# Plants for the Apocalypse:



## remmettn (Dec 26, 2005)

Plants for the Apocalypse:

Apocalypse like a war or something. 
If there was a catastrophe man made of not, how would you feed yourself? 
What are the best plants to feed yourself with?
What plants will grow even in the worst conditions?

I know that potatoes would be on the list short growing season, a wet season will not impede them and high nutrimental value.
Rhubarb will grow in bad conditions, but do they have any nutrimental value? 

What food crop would really keep me alive?
:help:


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

will probably depend a lot on your area

a good one for me is prickly pear it can handle extremes of temperature
and limited water.

another thing that grows wild is oak acorns and these were the staple of the local indians 

blackberries are also good and i have a nice patch in the middle of the pond

i would look at whats around and what reproduces and grows with the least amount 
of assistance and work even if it is wild or not currently cultivated for sale.

anything else will just be a tasty treat but would not be my survival food

if it was extreme like was depicted in the road i might look towards fungi/mushrooms in combination
with worms chickens something like that?


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Dandelions grow everywhere and are great for salads or cooked greens. I know they aren't cultivated, but they're easy to find and very high in vitamins A and C, and are a good source of iron and calcium too.

We've also got wild grapes, blackberries, wild roses (for the hips), oaks for acorns, and persimmons in our wood. It would be impossible to survive with just those things, but they would help keep us alive.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

any good herb that has antibiotic properties, like yarrow which also helps to stop bleeding and makes a good tea and is so easy and native. sun chokes, another native plant--its tubers are good raw or roasted like potatoes. It's good for stabalizing blood sugar (when fresh) because of the type of starch. I imagine it stores well and could be dried and ground for flour too. It has no pests or deases and is extreamly easy to grow and proegate in a wide range of conditions. Mint is another I'd want with me. No other reason then I find it soothing. willow of course. Tomatoes (can't live without them). around here there are a lot of wild fruits and nuts-haws, wild apples, mulberreis, raspberries, to name some.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Mom_of_Four said:


> Dandelions grow everywhere and are great for salads or cooked greens. I know they aren't cultivated, but they're easy to find and very high in vitamins A and C, and are a good source of iron and calcium too.
> 
> We've also got wild grapes, blackberries, wild roses (for the hips), oaks for acorns, and persimmons in our wood. It would be impossible to survive with just those things, but they would help keep us alive.


europeans cultivate tehm in the veggie garden. I cultivate them in my lawn LOL Love em.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Cattails...there are five edible parts.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Cabin Fever said:


> Cattails...there are five edible parts.


I almost mentiond that one. I've only treid one part of them and they are plentiful in ditches and marshes here.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

You can also store food.....like wheat, rice, etc. 
As to what are the best to grow? The ones that you will eat and grow in your climate.


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

There are many 'WEEDS' that can supply plenty of nutrients. Nettle, Yellowdock, Dandelions, Burdock, Chickweed,. to name just a few.

I agree it all depends on ones climate, here in the Northwest there are several veggies that can be wintered over, cool weather crops with row cover, some of the above weeds begin to show themselves in late Winter, and as has been mentioned there's the items that can be wildcrafted there's always Nuts (Acorn, walnut, hazelnut, and pine here in the PNW), Berries/haws (Rose, Hawthorn, Juniper in PNW) And during the Summer and Fall, Berries galore, wild Apples, Pears Cherries and Plums...The wild items I just listed are right here close to home...don't even need to pack a lunch...~lol~...
In tough times it's good to know what's edible in your area, and within walking distance.
One has to wonder how many folks would be willing to truly 'WORK to Live'.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Two of our favorite weeds are purslane (very high in Omega-3) and lambsquarter.


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## remmettn (Dec 26, 2005)

Callieslamb said:


> You can also store food.....like wheat, rice, etc.
> As to what are the best to grow? The ones that you will eat and grow in your climate.


You can also store food:bdh:
Yes, but if times are bad you always need more and fresh is better.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Cabin Fever said:


> Cattails...there are five edible parts.


I've eaten cattail roots, boiled in beer over a fire....tasty! What other parts are edible and how are they prepared?


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I've eaten cattail roots, boiled in beer over a fire....tasty! What other parts are edible and how are they prepared?


