[Prucillamealybug]

Same when we lived in Colorado. My garden was 95% edible or medicinal. I used to give loads away Everyone knew me as the plant lady as I gave away on average 1000 plants and cuttings away for free for the time we lived there every year. ( ten ) Had folk check out the garden to see that it was possible what ever size garden you had was possible to feed a family. I had it set up so that there were small areas even if folk just had a balcony etc. So people were coming and going to pick up plants all the time. We would be a prime target if we had stayed. Plenty of edibles that go down to -30 and -40 degrees and had a wonderful garden there. We had seen the way things were heading for years. I am 60 and have been a prepper all my life. But we didn’t call it that back in the day. Sold up and moved out in the back of beyond and starting a new garden over 3 years ago. My advice to you is simple. Change how you plant your crops if your in a town community etc. . You can thank the Victorian gardeners for us planting in nice neat rows. I found most folk that came did not and had never seen a carrot growing never seen a potato plant or actually knew where there food came from or what the plant looked like. Going to the store and the check out person asking me what a vegetable was so they could scan it in was common place. Plant in flower beds. etc change how you plant your veg. They can grow very happily along side other plants and don’t plant in rows.Etc. spread them about a bit. 🙃

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  Prucillamealybug.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  Prucillamealybug.

[Moew]

Thank you! We have raised beds in the back and they are full of our winter crops. I’m going to change my spring garden plans and take your advise and lose the rows. I am preparing my medicinal herb garden in the front because they just look like pretty flowers and will most likely be passed by. I hope your new place is serving you well and you have successful crops. Thanks for the great suggestions.

[Farmall140]

First off fence for privacy. Make it less visible.it can be fast growing shrubs. Secondly. U need a way to make your home more secure. Solar motion lights are a good start. Third designate a safe place within your house as a faa back shelter.if you can’t move then make the most of what you have. Plus you can say the shrubs are pretty. The lights so you can see. And the safe room can serve 2 purposes such as make it a pantry.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  Farmall140.

[Moew]

Thank you Farmall! We already have a privacy fence except for a front gate. We do have two extremely big dogs who like to watch out for us there. I’m going to buy the security lights tomorrow-that’s a great idea and I don’t know why I didn’t think about it. I have always wanted a safe room/ root cellar but our water table is extremely high here in SW GA. I am going to do some research to see if there is a way around this high water table. Thank you so much for your helpful advice.

[Farmall140]

Most welcome. As for the cellar s5orm shelter several people have made one from conex buildings lined and buried. Of course this does require excavation with heavy equipment. However it could be written off as maintenance on pipes to the house. Folks have even done it in Louisiana so there is ways around the water table

[roj]

disguise your edibles as a food forest. Hide everything in plain site. depending on the size of your operation you can grow a lot of things that most people won’t even recognize, such as different types of berries, nut trees etc. obviously some things are easy to pick out, but most people are just plain idiots. Maybe with your beans get a form of self defense too. There are many ways to disguise things and layer your security.

[Moew]

Good idea! I’m so thankful ya’ll have taken the time out of your days to give me so many good ideas. I love decorating, and I’m going to find ways to disguise my edibles that way. No pink flamingoes though! I’ll post pics when the spring garden is planted

[Summerhat-n-Chicks]

It’s pretty much the same in my neighborhood and if they have a bit of garden area in the back, it’s neglected.

However, we do have at least two other families that have chickens.

What I started doing for additional property protection, is to plant my wild wine berry and wild roses along the fence on the outside. Those thorns will keep unwanted spying eyes away from the fence. Also, our place/house looks sort of run down and unkempt. When we moved here, I started to fix the house and cleaned up the garden, but since things changed and I started prepping, I stopped, even neglecting the front/flowerbeds (other than mowing the lawn). We never got to paint the house, which I always hated, but lately I m glad because it looks like we’re dirt poor and maybe our place is being passed by. Like mentioned before, we also have solar security lights.

