11 Crops to Grow To Survive Difficult Times!

What would you grow if you did not have a ton of space? What crops have the highest yield? What have the most nutrition? Here I have distilled down what I would consider to be, for me, the most important (or easiest) crops to grow to help sustain your family.

Below are Links to seeds on amazon (if you use the links I get a very small commission but it costs you nothing extra)
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[maisiephillips]

I live in Alabama and can barely grow sweet potatoes at all, BUT I've had wonderful success at growing purple sweet potatoes, I don't water them, I don't fertilize them, I do nothing at all, except plant the slips, and I've only done that once. They grow back every year from pieces and roots left behind. (Make sure they're in a location where you don't mind having them forever) The purple sweet potatoes grow themselves, and all I do is harvest. If anyone else is having trouble growing regular sweet potatoes, give the purple sweet potato a try. They're a much drier sweet potato but the larger ones can be stored for up to three years (maybe more) and still be perfectly edible.

[livingfootprints]

Don't forget oyster mushrooms. You can grow them low teck on wasteproducts like straw, cardboard, spent coffee, sawdust... And harvest within 4 weeks

[Gmachine]

11. Amaranth
10. Hazelnut/Filbert Tree
9. Kale
8. Beets
7. Sunflowers
6. Fruit Trees like Peaches, Apples, Pears, etc...
5. Beans
4. Squash
3. Jerusalem Artichoke
2. Corn
1. Potatoes and/or Sweet Potatoes

[anjap-b]

Great content, as always 💪

My great-grandparents survived both world wars. And they kept repeating that they managed to do it thanks to potatoes (calories), onions (or garlic - as an antibiotic) and kale (micronutrients) + faith in God and help from a neighbors. To protect from scurvy, I would add a carrot.

[danam.]

Jerusalem artichokes are one of the plants that I have transplanted into several wooded areas to enhance my forage foods.

[Chakwaina]

Beets are two crops, the greens are edible.
Squash has three crops-blossoms, the squash and the seeds.
Sunflower seeds can be pressed for oil.
Collards are the most nutritious green and can be fermented but i love kale also.
Calories will be important in a shtf situation but so will nutrient content.
Grow your corn, squash and beans in a Three Sisters configuration for better yields and soil replenishment.

[johnglavis]

As a botanical biodiversity research specialist who has trialed dozens of nutrient-dense food plants from all over the world, I am now in production of quinoa which loves the N. Calif. coastal climate. Few people are aware that quinoa leaves contain 14.66 % full amino spectrum protein, even more than the seed, and are delicious raw in salads or steamed as greens. Quinoa is the cool-loving cousin of amaranth which needs heat to set seed. The on-going research on quinoa varieties has identified some which are salty soil tolerant.
I would add that scarlet runner beans are an amazingly abundant legume and have a vertical growth habit that saves space in the garden. I am also growing yacon, another of the tuberous sunflower species like jerusalem artichokes containing inulin sugars that are prebiotic yet do not cause flatulence.
Thanks for the great vid series. As we head into a global food shortage, this information is lifesaving....

[faithsrvtrip]

My first house was built in 1926 and there were filbert bushes / hedges. I pruned the hedge / bushes and had nuts the next year! Those bushes were old and the only thing I did was to prune suckers at the base and prune out dead stuff. Nothing else. They were tall, between 8 and 12 feet and had been planted as a fence on the property line.

[stephaniehenderson]

Apple cores and peels can be used to make apple cider vinegar for cleaning and disinfecting in tough times as well as for using with food for preserves like chutney.

[veronical]

The japanese cook sweet potato differently. Add it whole to your bbq grill without cutting it, wait till soft. Tastes amazing.

