Growing your own and the oncoming food crisis

[funkervogt]

I've been thinking a lot about sustaining oneself on the ability to grow your own foods, then I saw this recent poster created by artist Joshua Budich (which is awesome). It reflects some of the propaganda posters from years past, but once again relevant:

http://omgposters.com/2011/02/10/new-prints-from-the-poster-cause-project-onsale-info/

After the collapse of the soviet union, Cuba launched a campaign encouraging individual and local farming to decrease transportation costs. In contract to N. Korea, which suffered the same kind of isolation, Cuba survived as a country.

I'm beginning to realize how important this skill of basic gardening is, and how little knowledge most people have of plant metabolism. Our talent may prove to be very useful in a few years if the food crisis worsens. I plan on using my entire yard next year to create a personal food garden. I might even buy some farm land in our area - it's cheap right now.

 

[Deft]

Honestly... I don't think the USA is going to have a food shortage any time soon. What crisis??

Look into if your municipality has a community garden program. I used to have a small plot I filled with basil and tomatoes etc (caprese salad and gallons of pesto FTW) it was $15 a year and well worth it.

Basil clones like a mofo

 

[TruthOrLie]

california grows enough food to feed the whole world.

growing food will never be as profitable as growing mj.

you can't grow enough food for yourself.

 

[whodair]

the oncoming food crisis

the oncoming food crisis

most of could stand to lose a few pounds anyway

 

[redneck shogun]

california grows enough food to feed the whole world.

growing food will never be as profitable as growing mj.

you can't grow enough food for yourself.

You can't grow enough food for yourself? Maybe you can't but I sure can. In fact you can turn your yard in suburbia into a garden that can feed you and your neighbors.

 

[DocLeaf]

We grow root crops which are rich in carbohydrates and can be accessed at any time of year. Burdock is one of the best since it turns feral in only a few seasons. Herbs to accompany game-meats and enhance the flavour of wild fungi also help broaden the gastronomic horizon in a survival situation.

Also aim to cultivate crops which do not require vast amounts of water to keep them healthy.

The revolution has already begun.,..

 

[meowman]

With the rapidly declining bee populations, an oncoming food shortage is not an outlandish concept. Yes, I doubt the US supermarkets will be out of food anytime soon, but atleast the prices will rise, perhaps availability will decline as well. For most of the rest of the world things might not be so rosy though.

But who knows, perhaps genetical engineering will save us all, and keep the Americans fat and jolly, munching away on cheap and readily available food for the rest of their existance.

Conclusion: I have no idea of the future, but having a potato field of your own is always a good idea. Besides the fact your own grows always taste better, they can be stored even over winter.
I am salivating now, thinking of potato fields, wish I could have some of my own new potatoes to sample right now.

( Sort of OT, are new potatoes commonly eaten in the US and the rest of the world? Are they viewed as a delicacy? The only people I know so far that are mad for them, are Northern Europeans in general.)

 

[DaPurps]

I have already started prepping my soil and getting ready for spring. I have tons of veggy seeds to pop in a few weeks. I grow in about a 10x10ish area and get TONS of vegetables throughout the summer/fall. The total cost is pennies for myself, just the water really.

So many people in this world could not plant a seed and make it to a harvest if their life was on the line.

I live on a 1/4 acre city lot btw, only one around me that has a veggie garden that i've seen.

 

[ronbo51]

I think every mj grower should grow foodcrops. Even if it is just a small plot. You get a real appreciation of what it takes to grow food and you see how hard it is. Anyone can buy a few starts at the nursery and get some peppers and tomatoes. Throw some seeds in and get lettuce, beets, the whole deal. BUT, it gets hard pretty fast. The first year you till fresh soil everything generally works out. Then the insects that are just a minor nuisance last year erupt with every new plant and seed sprout. It is amazing how voracious and unyielding pests and disease become once they get comfortable in your garden. Potatoes?? Colorado potato beetles will devour your crop long before any spuds get set, and they spread disease along the way. Same with spotted cucumber beetles. They will destroy zukes and cukes and melons and will spread wilt that mocks your efforts. Yeah, the first year with tomatoes will be great, but those little lesions on the leaves at the end of the grow season will overwinter and the following year will amplify and blight will set in and your whole crop will rot before your eyes. Flea beetles will destroy root crops the second they emerge, radishes are the worst, but any cabbage family leaves will get sucked and riddled with holes. It goes on and on. I grew veggies commercially for some years and you have to dedicate your life to it. When you have to spray, you have to spray, and you have to spray all the time to keep things healthy and optimum. And it is not cheap. Think of all the effort and products you guys spend to keep a few plants in a controlled environment healthy. Now take that outdoors and times it by dozens of varieties, each with its own diseases and pests. It's hard work, plain and simple. The worst thing a vegetable gardener can do is let the bugs and blights get established in a garden. Be relentless. There are tons of organic products out there that work if you keep on top of it, but in the end you will have to be willing to use liquid copper for disease, and pyrethrin for bugs. Those are the end of the line for organics. After that you have straight up poison. I have a big box of seeds right now, and today I am starting lettuce and some other greens under lights. Soon the root crops go in. I prefer spring and fall gardening to summer, but I love growing. You get a tremendous satisfaction delivering beautiful fresh food to your family every day, just don't get discouraged when it becomes hard, and your failures escalate.

 

[meowman]

I just read about the colorado potato beetle... wow. I only have potato growing experience in Nothern Europe, we did not have this problem. There was bugs on the potato plants ofcourse, but I suspect they were land dwelling isopods, who do not cause as much trouble. We would just pick them off of every plant individually a few times before the crop was done and there was no problem. Even the shoots looked healthy and were not eaten.

