Tag: Urban prepping

7 Plants To Grow Indoors Year-Around

In this blog, I will show you seven easy-to-grow indoor plants with plenty of variations. The beauty of an indoor garden is that you can eat fresh, nutrition-packed plants and vegetables all year long. While an indoor garden would have to be pretty large to sustain you, it can stretch your stored food and add flavor and micronutrients to your meals. Some of these plants you could plant right now and be eating from in as little as a few weeks. Stick around to the end because there are some considerations to be made for your indoor garden to be successful, which I will tell you about.

HERBS

I’ll start with the easiest and most successful here, and that has to be herbs. These are commonly sold in kits for kids, so you know they can grow quickly and easily. The problem I have with herbs outdoors that growing them indoors solves is that insects love to eat them, too. Also, it can get scorching where I am, resulting in leaf burns or the plant drying up. Indoors provides me with an environment where none of that is a problem. Herbs will not provide many calories, but they will give you lots of flavor, vitamins, and minerals. Basil, for instance, is a good source of vitamin K, providing about 177% of the Daily Value per 100 grams or one cup loosely packed.

I grow Basil, Thyme, and Oregano. While I could start these from seed quite easily, my local nursery was having a sale. If you simply repot their 4” plants, you can just grow them like any other houseplant on your window sill. I will heavily harvest them once they are well established to keep them in the smaller size. You never need to replant them. You only need to remember to keep them watered regularly. I find a mister is very helpful as a reminder and as an easy way to apply water directly to the base of the plant. With consistent water and light, you can harvest and use fresh or dry herbs for later use.

ALLIUM

Plants in the allium family include onions, scallions, chives, garlic, shallots, and all those other varieties of onion-like plants. I think some of the best suitable for containers are garlic, green onions, and chives, which I planted here because these can grow very tightly together, the greens can be harvested year around, and scallions, for instance, have twice the daily recommended amount of vitamin K for adults, per 100 grams or 1 cup. Regarding the closeness of planting, many people don’t realize you can plant garlic or green onions within just a few inches of each other to pack a lot into a small space.

I am growing scallions and garlic from reclaimed kitchen scraps, which I show you how to do in another video linked in the comments and description section below. In between these, I plant some chives, which I have always struggled to keep alive outdoors. I will harvest the greens continually for the next several months to flavor everything from soups to salads to rice.

LETTUCE

We are still in the so easy to grow even a kid can do it category with lettuce. Lettuce varieties, including Crisphead, Butterhead, Looseleaf, and Romaine, are incredibly easy to grow indoors, requiring minimal space and care. Their adaptability and quick growth make them perfect for indoor gardening enthusiasts looking for fresh, homegrown greens. To do this, simply fill some windowsill-sized planters with potting soil and sow your seeds and water. I cover it with a clear plastic wrap to keep the moisture in and a little warmth. This will help your seeds germinate faster. The biggest advantages for me to growing lettuce indoors are the higher yield and the fact that I can continually harvest the outside leaves. Insects and animals love the tender lettuce leaves, and they can easily wipe out an outdoor garden overnight. That won’t happen with an indoor garden.

For some varieties, you can start trimming the outside leaves or harvesting the entire plant in just 30 days, so you are never that far from healthy green salads. One trick you need to know is that most plants benefit from a little wind circulation. It helps the plant breathe, keeps it from getting spindly, and forces the stalk to strengthen. To accomplish this, I use a small fan once per day for a little while.

MICROGREENS

If soil or space is a major consideration for your indoor garden, consider microgreens. They require only water to sprout, but if you give them a little soil, even a 1/4 inch, they will grow stronger, slightly taller, and more robust. Microgreens are smaller versions of larger plants. They can pack a lot of nutrition in their sprout form. If you think lettuce grows fast, you can have microgreens in just a few days.

You can grow pea shoots, sunflower sprouts, kale, mustard greens, Swiss chard, radishes, beetroots, broccoli, pea shoots, basil, coriander, and cress as microgreens on your windowsill. I have a blend of broccoli, radish, arugula, cress, cabbage, and mustard seeds, which I sometimes sprout on the counter. I’ll densely sow these into a small tray of soil, water well, and let them grow. They will start to sprout in just a few days. When they are about an inch or two tall, I will clip them, enjoy them on salads, put the spent dirt into my garden, and plant a new batch to keep a continual supply. Microgreens will also grow with considerably less light and almost no light at all. They will need a little warmth to germinate, but it’s definitely a window sill plant you can grow through winter.