[Synergist]

•Amaranth-we grow the red variety and we pluck the large mature red flower/seed head as soon as possible, and 10-20 more quickly start growing, which increases yields dramatically.
•Jerusalem Artichoke/Sunchokes-we harvest as late as possible in winter eliminating flatulence.
•Luffa-grows like crazy here in Texas dangling from the pecan trees. It provides lots of food and scrubbers for bathing and dishes.
•Parched corn-according to Lewis or Clark was carried by Iroquois Indians as they traveled, in a small bag providing about a month’s supply of food. They’d take a palm full once or twice a day with water, which would swell up in their stomach staving off hunger.
•Beet leaves-are very high in potassium. Plant the leftover beet top to regrow more. Same for regrowing romaine lettuce, onions, celery, fennel, leeks, and lemon grass except use the bottom.
•Acorns-were the main staple for Indians in our area. Roast them by the fire until they crack open, then scrape the brown tannin layer off the nut to eat.
•Lambs Quarters/Goosefoot/wild spinach reseeds itself in abundance every year and is very nutritious.
•Same for Purselane.
•Woodsorrel-is very high in iron growing around most peoples homes.
•Peach and Nectarines- if you eat a good one, remember to plant the pit to get an exact tasty replica of the parent tree.
•Mulberry-is said to grow in more climate zones than any other tree, so most everyone should be able to grow it too.
•Autumn Olives and Japanese Honeysuckles are another invasive food abundance likely growing around you.
•Water plants-Cattails, Wapata, Lotus, Chinese water chestnut and wild rice-remember them too.
•Learn your wild edibles which are more resilient.

Try not overindulging in any one plant to protect your health.

[itsbipbip]

Squash Flowers are also delicious fried! And Squash leaves are high in vitamin C (people cook them)

[HeartlandShepherds]

Black eyed peas (Cowpeas). Excellent, versatile, hardy, high protein crop. All parts of the plant are edible at all stages. You can pick the leaves to eat before the plant starts putting on pods. Then you can harvest immature pods and eat like green beans. Finally, you can harvest the dried pods to save as dried black eyed peas for winter storage.

[colinguthrie]

So glad to have found you….. very inspiring….. you don’t have to listen to music or watch children or pets or bees buzzing round flowers…. Straight to the point with exceptionally well scientifically referenced data …. easily the best gardening site I have ever watched….. and I have watched a lot….. well done

[rfc]

The Chia plant (Salvia Hispanica) is good for survival. The seeds are high in protein, essential fats, fiber, calcium, iron, phosphorous, zinc, magnesium, B1, and B3. Also, the leaves are edible and can be used as a spinach substitute. The downside is that they are considered invasive because they self seed. But that means less time spent planting.

[silverdragoneyes]

Amaranth is a decent choice if you want to go for ancient grains. Another two ancient grains I'd like to add to this list are Sorghum and Quinoa. Sorghum if you live in a hot climate, quinoa if you live in a colder climate. The U.S. is the highest producer of sorghum in the world; Kansas is the #1 state in terms of acreage and Texas is #2. Ancient grains usually don't have gluten so you can't make bread out of them but you can make flatbread like tortillas. Some of them you can boil like rice or pop like popcorn. Also, most ancient grains are hardier than grains like corn or wheat so you can afford a few mistakes.

[richardrobertson]

My parents lived in a small farming community during the depression and root crops played a major food source. Items such as turnups, parsnips, onions, carrots, beets and potatoes were eaten every day plus knowing how to make good gravy kept it all palatable.

[passantgardant]

I would recommend multiple types of perennial berry bushes. They're extremely high in nutrition and polyphenols. They're also more resistant to drought and frost than annuals. That's really important when you're depending on your own production. You don't want all of your food wiped out in one weather event. By planting a variety of them, you can have harvests from late spring through late fall. Strawberries and currants first thing followed by raspberries, blueberries, and mulberries. You can also find very cold hardy varieties such as aronia, grapes, mountain cranberries, and lingonberries. Plus many of them such as raspberries, gooseberries, goji berries, and elderberries will readily self-seed and increase your yield without having to put in additional work.

[homeacres]

In my part of the world (the tropics) its:
1. Cassava
2. Breadfruit
3. Yam
4. Peanuts

[athenablack]

Add Moringa to your list. It's native to India and won't grow in cold climates during the winter, but it is so nutritious some poor people use it as their primary food source and it sustains them. It grows FAST! You can grow a bush the size of a tree even when harvesting from it regularly. You can dry the leaves, freeze, or preserve them too. As much as it produces in the summer, you'd be able to save some for winter even when eating it in the summer. Save seeds or a cutting indoors for the next year.