When thinking about how to best prepare yourself and your family for an emergency, having your own garden might not be something that comes to mind. It turns out that having your own household garden is one of the best food options when preparing for an unknown emergency. Let’s discuss why your own garden would be such a good idea.
Eat Healthy- Although you may think that during an emergency you won’t be thinking about eating healthy, this should not be the case. Especially in emergencies that last more than a few days, you will not want to be eating the same staples every day. Not only will this be bad for your health over time, but you will get sick of eating that kind of food. In long-term emergencies where you cannot make it to a supermarket or grocery store, you will be happy you had your own source of fruits and vegetables in your meals.
Save Money- Many times people do not have their own food storage because of the fear that they cannot afford it. It is true that accumulating enough food to have an effective supply for an emergency can be pricey. Having your own garden can lower these costs. Seeds are very cheap and you can grow fruits and vegetables and then add them to your food storage incrementally as you grow more in your garden. You will not be able to have a big supply straight from your garden right away, but over time your healthy food storage will increase. Especially in this economy, anyway to save a few pennies is worth the effort, and growing your own food from your own garden is a great cost effective solution to food storage.
Self-Sustaining- As mentioned in a previous paragraph, we never know when an emergency will occur, and for how long it will last. In a worst case scenario, we could go months without being able to travel or buy food, which means we must be able to live by ourselves. It is important that we plan as if the worst case scenario were to happen. If you have a functioning garden, you have a way to continually get food for any amount of time. You would need to have the right seeds in your storage, which would then enable you to plant and grow necessary items, even in the midst of an emergency. This would also be essential and important if your food storage supply were to be affected in the emergency, as you would have an alternate way to create food for your family.
Right Now Benefits- Not only will you be able to eat healthier in emergencies and save money on food storage, you get both of these benefits in the present also. You can grow your own vegetables for your own meals right now to eat healthier, and you can save money by not purchasing those same things for you lunches and dinners. Apart from these benefits, you also will be outside more often and get some exercise. Lastly, it is rewarding to see your own fruits and vegetables in your meals, knowing that you made it happen.
Having your own garden is a way to ensure that you will always have a source of food for any emergency, a way to still eat healthy in emergency, and to save money. It may seem like a daunting task to do, but the benefits much exceed the costs.
Contributed by Luke S.
A Food Insurance™ Guest Author
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Do not forget container gardens for apartment dwellers, from herbs to lettuce to tomatos, it can be done.