1. In the spring, before the heads come on, one can harvest the new cattail shoots. They are somewhat reminiscent of large green onions...in appearance only. Like a green onion, peel back the leaves and other layers of skin until you get to the whitish inner part. This part of the shoot can be eaten raw (like raw asparagus) or diced and steamed.

2. Later when the seed head comes on, one can harvest the male pollen tip (the spike above the cigar-shaped part). These tips can be steamed and eaten with a little salt and butter.

3. When the cigar-shaped part is in pollen, one can take these heads and shake them in a bag or can to collect the pollen. The pollen can be used to extent flour in pancakes, biscuits, cookies, etc. up to about 50%.

4. When the cattail flowers are ripe, you can pull apart the cigar-shaped heads into a fluffy, cottony mass. This fluff can be parched or toasted and eaten as a snack or part of a salad.

5. Lastly, in the fall and winter, the cattail roots/rhizomes can be harvested. Wash them up and boil them like potatoes.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks, CF! I would never have imagined that the fluff is edible!


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

Mom_of_Four said:


> Thanks, CF! I would never have imagined that the fluff is edible!


i think he means the fluff after ripe but before fully dried out and very fluffy
that would be like trying to eat a cotton ball.

haha id like to hear about that if anyone tries it


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

Elliot Coleman's Four season gardening has some good information on growing greens, and how well they do in different climates. Excellent book. 
I have been using cold frames to extend gardening season. Besides starting seedlings I haven't tried, growing anything year round inside.


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## remmettn (Dec 26, 2005)

I found a site that tells how to cook acorns. 

http://www.grandpappy.info/racorns.htm

it sound like it will work, but not taste good.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

remmettn said:


> You can also store food:bdh:
> Yes, but if times are bad you always need more and fresh is better.


Better store lots then....huh? I don't think you could survive for long on just weeds either. That too is a stop-gap solution. You need something else on hand to survive. I don't know that a fresh dandelion is any better for you than a ton of wheat. And if bad came to worse, you could plant it and eat it that way too!

Lilly roots are edible. 
Jerusalem artichokes are a nuisance in many gardens because they spread so widely - but that would be an advanage in desperate times. Folks in early James Town ate earthworms.


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## pamintexas (Jun 15, 2002)

One of my favorite plants is called Malabar spinach. Not a true spinach but tastes similar, somewhat milder. It is a vine so it is easily mistaken for an ornamental and takes up very little growing space. Pick leaves while young and use in sautees, stews, stir-frys, soups and I've canned it plus dried it and used it in pasta flour (think green noodles) for extra nutrition. I don't know how it would grow in northern climates but it thrives here in our hot, humid Texax weather, producing from spring up until frost. My problem has been that it doesn't seed out before the first frost so I haven't been able to save any seeds.


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

Oh I agree we can't live on weeds alone BUT they can be added to our stores to boost Vitamins and Minerals...and add some brightness to that there "Oh, Wheat for dinner too!"...~lol~...


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

a good link for wild edibles

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Edible_Plants_Ramer_Silver_Weizmann/Pages/Season.html#spring

Its almost fiddlehead time here
Rhubarb is good stuff....its primary function could be to extend a small amount of "wild" fruit into a pie or sauce---my family loves it RAW
Asparagus
Wild blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are common in cut over areas and can be transplanted easily

Bok Choy
Peas or snow peas(pods)
(God Bless) green beans and zuchinni! (zuchx can be used like rhubarb to extend something or add nutrition --I put it in choc. cake)
Radish
Turnips
Pumpkins
Carrots
Potatoes


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

actually we can live on weeds alone if time is taken now to find out what they are and study all there uses and prep methds.

in fact "weeds " may be our very best bet for sustained nutrition. trying to grow all the foods we are acustomed to will likely lead to failure when you consider how much fuel, fertaliser and chems that are used to produce those foods now.and post shtf we are going to need gauranteed growers.

also consider one mans patch of weeds is likely anothers cornacopia so this may be a way to hide food preps "geurilla gardens"

i think the best survival food will be "weeds" and with just a little help those
weeds will become more productive


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## Tamar (Feb 23, 2005)

remmettn said:


> Plants for the Apocalypse:
> 
> Apocalypse like a war or something.
> If there was a catastrophe man made of not, how would you feed yourself?
> ...


