What's the best approach in this hypothetical scenario?????

You're a cave person living way back in the day. You haven't had any food for a while as you've been hibernating all winter. You're ready to start planting some vegetables in hopes of an eventual harvest.

You search around and find 100 different types of seeds. You have very little knowledge of how well these seeds grow as you're new to the area. You need to produce as much food as possible, even if that mean just focusing your efforts on a few of the highest yield seeds. So you do the best you can to carefully analyse each seed, the soil, the weather, the possible threats to the plant, the possible yield of produce it will create, and whatever you can factor in.... etc etc.

You've narrowed it down to say 10 seeds that all look good. You're thinking of planting when you realize you might face a problem. You realize that each seed planted is gonna require a lot of time and attention as it grows. It's gonna need daily watering, weeding, cultivating etc etc. You realize that if you plant too many seeds then you could easily spread your time and energy too thin over too grow too many plants at once,.... that might go badly as each won't get the time and attention it needs to grow up.

But you got another problem. Although you dont' want to spread yourself to thin, you also don't want to plant too few types of crops because you don't know how well any of them will grow. If you only plant one and just water it, what if it produces nothing, then you'll starve come harvest time. so you want to plant a reasonable number of seeds in hopes that at least 1 will flurish.

How can you effectively figure out how many types of seeds to try and manage at one time to give yourself the best possible chance at success?

Remember this is a life or death struggle. You're a caveman and if you don't figure this out then things could go badly for you. Please explain what the best approach is??? Thanks

a reply to: lavatrance

When I gardened I didn't plant all of one vegetable at once, I staggered them to extend the yield.

A row of lettuce or carrots has sprouts coming up at one end while harvesting at the other.

Only root plants like potatoes can be stored nearly the whole winter from one crop. Unless you can.

Self sufficiency gardening isn't easy, success comes from lots of practice. The guy in your cave staring at seeds for the first time isn't going to make it.

Thats when hunting, trapping, fishing, foraging and most important bartering with others comes into play.

Best lay some stores into that cave for rainy days, too.

Go into a trance and ask the nature spirits?

The problem might then be what herb creates a trance, if dreams or meditation doesn't work...

and maybe nature spirits don't even exist... but humans don't hibernate, so never mind.

But it does make one think about ancestors and how they figured out plant medicines... like the one in Brazil one has to boil several times before becoming beneficial, and each boil before that makes a poison... how they figured that out is a real puzzler... and the answer for a biologist who went and asked was "spirits" so back to the top.

a reply to: intrptr

no this is not real life. This is a hypothetical. I'm not growing anything here okay. but thanks.

First I'd take most of those seeds throw them on the ground as bait to ensnare small birds.
Eat the birds.
Now that I have consumed enough energy to function & am no longer starving I manufacture weapon to hunt large game.
Hunt & kill large game.
After returning with my kill & salting & drying my high calorie/protein meat hence securing a reliable food source I can now turn my attention to where to plant some tatos & matos for flavoring my meat.

Ain't it great being an Omnivore

K~

a reply to: aethertek

But don't you need at least some minimal amount of vegetables to prevent scurvy?

-dex

a reply to: lavatrance

I would plant all 10 types of seeds. And if the yield of each type of plant is known, plant enough of each one to satisfy your needs for the Winter.

After an initial significant investment of labor, one person can care for a rather large garden with only a couple of hours of work per day.

As the growth of the garden continues, it should be an easy matter to determine which plants are going to be more appropriate for survival. Then you concentrate on maximizing the yield on those plants.

-dex

originally posted by: DexterRiley
a reply to: aethertek

But don't you need at least some minimal amount of vegetables to prevent scurvy?

-dex

The raw liver of some animals contains a good amount of vitamin C. It's thought this is why prehistoric and Inuit cultures avoided scurvy.

a reply to: DexterRiley

Hence the tatos & matos???
Was that too cryptic, did you not understand Potatoes & Tomatoes?
K~

a reply to: aethertek
Where did you get that salt to cure your meat?
Do you have any idea how many hours of labor are required to produce salt from saline springs?
You'd be better served spending those hours foraging for edibles.

As to the OP---watering, weeding and cultivation are not daily activities if just a bit of care is taken. Adding mulch to the garden keeps the moisture in the soil and discourages the weeds. One day per week paying attention to the plants is more than adequate in terms of hours of labor. That's not to say you can ignore the gardens, but a quick daily or every other day walk-through will alert you to potential insect infestations so they don't destroy your crops.

a reply to: lavatrance

This sounds a lot like some allegorical birth control lesson. The same problem is faced by people who have several children and being spread too thin to give them proper attention.

Anyway, if this was meant to be literal... I would plant all of them and give the sturdiest ones (from that bio region) preference and special care when first planting them. Then I would go on my regular yearly migration route and carry on like I did every spring, following the food. If I came back and things grew, great. If not, just repeat the process next year.

a reply to: lavatrance

Problem One: "You haven't had any food for a while as you've been hibernating all winter. You're ready to start planting some vegetables in hopes of an eventual harvest."

A1. If youve been hibernating and havent had ANY food for awhile...youre already in trouble.
A2. IF you havent even planted yet and whatever you DO plant will take months at least to grow...you'll be dead before they come up. (and are most likely close to death anyway).
A3. If youre a CAVEMAN...you probably dont even have a CLUE as to the fact you need to plant and wait...and nuture and hope...food comes up and is edible.

Your'e a CAVEMAN for gosh sakes! And one who hasnt had any food in awhile. I suggest none of your questions will matter because:
1. Youll be near death anyway before you even plant and...
2. Youre a grunting, lower-educated if at all...CAVE-MAN!

a reply to: diggindirt

Where did you get that salt to cure your meat?

From the dried tears of your frustration.
K~

a reply to: aethertek

NO THE DUDES A VEGETARIAN OKAY!

a reply to: lavatrance

Wait the caveman? Oh if he's a vegan so same scenario but forage tubers or whatever first then worry about your seeds.
A hibernating vegan caveman, whoda thunk.

K~

a reply to: mysterioustranger

your a man not a neeandrotal and you have a small bit of hardtac and pemikin to last you until about the fall harvest. But by then you got to get something producing or you're screwed. As dungeon master I decree it!

originally posted by: lavatrance
a reply to: mysterioustranger

your a man not a neeandrotal and you have a small bit of hardtac and pemikin to last you until about the fall harvest. But by then you got to get something producing or you're screwed. As dungeon master I decree it!

originally posted by: lavatrance
NO THE DUDES A VEGETARIAN OKAY!

If he is a vegan, he should wait until he sees a very fat herbivore and eat through it until he find the veggies it ate. That way, the meat doesn't count since it was simply "collateral eating" on his way to the veggies.

a reply to: lavatrance

Oh, I get that. But lets just go on what you proposed "hypothetically". He already hasnt been eating much, has very little left....and is contemplating what to plant...and hasnt even BEGUN to turn the soil!

Thats a long wait...and hypothetically speaking...I propose he's already in trouble waiting for harvest. If he even makes it...which doesnt seem likely.

Thanks, MS

a reply to: lavatrance

and whoosh - the goal posts move

PS - what is " pemikin " made of ?

i assume you mean pemmican

which means - you have just broken your own rules

this is why i destest such " hypothetical " questions

a reply to: ignorant_ape

just because he has some uneaten pemmican sitting around doesn't mean he can't be a vegitarian. Maybe that was a new years resolution okay. (that being said I'm not a vegan or anything. I'm normal. I'm just trying to keep the conversation on topic as this person isn't a hunter, he's a farmer)