrap).  It’s very, very hard to get the seed off of these things.

You want them to dry quickly and not bunch together so stir them twice a day.  Never dry then in the sun or oven.  If it’s hot and humid, a fan will help speed up the process.  Tomato seed should remain viable for 4-10 years depending of the variety.  Completely dried seed should be sealed in an airtight container and stored in a cool, dry area or frozen for long-term storage.

The next seed I like to save is my green beans.  Again, cross-pollination is an issue.  Bush type plants are easier to work with as you can cover just like you do the tomato plants.  If you’re growing pole beans you could cover one section or use special little bags and cover each flower you’ll be saving from.

They must remain covered until the last flower sets beans.  They are, however, very easy to save from as once the vine/bush is dry at the end of the season you just pull the vine/bush down and let it sit for a day or two.  Then you pull the bean pods off and open the pods.

Opening the pods can sometimes be frustrating.  If so, then place them in an old feed sack or pillowcase, close the top, lay it on the ground and then run in place.  You can also hang it from a tree and beat it with a stick or baseball bat.

Once you’ve opened all the pods you’ll need to clean the seed.  This can be done on a windy day by pouring from one bowl or basket to another.  Be sure to cover your work area with a tarp as sometimes the wind can gust and blow your seed into the grass.  I will sometimes use a box fan to assist if there’s no wind.

Weevil damage can occur so it’s a good idea to freeze them in your freezer for 5 days before storing them for next garden season.  You want to be sure they are dry before doing this so take a few and place on a hard surface like the driveway.  Hit them with a hammer.  If they shatter they are dry enough for storage if they just mash then you’ll need to dry them longer.

They should have about 50% germination for up to four years if stored in a cool, dry, dark spot.

Next, let’s look at corn:

All corn varieties are pollinated by the wind and will easily cross with each other.  Pollen is made by the tassels that form at the top of the stalk.  The silk that forms on the top of the corn cob is the female section.  As the wind blows grains of pollen from the tassel drifts to the silk.  An interesting fact is each silk that is pollinated results in a kernel of corn on that ear.  Corn pollen is light and can be carried a long way by the wind.  Isolation would require about 2 miles between corn patches.

You always want to grow your corn in large blocks or patches rather than long rows.  It’s best to grow at least 100 stalks although more is better.  This will help you avoid inbreeding.    Never work with the tassels and the ears on the same plants and when saving seed try to save from 20 to 50 different plants.  If you are growing more than one variety of corn than time isolation would be an option for pollination.  Plant corn ‘A’ and 2-3 weeks later plant corn ‘B’.

Hand pollination is time-consuming but not hard.  You’ll need a pocket knife, stapler, and bags.  This company has bags: http://www.seedtodayequipment.com/index.php?cat=1&industry_id=4&category=bags_and_packaging_supplies

It takes a few days to hand pollinate and in a drought even longer.  You start just before the silks begin to emerge from the tiny ears; if any silks have already emerged then that ear will be ruined for seed saving purposes.  So when you’re sure the silks are about to appear you want to bag as many ears as are ready.

Always bag the top ear (the plant feeds that one first and drops last in a drought).  To bag your ear you will tear off the ‘leaf’ that is covering the baby ear, cut the tip-off with the pocket knife, cutting enough off to expose the silks, this will look like a pea-sized circle in the center of the cut.  Use care when doing this too far down can damage the cob and cause smut.  You can tear off an ear or two from a plant you’re not going to save from and look to see about how far down to cut if you want.

Once that’s done you cover the ear with a ‘shoot bag’, it covers the whole ear and is wedged next to the stock.  The number you can bag the first day will depend on how many have silks ready to emerge.  You can bag more on the second day and third or fourth days if needed, particularly if the pollen is shedding yet.

The next trick is to staple a brown ‘tassel bag’ around each tassel just as it begins to shed pollen.  Bag too early and the pollen won’t develop.  Once you’re ready to bag your tassels give the stalk just below the tassel a good shake.  This will help dislodge any pollen that may have floated in.

Then pull the branches upward and put the ‘tassel bag’ over the tassel.  You’ll want stalk of the plant in the corner of the bag…  Fold the opening of the bag back towards the stalk and then staple closed.  The object, of course, is to fasten the bag tightly enough to keep the pollen from falling down and out of the bag.  You may notice some of the leaves just below the tassel have pollen in them.  You’ll want to remove those leaves as they have contaminated pollen there.

The pollen will fall in the morning and you’ll want to collect it before the high heat of the afternoon as the sun can kill the pollen inside the bag.  If you can’t collect until later in the day you’ll need to have more pollen to get good seed set as the sun will reduce the quality.  Your best bet is to bag in the evening and do your pollination is the late morning or early afternoon.

