I have advocated that people should be prepared for the unexpected not out of a fear of the unknown, but the fact that life is fundamentally changing and it is not for the better. Poverty is abounding and is going to increase, people are going to be put out of work, and life will become harder. Forget about the post-World War II days, for we are heading more to the days of the Depression, but with modern technology.
But I do not want to talk about such events right now, for instead, I’d like to talk about five practical plants, four tools, and three steps that you can get or do right now that may improve your life, and also add a few more things along the way. Some of these may be practical for your situations, and others may not be. However, the idea is preparing for what may come.
You can live really great when times get grubby. That is a proven fact. However, it requires that you prepare now for the future so when the unexpected- and really now expected -does come to pass, you can weather it well.
Five plants.
I would like to review five plants that will make your life a lot better. Three of these are “sisters,” and the other two are interesting in their own right.
It is said that the “three sisters” of gardening (American Indian/”Native American” gardening) are corn, beans, and squash, regardless of the type. All three can be canned or dried (in the case of corn, dried and ground into flour) and stored for a long time.
Do you have a small space? Are you not sure what to plant? Go to your local seed store and buy corn, bean, and squash seeds. It doesn’t matter if they are GMO or not at this point, and the variety (sweet vs. savory corn, bush vs. pole beans, summer vs. winter squash) is less important than the concept of getting three small packs and starting.
The fourth plant is “everbearing” strawberries. These small plants reproduce quickly and can cover a small patch of land with juicy strawberries with ease, which can be canned or stored.
The fifth plant is a unique one, which is a tea tree. Yes, an actual tea plant. There are small tea bushes, such as this one right here, that can survive in temperatures of USDA hardiness zone 6b (you can check your zone here), and in cooler climates you can wrap your tree up so it doesn’t freeze in the winter. After all, a little bit of caffeine is helpful to many people.
Four tools
The four tools that one needs to have a successful garden are a:
1) Shovel (to dig and move dirt)
2) Pick (to rip up tough soil)
3) Wheelbarrow (to move the dirt)
4) Bag(s) of rotted cow manure (to mix with dirt and add to plants)
Three steps to preparation
The three steps to having a garden are:
1) Pick your place.
2) Dig up the area and get rid of grass, weeds, and topsoil.
3) Mix manure with the soil, either on the ground or in the wheelbarrow, and work it in well.
Two steps to planing
The two steps to planting are:
1) Make a short (1/4 to 1/2 inch deep) trench with a shovel.
2) Place seeds in and cover.
Maintenance
The one step to maintenance is:
1) Keep it warm, moist (NOT soaking wet), and give it time.
Now I have oversimplified these steps somewhat, but I have done this for a reason- and it is to inspire you readers to do something with your yards though they may be small.
This garden is not a “survival garden” that will feed you forever. It is not intended to be, nor is it intended to grow into one.
What this is supposed to be about is a principle.
Things are changing a lot in the country. I have been putting out many pieces noting this, and while at times I say the same things repeatedly, it is because “repetition is the mother of success”, and the fundamentals cannot be repeated enough times because the situation is that critical. Many times in life, the most important things are not those which cause shock and amazement, but the basics that one cannot be told enough times and which one gets tired of hearing because he has “heard it so much”.
I can tell you fundamentals of change, how things happen, and how the leaders of countries around the world are driving the nations to war. I can talk about violence, bad things, and how there are a lot of problems, and no matter who is in power, nothing is going to change because they are just following a long-established plan that existed for decades and possibly centuries before they did.
In response, I am faced with answering the question, “what is the point of all this? What can we do if there is nothing that we can do?”
This is my answer to you. Since the average man is unable to stop the inevitable, one can instead choose to modify his behaviors.
The tale from Aesop’s fables about the Grasshopper and the Ant is a story that I use a lot, but I do because it is very relevant. You cannot stop winter from coming- the grasshopper and ant could not. However, what distinguished the latter from his relaxed counterpart is his response. He did not try to fight nature, but he accepted what would pass and dealt with it accordingly.
So it is that I also say to all who are alive today, who are witnessing the madness of the current political paradigm.
Does the last few days not prove that both Democrats and Republicans are on the same team? The Republicans, who said that the Democrats were “evil” for being socialist in their views, are not trying to give more socialism than the Democrats did, who for a while tried to “block Trump” and after to counter with an even larger social program than the Republicans.
If one hates football, does one fight to support the New England Patriots or the New York Giants? How about the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Denver Broncos? Why would one argue over something that one does not like, or which does not care about another?
Every man has a limited supply of energy that he can use. Instead of directing it to sterile causes, why not direct it to nature, where one can yield a return from the fruit of the earth and while not “taking charge” of one’s food, is able to learn about how to plant, how to conserve, and how to grow so that when times do become tougher, one can get through them a little better than before?
Is this idea “radical”? For a people who live on restaurants and barely cook, maybe, but from the viewpoint of history, our current ethos of restaurant-dining as a replacement for the family meal is a radical act as it is a historical aberration as well as a contemporary abomination. Many people’s great-grandparents or older had victory gardens, as well as many before this and still do in many parts of the world. The only novelty that people see in them is that man in the Western world today has become so far removed from even his own history that he cannot remember life for most.
Money is tight right now, things are shutting down, and things will get harder. But there is still time, and you can make some good decisions.
Consider making an investment into a garden. It is work, and it involves some learning, time, and money, but nothing in life that is worth doing does not require these things. Consider this as an investment in oneself, in the future, and the embrace of one’s past and the present life for many throughout the world while teaching one about how to bring forth the good things from the Earth which God provides for us and, as promised in Sacred Scripture, to which we shall return as the dust from whence we were created.