Secret Survival Garden

[doc pops]

Has anyone gotten this book, or implemented its concepts?
Planting in concentric circles. Like the idea. Have looked on You Tube, all there is teasers, by the author.
I hate to spend almost $50.00 for a book that know one I know of has read and or implemented its concepts.
That said, have been prepping the ground for it.
Even have some of the plants.
Thanks in advance, docpops
Good luck, he safe, and God bless.

 

[Brent S]

I've not seen that book, but the principal is easy. First off, think of what grows well in your area. These need to be hearty plants that don't need a lot of maintenance. Start with a fruit tree, pear, Apple whatever, then plant smaller things around it, blueberries etc. then plant low ground things between it all. If it's not 'manicured' and is in a grown up area, hopefully it will blend in. I think the main thing is picking plants that will thrive in the area you area so you don't need to be out there working at keeping them alive. I wish I had done some of that kind of landscaping here, but have over cleared a lot of the property. Between 10 yrs of collecting firewood, and thinning out areas to get grass to grow, everything is very visible now. Oh well, that's what the AR is for.

 

[psalm 7]

One concept I have read about is from the inside out would be start with your garden you have to work and keep up . Then next circle your stuff that comes back each year like berries , fruit trees and such . Next circle would be nut trees like pecans , walnuts . Next would be native edible wild plants and fruit , nut trees you encurage to grow . Last would be the great outdoors for hunter gather . I have something similar going but not in the circle format . Just some of each .

 

[Gazrok]

There's a little writeup of the book in the Newsweek Off The Grid special. It actually looks pretty good from the excerpts I've read. Some great ideas. I plan on adding it to my library. (and I plan on using the principles in the side dog yard).

You can find out more here: (including first chapter)
http://secretgardenofsurvival.com/

Buying the book here, it's only $21, not $50, which is darn reasonable.
http://secretgardenofsurvival.com/index.php/how-to-buy-the-book

Unlike the author though, I also enjoy the idea of having the traditional row garden for more common veggies, just that the place where this row garden will be, is thankfully pretty hidden from all approaches to the property. I may even hide it from the air (not out of paranoia, but more to keep birds out).

 

[Gazrok]

The basic idea is pretty simple.

There are plenty of food plants that grow in nature that need zero maintenance or intervention to grow, and keep producing on their own all the time. Basically, the idea is to use these plants in 3 dimensions (low, medium, high heights) to have an area that looks wild and overgrown, but that is actually a food garden.

The emphasis is more on fruits and nuts, not veggies.

I believe the author is one of the main folks involved with the Doomsday Castle on Nat Geo's show. That aside, it doesn't invalidate it, hehe....

 

[Maverick]

Though the secret garden is very dependent on location, in my area you will be fighting the 4 legged creatures deers, bears and some times the elk and are very destructive against my apples, blueberries, huckleberries, salmonberries, the more secretive the garden the safer the animals feel (in these parts) If you want visitors from the bears grow huckleberries so just be aware that while you may hide the garden from man just not the nose of the 4 legged kind.

 

[Silent Bob]

Has anyone gotten this book, or implemented its concepts?
Planting in concentric circles. Like the idea. Have looked on You Tube, all there is teasers, by the author.
I hate to spend almost $50.00 for a book that know one I know of has read and or implemented its concepts.
That said, have been prepping the ground for it.
Even have some of the plants.
Thanks in advance, docpops
Good luck, he safe, and God bless.

Doc pops...no I've not read the book, but the theory is there, similar to how people use different plants within one hole, example greenbeans, corn and squash. Seeing your in Florida...have you consider speaking to the folks who work at the Disney's Living with the Land. I know many are going to say...oh crap...but I've gone through their back room visit and picked up so much information that could be used in a post-environment. If you've toured it as a visitor, your going to be totally impressed at what how most of the crops grown there are used in the daily operations...much of what I learned about agri-ponics was spring boarded from this experience. While my own yard has limited space, I've always been amazed at what the man above has provided on such a meager and poor cultivation environment. While not completely self-sustaining, we've been able to cut our fresh vegetable costs by 60%. Areas needing to improve on are rice and asparagus growth. Lemons, apples, pears grow abundantly on my small lot and I get about 70 oranges from a very medium tree that is planted in a half-50 gallon container. The lemon and orange trees receive water from my very small agri-ponic/green house.

 

[Gazrok]

Salmonberries, man I miss those. (Used to live in Alaska, we had them there, picked them all the time). But yeah, the bears really like them too.

 

[MahoganyEclipse]

Has anyone gotten this book, or implemented its concepts?
Planting in concentric circles. Like the idea. Have looked on You Tube, all there is teasers, by the author.
I hate to spend almost $50.00 for a book that know one I know of has read and or implemented its concepts.
That said, have been prepping the ground for it.
Even have some of the plants.
Thanks in advance, docpops
Good luck, he safe, and God bless.

I'm kind of doing this in pots, as my current backyard is the size of a shoebox. It's really awesome when you begin to see the paybacks coming .

 

[user 7704]

Ke

One concept I have read about is from the inside out would be start with your garden you have to work and keep up . Then next circle your stuff that comes back each year like berries , fruit trees and such . Next circle would be nut trees like pecans , walnuts . Next would be native edible wild plants and fruit , nut trees you encurage to grow . Last would be the great outdoors for hunter gather . I have something similar going but not in the circle format . Just some of each .

Keep in mind that walnut and hickory nut trees are poisonous to many plants. As far as 100 ft from the drip line and the full circumference of the roots.

 

[Brent S]

Ke

Keep in mind that walnut and hickory nut trees are poisonous to many plants. As far as 100 ft from the drip line and the full circumference of the roots.

Yeah, I have a young walnut tree, about a foot thick trunk, that's not too far from my garden. Luckily the garden is uphill, but I just don't have the heart to remove the tree. Not to mention I get nuts each year, even if they are so hard it takes a sledge hammer to get in them.

 

[user 7704]

Yeah, I have a young walnut tree, about a foot thick trunk, that's not too far from my garden. Luckily the garden is uphill, but I just don't have the heart to remove the tree. Not to mention I get nuts each year, even if they are so hard it takes a sledge hammer to get in them.

I had two large walnut tree cut and could not give them away for someone to build with. Ended up giving them away as firewood.