Dervaes's BackYard - photo © pathtofreedom.com

They make their own biodiesel and electricity (through solar means) and their 1/10th of an acre garden produces over 6,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables annually! This is more than enough food for four adults. They also sell the surplus to nearby restaurants making about $20,000 a year on the food alone.

Here are a couple of videos featuring the Dervaes family and their home (for my email subscribers you’ll have to view it on the site since the video doesn’t embed in most email servers):

Resources

Be sure to check out the Dervaes website, Path to Freedom: Urban Homestead for details into how they accomplished this as well as tips in creating your own homestead.

Given the right conditions, it could get bad enough that food becomes more valuable than gold or silver. In times like these, having a backup of seeds that can be planted as a “crisis garden” to supplement or support the needs of your family will be worth more than its weight in gold.

What Types of Seeds Should I Store?

The most important types of seed you’ll want to store are seeds that consistently put out the same type of plant/fruit generation after generation. In other words, if you were to plant the seeds of the parent then the fruit/vegetable that is produced by those seeds would maintain the characteristics of the parent plant.

For the beginning gardener this includes purchasing open-pollinated seeds instead of the typical hybrid seeds found in your garden center. As a general rule (there are exceptions), hybrid seeds are first-generation seeds and if you were to use the seeds produced by one of these plants they will be sterile or more likely fail to breed – not a good option if next year’s crop is dependent upon the seeds produced by this year’s. This also requires a yearly visit to the garden center — a dependency that’s great for the seed dealers but not so great for the survivalist.

Heirloom seeds are a type of open-pollinated seed that have been conserved by repeatedly growing them out again and again over the years. These are perfect for seed storage.

Where Can I Buy Them?

With all the seed sellers out there here are the companies where I recommend you purchase your open-pollinated and heirloom seeds. I’ve broken them down based upon the climate where the seeds are produced and tested. This will ensure the greatest success of germination and production in your area. (Be sure to order the open-pollinated or heirloom seeds as these companies also sell hybrids).

Short Season Climates (northern U.S. and Canada)

• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• William Dam Seeds
• Veseys Seeds

Moderate Climates (middle-American states)

• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• Harris Seeds

Maritime Climates (Cascadia)

• Territorial Seeds

Other Sellers
These companies I’m not sure where they are best grown but I’ve heard good reviews nonetheless (both deal exclusively in non-hybrid open-pollinated seeds):

• Bountiful Gardens
• Everlasting Seeds

How Do I Store Them?

Now that you’ve grown your open-pollinated seeds and have fruits and vegetables that are producing their own seeds, you’ll now want to be able to store those seeds for the next year. If seeds are stored properly, they can last for years (10+ or more).

The three big killers when it comes to seed storage are temperature, moisture, and oxygen with the most important being temperature and moisture. For the ideal temperature, store them in an area that is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below (refrigerator or freezer) and to combat moisture, the best process is to dry them to 8 percent moisture or less by drying them at 100 degrees F for six hours.

You can do this by drying your seeds in the sun, with a food dehydrator, or by using a conventional oven (never use a microwave oven):

• Sun Drying: Spread the seed out in the sunlight and try to obtain 100 degree temperature for 6 hours. Longer times are expected if the temperature is less.
• Food dehydrator: Set the dehydrator to 100 degrees F. Dry for six hours.
• Conventional oven:Keep the oven door open several inches, and make sure the seed is not heated to more than 100 degrees for 6 hours.

Seed Moisture Tests:

Here are 2 methods that are a easy way to tell if the seeds have been dried to a proper moisture level of around 8 percent or less:

1. Longer seeds should snap smartly and cleanly in half when bent.
2. Wheat, beans, peas, corn and other large seeds should shatter and turn to powder when hit with the head of a hammer.

Once your seeds are dry, you’ll want to place them in an airtight moisture-proof storage containers. Be sure to mark the containers with the seed names and date of packaging, then store them in a cool dark place (again a refrigerator or freezer are ideal for this purpose).

All-In One Solutions

If you would rather have an all-in-one solution that takes the guess-work out of choosing what types of vegetables and fruit seed to buy, dries and stores them to last for years and packs them in a container that can be stored for years then I would check out the following resources:

• Survival Seed Bank: They also provide a book that describes in detail how to plant your seeds, cultivate them as well as how to gather and store your seeds for the next growing season.
• Heirloom Organics: These guys provide multiple “seed packs” based on the size of your family and needs.

Resources

•  http://www.icrisat.org/Journal/volume5/Groundnut/gn4.pdf

 – A great study on moisture, temperature and o2 effects.

• http://www.savingourseed.org/pdf/SeedProcessingandStorageVer_1pt3.pdf – In depth look into the process of saving your own seeds.
• Garden Web Seed Saving Forums – This forum/thread has some good dialogue on the process behind saving your own seeds.

Image from GreenRoofGrowers.blogspot.com

What the Heck is a SIP?

The sub-irrigated planter or SIP is a modern form of a raised bed with the added advantage of a self-watering irrigation system. The water is introduced from the bottom of the container, allowing the water to soak upwards to the plant through capillary action.