[coyotech]

A friend of mine does that – she lets her place look neglected and a little crazy, and lets the tumble weeds pile up along a couple of fences so that nobody would want to climb over. I read a guy in a war zone who protected his place with natural thorny bushes along the fence (not landscaped looking) and keeping it plain and uninteresting. He never had problems. Seems to be a good strategy.

[Summerhat-n-Chicks]

👍 And I can eat the berries because no one wants to eat wild “stuff” . 😉

[1Oldiron1]

Hi , All the above sounds good , But Reality is , if / when “SHTF” happens . It will not matter .It’s all Depending on how bad it really gets , Plan and Simple. . Maybe your neighbors see you with a garden and that may motivate them to plant garden . And if you have the means to help them get started,, it might help with good neighbor relationships. ( if they are worth it) I’m not saying do all the work , but plow / till . Show them that they can grow stuff on their own . If the opportunity arises don’t let it go to waste. Try to create a pack / Mag . And As for escape room you better have a Secret way out. They will wait on you.!! or come after you . Good people will turn bad when they or their family gets hungry enough . Bug out plan would be good to have also . And BIG DOGS do help . Slows them down but will not stop them .( depends how bad it gets ) Survey the land that you have and look for points of entry that they may come in by.put some solar lights in the area ( even if it’s in woods ) If it’s really bad, they come through the Front gate in a pack . You need to get with some “GOOD FELLOWS” . That think the same as you do . Setup a Communication system and make sure that they will have your back as well as you will have their back. I don’t mean to sound so dark , but I always Hope for the best , BUT plan for the worst.

Don’t try to be a lone wolf ; your easy Pickens to them . “Wolf Preppers ” .

Get Mentally , physical and Spiritual

Prepared as another gentleman would say.

[KimC]

I use polyculture and mix everything up (mostly to confuse bugs to prevent infestations of anything on an entire group of the same edibles). I built single row raised border beds around the perimeter of the yard because space is so limited.

Growing unconventional edible greens that don’t look particularly edible is helpful, such as Egyptian spinach, Okinawa spinach, Surinam spinach, ashitaba, red-veined sorrel, beet greens, arugula, even celery (when you don’t bind it and let the stalks go their merry way, they’re not as recognizable as what people are used to seeing celery look like).

Plus, I grow one of the best omega3-rich plants that most people use as a shrub (it’s called elephant food), and something that’s (I think) a cousin to chard called perpetual spinach, and malabar spinach, moringa, etc. I also interplant flowers to attract pollinators. Conventionally, I believe it’s recommended to plant flowers at the end of each row, but I put them wherever they’ll grow and be helpful, including nasturtiums, which are entirely edible and medicinal, and grow wonderfully in shady areas where nothing else does well.

If you want a leafy green that will re-seed itself and come back forever, plant claytonia (miner’s lettuce). My chickens go absolutely crazy for it, and it’s great in salads, and I’ve never had to plant it again. If it pops up where I don’t want it, that’s just another chicken snack.

Some things, like certain fruit trees, can’t be disguised, but many others might surprise you. Most people who’ve been in my back yard just think it’s lush greenery. One person continually calls it a jungle when everything is leafed out in spring and summer. When it’s all growing, it melds together and just looks like vegetation around the perimeter of the yard. It must trick their eye or overwhelm the visual sense just enough. I see the individual plants, but most people don’t seem to be able to distinguish them. It’s kind of interesting.

[JerseyGiantChick]

Around here there are many, but not market gardening setup. And a mixture from greens, herbs, fruits, nuts and flowers. Working on a project for Kindergarten and school, pick up point and lurn how to grow different ways for home.

[yosef61]

I feel you. I am a member of my local garden club with 20 active members. We have gathering most months. I have put up a 8′ fence to keep peepers from peering over my 6′. Nosey peeps are terrible.

I try to grow many veggies and it’s a process here in the Texas heat.

