Gardening Sports Fields After SHTF
Kevin Felts 09.30.19
There has always been speculation in the prepping community at how well urban dwellers would fare after a SHTF/complete collapse event. After spending a few months in the Plano, Texas area, I have to say there is a lot of untapped potential in urban areas.
One thing that caught my eye was the numerous sports fields, specifically soccer, baseball, football, etc. In McKinney, Texas, near the Air B&B where I was staying, there was a certain soccer field that I felt could be used to feed the entire adjoining neighborhood. This field looked like it was used for several teams to practice on and was near a creek.
While walking next to the field, I envisioned a community council which would oversee the types of crops that could be planted: peas, beans, corn, squash. spinach, eggplant, etc. Perhaps certain streets would be given a section of the field to garden, which would help build a sense of community. Perhaps tasks could be rotated, such as gathering water from the creek, and pulling weeds from around the crops.
Chances are, one of the largest consumption of labor would be breaking the soil and making rows. Unfortunately, and unlike in the Middle Ages, urban dwellers will not have access to draft animals such as cows and horses. Even if someone was able to obtain a cow, mule, or horse, there would be the lack of an animal-drawn plow. Then again, maybe a car or truck could be used to break the soil if someone could devise a homemade plow.
Then there is the issue of obtaining seeds. Chances are there are a few preppers in any given area, but how many of them have a reasonable stockpile of seeds?
Take my personal seed stockpile for example. In my deep freezer right now are probably two to three years’ worth of garden seeds. However, that is based off the size of my family who would use the farm as a bugout location. Stockpiling enough seed for an entire urban neighborhood containing hundreds of people would be a massive undertaking.
Overall, I was impressed with how much time, effort and money various communities have put into building sports fields. Not only are these good for sports, but they could also be good for community gardens after a SHTF event.
