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It has been a crazy year for gardens, just when we need them with looming food shortages. I often think of my grandparents (both sets) that had large gardens every year. Both grannies canned to preserve food to last through the winter. If the garden failed .... well, it was slim pickings during the winter months.

They did have animals they could butcher - both grandfathers butchered more hogs than anything & both were excellent sausage makers. Cows and sheep were rarely butchered for the family because they were too valuable as sale animals - per my dad, maybe 1 cow per year & 1 lamb for a special occasion (Easter in particular).

They both had chickens and those were most often ‘Sunday dinner’. My dad recently told me a story of waking up one morning & seeing a couple of chickens outside the coop. Since the chickens were locked up every night, they knew someone had gotten into the coop and it turned out that between 30-40 chickens were gone .... cleaned out by thieves. Those were hard times (Depression years) and people were desperate and stealing to eat. In our more modern times, when the grocery shelves are empty & the city dwellers can’t grow their own food ... I hate to think what will happen.

Anyway, to end on a more positive note .... saw this article the other day, written by Dr. Malone on “Victory Gardens” - he is encouraging people to grow them.

The Victory Garden.
Don’t just Consume, Produce. Our parents did it, and so can we.
https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/the-victory-garden?s=r

The article starts with this quote, but it gets into more than just the politics around food - a good read.

“If people let government decide which food they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny”

Thomas Jefferson

If the garden failed .... well, it was slim pickings during the winter months.

This is why I recommend Shark Fin Squash and true potato seed for survival gardens.

Shark Fin can be stored in the shell for a remarkably long time. Some reports say up to 7 years! Although I haven't been able to test that yet. I have some in the basement right now that were grown in 2019. The first few months after picking, I would occasionally find one that softened and had to be eaten right away, but after a certain point they just stopped. The ones downstairs are just as solid as they were when fresh-picked. If I were relying on my garden for survival, Shark Fins would be high on the list of things to grow.

True potato seed (or TPS) is the seed that forms in the little green "potato-berries" at the top of the plant. Once clean and dry, they can be stored for years, just like tomato seeds. They're grown the same way tomatoes are, too. The downside is that every plant grown from seed will be different, so results aren't exactly predictable. But, if something wipes out your potato crop one year, TPS gives you a way to rebuild.

“It has been a crazy year for gardens, just when we need them with looming food shortages.”

We’ve been blessed this year, in that the garden is looking good so far, in spite of the weather, which has been very up and down :) The last two days were cold and rainy, to be followed by the next four days with temps going into the low 90’s. All that is left to go in are the pumpkins, which down here don’t get planted till July.

As always, I pray for the best, while trying to prepare for the worst, although I’m a far cry from where I’d like to be. There’s still lots I’d like to learn, which is why I’m on this list.