I just pulled out most of my ornamental catmint (still some free in N. Baltimore, the catboi who loved it died in December) and replaced with blueberries, renewing my strawberries and reclaiming a raised bed from declining blackberries for more food.
Also, with such a small yard I always have more seeds than I can manage, so along with some other community-building I’m planning with a neighbor, I have two ideas I’ve had in my mind for some years. One of which is organizing collective gardening (first with those who already grow, then with those who don’t) and (re-) developing a mindset of sharing and the second is to talk with neighbors about emergency land use as we have a park adjacent to our neighborhood that already had wild berries probably mostly pulled up in the stream revivification. Chinquapin Run is one of the waterways that was reconstructed to reduce pollutants draining into the bay, so I should bone up on water testing and augmented filtration, but at least we have a source to divert to water crops.
The crop I feel is my secret survival weapon is cowpeas. I grow Whippoorwhil because I saw it in a seed catalog early in my B’more gardening story, probably around 1992. My ancestors grew it in Arkansas and I liked the link to my mother’s home and to Africa. It’s sweeter and milder than black eye peas. The link there says it became too susceptible to disease to crop, but for the home garden, it’s basically a weed. I planted it once, had to buy a large bag that could fill several yards around here, and cooked most of the rest. It is now endemic in my garden, both front and back. I have never had to plant it again. I pull up most of it each year, leaving more than enough to replenish my dry stores. Some goes to waste due to laziness, but in survival times I wouldn’t waste one.
The protein level of cowpeas is off the charts. Their leaves are an edible green and high in protein – I have never eaten them, but I have cooked sweet potato greens (nice!) and should learn how best to cook them. Eaten as snaps (green), shellies and dry, they are wonderful. I haven’t ground them, but one of my fave dishes to buy is black eye pea fritters…and i have a vitamix so no excuses (except…laziness wins again!). And they say the gluten free flour can be used for porridge. Imagine cowpea congee! they continue to seed themselves and grow until frost, making them perfect for holiday sides and winter soups and stews. I mostly cook and eat vegan, so no way we go hungry with these. If some mess goes down I’m taking handfuls and tossing them into the brushy, woodsy border of our park. You’re welcome!
Many of the food growers will become peppers https://growingfruit.org/t/food-shortages-prices-prepping/44002/25 things have got very bad in this part of the country. Believe it’s worse than I’ve ever seen it in my lifetime. People are asking me what the problem is that caused this but causes are not important it’s a cycle of sorts this country goes through. Its not covid that caused this issue though many think differently. It’s happened many times before. The main thing to take away from suffering or doing without is to remember it will always happen until we learn to be 100% independent of what others do. There will always be some inconveniences.
thats what permaculture is all about. having a food forest that maintains itself. look into other perennial veggies or annuals that reseeds itself. i have Egyptian walking onions and groundcherry that does that as well as all the herbs ive got in there. ground cherry is technically a veg. but is used like fruit and produces alot. grows like a weed in even bad soil. im going to have to look into getting cowpeas.
We are looking at moving in the next couple of months and I’m trying to plan what I can take with me from the garden.
I’m hoping for more land, a bit farther south so I might gain 1 to 1 1/2 zones.
It’s stressing me out to know I’m leaving my present set-up, and we’ll probably have no production this year. The upside is that we should end up with a much more sustainable long term set-up.
i dont know if you can get seeds for them in Canada but ground cherries are very productive and taste like pineapples. i start them this time of year and start to get fruit (technically a veg.) by july. they even produce in poor soil. they make great jams and pie also. 2-4 plants in good soil are all you need for a couple people. my lil’ niece loves them!
I’ve had self seeding groundcherries for years. I’ll have to buy new ones as well as dill, borage and purselane since they may not be at the new place.
At least those are all pretty cheap.
I potted up 15 black raspberries yesterday and have prepped seeds for 2 types of red ones.
Lots more stuff to pot up!
We have great neighbor here who has offered to host any plants pots at his place while we move.
I’m hoping for enough overlap in the closings that it won’t be needed but am very happy to have the option!
Sadly, my pears, pawpaws, plums and sour cherries are all too big to move.
One plum and 2 apricots should be small enough and I’m debating an attempt on the Asian pear.
I did up a bunch of grape cuttings so am hoping to get at least one survivor from each vine.
I should be able to shift 1/2 to 1/3 of the haskap and maybe all of the hazelnuts.
Tons of the smaller stuff should be movable. Finally, a use for the huge stash of plastic pots!
One thing that most people overlook because it’s taken for granted is salt. It’s cheap, until you don’t have any. In the ancient Roman army soldiers were sometimes paid in salt ( the origin of the word salary). It’s used as a seasoning in most foods, of course, but it’s used in greater amounts for preserving foods. It’s also not locally produced in many places, though anyone on the east or west coast probably could start making it from seawater, tedious as that might be.
Bravo Ged. In my list of essentials salt is number one. If you have animals, do not forget salts for them, which is going to be a much bulkier purchase but still not as bulky as buying kelp for example.
Put this in your survival toolbox in case of dire times— You can get salt from roots of hickory, walnut, and pecan.
Fun history fact- War has been waged over Salt. The French Revolution was in part due to the salt tax.
Yes. Its literally in EVERYTHING you eat that is canned or boxed or un natural/unhealthy. Its one of the things we all crave…yet its the one thing that gets taken away from us by doctors if we abuse it and other foods during our life.
Salt has been blamed for heart disease/hypertension and stroke.
I gotta think that Native Americans thrived for millennia without much of it. Probably lots of cultures did. Maybe they boiled tree roots?
There was a big fad? a few years ago with the Himalayan salts… Pink/Red/Orange/White… i still see them in stores… i guess i dont need them.
I see alot of recipes call for Kosher salt, or Sea Salt.
Speaking of spices- i notice on the cheapo spice racks that Pepper is more expensive than all the others… I am a black pepper addict. I put it on alot of stuff. The good brands are very expensive now. I think $6 or so for a tin of McCormick. Wonder why its so expensive now?
I lived in KY. The most famous is Big Bone (Lick) Many mammoth bones and fossils found there. Towns with the name ‘Lick’ are mostly from mineral deposits… so yes sir… good point.
I lived in Syracuse NY ,also known as “Salt City” because of the huge ‘salt domes’ underground. These were ancient deposits, and yes there are places here and there inland that have good deposits. It could be,and sometimes is, mined. My point is that there are a lot of obstacles between those sources and your table, so keeping a good supply on hand is a simple bit of insurance since right now you can get it cheap and pure, and it stores pretty much forever if you keep it out of water.
In Syracuse it was mainly mined for industrial uses. Big chemical companies were built along Lake Onandaga and they would pump lake water miles to a dome and it would get pumped back as salt water.
Sound advice to store some salt…
grid gets hacked
nuclear blast
giant solar flare
or sabotage…salt for preserving meat and many things should be invaluable.