When ready to collect pollen bend each tassel bag over slightly downward, don’t break the tassel or the plant!  Give the bag a good shake to dislodge as much pollen as possible.  Unfasten the staple and still keeping the bag down gently shake the tassel as you pull it from the bag.  Once you’ve collected all the pollen bags carefully pour your pollen into one bag and mix well.

Keep the shoot bags on until time to sprinkle the pollen onto that ear.  If the silk has grown long you can trim it to about one inch in length.  Try to think about how many ears you’ll be pollinating and how much pollen you have so you can divide it evenly.

Shake the pollen from the bag along one of the ‘fold’ lines on the edge.  When you first shake it down the bag there will be some debris, just remove it.  Then gently shake the pollen onto the silk, maybe just less than ½ teaspoon per ear.  Try to be even and don’t just dump it in one spot.  Cover your pollinated ear with one of the used pollen bags and pull the bag around the ear and staple a couple of times.  You want it to be loose enough for the ear to grow but not so loose the wind can blow it off  The bag can be left in place until harvest and that way you’ll know to save seed from that ear.

To harvest the seed, leave ears on until the stalks are completely dry.  If animals or weather makes that impossible, you can harvest mature cobs, husk and dry them under shelter.  Drying should be done in less than 95 degrees F.  Do not remove seed until both cob and kernels are dry.

To remove seed just rub two cobs together.  Any silk or cob debris should be removed by pouring seed from one bowl to another on a windy day.  Any kernels not completely formed should be removed.  Always mix your seed from at least 25-50 plants for best results.  As always, seed should be completely dried before storing.  Sweet corn should maintain 50% germination for up to three years if stored in a cool, dry, dark spot.

Melons:  These are very difficult to save seed from as they need bees and flies for pollination, plus the plants will drop up to 80% of their female flowers.  It’s impossible to know which flowers will be dropped so you’re looking at maybe 10-15% of the hand pollinated ones developing into fruit.

Of course, the best isolation is with ½ mile distance between varieties and for those of you living in outer nowhere that may be possible.  For the rest of us, we’re looking at hand pollination.  It’s not hard but it is time-consuming.  You’ll need to know the difference between male and female flowers and you’ll need to know when they are ready to open.  Male flowers have straight stems clear to the flower while female flowers have a small bump/ball at the base of the flower where it attaches to the stem.

You’ll need a small piece of tape about ¼ inch wide and ½ inch long, tape flowers closed in the early evening.  When you tape the female flowers pinch the tape together beside the flower but leave the tape ends apart, that will make removing the tape easier the next morning.  If you break off the stem from the male flower you can use a piece of tape as a stand-in to help with holding the flower.

In the morning after the dew has dried carefully remove the tape from the female flower try not to damage the blossom.  Then take the male flower and remove the tape and its petals, gently rub/dab the pollen from the male flower onto the stigma (that’s the long slender stick thing) of the female blossom.  Once done carefully re-tape the blossom closed and then mark with a small piece of floss or yarn.  If after 3-4 days the stem attachment is still green and the tiny fruit has grown slightly, then your chances are good you were successful.

Melons seed are ready when the fruits are ready to eat, however, if you can let them slightly overripe you’ll have up to 10% more seeds although the melons aren’t as good to eat.  When you save the seed have a bowl ready and then slice the melon open and collect in the bowl.  Try to remove as much pulp and threads as you can.  Then add water to allow the bad seed and debris to float, pour off and repeat until only good clean seed remains.

Pour the seed into a strainer and rinse thoroughly to remove any of the natural sugar from the melon.  Dry in the strainer on a dish towel to remove as much water as you can.  Then pour onto a cookie sheet to dry.  Seed should remain good for up to 5 years if stored in a cool, dry and dark place.

Cucumbers:  The pollination for cuke’s is the same as for melons.  They don’t like high heat or drought conditions so don’t pollinate during those times.  For seed saving, you need to grow the cuke’s to maturity and allow them to ripen way past eating.  Depending on the type they should turn to a white, deep yellow or even orange.

Each cuke will have hundreds of seeds.  If you keep fully mature cucumbers for about two weeks after cutting from the plant, you should have a greater number of viable seed.  If you find you have few if any seed inside the cuke that generally means you didn’t get enough pollen or it could be a type that doesn’t require fertilization.

To clean the seed follow the same process as for tomato seed.  Use just enough water to cover the seed but not too much.  Set the bowl outside and out of direct light.  After about 3 days, follow the tomato water and drain information.  Pour clean seed into the strainer and dry as for melons.  Under super conditions seed should be good for up to 10 years.

Sorry for the lack of photos, as I said at the beginning; it’s been a long time between gardens due to the deer.  Thankfully the electric fence is keeping them out and I’m hopefully saving seed again.

Heirloom seed saving is a wonderful experience.  It’s easy to save your garden seed for next year and can help with not just prepping for disaster but also reduce the cost of a garden.  There are many books that will help you learn to save heirloom seed and they should be part of any preppers’ library.