Undertakement: Homestead Gardening
By ruzz
For distribution to my hungry allies and members of the Ruzsland Militia.

Ok, lets say you need a sustainable amount of food to last a good while.  
But you don't want/have access to store bought seeds, seedlings etc. and
it is at a time when you can go above hunting/gathering. Well, all you
have to is start a wild garden. These work better than conventional
gardens because, as a rule, the plants involved are much hardier than most
cultivated plants. Also the target plants are right in your back yard.
Liking the idea? Read on.

The first step is to develope your plot of land. First you need to tear it
all up to destroy the roots of established plants. Try to use the best
land you can for maximum productivity. Or you can set up a container
garden and just bring in good soil. If you have to plant on not so great
ground, thats ok, you can build it up and develope it. The best way to
help plants is to help the soil. Feed the soil and it will feed the
plants. Simple. The best way to do that is to give it manure. Manure comes
in two flavors (for the ground, not you!) brown (animal waste/remains) and
green (plant waste/remains). If your worried about smell, just make sure
it is dry. Also while your tilling, just drive the plants into the ground.
What your looking for in soil is humus. This gives it it's richness. Humus
is what manure eventually deteriorates into. Humus acts like a sponge,
holding in water and nutrients and slowly releasing them. Also it compacts
snady soils and loosens up clayish soils. Humus, or manure will solve 99%
of your problems. I have only scratched the surface (pun intended) so you
are free to do all the research you want.

The next step is to pick the plants you want for your garden. Typically,
these will be the plants you usually gather. There is much literature
already on edible/medicinal plants. Follow the standad conventions of safe
wild plant use. Two plants that I like to raise and are hardy are the
plantain (for the leaves) and burdock (for the roots). Any plant edible
plant that grows in your region would likely work. Once you get your
plants settled and they are growing nicely and have leaves well above the
ground, you should put some plant matter down to prevent erosion and
evaporation. Lawn clippings, tree shavings whatever. It will let the water
down but not up. This will also discourage weeds. Also it will act as a
compost as the season goes on. You see, this stuff's easy. 
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