43 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
43 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
Undertakement: Homestead Gardening
|
|
By ruzz
|
|
For distribution to my hungry allies and members of the Ruzsland Militia.
|
|
|
|
Ok, lets say you need a sustainable amount of food to last a good while.
|
|
But you don't want/have access to store bought seeds, seedlings etc. and
|
|
it is at a time when you can go above hunting/gathering. Well, all you
|
|
have to is start a wild garden. These work better than conventional
|
|
gardens because, as a rule, the plants involved are much hardier than most
|
|
cultivated plants. Also the target plants are right in your back yard.
|
|
Liking the idea? Read on.
|
|
|
|
The first step is to develope your plot of land. First you need to tear it
|
|
all up to destroy the roots of established plants. Try to use the best
|
|
land you can for maximum productivity. Or you can set up a container
|
|
garden and just bring in good soil. If you have to plant on not so great
|
|
ground, thats ok, you can build it up and develope it. The best way to
|
|
help plants is to help the soil. Feed the soil and it will feed the
|
|
plants. Simple. The best way to do that is to give it manure. Manure comes
|
|
in two flavors (for the ground, not you!) brown (animal waste/remains) and
|
|
green (plant waste/remains). If your worried about smell, just make sure
|
|
it is dry. Also while your tilling, just drive the plants into the ground.
|
|
What your looking for in soil is humus. This gives it it's richness. Humus
|
|
is what manure eventually deteriorates into. Humus acts like a sponge,
|
|
holding in water and nutrients and slowly releasing them. Also it compacts
|
|
snady soils and loosens up clayish soils. Humus, or manure will solve 99%
|
|
of your problems. I have only scratched the surface (pun intended) so you
|
|
are free to do all the research you want.
|
|
|
|
The next step is to pick the plants you want for your garden. Typically,
|
|
these will be the plants you usually gather. There is much literature
|
|
already on edible/medicinal plants. Follow the standad conventions of safe
|
|
wild plant use. Two plants that I like to raise and are hardy are the
|
|
plantain (for the leaves) and burdock (for the roots). Any plant edible
|
|
plant that grows in your region would likely work. Once you get your
|
|
plants settled and they are growing nicely and have leaves well above the
|
|
ground, you should put some plant matter down to prevent erosion and
|
|
evaporation. Lawn clippings, tree shavings whatever. It will let the water
|
|
down but not up. This will also discourage weeds. Also it will act as a
|
|
compost as the season goes on. You see, this stuff's easy.
|
|
--
|
|
|