BUSH PEPPERS

Peppers pack a lot of Vitamin C and A, making them excellent sources for these immune and skin health vitamins. Container or patio varieties, as they are often referred to, are dense, smaller plants that can have incredibly high yields. These plants will favor a larger and deeper pot for a more dense and well-established root system, and they like warmer temperatures to encourage fruit setting, but when they do set fruit, you can have very bountiful harvests. Most pepper plants can be trimmed to stay relatively compact, so there aren’t many limitations on the type of pepper plant you choose; however, a variety labeled for patio, compact, or container will guarantee you a high yield, low-space requiring variety. Here, I plant five sets of Peruvian Biquinho peppers. These little tear-drop-shaped peppers grow in a compact bush, are great for pickling, and are sweet with just an occasional kiss of heat. I will also cover them with plastic wrap to keep them moist and slightly warmer to encourage germination and sprouting. Here they are after about two weeks of growth. You will need to manually pollinate peppers once flowers appear. This can be done by gently rubbing a cotton swab in each flower that appears. Do this for a couple of days, and the fruit should be set.

DETERMINATE TOMATOES

If you have ever had your tomato plants wiped out overnight by tomato hornworms, cutworms, rodents, deer, slugs, beetles, or a sudden frost or hail storm, you know how frustrating growing the tender fruit can be. Like peppers, there are thousands of varieties of tomatoes. Some are more suitable for small spaces than others. You want to specifically look for bush varieties called “determinate.” This means they grow to a specific size, they are busy, and the fruit tends to ripen all at once. Don’t think that all cherry tomatoes are indoor plants because their fruit is smaller. Tomatoes are viny plants, and indeterminate varieties set their fruit along vines that can stretch up to 12 feet. Specifically, look for patio or bush varieties and smaller size fruits for window setups. That said, a determinate variety of Roma or Rio Grande can be potted into a larger pot and grown quite successfully in a patio window because it is determinate and not a sprawling vine. When it comes to planting tomatoes, you want to plant the entire plant except for the top 2 sets of leaves. The buried leaves will convert to roots and give your plant good structure and nutrient uptake. You will need to manually pollinate tomatoes and peppers once flowers appear. This can be done by gently rubbing a cotton swab in each flower that appears. Do this for a couple of days, and the fruit should set.

RADISHES/BEETS

Beets need more space than radishes, but either will provide you with leafy greens to eat and a compact root vegetable, which makes them both perfect for a windowsill garden. You will want a variety that grows no larger than 6 inches in depth and has enough room to provide the plants adequate spacing, but you will find that you can produce quite a few in a tiny area. Don’t forget to harvest the green leaves, as well, choosing leaves from the outside and never harvesting too many at once. Most varieties will mature in as little as 30 days. The same plastic wrap trick to encourage germination will result in better germination.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

There are a few things to consider when trying to establish your indoor garden, which I have to tell you about. Consider space, light, moisture, soil, and temperature when setting up your indoor garden. Ensure your plants get adequate sunlight without overheating or scorching. Keep the air circulating, and watch out for pests. Avoid over-watering to prevent root rot and gnats. If infested, move plants outside. Some treatments are effective for gnats and tiny bugs. These simple sticky traps are very effective. The gnats are attracted to the bright color and then get stuck.

Another consideration is that your plants will require consistent watering. You don’t need an elaborate misting system or a hefty pour of water, but the plants need daily water to work with. I use a little mister to give them some up close daily watering. If the plants appear to need more water or are wilting, I can give them some extra, or I can pull back and give them less if they are showing signs of overwatering, like yellowing leaves. Because you are using such a small amount of soil, ensure it’s good indoor potting soil and apply some mild plant fertilizer weekly. Bagged soils meant for outdoor use may contain either manures or insects, and you don’t want to smell those or introduce them into your home. If you do get starter plants from the store, I advise you to remove as much of the original soil from the roots as possible and then transplant them into your indoor potting soil. The starter blend of soil may contain unwanted insect eggs or manure.

PLANTS MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Herbs for Indoors: https://bit.ly/3UeHyVr

Allium: https://bit.ly/4aPmlZp

Microgreens: https://bit.ly/4aTDGAi

Bush Peppers: https://bit.ly/4aSKTAP

Tomatoes (Determinate): https://bit.ly/4ddz2ii

Radishes/Beets: https://bit.ly/3UBnFbB

May 3, 2024
Marti’s Corner – 147

Hi Everyone,

NOTES:

**The following is from Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford.

     When the toilet won’t flush, or when flushing toilets aren’t within driving distance, having a good, sturdy shovel on hand would be a good idea.

1) Dig a hole. In fact, you can dig a trench and heap the dirt upon the side. As you do your business in one end of the trench, you cover it up with dirt.

