Top 10 Ways to Make Fertile Soil

newly planted garden

If you have spent any amount of time growing crops, either in a small backyard garden or a large multi-acre farm, you probably know by now that producing bountiful, healthy returns is anything but easy, and doing so repeatedly can be maddeningly difficult. Between irrigation, pest control and dozens of other variables that must be … Read more

How to Start Seeds Indoors – A Prepper’s Guide

seedling in pot

Starting seeds indoors should be a vital part of any prepper’s food security plan. You do not need a greenhouse nor a lot of expensive equipment to successfully provide all the plants you will need. Even preppers with space and light limitations can start seeds to grow their own garden plants. Growing your own vegetable, … Read more

Seeds Stockpile: How to Plan and Start It

seeds in mason jars

Every family has their own goals for prepping, and creating a seed stockpile follows our goals to have a self-sufficient homestead. Seed saving allows you to have a self-sustaining garden each year. You won’t depend on the garden store for your vegetable seeds each year. Saving seeds also give you an opportunity to share with … Read more

Growing Potatoes in Buckets

bucket potatoes

Over the past few years I have tried growing potatoes. Not wanting to use precious garden space for experimenting with potato’s – I tried growing them in containers. I found it surprisingly easy. In the Spring of 2010 I planted 27 buckets and had great success. Potatoes are generally started in cooler weather. For those … Read more

5 Easy To Grow Plants For A Survival Garden

basic survival garden

by Contributing Author One of the best ways to be prepared for the many uncertainties that life hurls at us is to grow our own food. Gardening can be a vital skill to learn ahead of time, before a disaster strikes. There can be a decent learning curve if you’ve never raised your own food … Read more

31 Drought Tolerant Plants & Trees for Your Survival Garden

This past summer much of the U.S. suffered prolonged droughts. In many areas wells ran dry and towns implemented water use limits. Farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders watched as their crops wilted and died. While this was devastating for any commercial growers, everyone else simply made a few more trips to the local grocery store. Unfortunately … Read more

Review – Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

My brother bought me the book Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre a while back. He knows my passion for gardening as well as a desire to learn everything “homesteading” that I can. I live in a typical suburban community – so I am maximizing my property within confines of the Rules and Regulations of the community … Read more

Are you saving seeds?

We spend tons of money on guns, ammunition, knives, backpacks and all kinds of things labeled “tactical” – but what about seeds? Many of us that prepare for “bad times” ahead consider gardening an integral part of our systems. Seeds are ultra-inexpensive and readily available most anywhere. I am not going to get into the … Read more

Are you saving seeds?

We spend tons of money on guns, ammunition, knives, backpacks and all kinds of things labeled “tactical” – but what about seeds? Many of us that prepare for “bad times” ahead consider gardening an integral part of our systems. Seeds are ultra-inexpensive and readily available most anywhere. I am not going to get into the … Read more

Raspberries – A Primer

The following post was originally published at SeasonedCitizenPrepper.com. It can be seen in its original form HERE.   By Bev When I was a little girl a yearly ritual was when my Mother took us all out to hunt for blackcaps. Blackcaps are those delicious little wild berries that pop up everywhere. We always took … Read more

Garden looking good so far…..

The garden is looking good so far this season. In previous years I tended to overpack my gardening space with plants. I guess my thoughts behind this was to try to get the maximum harvest possible as if it was a survival situation. I did use a decent amount of fertilizer (Miracle Grow) so the … Read more

Getting Started in Gardening

harvested squash zucchini cucumber and lemons

  There are many reasons to have your own garden. Growing and eating vegetables that you grew from scratch by preparing soil, planting seeds, weeding, watering and picking all yourself is incredibly rewarding. Money can be saved as seeds are much less expensive than the corresponding produce. Fresh produce harvested straight from the garden taste … Read more

The garden continues to produce……

I started my gardening this year in early April.   Back then I started cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash from seed along with a few other things. Here in South Carolina some crops can be planted twice to get two rounds of growing. Just this past weekend I had to pull up a few cucumber and … Read more

The garden is providing…..

survival garden, preparedness, food storage, SHTF, TEOTWAWKI, homesteading

Just a quick note and a few pictures showing my garden has just started providing for my family……       Those that have been hanging around here at MSOnline for awhile know I really recommend developing gardening skills. Being able to supplement foods stored “just in case” with fresh fruits and vegetables is essential. … Read more

Lessons From My First Survival Garden

cucumbers and squash in survival garden

If you are a frequent reader then you know I love gardening. My interest in preparedness motivated me 8 years ago to start my first garden. That first garden did well. At about half the size of my current one and not really having a clue what I was doing – I was swimming in … Read more

Creating a 4×8 feet raised bed

 I recently made a second raised bed garden to add to my fruit and vegetable growing capabilities. Living in a typical suburban neighborhood my space is limited. In this particular case I built this raised bed for blueberry and blackberry plants. To get this project done – I assembled all needed components in one area … Read more