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That's how the world works. (mander.xyz)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 5 points 7 months ago* (8 children)

If you have land it wouldn't hurt to have some survival crops. Something like sunchokes (a.k.a. jerusalem artichokes, bad name because they're not an artichoke and more like a sunflower) can grow well in a sectioned off space where they can't spread. In an emergency the tubers can be dug up and cooked, though they'll probably give you a lot of gas from the high inulin content.

Personally I love raspberries and black raspberries, which are easy to grow just don't plant them where they can spread and run wild. It's nice to have fresh berries!

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I would go with parsnips as an alternate survival crop to sunchokes. I grow both but only use parsnip. They are aggressive re-seeders and produce huge roots.
    You can find tons of parsnips growing wild along road in my area. Which makes foraging a very attractive option.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (6 children)

    We do have small hut with few apple trees and some blackberries that we cook from when they grow(we get plenty of apples). Planning to plant something this year but didn't decide yet, probably tomatoes. Not sure what could grow well in soil that has clay and with low maintenance. I did think about planting the sunchoke since it apparently grows in the wild here so might be the easiest to get and maintain.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    sunchokes are fairly weedy and hard to get rid of, and don't really produce enough calories to be worth it in a survival situation.

    Also, you should grow stuff you already eat - don't expect to grow a bunch of food that you aren't used to cooking or eating and to enjoy it.

    tbh, it might make most sense to identify what you spend the most money on and what's easiest to grow that would replace the money you spend with time tending - usually that's fresh herbs. Growing sage, thyme, rosemary, green onions, basil, etc. is usually fairly easy and will save a lot of money (a bundle of fresh herbs can cost like $5 for a very small amount).

    Garlic is also fairly expensive per 100 g, and I found it not too hard to grow - I managed to grow enough garlic in one season in a small area on a suburban plot to not have to buy grocery store garlic for over a year.

    But on the other hand, you don't tend to buy a lot of garlic by weight, so it may or may not make sense given the amount of time it takes to garden.

    People need to understand that gardening is a huge amount of labor and time spent - it's not economical compared to working a job and buying what you need.

    So, if you're unemployed and unable to work, but able to garden, it's unlikely to be a great way to spend your time if your concern is saving money.

    If your goal is to survive a catastrophe, I think it's delusional to expect gardening to fully provide for your calories, and the same calculus applies: your time will be better spent making yourself valuable to someone who has excess food to give away (like your local CSA farmer friend); even just volunteering on their farm is a better use of time than trying to provide for your own calories by making your small urban or suburban lawn into a food production system.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    I feel like you just avoided the subject. If everyone fully relies on someone elses agriculture for all their calories then that's putting all your eggs in one basket for an emergency. A farmer suddenly getting a thousand volunteers doesn't increase the number of potatoes ready for harvest.

    Sunchokes are a suggestion because they are perennial, store in the ground, and require no care so long as they are contained.

    Something like potatoes would be great for more people if they were perennial and hands off.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    Potatoes can be grown sort of as a perennial. I leave potatoes, carrots and parsnips in the ground to be dug when I need them. They stay much fresher that way. You have to mark the rows and mulch the potatoes so they don't freeze and become mushy, especially if there isn't snow cover. I have been doing this for several years. These are also high calorie foods.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    hm, I'm not sure in what way you think I avoided the subject 🤔

    sunchokes are a low-calorie food, which is why I specifically don't suggest them as a famine food. It would be better to grow sunflowers that produce seeds, as at least those have oils and will provide calories.

    Potatoes are a much better option than sunchokes, but require much more attention and effort, to prevent blight and ensure a good crop, etc. - it's not trivial to produce your own calories.

    I'm fine with suggesting you can pick up producing some of your own food or calories, but as someone who has actually tried doing this in a suburban context, I want to warn people about the intensive time and labor involved.

    Farming is best done on a farm, by farmers; more people should think about whether their time and effort is best spent on farming or not, whether they want to farm full-time or not, etc. We need to be clear-sighted that nobody can achieve self-sufficiency on their own, and that everyone has limited time and energy.

    We also need to be clear that having a victory garden is not going to replace the reliance on farmers for calories or prevent famine or save people from catastrophic collapse of food production systems or supply chains.

    Which is why I am emphasizing our reliance on farmers rather than telling everyone to become a farmer.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    People need to understand that gardening is a huge amount of labor and time spent - it’s not economical compared to working a job and buying what you need.

    It depends on how you do it. Read Masanobu Fukuoka's, "One-Straw Revolution". I don't plow, til or do much weeding. I don't use machinery to garden, just a round point shovel, hoe and a five tine fork to spread mulch. I save seeds that grow well, produce and are tasty. I don't spend a lot of time working in my garden and I don't have hardly any weeds. It's all about the technique you use. Conventional gardening can be very expensive and labor intensive.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Yes, I also used "lazy gardening" and permaculture oriented techniques - I don't know how to tell you that for most people this is an unreasonable amount of labor. Even if you do no labor on weeding and digging, you are left with significant labor managing harvests, storing your harvest, etc. - for people who work full-time or don't have much time or energy to give, or for people who are differently abled or become injured or disabled, farming can be inaccessible. It is better to think of it as a full-time job, even when approaching it with permaculture and "one straw revolution" style techniques.

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