Rob Raskin of Las Vegas here with another skill to help you survive and thrive when SHTF. Growing your food is essential to surviving any extended situation when you are cut off from outside supplies, which can occur for any reason. A weather event or other disturbance can delay shipments to local stores, few, if any of which have supplies which can last more than two days. Growing your own food is a practical skill that can come in handy at any stage of your survivalist journey. Learn about why this skill is vital for your survival now.

Collecting Your Seeds

It may seem surprising, but you can obtain peanut seeds which can yield you crops for years to come, along with true food security, by simply visiting your local grocery store. Select whole, unroasted peanuts, and you can use the seeds inside to grow your own crops. It is important not to damage the red skin around each peanut, or you could expose the seed to diseases. However, once you have even a handful, you could be on the path to food security for years to come.

Planting the Seeds

Once you have the seeds you would like to use for your crop, plant them in about two inches of soil. You will want to plant them in areas with high amounts of sunlight and will want to keep the well-watered. It’s better to plant the near the end of winter, but peanuts can grow indoors as well. Make sure each plant is about 8 to 10 inches from the nest one to give you the maximum ability to grow plants without them crowding one another out. As nitrogen-fixing plants, these can even increase the quality of your soil all on their own, and are ideal crops if you need to rotate.

Growing the Peanut

It will take about 130 days or so to harvest your peanut crop after you have planted it. This can be sooner or later depending on what breed you select. The crops are safe for harvest after the flowers have bloomed and once the leaves begin to yellow, which will be about three weeks after the flowers die. You will want to make sure to thoroughly clean your harvested crop before you store or consume them in order to avoid disease. Peanuts are an important source of protein, and along with a starch, such as a potato, can help to form most of a balanced diet.