Episode 37: Season Two Episode 2
Listen to the Audio Podcast
Lessons From Rick

Rick's frustration with traditional apple and orange orchard production caused him to investigate a better way of doing things. He was tired of spending a fortune on pesticides and fertilizers. He found out that we didn't always grow our food that way.

Because he was a preparedness minded person he wanted to find a way to garden that was self sufficient. Investigation into native indigenous people around the world revealed that these individuals used to live off of perennial (plants that grow every year without planting) rather than annuals (plants that must be planted every year). They didn't plant in rows, they didn't plant year after year, they didn't weed, they didn't fertilize, they didn't irrigate, yet they survived for thousands of years. Rick set out to put these concepts to work.
The Secret Garden of Survival was developed. This garden will provide a reliable food supply for years after your traditional food stocks run out and it is hidden as a forest rather than a garden begging to be harvested by anyone passing by. Rick calls it "Nature-Culture." It's much more than just permaculture, it's planting a "food forest" that provides food year after year. Plants are planted in groups called guilds that create a symbiotic relationship and will attract good bugs. For example a fruit tree will be surrounded by a ground cover that likes the shade. Then another type of plant will surround that. The whole garden is surrounded by blackberries to create a natural border for humans and wildlife.
This gardening style provides fruits, veggies, nuts and berries for your family. There is no watering using Rick's system because ground water is captured in the garden. Rick shows us how to create micro-climates to extend growing seasons so you can get a better harvest and grow more by planting in 3 dimensions. Rick's book Secret Garden of Survival will teach you step by step how you can set up your own Secret Garden of Survival. You will learn how to work with nature to create your own "Garden of Eden."
Rick Austin

Rick is also the author of the Secret Greenhouse of Survival, How to Build the Ultimate Homestead and Prepper Greenhouse.
Rick
is a nationally recognized speaker on survival preparedness and has
been featured on National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Castle, Doomsday
Preppers, the documentary film Beyond Off Grid, as well as in Newsweek,
American Survival Guide, Prepper &Shooter, Prepare Magazine, and
in Mother Earth News (three times).
You
can also hear Rick on his #1 rated radio show- Secrets of a
Survivalist -on the #1 Preparedness Radio Network, where each week he
talks with the world’s best survival experts that share their own
secrets of survival..
Links
Rick Austin: http://www.secretgardenofsurvival.com/
The Secret Garden of Survival: http://amzn.to/1RrqlPz
Carrots Love Tomatoes: http://amzn.to/1Rl1Abb
Sara F. Hathaway