My Small Attempt at a Survivalist Garden

The Vault Dweller

always looking for water.
I've always had a romanticized view of being self-sufficient. Part of it is that it amazes me people in the past lived entirely alone and far from civilization on their own. The other part is probably all the post-apocalyptic stuff making it seem "fantastic". Also games having "herbalism" to make potions and stuff only makes it more appealing.

Of course I could never work hard enough to run a small farm for myself and professional agriculture requires as much education as most careers believe it or not. Mine is mainly for fun.

Last year I had my first ever garden. Carrots, onions, basil, mint, corn, and tomatoes. The onions and mint died. The corn didn't bear fruit. The carrots barely got bigger than my pinky finger. The tomatoes had decent output "a few pounds a plant" and the basil grew crazy and gave me multiple pounds a plant with lots of plants.

However I had been lazy. I barely weeded and didn't use any fertilizer to keep costs low.

This year now that I knew I could do it I tried harder and with other crops.

I planted them all at the right times in the right conditions and used small amounts of potting soil/top soil. I weeded weekly and monitored my plants to know when/if to water.

It's late summer now and most of them are putting out their earliest fruits. This week I will post pictures of the grown plants and a few that I could harvest.

Corn. Didn't grow so well, but at least put out a few small cobs.

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Pumpkins. The plants grew large and fast both across the ground and climbing onto the deck.

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Here's a ripe one.

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This has a few weeks to grow and ripen.

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This was a newly began pumpkin. Note the rotting flower and the actual pumpkin starting beneath it.

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This vine climbed a small tree nearby and the pumpkin just had to grow out in to the air. I'm gonna need to tie something to the tree for it to rest on when it gets bigger or it will tear itself off the vine once it gets heavy.

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Broccoli (which has produced no flowers which are the edible part), onions (that are barely large enough to create a small bulb), and an aloe vera plant which for some reason isn't growing.

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Lettuce. It should be much larger, but I neglected to water for a week and it all turned brown. It's alive, but should be bigger.

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I harvested the earliest pumpkins to appear which are just ready and the earliest corn.

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Yes I am going to make pumpkin mix from the pumpkins and make bread and pie from it. I'll put up pictures when I make it.

Anyone else try gardening? For food or flowers?

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
The Vault Dweller are you renting, or do you own this home? I see plenty of nice grass that could be dug up and turned into a vegie patch.


I'm sorry to say but your pumpkin has Powdery mildew. And grow the corn 20 cm away from each other (in a tight grouping - minimum 10 plants) so they grow up nice and close and pollinate each other. They also need a bright sunny area.

Don't water the aloe vera plant, keep it in a dry location with plenty of sun. If it gets really hot, then give it a drink. Over watering cause rot.

Growing food isn't as economical as I was hoping, but still it's a nice pursuit.

I'm growing:

Garlic
Beetroot
Broad Beans
Silver-Beet
Swede
Chillies
Rocket
Potatoes
Radish
Tomatoes
Corn
Capsicum
Egg Plant

Lots of herbs - thyme, oregano, lemon grass, parsley, fennel, etc.

:mrgreen:
 
part of the problem is you would need to grow enough to provide 2-3 servings of fruit/veggie a day per person.

you would want plants that require minimum to no upkeep.

things like potatoes, onions, beets, etc
 
Move your garden away from the house. From what i can see that spot is for flowers. Plant in rows that way its easier to weed and it looks better. Pumpkins take a large space in the garden so you may want to reserve space just for them. Your broccoli and onions need more soil, i don't know why you decided to put some in pots. In general the surface the plant takes above ground is roughly the same it takes underground, plan ahead and give them more space. As of nourishment the plants only need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that is the most basic fertilizer its cheap and comes in various packages specifically for gardening. You may want to start thinking about a compost heap, that way there will be no need for artificial fertilizers

You can reuse most of the seeds you get from this year but corn will never be as big and as pretty as in those pictures. Corn is a heavily engineered to produce more and using last years seeds will result in small and fragile plant with equal small fruit

Gardening is all about trial and error you have to see and learn for yourself what produces the best results.

