Best crops for survival gardening

[waterboy 2.0]

Lost crops of the Incas is about there as well for the cooler climate dwellers

[gtarman]

And this is another random list I've compiled from online research of reportedly low-water/drought-tolerant food plants (a couple I think have already been mentioned):

Cnidoscolus spp. bull nettles (the texanus only has edible seeds...the stimulosus has an edible

root...texanus seems to have a much larger root that may be edible, some sources say yay, others nay)

Cnidolscolus Stimulosus - drought tolerant nettle with edible potato-like root. a well-disguised,

drought-hardy potato that defends itself? what could be better for survival gardening?

Cnidoscolus chayamansa ‘Stingless’ chaya

Dolichos lablab, hyacinth bean - seems a little too much on the troublesome side (the seeds/beans are

apparently quite toxic and take prolonged boiling to be made edible, and the water then needs to be

discarded). the leaves again i think are edible cooked, but the whole toxic thing...

Tegragonia tegragonioides, New Zealand spinach

Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) - aka salad mallow, aka mulaheyah, aka egyptian spinach. this plant seems

to be very, very useful - it produces the fibre known as jute from which strong ropes, fabrics etc can be

made and the leaves are used as a cooked spinach-type vegetable.

Wolfberry/goji berry (Lycium)

anasazi beans - a native american bean variety of the now extinct anasazi tribe. is reported to have a

deep taproot and to be quite drought tolerant, with high quality beans (less gas, good taste and

fast-cooking)

cardoon - eaten like artichoke, stems used like celery/asparagus. enzyme from the plant is also used as

rennet in cheese making

Acacia aneura (mulga)

Acacia coriacea (wiry wattle)

Capparis mitchellii - native orange

anise

Adzuki beans/Japanese red beans (Vigna angularis)

Buffalo gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima) - apparently the gourd is only edible whilst young, the mature

fruits being bitter and inedible

Pediomelum hypogaeum, P. cuspidatum

Liatris punctata - edible root

Edited May 9, 2013 by gtarman

[coolname]

Someone has probably said it before, but you should get your self all learned up about the bush tucker and medicine in your area. Hundreds of generations of aboriginals cant be wrong. Its something i have been interested in since primary school and my mates spin out when we are out in the bush and all they can see are random trees and bushes, and i point out something that you can eat or use for whatever reason. Dont get me wrong, about 90% of the edible plants around my area taste pretty average but they will keep you alive. And besides, you will need something to keep you going until whatever crops you are growing will be ready to harvest. It would be bloody hard, and im sure i would lose alot of weight but im fairly confident i could survive in the bush in north queensland if it really came down to it thanks to all the stuff i have learned over the last 10 or 15 years

[waterboy 2.0]

anyone playing with bushfood should also make sure that even if its noted or someone tells you its edible, make sure it does not need any form of treatment first. Tubers and seeds in particular.

[Bigred]

I want to make a ram pump was wondering if any sabers knew how to make one there are heaps of designs

 

I think these are a awesome invention using just the water hammer effect. and it is very cheap to make

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydraulic-Ram-Pump/

[shortly]

your neighbors are gonna love you Red, many a ram pump has been violently sabotaged in the dead of night by sleepless neighbors trying to get some peaceful slumber.

[gtarman]

Those things look interesting...although they also look like they waste a lot of water - the dude in the vid was saying only 10% of what goes in actually comes out the other end, and I imagine the rest ends up around the pump from the first valve. But I guess it depends on your water source and how careful you need to be with it.

[El Presidente Hillbillios]

that looks like it could be a good way to lift water out of a running creek into a tank with enough head to be usefull,

[Shamanistic]

Bigred,

If you're interested in making a ram pump you might wanna check out: http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/GravityMotors/Art_Shaefer/Water-Lifting_device_21pp.pdf Which describes an improved ram pump. Water hammer is an incredibly interesting effect imo.

