Planting Bigger Vegetable Garden Because Of COVID-19 Coronavirus?

How many of you are going to plant more this year in your vegetable gardens?

And, what more of? I’m curious (as I’m sure many others here are) how gardening plans may be adjusted this year because of this Coronavirus or other reasons.

As I type this there’s snow flying here today. The ground is white, and still frozen once you get several inches below the surface. Wait, isn’t it April? Oh that’s right – I live way up north… HOWEVER, I am formulating plans about my own gardens this upcoming growing season. I do plan to grow more than I did last year.

Why? Because I’m getting the inkling, the gut feeling, that I should be thinking about Level 4 preparedness. Just in case. We might end up somewhere in between Level 3 & 4, given the still unfolding COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic situation – and all the resulting fallout.

Mrs.J and I can survive for a long time without a garden or other external sources of food. But it’s dumb to simply rely on one’s food storage as a crutch – when it looks like our world is likely heading towards harder leaner times ahead. So I’m going to “beef it up” (my gardening, that is…).

I have said this many times. Survival gardening is largely about calories. I am focusing on those few vegetables that are higher in calories, though will supplement with other vegetables that we like.

“Hey Ken, what are you going to be growing this year?” Well, I’m glad you asked. I’m going to keep it short and simple. It’s going to be corn, potatoes, bell peppers, green beans, and some tomatoes. That’s my current plan.

Corn and potatoes are the highest in calories among the vegetables. There will be a combination of canning, freezing, and other storage methods after harvest.

[ Read: Garden Vegetable Calories List ]

We still have lots and lots of tomato sauces that we canned from previous harvests, so we’re pretty set in that department. Will grow some just to have fresh while they’re in season.

The green and red bell peppers that we grew last year (and jalapeno) were so, so, so good during this winter (we froze them). We still have a lot left. But we’re going to do more.

Last year we did not do green beans because we had a good amount leftover that we had canned. But they’re getting low so we’re going to do more this year.

I am increasingly concerned about the state of our world, our food supply, and ease of availability. I am also concerned about simply going to the grocery store with Coronavirus lurking. For those reasons, coupled with the fact that homegrown is so much tastier and better, I’m going to up the garden production this year.

What about you?

[ Read: You Won’t Be Eating Much Meat After SHTF ]