2) Make a substitute toilet with a 5 gallon bucket. Line the bucket with 2 heavy-duty trash bags. Commercial liners specifically designed for the purpose can be purchased also.Reliance Products Double Doodie | Portable Toilet Waste Bags | No Gel | 6 Pack, Black, (2683-13) : Pet Supplies

3) Snap on the toilet lid. Triptips: Bucket Toilet Seat (I think I bought mine at Walmart.)

4) Sprinkle a cup or two of kitty litter in the bottom of the bag and after each “Number 2”.

5) In addition, make a solution of 1 part bleach and 10 parts water. Put it in a squirt bottle. Spray on each “Number 2” to kill bacteria.

6) If your own bathroom is available, you can set up a similar system by first emptying the toilet bowl of as much water as possible. Then, line the bowl with trash bags and follow the same steps listed above. Be sure and keep the lid closed and use air freshener!

7) Each day, these emergency toilets will have to be emptied by sealing the inside bag with a plastic tie and taking it outside. So many diseases can originate in human waste. If you have to bury the bags on your property, bury it deep enough that rodents, insects or other animals can’t dig it up – 2 to 3 feet deep.

The days of tossing the chamber pots into the streets were the days of typhoid fever, cholera, and the plague.

** Quick List of Non-edibles you should think about storing

Bars of soap

Ziploc bags of all sizes

Rope for clothesline and clothespins

Tylenol, Tylenol PM

Multivitamins

Duct tape

Hydrogen peroxide

Bleach

Feminine products

Toilet paper

    Start with 3 months worth. Add more to make 6 months. Add more to make 1 year.

GARDEN HAPPENINGS:

* I went out last night about 8:30 to make sure I hadn’t left the water on in the garden. I took a flashlight and EWWW, I found slugs and earwigs and roly polies EVERYWHERE! I took out a box of tissues because there’s no way I was going to touch them. EWWW. But picking them up in a tissue wasn’t much better. Craig finally came out (I think he heard me making disgusting noises) and offered to put on a glove, put them in a garbage bag, and save the remainder of the kleenex. We debugged the whole garden, and when I went back to the beginning to get the kleenex, there were MORE! Eww Eww Eww! Luckily, I have some Sluggo Plus. You can get it at Armstrong Nursery, but I’m not sure about Lowes or Home Depot. It is organic, and kills slugs, snails, earwigs, AND roly polys. You only need a little sprinkle. I put some in EVERY grow bag! According to the container, it is supposed to work even if it gets wet. (Post Script: I went out the next night and still found a few slugs and roly polys, but not NEAR as many.)

* What can you plant in April? In my area you can plant–Cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, yellow squash and any other “warm weather” crop.

* In MY garden, the flowers on the orange tree are opening and I have bees! The beans that I planted a few weeks ago are finally popping up. I think the dirt is just now warming up for them.

I have this old wash tub that we drilled holes in. I planted beets one year and they didn’t do very well. I planted carrots last year and they grew SO Well!!! I decided to plant the whole thing in wildflowers this year. I’m excited to see them bloom.

The blueberries have baby berries. Once they begin to darken, I have to use bird netting to cover the bushes. One year, the birds stripped the entire bush in ONE day!

It’s so exciting to see the garden start to “come alive”.

THIS WEEK’S PURCHASE: peanut butter

“Peanut butter is loaded with so many good, health-promoting nutrients, including vitamin E, magnesium, iron, selenium and vitamin B6. Research shows that people who regularly eat nuts and nut butter, including peanut butter, are less likely to develop heart disease and type 2 diabetes.” The Healthy Perks of Peanut Butter | Denver Health Medical Plan

MISC. PURCHASE:

I don’t use Chapstick. I prefer Carmex lip balm. This isn’t important. What IS important, is that you can become addicted to lip balm. The Truth About Your Lip Balm Addiction | Epiphany Dermatology

So, I don’t use it very often, BUT I do use it at night just before bed. Dry lips are one of those things that will keep me awake. It’s a good idea to keep some type of lip balm in the glove box of the car. AND it’s a REALLY good idea to keep something in your 72 hour kit. HOWEVER, I recommend NOT storing a tube of chapstick in the car–it will melt and make a mess. Better to get a tube of something.

FOOD STORAGE RECIPES:

Rice-A-Roni

     My grandkids LOVE rice-a-roni meatballs.

1 lb. ground beef

1 egg

rice from the Beef rice-a-roni boxes.

     Mix together and make walnut-size balls. Brown in a little oil. Drain oil. Add the water and sauce packet. Simmer for 20 minutes (whatever the directions call for).

In an emergency situation, you may not have fresh ground beef. You can still make this, but add 1 jar of ground beef.

