Chelsea
Green, 2010
Not since the
self-sufficiency movement in the 1970s
has an American published a book that so adequately explains what it
takes to live off the land, even in the midst of climate change and
natural disasters.
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Author Carol Deppe, a
biologist as well as an avid gardener, emphasizes taking control of
your own food supply. Her book uses recent discoveries in science to
point out ways of making home gardening more efficient and practical.
It also suggests ways to prepare for the worst - natural
disasters, financial collapse, climate changes, and more.
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How
much land do you need to garden for self-sufficiency?
To
grow everything you need, it would take a lot of land. But no one is
truly self-sufficient in that way, and none of us need to be, Deppe
explains. "We are not all situated to garden in every year of our
lives. Nor can we grow every kind of crop that can be grown in our
region. But we can be developing a repertoire of information about what
is grown in our area, who grows it, and how to store, preserve and use
it. |
We can develop knowledge and patterns
with respect to these crops
that enhance our day-to-day quality if life, our personal resilence,
and the resilience of our communities."
Five
Foods You Need to Survive and Thrive
Deppe devotes separate chapters to each of five foods she considers
essential to self-reliance -- potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.
She explains the values of each (potatoes are a great source of both
carbohydrates and protein), how they are cultivated (you can grow corn
with nothing but a shovel or hoe), how they are stored (beans
are the ultimate survival crop because they are so long-storing) ,
how they are prepared (dried squash makes
wonderful soups and stews and chips ), and why they are nutritionally
important (eggs provide important long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that
are unavailable from plant foods.)
33 Golden Rules of
Gardening
1. All Gardening
is Local
2. Plant Things That Grow Where You Live
3. Variety, Variety, Variety
4. Plant Varieties That Grow Where You Live
5. Buy High-Quality Seeds or Plants
6. Plants Need Sun
7.
Plants Need Warmth
8. Some Plants Need Cold
9. Plants Need Soil
10.
Plants Need Nutrients |
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11.
You Must Prepare the Ground for Your Plants
12. You Can Plant in Beds or Rows; You Can Plant Intensively or Less So
13.
Plant at the Right Time
14. Plant Seeds at the Right Depth
15. Plants Need Water
16.
Plants Need Room to Grow
17. You Must Weed
18. Resist the Temptation to do Unnecessary Things
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19. You Must Thin
20. Plants Need Protection from Insects, Pests, and Herbivores
21.
Plants Need Protection from Disease
22.
Plants Sometimes Need Protection from Weather
23. You Can Use Transplants or Seeds
24. Some Plants Need Support
25. Some Plants Need Pruning
26. Learn to Harvest and Store Produce Optimally
27. Experiment
28. Keep at Least Some Records
29. Think Small
30. Everything is Connected
31. Slow Down
32. Notice Everything
33. Save, Cherish, and Distribute Seeds of the Varieties You Care About
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These "Golden Rules" and
their accompanying explanations are
included in The
Resilient Gardener.
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Perhaps the all-time
masters at farming in an era of erratic weather in North America are
the Hopi Indians of the American Southwest... Corn was their most
important staple crop. Hopi culture called for storing enough corn for
two years.
After water, the most
important characteristic of food is calories. It is lack of calories
that will put you in the most trouble the fastest. After water and
calories, protein is next in importance. As gardeners, we grow a
variety of greens and vegetables. But to be resilient gardeners, we
need to be skilled at growing more than just salads.
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