Garden like your life depends on it â€" because it does! In this age of rampant contamination of our food supply by pesticides, toxic sludge, radiation, and genetically modified organisms (GMO), as well as increasing regulations restricting family farmers and people that merely want to use the space in their yards for something useful such as growing food, we would all do well to start learning how to plant a garden, and save the seeds from those crops for future plantings and to share with neighbors and friends so that if one person gets shut down, then others can share their saved seeds and the garden can be started right back up again.
This is guerrilla warfare using seeds as weapons of mass deliverance. How we started our guerrilla warfare gardening project
First, I found some non-GMO, non-hybrid seeds. I asked the local feed store what brand of seeds they carried, then looked up the brands on the Internet to find out who owned the companies, and if Monsanto had anything to do with them, then chose the non-Monsanto related brand.
We started out with a small outdoor garden, growing things that we were told would grow without too much expertise, since we were just beginners. We fertilized the garden area with aged horse manure from our own horses, and planted spinach, beets, carrots, cabbage, mustard greens, onions, swiss chard, lettuce, and radishes, then watered diligently by hand. We were not disappointed, and actually had a decent harvest our first year. This was encouraging.
After that, we experimented with other crops such as zucchini, butternut squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Since our growing season is so short, the squash, cukes and tomatoes froze. This was disappointing to say the least, but we learned.
I then went on the Internet to find out how to save and store seeds for future plantings. I found that it is necessary to get non-hybrid seeds, and wanting to keep everything organic, made sure that I got
heirloom organic seeds from a reputable company. Here are instructions for harvesting and saving your seeds:
LINK The indoor garden
Because I love tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and butternut squash, this year I decided to do something different and start an indoor garden because these crops simply do not do well outside unless you have a greenhouse, hoop house, or other type of covering for them. Since we have a spare bedroom, it just seemed logical to convert it into a garden room.
We built a three-tier bench out of scrap lumber in front of the window, and installed a simple fluorescent grow light under the top shelf.
I used pie plates with clear plastic tops and plastic containers from the supermarket as mini-greenhouses to start the seeds, then transplanted them into large cans.
There are two other walls on which to build shelves, and we plan on doing that just as soon as possible to house the many plants that I started. We also plan on installing at least three more grow lights to make this room an all-year grow room, with fresh veggies available year-round. This will be accomplished by staggering the planting schedule. The tomatoes will hang
upside down from the ceiling because they seem to do best that way, and it saves space in the room.
Here is a link to some information regarding grow lights. Future plans In the future, we plan to expand our outdoor garden to include an automated sprinkler system, which will cut down on the manual labor. The indoor garden room will eventually contain its own water supply with utility sink, and a timer for the lights. The closet in the garden room will contain shelves to store seeds, supplies, and anything else I need to keep the garden growing.
If we can do this, so can you. I encourage everyone to
start their own project, whether it is an indoor garden room like ours, an outdoor garden, greenhouse,
window garden,
hydroponics garden,
vertical garden, or anything that your space will allow. The time to start is now, because if you are hungry, there is no time to learn how to do this. So take this time to prepare because we are quickly becoming so dependent on imported food that prices are apt to skyrocket out of control and out of the budget for many of us. What will you do if you go to the grocery store and a loaf of bread costs $10? I know what I will do. Plant more seeds and learn to live on fresh veggies for the majority of my diet. We can survive the coming crash, we just need to get resourceful and learn how to grow our own food in the face of all opposition. After all,
this is guerrilla warfare using seeds as weapons of mass deliverance. © 2011 Barbara H. Peterson â€" all rights reserved
Website: Farm Wars
Blog: Speak Truth 2 Power
Writer on Freedom’s Phoenix 