Add corn, small pieces of diced carrots, or whatever else sounds good.

You can also make this with Chicken Rice-A-Roni and a can of chicken.

Homemade Granola Bars

2 1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 c. whole almonds, coarsely chopped

     Put on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes at 350˚. Stir and bake another 3-5 minutes until lightly toasted. Transfer to a large bowl.

In a saucepan:

1/3 c. honey

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

   Heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Pour the butter mix into the bowl with the oats and almonds. Cool for 5 minutes.

1/2 dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/4 c. mini chocolate chips

  (Don’t worry if the chocolate melts. It helps hold the bars together.)

Transfer to a 8 or 9 inch square pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper and sprayed lightly with oil.

Scatter another 2 TB of chocolate chips and press in with a rubber spatula. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove the block of granola mixture and peel away the foil or parchment. Cut into 12 bars.

Easy Split Pea, Lentil, and Grain Soup

1/2 c. alphabet macaroni

1/2 c. green and yellow split peas

1/2 c. lentils or red lentils

1/2 c. pearl barley

1/2 c. rice

3-4 bouillon cubes or 3-4 tsp bouillon granules or soup base

3-4 c. water.

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring water to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cook until tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Serves 6.

Optional: Add 1 can chicken, or 1 pint ground beef.

Marti

April 15, 2024
2 easy steps to start prepping
New to prepping and not sure where to start?

So you’re giving serious consideration to prepping. You’ve thought about the possibility of what could happen if you and your family are not ready for an event that leaves you without the basic necessities you rely upon every day. Whether it’s a hurricane, earthquake, flooding, riots, or whatever else is thrown your way, you want to be ready. You want to face the oncoming storm secure in the fact that you and your family have the basic necessities to survive.

So now what? What’s the next step? Getting into prepping can be very overwhelming. If you Google “prepping” or any other combination of that phrase, you’ll be met with more information than you can possibly take in at once.

My advice is to start with the rules of “3″. In any extreme situation the average person can not survive for more than:
- 3 minutes without air
- 3 hours without shelter
- 3 days without water
- 3 weeks without food
Also consider this: after a typical local emergency (hurricane or earthquake), the infrastructure will be more than likely destroyed or temporarily disrupted while roads are made safe to drive on once again. During that time, expect the following:
- Your normal first responder services (police and fire) will be overloaded focusing on saving as many people as possible. If a tornado hit a public school, movie theater or some other location with a lot of people, first responders will focus their efforts there, not the local neighborhood injuries. “Do the greatest good for the greatest number of people”. Don’t expect supplies and re-inforcements to come to serve you and your problems. You and your family might be on their own for awhile while the large groups are handled first.
- Stores have enough supplies on hand for at least 3 days. If water to your house is disrupted, do you have enough water for your family for 2 weeks (or more)?
- Gas stations will be down if electricity is knocked out. Expecting to escape town to go somewhere safer? Do you have enough gas to drive far enough to get away from the event (assuming everyone hasn’t already jammed up the roads trying to do the same)?
- Roadways out of town. What if the major highways and interstates are destroyed during the event and you and your family can not get out?
There is a real possibility you may not be able to just pick up and leave (or at least you need to consider this possibility). You might be stuck in-place for days or weeks. So assuming our house wasn’t destroyed in the event, what do we need to do to prepare? That leaves us with food and water as top priorities which in an urban environment, you’re not going to find these easily when there’s an emergency.

1. Urban prepping and water

Water needs to be a first priority.

Water. Your body is composed of roughly 60% water. If your body starts losing it or if you drink water that is not sanitary, you’ve got a big problem. Without getting into a discussion about the stages of dehydration or water borne illnesses, let’s suffice it to say we want to avoid being unprepared when it comes to having enough drinkable water.

In prepping, serious consideration needs to be given to getting a basic water backup in place. Out of all the things a prepper should be concerned about in an urban environment, having a clean supply of water (or the ability to filter/purify water) would probably top my list. While living in an area that doesn’t lend itself to having the ability to store large amounts of water can present challenges. But there are some easy remedies that are affordable and can be done incrementally to get you started.

Storage space can be a limiting factor in urban water storage. You’re probably not going to have a 1000 gallon water storage tank sitting in your backyard. You may not have the room for it and the cost may be prohibitive to get something like this installed. The best solution that I have found that allows me to have small water storage units that are portable, affordable, stackable and can easily be carried or moved can be found here on Amazon. Small water tanks are portable in a time of crisis and you can incrementally purchase them as your budget permits.

How much water do you need?

The typical person takes in about 1 gallon/day. You might take in a lot less or more on some days, but that’s a good rule of thumb to start with.

