Post SHTF there are going to be many shiftless unprepared people milling about looking for anything to eat and anything to take that can be used in trade for something to eat. Especially in or near the more urbanized areas you will find it very difficult to cultivate a garden without it being raided on a regular basis.

Having a large well tended garden full of mouth watering produce marks your entire property as an excellent resource for harvest by others. After all, if you have the foresight and knowledge to be growing your own crops for survival post SHTF then what other preparedness items might you have also invested in to insure the survival of you and your family?

My guess would be that after the collapse someone with a large successful garden probably has been carefully preparing. I would know he has stockpiled seeds, which at the very least would be valuable as a trade item. With that mindset someone with a prosperous garden is also likely to have stored food since at certain times of the year he is producing food faster than he can eat it.

It doesn't take a survival expert to think that if this person had the foresight and ambition to produce his own food then there could be a stockpile of other useful items on the premises. For someone going hungry and looking out for his own family this kind of insight could come in handy.

In short, a big healthy garden could be tantamount to having a big red target on your back.

Is there away around this problem, where you can still put in a good sized crop of survival foods secretly? How about Guerrilla Gardening? The secretive growing of crops in very small plots scattered here and there throughout wide areas?

I suspect many people wouldn't even recognize cultivated edible plants growing outside the typical garden environment. For example, a couple of potato plants beside a tree in the forest or park. Plant a hundred tiny plots in out of the way locations. Even the discovery of a few plants by outsiders would be an acceptable loss compared to your whole garden.

Guerrilla gardening is food for thought come SHTF.

You can start your guerrilla garden right now! Our group is doing this all over the state (since we are spread out)...
one thing that is good is ground nuts. These can be used to make flour and can also take over an area eventually. A plus is that the squirrels will benefit until you are ready to eat them. As you work in your garden this year, take some of those herbs you are dividing and plant them here and there...most will thrive and naturalize. Chives, mints and sevral others will do very well. Perhaps find a nice spot and plant some garlic or even better, Jerusalem Artichokes. Those will spread and the tubers are good to eat like potatoes, and I am told can be ground into a meal like flour. If you have strawberries, take a few runners and find a spot at the edge of the woods to plant them...same thing with raspberry shoots. Think of planting some watercress near a pond in your area. Plant a nut tree or apple tree in a lightly wooded park area or along a trail.

All these things will help you eat if something happens.

ForFreedom wrote:Post SHTF there are going to be many shiftless unprepared people milling about looking for anything to eat and anything to take that can be used in trade for something to eat. Especially in or near the more urbanized areas you will find it very difficult to cultivate a garden without it being raided on a regular basis.

Having a large well tended garden full of mouth watering produce marks your entire property as an excellent resource for harvest by others.

How about Guerrilla Gardening?

I have been concerned about this for quite a while as well. So I have been working on natural food sources including, nut trees, fruit trees, goose berries, black berries, mushrooms, native grasses, edible water plants, etc, and all of the wildlife they support.

As for garden plots in the woods I can see some sheriffs deputy flying over and thinking it is a pot garden and then the deputies surprise when the show up and find tomatoes... Grin.