Thanks to the internet we have a vast treasure trove of information at our fingertips. If you’re interested in gardening and survival, the following videos are eye-opening and helpful enough to warrant gathering together in one gigantic post.
Not all of these are directly related to survival gardening; some are more about thinking through how we garden, what we grow and where our food ultimately comes from. However, they’re all useful to store away in your mind as we face future uncertainty and strive to create resilient food production systems at home.
Now go make a lot of popcorn, ’cause here’s a list of my favorite gardening videos.
Forest Gardening With Robert Hart
Robert Hart was a pioneer of food forest design. In this interview we get to see his impressive forest garden and see the potential in this method. Watch for the weird appearance of his psychotherapist.
Grow Biointensive: A Beginner’s Guide
John Jeavons is one of my go-to guys on gardening. I’ve recommended his book “Grow More Vegetables” many times and I’ve also watched through his YouTube series on Biointensive gardening on multiple occasions. The following video is just part 1, so make sure you dig deeper and check out the complete series. You’ll learn double-digging, transplanting, grain threshing, etc., all tailored to a backyard gardening scale.
Back To Eden
The Back To Eden film is a fascinating and encouraging look at how one man’s faith and observational skills led him to create a garden in an arid climate that thrives without irrigation or fertilization. The privacy settings on the film prevent it from being directly embedded here, so click on through to check it out.
Establishing a Food Forest The Permaculture Way
This is a must-watch presentation by Geoff Lawton. Though the first part of the film is just a whiteboard talk on design, keep watching. Later on, Geoff takes you through food forests of various ages. The incredible bounty will blow your mind and you’ll be racing off to design your own food forest. I’ve seen this film many times and still find things I missed.
In Grave Danger Of Falling Food
This film with permaculture founder Bill Mollison looks at the shaky state of the world food supply, plus gives us a look at what can be done to fight back and reclaim our own properties and turn them into abundant gardens. Yes, the graphics are hokey… and the permaculture “rap” near the end is somewhat hilarious… but overall, this is an important film that may change your thinking on modern farming.
Global Gardener Series
In this series of four presentations, we rejoin Bill Mollison for a look at how permaculture design works in varying climates. Lots of good inspiration here.
Food, Inc.
If you think Tyson chicken tastes like #$%@, there’s a reason for that. Food, Inc. goes behind the scenes of Big Agriculture and exposes its horrifying underbelly. If you don’t have a garden, this will make you want to plant one YESTERDAY!
Bonus: this version has embedded Spanish subtitles so you can learn words like “fecal contamination” and “listeria” en espanol!
Forest Man
To end this series of films on an up note, this short documentary will lighten your heart and steel your resolve to keep pressing forward with your gardening and prepping projects. Even in the face of poverty, erosion and indifference… this guy planted a huge forest. Very cool.
Any great gardening videos you think I missed? Leave me a note in the comments.