There is also a very interesting theory that the great pyramid was actually intended to be some sort of ram pump, then again there is a theory for the great pyramid being everything from made by extra terrestrials, spiritual temple to a bloody tomb. If you are interested you can find more on that here:

http://sentinelkennels.com/Research_Article_V41.html

 

[shortly]

A few more alternate root crops for anyone keen enough to hunt them down.

Portulaca tuberosa

Portulaca napiformis Somewhat fibrous but good flavor, probably best harvested as 1 or 2 year old tubers.

Portulaca australis

Portulaca bicolor

Calandrinia pleiopetala

Anacampseros/Grahamia australiana

Brunoniella acaulis blue yam

Cyperus bulbosus (bush onion) fiddly but good flavor in a stew

Vigna lanceolata (finger yam)

Vigna marina The Ningi ppl roasted & ate the tubers on Bribie Is. A little fiddly but good flavor

Vigna vexillata

There are lots of very good exotic Vigna spp that produce edible tubers such as:

Vigna subterranea Bambara ground nut

Vigna ambacensis: tubers eaten in Zaire

Vigna fischeri: tubers eaten in Malawi

Vigna reticulate

And probably a LOT of others.

[Halcyon Daze]

If anyone wants some sprouting Yacon tubers (Smallanthus sonchifolius) then lemme know.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Halcyon Daze

[Stillman]

Queensland Arrowroot Canna edulis I'm in QLD and this does grow like a weed here.

cooking some tonight, if it taste ok I'll be sourcing and planting a heap. Got a plant from a member here and it turned into this lot in short time.

and a replant of smaller tubers to space it out and encourage new growth

[shortly]

Peel it under water then transfer it directly from being submerged to the pot. Arrowroot oxidizes faster than anything known to man.

[Stillman]

tasted great

not as starchy as some yams. you could easily make a bread out of this stuff, very starchy but still palatable.

[bullit]

strawberriez?? like 1.2 million of them lol!! fuk me make it stop pleaz god [ 16 weeks later and still goin goin]

pleaz turn it off pleaz turn it off last 2 weeks we have scrapped 20 tonne from over ripe...not even the asians can keep up.

so i say stawberries drug fucked strawberries

[bogfrog]

I love this thread soo much <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_wub.png

[Bert&Ernie]

Someone should make this thread into a book!

[whoami]

Someone should make this thread into a book!

well there pretty much is, heard on the radio yesterday a bloke has compiled a list of over how many tens of thousands of plants that can be used for food, fuel and materials. can't remember many more details but he's doing workshops and his book/s will be published soon. heard it when driving one of the work utes as soon as I figure out which station it was on ill call them for more info

emphasis on tens of thousands of plants his lists Is massive supposedly!!

Edited September 18, 2013 by whoami

[bogfrog]

16 Foods That’ll Re-Grow from Kitchen Scraps

http://wakeup-world.com/2012/10/15/16-foods-thatll-re-grow-from-kitchen-scraps/

[vitex]

The original thread was about growing enough in a garden to feed you. Now I think that would be full-time job, were it possible, because it'd be one helluva intensive permaculture setup. There are people who have gotten close to this ideal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuogTqasSmU (very attractive urban farmer, but also shows what's possible)

I reckon aquaponics is the way to go to produce enough protein - now just convince the biosecurity nazis that growing tilapia or perch is a goer in NZ or Australia...

can't go past theurbanfarmingguys.com for a look at aquaponic setups

[bℓσωηG]

 

[.dg]

Awesome thread guys,

how about garden items for trade, like tobacco

[Stillman]

Interesting little read about Dioscorea

http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/scitech/agnic/yam-genetics.html

http://www.fao.org/WAIRdocs/x5425e/x5425e0e.htm#TopOfPage

[woodwoman]

We need approximately 5 acres to grow enough diversity of fruits nuts and veg to sustain a whole family. However with space saving ideas like roof gardens and hydroponics, a little less land may be required.

My favourite, fastest growing most delicious plant for my survival garden is the pepino (solonaceae).

followed by bamboo.

Hardiest = Dragon fruit (Cacti)

[bℓσωηG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB_CnY_HNBU