That pumpkin bread is going to be very delicious, theres nothing like enjoying the fruit of your hard work.


@ pixote how big is your garden?
 
.Pixote. said:
The Vault Dweller are you renting, or do you own this home? I see plenty of nice grass that could be dug up and turned into a vegie patch.


I'm sorry to say but your pumpkin has Powdery mildew. And grow the corn 20 cm away from each other (in a tight grouping - minimum 10 plants) so they grow up nice and close and pollinate each other. They also need a bright sunny area.

Don't water the aloe vera plant, keep it in a dry location with plenty of sun. If it gets really hot, then give it a drink. Over watering cause rot.

Growing food isn't as economical as I was hoping, but still it's a nice pursuit.

I'm growing:

Garlic
Beetroot
Broad Beans
Silver-Beet
Swede
Chillies
Rocket
Potatoes
Radish
Tomatoes
Corn
Capsicum
Egg Plant

Lots of herbs - thyme, oregano, lemon grass, parsley, fennel, etc.

:mrgreen:

I'm "renting" this house from a relative who's using the money to play mortgage. I can only use a few spots here and there that previously had been nothing, but weeds.

I know all about the powdery mildew as I looked it up immediately upon finding the stuff. I've switched to watering only when it doesn't rain at all and during the midday when any water that gets on leaves will dry. Also I use the straight spray on the hose and aim at the ground whereas before I had a wide spray and got all the leaves and dirt.

I pollinated the corn myself by taking the pollen from top and rubbing it then coating the "hair" myself. You are right though there are plenty of commercial corn fields around my area and they all grow them real close.

You have an IMPRESSIVE collection of plants. Are/were you attempting to be a professional?

thewesdude said:
part of the problem is you would need to grow enough to provide 2-3 servings of fruit/veggie a day per person.

you would want plants that require minimum to no upkeep.

things like potatoes, onions, beets, etc

I consider it more of an experimental hobby. You're right though I could never survive under the circumstances. :)

donperkan said:
Move your garden away from the house. From what i can see that spot is for flowers. Plant in rows that way its easier to weed and it looks better. Pumpkins take a large space in the garden so you may want to reserve space just for them. Your broccoli and onions need more soil, i don't know why you decided to put some in pots. In general the surface the plant takes above ground is roughly the same it takes underground, plan ahead and give them more space. As of nourishment the plants only need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that is the most basic fertilizer its cheap and comes in various packages specifically for gardening. You may want to start thinking about a compost heap, that way there will be no need for artificial fertilizers

You can reuse most of the seeds you get from this year but corn will never be as big and as pretty as in those pictures. Corn is a heavily engineered to produce more and using last years seeds will result in small and fragile plant with equal small fruit

Gardening is all about trial and error you have to see and learn for yourself what produces the best results.

That pumpkin bread is going to be very delicious, theres nothing like enjoying the fruit of your hard work.

All good advice.

Crni Vuk said:
no talking plants which play chess? And you call your self a Fallout fan!

:D ,
The Vault Dweller
 
Have you considered adding live stock?

Chickens are great because not only can you eat them... but they need little to no feeding (they scrounge like a wasteland raider)... and EGGS!
My friend has 4 chickens, and it yields enough eggs where he stocks my fridge with them, as well as his own, and his sisters...

And it may seem gross... but on the subject of "Live stock" Ive heard that the gestation period of guinea pigs is less than a month... And that they dont taste half bad...

=)

Hey we are talking survival here!
 
John Merrik said:
My friend has 4 chickens, and it yields enough eggs where he stocks my fridge with them, as well as his own, and his sisters

Wow what's he feeding them with, FEV?
 
Not my info, but taken from the Internets :
The California white will lay an average of about 325 eggs a year. Typical barn yard breeds such as a Rhode Island red or a barred rock lay 3 eggs every 4 days then repeat the cycle again.

I eat about an egg a day, which I think is plenty for the morning... He used to have 6 Chickens, so his egg supply is lessened, but still more than enough.
However we Spatchcock'd the other two for his birthday, and it was worth it!
=)
 
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