[Dr. Know]

I farmed about 1-2 acres each year for fun. I want you to be prepared for supply problems with food in the future so you need to get good at growing food NOW!
Nothing in the world is as easy as growing veggies and the eats aint bad either. Cabbage, blue lake snap beans, peas, raddishes, watermelon, red potatoes and squash are EASY! to grow! A small 10' by 20' garden will allow you to learn the basics of planting, fertilizers, pest and harvest and growth times. Better to learn now than when your bellie is rumbling!

You also learn what seeds will keep, which is really important!


Dr.

 

[The_Blob]

Fresh fruit and vegetables are important as a source of vitamins, however, most green veggies do not contain enough calories to keep you going. While living through a crisis you are going to need to eat more calories than normal (to provide adequate nutrition with the extra exertions and stress, perhaps twice as much... 4,000 - 5,000 calories per day would not be an unreasonable figure. During a crisis you are going to need several sources of protein, oils, and starch.

To me the best way to 'store' meat is to raise livestock. Naturally, you want them to breed and raise enough young for you to enjoy fresh meat in perpetuity. Rabbits, chickens, and goats are particularly easy to raise (eggs & milk being a nice bonus with chickens & goats). Having fish in your pond is very low maintenance source of high-protein food.

Two acres planted to Wheat, Corn, Dry Beans, Potatoes, and Winter Squash will produce more food than a typical family of five can eat in a year...

An acre of winter wheat planted in good soil should yield 50 bushels (2,000 lbs) of easily storable grain. A second acre of open-pollinated field corn will easily yield 80 bushels (4,000 lbs), but requires a LOT of fertilizer and more effort devoted to weed suppression. A full acre of pinto beans would excessive at approximately 35 bushels (1,400 lbs).

A native pecan averages 50 to 80 lbs of nuts which store for 2 years or so. Each acre of pecan trees would contain about 30 trees and provides a rich source of calories, oils, and protein. Since you are hoping to avoid too much attention you might plant your fruit trees and a variety of hardwood nut trees scattered across your pasture or mixed in with your wood lot. Less attention and (given their wide spacing), fewer insect pests. Some of us that live in northern (read:COLD!) climates where most pecan trees are unlikely to survive (even the Hardy Pecan). But there are other nut trees such as as Carpathian Walnuts that do well in all but the most severe climate zones.