[Summerhat-n-Chicks]

I so agree with the fact that most people can’t identify foods just by looking at the plant. Last late summer, I created a 10’/10’ testing patch next to my driveway out front and people walking our neighborhood actually had to ask what I was growing in there. I had peas, Lima beans, chard, carrots, radishes, cilantro, and string beans that just had a large tomato cage to climb on . They were all surprised and had no idea that that “stuff “ grows that way.

Poor souls, I fear for them.

[Concealed-Kari]

We have had a lot of “pod people” (subdivisions) move in around us.

My garden is biggest around us. Our neighbors are clueless about what is approaching so I gave them fresh produce and canned goods as well as seedlings.

Now, they are starting to garden!

Basically, teach them to fish if you can’t flee. You will be surprised how many people want to do it but just don’t know how.

[000]

Consider yourselves lucky. There is only one family near me with a garden too, but I’m not giving up, I’m going to make mine bigger and better this Spring.

[Moew]

It may sound weird and it’s time consuming, but I go through each plant and search for worms and their eggs. We had the battle of the century with cabbage worms this year, but our diligence seems to have won. I have so much fermenting to do and I don’t want to lose a single one of my beautiful cabbage! After all, they all survived that nasty Christmas freeze.

Last summer we had a long stretch of extreme heat with no rain as I am sure you did too. I got desperate and emptied my ice cube trays in the plants that were suffering the most. They seemed to love it.

I plant basil next to my tomatoes because the creepy crawlies are supposed to be repelled by this herb. I had some success, but not as much as I would like.

One weird thing I have noticed is that all of the plants near my herb garden flourish. I don’t know why this is, but I’ll take it! I am going to do a full rearrangement of my crops this year, but I’m not moving my herbs! I’ll probably plant some more and scatter them into each garden bed.

I hope this helps

[Moew]

I’m going to plant my calendula, camomile and marigolds surrounding the beds. You’re right about most plants not looking like food. We love okra, and I can’t think of how to disguise eight foot plants yet! Lol they do have pretty flowers though.

[Concealed-Kari]

Exactly!

[Moew]

My herb garden is in partial shade, and it is happy there. I’m thinking about planting our tomato and pepper starts in the bed that is adjacent to the herb garden. Right now I have carrots, broccoli and cabbage using that bed, but except for the carrots those plants are about finished growing.

I have one issue that could be a game changer in our sun exposure. We have a tree that needs to be removed and it is shading my herb garden. I’ll be interested to see what happens. We have equal parts sun and shade, but our summers are so stinking hot, that the shade is really hot too. I’m planning on doing my ice cube trick if things get too bad.

Is it time for you to start seedlings in your area yet? We just started ours a week ago. I’m never sure whether I’m jumping the gun on starts, or dragging my feet. The weather is so crazy anymore that I have not idea of when our last frost is!

Happy gardening

[Moew]

I missed your other question about the white flies. I hate them!! I have only been able to remove the eggs and the leaves if they’re ruined. I have no idea how to fight them. I have even given in and used “Sevens” dust when things get too bad. I know that is not organic gardening, but I had to make a choice between non-organic or no fruit. Thankfully we have only had to do that a couple of times. I’m hoping that planting my peppers and tomatoes near the herb garden will help. Sorry that I don’t have any good answers. If I figure anything out I’ll sure let you know.

[Moew]

I think the marigolds helped, but I’m not sure because I’ve always had them there. We did lose them this year due to the Christmas freeze. I’m going to plant them this year because, if nothing else, they’re so pretty.

I love to walk outside and cut some herbs and use them for our supper. I have no idea why, but I am thrilled to do this. For this reason, I baby my herb garden and don’t want to change anything. Marigold seeds are growing as we speak!

We have had a pretty strong rain all day today, and I’m hoping that all our root vegetables will survive.

[Bluesky63]

Bt is the best, natural way to control worms (white flies). It is not poison to warm blooded animals or humans. I have used it for 40 years with great success. Use on tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, lettuce- what ever you have worms eating the leaves. Spray early morning or evening and after every rain.