Companion plants is also something ppl should look into, for ex. grow chives near your tomatoes, it drives away insects, and if you grow them with carrots, the carrots will taste better and grow faster.
Garlic is also great, it drives away many types of insects.

I am not sure if this would work with serious insect problems, but it works for my grandma

 

[Iron_Lion]

I've been seeing warnings of food shortage all over the place, take in to account global climate change, and the fact that our average meal is sourced from 1200 miles away and gas prices keep climbing, I'd say it it definitely a possibility.

Save seeds and learn to grow organic and you'll be all set, a good background in organic farming can let you grow any plants using just about anything from your garbage can.
Chemical fertilizers = death of our topsoil, most of those chem ferts are derived from oil, they kill soil bacteria and they dont give anything back to the soil. At the end of the season the topsoil is depleted of nutrients and nothing will grow there again until you dump more petro chemical fertilizer down. If nothing grows on this land after it's use the soil can erode leaving a baron waste land.

Our top soil is our most precious resource aside from clean water, and it gets totally trampled on (no pun intended)

Another thing to think about is we have past the peak of the bell curve in world oil production, we are now on the downward slope. When oil = fertilizer how do you think this fits in to our worldwide agriculture plan to feed almost 9 billion people with a resource that gets more scarce everyday.

Those with the attitude these problems cant happen to them or where they live are very naive. Just look at the old story of the grasshopper and the ant.

 

[Iron_Lion]

Also to elaborate on other issues with modern day agriculture. Most of our food comes from mono culture crops. Mono cultures are a ticking time bomb, as soon as a pest or disease is able to pick that lock, we are done. Pest and disease could wipe out entire populations, goodbye apples, good bye wheat.

 

[angel4us]

get your hand pump wells dug!

get your hand pump wells dug!

everybody who has any paranoia about this should first off have iodine pills and filters for their drinking water..... anybody -especially icmaggers can grow /dig roots to survive on BUT if you have tummy bugs ----and your blowing mud out your butt as fast as u put food in your mouth -your dirt! get your water needs in order first- dried beans rice go a long way -only if your healthy.

 

[FreeThePlant]

monsanto and bill gates are fuckin' shit up big time, believe that. GMO foods are going to dominate the american market and i can easily foresee a situation in which it is manufacturer scarcity. raise the prices because product is "scarce", causing a crisis. perfect time to implement any legislation they want to with no recourse from the american people.

honestly i suggest stacking your funds in many forms (various currencies, precious metals, even the dollar until it falls) and have a 1-year food supply in stock for you/immediate family, in worst-case scenario. canned goods in particular. start growing as many veggies and crops that you can in your situation, and buy from local food co-ops if you have any near you.

 

[paladin420]

Hello. I live in a northern rural area zone 4/5. basically at the 45th. For generations my family have been poor,poor. We garden, we grow as much for for ourselves and neighbors as we can. We harvest what God (whaterver his/her/they/its name may b) puts on this planet for us. Mushrooms,wild game of every sort,(" if it flys,floats,or fornicates").
Thanks to this great Posting tonites menu shall come from the Earth.tender loin of Venison,white morel mushrooms and onions in a wine sauce.Potatoes and carrots along with Mothers (R.I.P) canned green beans. Store bought items? Some butter and spice..
If all the above is not enough of an answer/reason to 'grow your own'.How about it is a great way to excuse a whole dump truck load of glorious organic black gold Or how nice climbing tomatoes hide what else is in your garden.

 

[NOKUY]

you guys will love this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeaYqU2SSJE&NR=1

it really shows what u can do on your own w/ out a bunch of land/property....and if u did have more just imagine.

too bad that most ppl are slaves, and they dont have to be when there is sooooo much that they can do on their own.

like that closet that no one has even seen in years could have been growin weed...lol...but just sayin.

most ppl dont like talking about this stuff tho

 

[turbolaser4528]

True, but I don't seed a massive food shortage happening in the US. We have the most diverse selection of foods in the world, this is the land of abundance god damnit !

I think we will see food skyscrapers that feed entire cities eliminating all the oil used to transport the food long distances. Again, I am an optimist (ex-doomer) lol

sourced from http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/15-self-sufficient-skyscrapers-living-green-awesomeness/

Never underestimate human ingenuity! These are different times we live in, we just saw Egypt overthrow a 30 year dictatorial regime in less than 3 weeks, anything is possible !!!

 

[hunt4genetics]

we exist in a petro-economy.
Maybe a virus or pest won't wipe out the food supply, but if gas is over $4 a gallon, the food won't be delivered to the supermarkets.

This season I aim at growing all my own food.
There is so much negativity in this thread.
Why do so many believe that they can't grow their own food?
Chances are your grandparents grew all their own food.
We are not trying to invent a time machine.

Have faith,
and start growing now while you have the option to fail.
There may one day come a time, where failure equals starvation.

 

[Midnight]

california grows enough food to feed the whole world.

growing food will never be as profitable as growing mj.

you can't grow enough food for yourself.

Maybe you can't grow enough to feed yourself but I sure can. It's real easy if you know what you are doing.

 

[Iraganji]

I personally don't feel there is anything wrong with growing/preserving your own, be it food or smoke. Eating well is an economic burden for many people. Enlarging your garden is an easy way to eat better for less money and its good old fashioned family fun. This year, aside from vegetable gardening, I would like to make my own apple cider vinegar.