Adios Lantana. Hello potatoes!

NOTE: this is somewhat apocalyptic, but there is a bit of humor at the bottom.

Until recently, prepping for the apocalypse seemed to be a fringe activity. It kept a few people busy stashing fairly expensive survival gear in their basement survival shelters. Some preppers even got reality TV contracts which probably helped pay for those high priced guns and goodies.

Since the arrival of the coronavirus, however, and especially since the shut-down of midwest meat packing plants, more and more people–me among them–are considering planting a “survival garden”. Prepping now seems a realistic activity as significant disruption of the food distribution channels suddenly is a real possibility. It’s a complicated issue but here is an article that explains how food disruption is already happening in the U.S. and around the world.

Now I’ve never been a big supporter of homeowners trying to grow vegetables in a hot dry desert-like climate. It takes a lot of effort, water, raised beds, shade cloths, soil amendments or even the entire replacement of lousy alkaline desert soil to grow veggies in a hot dry garden.

Even with all that I’ve heard disappointing tale after disappointing tale from gardeners who tried to do it. The costs are very very high, especially when calculated at the total dollars spent to produce each tomato or cantaloupe or bunch of spinach.

I’ve always thought: it’s better to support organic farmers by buying their vegetables at the grocery store. As we all know it costs a great deal of money to grow organic vegetables which is why they are more expensive than regular store-bought veggies. Even then, vegetables and fruits from organic growers are less expensive than growing your own in your backyard.

I’m beginning to rethink this.

Here is what I am going to do: rather than going the big raised bed or full backyard garden routes, I decided to start small and checked on Amazon to find grow bags, especially potato grow bags. My reasoning is that people–think of the Irish back in the 1700s and 1800s–lived almost entirely on potatoes. Not a balanced diet, but nutritious enough to survive for awhile.

Other below-ground vegetables, including carrots, parsnips and onions, as well as herbs and even tomatoes can be raised in grow bags.

Then today I learned this lesson: what grows reasonably well in one hot and dry location won’t live in another. Summer, I discovered, is not a good time for potatoes in Tucson. Sweet potatoes are a possibility, however. I’m going to have to do more research on what vegetables might grow in Tucson’s version of a hot, dry climate with its monsoons. Cantaloupes and squash are possibilities, I think. But when the weather cools I’m going to plant potatoes. Yukon Gold potatoes to be more specific.

Now I’m not advocating that you start a “survival garden”, but it seems to me to be worthwhile considering because now, more than ever in my lifetime, the future and the food supply seem very uncertain.

I’m not, however, going to remove the Lantana in my front garden and plant potatoes instead. Grow bags on my backyard patio are going to be my “survival garden”.

OK Here is a funny for you.

For art lovers: Tussen Kunst & Quarantaine (@tussenkunstenquarantaine) • Instagram photos and videos

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