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Planting a Survival garden To Save Money

Choosing what to plant.

It is best if you choose to plant vegetables that your family would normally eat,

so you will need to create a list of the veggies that you and your family eat on a

regular basis. You have probably already this list made in your kitchen on the

shelves in the form of can goods, coping this info onto a paper list should be

pretty simple. For example our family likes broccoli, cabbage and corn, we often

buy these frozen and fresh . They also are able to grow in our area. We do

occasionally eat spaghetti perhaps every other week. So tomatoes would be on the

list of things to grow for the spaghetti sauce. You can leave out things you know

you wont eat, don’t have room to grow or won’t grow in your climate.

What you have now is a list you can work with. You may also wish to check the

current market price of some produce to judge the cost effectiveness of growing it

v/s buying it that way you can prioritize your garden around the more expensive

vegetables, and generally figure what your family uses per month and plant

accordingly. 

Some Popular Choices are:

Tomatoes

Potatoes

Onions

Carrots

Bell peppers

Corn

Radishes

Lettuce

Strawberries

Summer squash

Winter squash

Cucumbers

Zucchini

Chives

Eggplant

Asparagus

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Spinach

Once you have your list you can figure how much your savings is going to be on

your food budget best.

There are also several food types that can be harvested on an as needed basis – such as lettuce, spinach, kale, chives etc. By growing these in the garden and not

picking them until your ready to use it, you have less waste and more money savings.

The next thing you should consider is the space that you have available for a garden.

You may only have a balcony in your apartment, or perhaps an acre or more of

empty land just begging to be put to good use or have a friend or neighbor that

has land.

Even if you have a lot of acreage, you should you’re your gardening layout wisely.

This will take into account water usage, time and labor in maintaining your garden.

For most home gardeners it is best to keep your garden as compact and efficient as

practical.

When planning a container garden, keep in mind that some plants require deeper

soil than others for optimal growth and food production.

Here’s a list of some Deep rooting plants and shallow rooting varieties. If you

choose container gardening, than shallow or medium rooted plants will do better

for you. Some varieties are meant for containers such as dwarf carrots, which don’t grow as deep as standard varieties grow.

Deep roots: more than 12 inches

Corn

Carrots

Parsnips

Sunflowers

Tomatoes

Peppers

Potatoes

Bush beans 

Peppers

Strawberries

Pickling cucumber

Ginger

Shallow roots: less than 6 inches

Lettuces

Spinach

Chives

Radishes

Onions

Garlic

You might be thinking “ this is going to cost me a ton of money that I can not afford“.

It is however possible to get many of the things you need for free.

If you choose to or must container garden, you will find that old Rubbermaid tubs

work well. If you have access to your area local “freecycle” network, you can pick up

containers, tools and sometimes even seeds for free. Many counties have collection

areas where people can pick up compost for free. Call your local county extension

office

to see if this is available to your area.

If you have available land for your garden you can improve soil quality by

composting your kitchen scraps, wood ash and lawn clippings. This can be done

by tilling it into the soil or using a designated composting area.

You can grow your potatoes from the eyes of a potato that you purchased at the

grocery store. Buy a sack of potatoes, set a few aside for 2 – 3 weeks in a warm area and they will quickly become seed potatoes for planting

in your garden. The remainder of the potatoes is dinner for your family. When

the potato eyes are ready just cut a chunk of the potato off with the eye on it and

stick that part in the ground.

I hope that you found this article helpful, please comment and rate. Feel free to

add your ideas. This site is intended to encourage people to learn self sufficiency

and for people to share there knowledge.

As early as possible in the growing season, prepare a list of the vegetables, you wish to grow. Make a plan where in the garden you want to put your plants, take note of wind, shade, and sunlight conditions. Save the paper and add notes as your garden progresses. Remove seeds from your seed storage according to your planed planting schedule. Quickly maturing plants such as radishes, leaf lettuce, and other greens, can be planted early and late in the seasons for multiple harvests, this is sometimes called ( the fall garden). Fall gardens of hardy plants may be grown harvested up to the first fall frost, even later with protective structures.

Planting Time

plant your seeds at a time based on the category of plants.

Frost tender plants must be planted after the last spring frost or started indoors or in an enclosed protective structure.

Hardy plants can be started outdoors much earlier that other varieties of garden plants. These plants can also be grown late in the season, right up to the killing frost.

Be aware of your areas climate

Uses your local resources when available, local agricultural or university extension offices, garden supply outlets, nursery and or garden clubs as well as on-line sources. With this info you can now successful plan your garden from spring to fall.