“Hey Rod.......I've heard that there could be a food shortage this summer. What do you think I should do to be prepared for this? It sounds kind of serious, like some countries are saying they should cut out exports to make sure their own people don't run out of food.”
“The best thing to do is to start planting food that you like to eat. If you don't like broccoli, don't grow it, unless you want to use it for trading. Even if your in an apartment, you can get seeds, pots & soil from the dollar store and plant them on your balcony, if you have a back yard, bonus. A rule of thumb is to plant vegetables growing downwards as the moons going down (after a full moon) and vegetables growing upwards as the moon is going up (just before a full moon). If you have the room, plant your same veg's a couple weeks apart. So let's say you plant lettuce now, plant some more in a couple weeks and you won't run out after the first harvest. Keep doing this with your fast growing plants until you can't anymore. Check with your local market gardener, some plants do better than others, depending on your climate and altitude. Also start going to your local farmers market and support them. If you have a yard full of dandelions, the entire plant is edible and nutritious. The young leaves are best for greens, remember, the leaves grow more bitter with age. Young leaves can be cooked or eaten raw. Dandelion root is sometimes dried and roasted for use as a coffee substitute. The roots can also be cooked and eaten. They are bitter, with a taste similar to a turnip. Dandelion flowers make a nice salad garnish or can be battered and fried. Unopened flower buds are prepared into pickles similar to capers. Flowers can also be boiled and served with butter. Dandelion leaves and roots make a pleasant, but bitter tea, sweeten with honey. DO NOT EAT if sprayed with any kind of pesticides. If you're out enjoying nature, there are a lot of very good plant to harvest. If your growing a garden and as your crop get close to harvesting....watch for garden raiders, you may have to invest in a electric fence. (Something that stands your hair on end......even a perm).”
