Urban Survival: Planning and Preparation Part 1

Urban Survival: re-purposing the garden from ornamental to food-producing...

Survival  TV programmes such as Bear Grylls have long focused on the more extreme versions of  survival, an individual pitted against nature for example; or those reality shows were contestants are dropped onto a tropical island and have to live for a month, or  any of those special forces are-you-tough-enough programmes. Since we now find ourselves in an atypical survival situation, we find these programmes are largely irrelevant. That old Samurai saying comes to mind:

"It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war"

What we needed to have been watching to prepare for all this, was not Bear Grylls or Ant Middleton but those rather more sedate gardening programmes with Alan Titchmarsh and Monty Don!

Since we are now isolated to our homes and gardens with COVID19 on the prowl, our survival strategy has to be homely too, making that old WW2 slogan relevant:

"Dig for Victory" 

I think it is a relevant survival strategy to prepare for further disruptions to the distribution of food and subsquent food shortages - we have already seen people panic buy pasta, tinned tomatoes, eggs and flour! If you have a garden you are in luck! Because you can turn it into a food-producing garden...

Stage 1 of this urban "survival strategy" has been (surprisingly enough) internet-based; researching, planning ahead, sourcing and securing local food producers (such as proper farm shops) for home delivery of food, purchasing plant plugs and seeds to grow, compost, sharp sand, top soil, hoes, rakes and other tools. And chickens and a chicken coop. Trying to source availability for all of the above whilst half the country also do the same.

Stage 2 is preparing the ground. I am repurposing about half the garden to be food producing, this has involved a lot of digging and clearing weeds and ornamental plants.  I have dug up the pond, filled it in with hardcore and will turf it over - this will be for the chicken coop. I have reactivated the old greenhouse too, it was junk and pending being sold or given away, and now it is indispensable. If you don't have a greenhouse there are alternatives to buy including polytunnels, and coldframes.

Who would have thought that survival would have centred around gardening?

I am attempting to make this garden food producing in 2 months, vegetables and eggs. It certainly helps being vegetarian!

Part 2 to follow soon.