SIPs can be made from many different containers ranging from large to small. And once you understand the principle of how one is made you can apply that to practically any container and be well on your way to growing a fantastic garden.

Here’s a great video put together by high-school students showing you the principle of 5-gallon bucket SIP and how you can make your own:

Advantages of Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPs)

Not only is there an 80% decrease in water usage in a plant to plant comparison than found in a typical garden but it also doubles the production output of a garden and on top of that it is weed free! Best of all this system allows city dwellers to essentially bring their own land with them and place it on their balconies, patios or a city roof.

This type of design allows for a bottom up watering approach rather than a top down approach that is typical in potted plants or plants growing in a standard garden. Since the water is pulled up from the bottom, as long as the water reservoir remains full the plants will draw the water as needed. There is no risk of over- or under-watering the plants.

How to Make Your Own

What You’ll Need

1. 2 five gallon food-grade buckets that can stack inside one another
2. 1” plastic pipe or tubing (pvc pipe works fine) about 3” longer than the height of one of the buckets
3. smaller plastic container (a plastic cup or used hummus container works great)
4. power drill with ¼ inch drill bit
5. box-cutters
6. plastic bag large enough to cover the opening of one of your buckets
7. snips or hacksaw to cut the pvc pipe

Step 1: Prepare the Buckets

Place one bucket inside the other and put them in front of a light source to see the space created between them – this gap will act the reservoir that will hold the water. Measure the height of this space and mark that measurement on your smaller plastic container, starting from the bottom. Add 1/8” to this height and measure the diameter of your container at that height.

Step 2: Drill your Holes

Turn the first bucket upside down and mark the center. Around the center draw a circle whose size to the diameter you just measured on your plastic container. Using this circle as a guide cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket that is just smaller than the diameter of your small plastic container. If you have a jigsaw, use this to cut the hole. If not, drill a series of small holes around the perimeter of the circle and use your snips or scissors to finish the job. On the same bucket drill roughly 25 ¼” holes evenly spaced around the larger hole you just made.

Step 3: Prepare the Fill Tube

Drill or cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket that corresponds to the diameter of your watering pipe or tubing. Cut the bottom of your tubing at a 45-degree angle to prevent the tube from clogging in your bucket.

Step 4: Cut Slits in your Small Container

With your box cutter slice 4 vertical slits in the sides of the smaller plastic container making the slices evenly spaced around the perimeter of the cup. Do not cut through the bottom or lip of your cup.

Step 5: Stack the Buckets Together and Drill the Overflow Holes

Place the bucket with holes in it inside the other bucket. Place the buckets in front of a light source as you did earlier and drill two ¼” overflow holes on opposite sides of the outside bucket. These holes should be a quarter inch below the bottom of the inside bucket.

Step 6: Add your Potting Mix and Plant your Seedlings

With the buckets stacked together, place the plastic tube through the hole you made for it angled end first. Pack the small plastic container with wet potting mix and set it inside the large hole in the center of the bucket. Fill the first bucket ¾ full with damp potting mix making it fairly compact. Plant your seedling and top off the bucket with potting mix.

Step 7: Add Fertilizer

Water your seedling from the top, for the first and only time to saturate the soil. After that point, water your plant using the fill pipe. Take one cup of fertilizer and sprinkle it around the outside edge of the bucket leaving as large of a space of plain soil in the middle as possible. Take your plastic bag and make two slits in it, large enough to fit your seedling and watering tube through, respectively. Place the plastic over the top of your bucket while gently feeding your seedling and watering tube through the slits. Secure the plastic with a zip tie or string.

Step 8: Suggestions on Watering

When watering you’ll want to fill the reservoir until the water comes out of the overflow holes. As mentioned before this self-watering system makes it impossible to over-water your plant. Every few days take a look at your reservoir and fill as necessary. During the growing season there may be times when you need to water every day so be sure to pay close attention.

A Word on Soil

It’s important that you do not use standard garden soil in the SIPs. Why? Well in order for SIPs to function correctly the water must be wicked from the bottom to where the roots of the plant can soak up the moisture. Ordinary soil does not provide the capillary action (wicking action) needed to move the moisture upward. You’ll need to purchase potting soil (with the main ingredient being spagham peat and/or coir). Here are some homemade recipes provided by Global Buckets:

Recipe #1: Sphagnum Peat
70% Sphagnum Peat
20% Vermiculite
10% Perlite

Recipe #2: Sphagnum Peat and Coir
35% Sphagnum Peat
35% Coir
20% Vermiculite
10% Perlite

Resources

If you prefer not to make your own, there is a commercial variant of a SIP called an Earthbox which can be purchased at the Earthbox.com site for $50 per box (a homemade one is much cheaper).

Also, here is :

• Global Buckets: A great site which teaches you how to make an automated watering system as well as fertilizer and soil recipes
• Green Roof Growers: A blog about three people’s experiences growing heirloom vegetables on the Chicago rooftops using SIPs.