So if you have 2 adults and 2 kids in your home, let’s just go ahead and budget 4 gallons of water per day for drinking and probably cooking (that’s not even budgeting water for other things like sanitation), but that’s a good starting point. Don’t forget pets too in your considerations.

How many days of water do you need?

The typical starting point is 72 hours (3 days worth) and this is definitely nothing more than a starting point. Plan on building on top of that as finances permit. As pointed out above, the typical person can not live past 3 days without water. My long term goal is having a month’s supply of water. Start small and work up.

How do you preserve your water to keep it from going bad?

Water preservative is your friend. Water can begin to turn bad and develop some unwanted growth if not properly treated. You may think you can just toss the water into storage and clean it up when you need it. I wouldn’t recommend that. The time and energy you’d have to spend just to make the water drinkable isn’t worth the risk. Take a few simple steps now so when you need it, it’s ready.

I use these water storage devices and rotate them every 5 years. When I dump them out, I clean them (soap and hot water), put in fresh water, drop in water preservative and then label the date on the side so I know when to rotate them next. Sure, it takes a few hours to go through and rotate all my water storage (done only once every 4 or 5 years), but if you’re life is on the line one day, it’s worth it I think.

2. Urban prepping and food storage

This one can be slightly simpler and easier to implement than the water approach above. With the water storage, there’s several steps that need to be taken, but with food, you can begin to simply add to your existing food storage. When you go to the store, grab a few extra cans of food. If something is on sale (that’d you actually eat), then load up on it. Got some coupons in the mail? Go and grab some of the products on your next trip to the store.

Storage and organization

Have a food pantry? Great, try to begin to organize things a little better. Put the older cans to the front and begin adding to the back with newer cans (be sure to rotate food and don’t let it expire if possible). In our house we rarely eat canned food. That’s fine, we still set up a small reserve in an out-of-way location that doesn’t tie up our pantry. In our home, we store the backup food in the closet under the stairs (I’ll discuss this a little more below).

Comfort foods

In your food preps, don’t overlook comfort foods. If you’re in a disaster, having comfort foods will help relieve stress to a degree and will help with the psychological effects of what’s happening around you. It might be small, but don’t overlook this.

Which foods do I eat first in a disaster?

After the power goes out, eat the perishable foods first. Those are going to be the foods that will go bad first so might as well get to them now before they’re not editable because you’re not going to be making a trip to the store anytime soon. Grab that milk and cheese or chicken you have in the refrigerator. There’s not a lot of time before they go bad, so better enjoy them why you can.

Foods to store

Try to store a good balance of protein/fats/carbs. Don’t have just a bunch of canned fruit, but be sure to grab canned tuna or chicken (or some other source of protein that can be stored away for periods of time). You may be required to do physical labor and having your body deprived of necessary macros like protein doesn’t help. Also consider the amount of sodium in the canned food. More sodium means more water you’ll need to consume. We want to make sure we’re not burning through our water if possible.

Food rotation

Keep an eye and food and water. If you’re keeping your oldest cans of food at the front of pantry and grab those first, rotate the ones from the back forward and put the new food you purchase at the back. It will become a habit and will help ensure you’re keeping food rotated at a basic level.

Where to store your food and water

Under your stairs is the strongest place in your house and is often the coolest and darkest area which is great to help prevent your food and water from spoiling prematurely.

Do not store your food in the garage – the temperature fluctuation is not ideal for your supplies plus if a disaster strikes garages are not very strong (they’re often the first part of the house that collapses).

Storing your food and water in multiple places in your house is also a smart approach. If a part of the house where you had everything stored gets hit (structural damage or theft), then you’re in luck…you had other supplies somewhere else. Ever heard “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”? This rule applies here.

Types of food to consider

Try and stock easy to prepare food. You’re probably not going to be cooking a full course dinner so try and find things that will go well together and that require minimum preparation. Also try and avoid foods that are going to require a lot of clean up afterwards. Remember, you’re probably not going to have running water so needing to clean up your cooking utensils is going to dig into your water supply quickly which is not good.

This is why I’d advise having disposable utensils/plates/forks/spoons etc. as part of your preps. Cook the food, serve it on disposable plates/bowls and your clean process is to simply toss things into the trashcan. Easy.

Future discussions

Some may read this and ask where is medical and security? I would rank those #3 and #4 for starting preppers and we’ll get into those issues in a continuation of this article. They’re definitely important, but I’d recommend getting water and food in order. Following the steps above won’t break the bank and if you just start with a goal of 72 hours for food and water, you’re on the right path (and you’re ahead most Americans).
October 5, 2015