World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[Baghdad Bob]

At first glance price seems steep, but 390 Pounds is 650.00 US with 1000 days validity that works out to 65 cents a day (19.83 m) for access to a phone.

I would go for this in a heartbeat for the reasons I think insighter is concerned about.

On U tube are lots of videos with people trying lots of different techniques for growing food. Your choice will depend on what crop you are growing.

First Consider growing year around Requirements are:
Greenhouse or Basement
Light, induction or T5/8s, blue for growth red spectrum for veg, 8-14 hrs a day depending on crop
Temperature 10 to 15 deg difference between soil and air.
Humidity 50-60% The Water Cycle: Transpiration
Water, (90% less is needed if used in following systems)
Minerals, (70 types)
Compost hot and cold for production of biological.

Important goal, trying to reduce the import of consumables to nil, not requiring any outside help.

Stagger your growing so you can harvest daily this gives you the most nutrition also easiest to manage. Veg's loose 1/2 of their nutrients in one week, worse the lithium batteries. This is one reason I believe people are getting fat they can't consume enough nutrients to get what the body needs without consuming additional cal.

To start:
1) Good place to start Utube you will find lots of techniques (air, hydro, wick, ebb and flow, worms etc.) and people help with questions. Keep in mind each crop has slightly different requirements and should be grown in groups of like requirements, also crops work well with some techniques better than others.

2) Take your 7 to 14 recipes and break the ingredient down (volume pounds required for that 1-2 week period). Decide which can I grow, which must I buy. (try to reduce the buy over time) Spreadsheet comes in handy.

3) For a family of four, required size varies. Start with 2 - 4' x 4' raised boxes, you want to be able to reach center without stepping, also setting at convenient height is nice. Master this, then figure 8- 16 boxes + area to grow rice/grain, seasonings and fruit trees during summer for long term storage.

In recipes try to keep to minimum the different crops required, but do include and rotate or substitute similar crops, say one green leaf for another or one potato variety for another. This keeps pest off kilter.

4) Once you have your list now plan layout.

Look up, SQ Foot Gardening in 4' X 4' plots. Everything is grown in 1 sq foot areas, ex 16 carrots or 4 potato plants or 1 tomato plant or 9 onions.

5) SOIL
BioChar 10% of soil, but could be added over time with each planting

Compost 50%, also add worms, worm tee to mix,

Soil 40%. A support for plant, very loose making it easy to harvest and cultivate, and drains excess water away allowing air to get to roots while having nooks and crannies to hold water, minerals and bio life plants require.

Soil types people use are: Air water, sand, gravel, clay balls. All work and some like aeroponics are clean light weight, but require purchase of mineral fertilizers at high costs with no shelf life, so I'm told.

So I go SIMPLE, I do 40% dirt, 10% Bio Char, 50% compost.
Then adding nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium if needed, this supply's 70% of what plants need.

Also add Azomite. (70 minerals) Due to it's reasonable costs get lots of this and store, replacing by other means is doable, but this is easier for the moment. http://azomite.com/products/index.html

Also add a few other trace minerals depending on crop.

6) Seeds get Heirloom/Legacy seeds so you can harvest an endless supply and learn what you can clone. Cloning shortens the harvest date, better than starting from scratch.

7) With Induction lamps 100 watts each 4 per 16 sq feet (and I'm considering making them orbit), and control of soil and air temperature you can get plants to grow all year and get more than one crop before needing to replant

Electricity. is a additional cost, but still cheaper than buying produce.
Also growing indoors keeps all sorts of animals from looting.

Buy a piece of property with moving or falling water and set up a pico/micro pelton turbine with a generator and your in business 24/7.
Also 300 days of sunlight with winter light concentrators built into greenhouse would be a plus.

Figure the yields go up dramatically, (50%) crops produce longer, your food consumption goes down and the produce taste like it did back in the 60s. it's an all around winner. and When/If shtf you will not have to expose your self to trouble.

A spot phone opens up more areas to be considered off the beaten track.
But Hawaii? After Fukushima IDTS.