Hi remmettn, I was thinking about that myself, and found it interesting that the natives planted potatoes and squash. Squash is amazing as many types store most the winter. You could take a squash and roast it in it's own shell for a great food source. Last year a lady gave me a squash that was 3 feet long! The seeds were all near the stem, the rest was solid 'flesh'. I don't know what they are called, but I kept some seeds and will be trying them this year. So long I can get past that horrible squash bug we had last year. I don't use chemicals so I'm still trying to find a way to keep those pests away. We were given different varieties of squash, and they kept all winter in the porch. "food" for thought I guess 
Tamar


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

This is a good thread in that we do need some plant foods in our diet and there are some that are more suitable for a survival situation than others. However, if things were really bad, do you REALLY think that you could grow or forage enough plant matter to survive in good health? How about if you have young children or grandchildren, or someone in your group is pregnant or nursing?

IMO, the most reliable plants for a survival situation are the grasses and forages that would feed a few dairy goats. Chickens, if they can mostly free range and feed themselves, are a good survival livestock, and rabbits can eat a lot of weeds and browse, but goats are probably the best survival livestock. They can survive anyplace that anything grows, including above the tree line and in a desert in a drought. YOU might only be able to find enough green stuff to provide a few vitamins and a little variety to the diet, but nowhere near enough fats, protein, or calories. But the goats will be able to eat brush, cactus, and dry weeds that you couldn't possibly chew or digest, and turn them into milk and meat, food for you and your growing children. In addition, if you were to have to 'bug-out' it would be easier by far to take the goats with you, than to take a garden or a flock of chickens or several cages of rabbits! And with a few simple-to-make cross-buck pack saddles, they can carry some of your belongings, too. 

As for acorns, the taste depends on what kind of oak the acorns came from. Some, such as the Oregon and California White Oaks, have sweet acorns that require hardly any leaching and taste quite good. If you have only red or black oaks in your area, you'll have to leach them for a long time to make them fit to eat, and even then they probably won't taste very good -- but they would provide some needed calories. You are likely to be able to grow some other kinds of nuts, though, or find them in the wild (hickories, pecans, black walnuts, hazelnuts, beech and butternuts all grow wild in the eastern part of this country). 

For those of us in difficult climates, the Siberian Pea Shrub might be worth planting, although you'd have to plant a big hedge of them to get enough to do any good. If nothing else, they are supposed to provide food for poultry, and browse for goats. 

Kathleen


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## Michele of MI (Jul 8, 2009)

Radishes. You can eat the roots, the seed pods, and the greens, and they grow fast, which could be very helpful in a survival situation. You can also eat them raw or cooked. Very handy if you are unable to cook for whatever reason.


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

I grow Amaranth, there are different varieties but the entire plant is edible and it produces lovely flowers which means it blends right into the landscape. Each plant will produce around 50,000 seeds, the roots and the leaves are delicious steamed, roasted or cooked into soups. The seeds can be sprouted, roasted (taste like popcorn) or ground into flour. It does not contain gluten so you have to mix it with another flour for bread but it is great for those on a gluten free diet. It can also be eaten as a hot cereal like cream wheat and stores very well. As far as nutritional value, Amaranth is high in protein, lysine and methionine, essential amino acids. It&#8217;s higher in fiber than wheat and has calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A and E.

I also grow dandelion, red clover, burdock and kudzu.... all "weeds" that can be eaten and some are considered medicinal.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

Peterson's series has one book on edible wilds and one on medicinal wilds...good for identifying things...practice now.
When growing veggies, in a SHTF situation, I'd focus on higher carb/calorie plants with just a little in greens for vitamins...calorie plants like potatoes, dried beans, peas, corn. Also mentioned, winter squashes along with root crops will last into the winter season.
Wheat berries can be sprouted to help boost vitamin levels, especially if the sprouts are exposed to sunlight and turn green.
For those of us in the north, it would be hard to have SHTF hit in December, for instance, unless we had a well-stocked pantry as the wilds will not be available mostly, and things like cattails and sunchokes will be difficult to obtain from frozen ground.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Trixters_muse said:


> I grow Amaranth....Amaranth is high in protein, lysine and methionine, essential amino acids. It&#8217;s higher in fiber than wheat and has calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A and E....


Amaranth = fancy name for "pigweed." We grow it too, without even having to plant it!


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