: I also suspect there would be lots of fungus. I have several books on
: edible mushrooms. Unfortunately, my understanding is that, whatever
: their nutritional value, mushrooms do not have a lot of calories in
: them. Man does not live by mushrooms alone, apparently.
: Thanks for the info on the dark greens. Are there any other
: very-low-light plants you can suggest?
Unfortunately there are NOT very many low light plants. I'm not even sure the kohl crops themselves would work all that great under conditions where the light was diffuse all day. but they'd be worth a try at least.
I have suggested here (and elsewhere) that people store two green/grains...quinoa and amaranth. they are superior to any other storable grains. Nutritonally complex , take a minimum of time to cook and are easily grown mostly anywhere (from the top of the Andes to sea level) and their leaves are far superior (and won't 'bolt' in hot weather) to spinach and what not.
When buying these seeds (no point in storing brown rice or any other thing which is difficult to grow) try and find a supplier (it might be a task!) from a region comparable to yours. Though i have had some success in getting Bolivian (ie. high altitude) quinoa to go to seed here at 60' above sea level (coastal temperate rainforest).
Quinoa grain: http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/foods_view/0,1523,74,00.html
Quinoa greens and more good info.
http://chetday.com/quinoa.html
As it is a very close relative of the generally 'everywhere weed' lamb's quarters (they won't cross though), lamb's quarter seeds would be good to store as well...not to eat neccesarily, but to grow for its green's and immature seed heads...yummy!
Amaranth: most sources will say that it is 'specialized' in that some are for green's, some for grains...I'd say that is a marketing ploy by seed companies!
http://chetday.com/amaranth.html
ah hell...peruse here! http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi?q=amaranth++nutrition&sourceid=Mozilla-search
So, as you can now probably see...either of these mixed with the sudden flushing of a multitude of mushrooms will provide you at least the bare minimum of nutrition/caloric intake until 'Next!' comes.
Know Your Garden
lancifer
