The #1 Survival Crop You Need to Know How to Grow

For peace of mind, plant potatoes in a piece of your garden.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today we take a quick look at the one survival crop you should really know how to grow - potatoes! We talk about how to grow potatoes and why they are the best crop to keep you full.

[rebeccagrimsley]

I have gardened for. 50 years and I can not imagine a garden without potatoes. They have always been one of my must have. It always amazes me how productive and simple they are

[tvctun]

We planted 35# of seed potatoes last year and got over 350# at harvest. We planted 5 different ways to see what would work the best here on our new homestead. We will probably get half again that this year as we now know what works best here. We still have potatoes left and hope to get spring planting in in the next couple of weeks. Go Go potato

[faintlyartistic]

I grew up in a family of 10. Half of our huge garden every year was potatoes. We had a root cellar off the basement and it was piled full every year. That, plus fishing and a deer or 3 in the freezer was how my working parents kept 8 hungry kids fed.

[ml.]

Important to grow your calories... This year I expetimented growing taters in raised beds, fabric bags and in the ground. Massive results with all.

[gidget]

I grew up in the coalfields of Virginia, in the 1950s & 60s, we as a people would never have survived the winters without potatoes and hogs. There were there were 6 basic crops that everyone grew to survive winter; cabbage (kraut), pinto beans (soup beans), onions (strong yellow storage) field corn (cornbread) and potatoes. And everyone raised and killed a hog for winter. If you had a large garden space you could grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and green beans for canning but a lot of families just grew enough summer crops to eat fresh with the majority of garden space going to winter food. We also foraged a lot. Nobody ever went anywhere on foot without a bag in your pocket in case you saw something good to bring home.

[MadDog]

I'm currently cooking up my butternut squash that were picked in the fall. They're still just about perfect...even better than unsweet pumpkins. I love growing potatoes in a trench with green slime, fish, worm+ compost, wood ash and hay on the bottom of the trench, then filling in dirt and compost as the indeterminate Russets grow.

[ht]

Its like a treasure hunt when digging them, I love it.

[patriciaserdahl]

YES David our Lord told me several years ago Plant allot of Potatoes so I did a couple different ways experimenting The ground always gives me the best yields 🥔 👍 Thanks for sharing n hope people listen to you God bless 🙏 🇺🇸

[paulflynn]

Excellent, David. I just read your book, Compost Everything. You turned a potentially dry subject into a fun and informative tour de force. I love your content. Keep up the great work and keep the faith!

[thatgirl]

You are the only one I have saw plant potatoes the way my dad taught me as a young child. Thank you!

[geoffreysamida]

I also watched your potato video from two years ago. The reason potatoes taste so much better right out of your garden is because the store lets them sit around and the sugars begin to turn to starch. If you make them in to potato chips, you can see that they have two layers that brown differently in the fryer. The older they are, the wider the outer layer. But if you put them in the refrigerator, below 40F, the process is reversed and they make sugar again. Sometimes they get too sweet.

[cb]

Many on Youtube have share insight on how and what to plant. None comes close to your Youtube video. “The #1 Survival crop you need to know how to grow.” It is short, simple, and precise that no one can dispute. To all those who read this, Take heed of how you hear. “Grow or Die.”

[MushroomMagpie]

Fun fact, St. Patrick's day is the first day of spring at northern latitudes.
We now have 12 hours of sun in Saskatchewan, yay!

[Crazy_Garden_Lady]

Here in the EU, potatoes are no longer cheap. They have doubled in price. I grow potatoes (compost and straw) and sweet potatoes, which do very well here. Last year I started with miserable soil, mainly clay and stones. It was terribly hard work, but worth it. I am in the process of building some raised beds.... I am old and it is hard to work on my knees.
I have learned a lot from you and many others. I really compost everything, including the rats my little dog catches. 😎 I'm still impressed with all the veggies I harvested and canned last year. It was my first year and it was a wonder to me to see all the plants thrive.

[thatguychris]

Potatoes should be the FIRST crop any aspiring gardener starts to learn with. Super easy, super bountiful, very forgiving. Just 1 tater in a 5 gallon bucket can yield at least 5+ pounds with minimal effort. Only thing to really know here before starting is the difference between determinate and indeterminate varieties and if it's regular or sweet (much different).

[theclash]

Potatos are amazing they can produce hundreds of pounds in a small space. Were i live in Alaska they grow great they even flower and fruit every year they really want a long cool period. we cant grow tomatos or peppers at all but we always get a bumper crop of potatos.

[InappropriateShorts]

But if you want to get fancy you can graft tomato’s on to the potato plant and plant the lettuce in between. That way you have potato’s below. Lettuce at ground level and tomatos above.

[LeChristEstRoi]

True. Depending on your climate, sweet potatoes, potatoes, true yam and cassava are the best survival food which can fulfill the bulk of your calorie needs. Incredibly easy to grow, doesn't require complicated skills, heavy machinery...easy to harvest...

[vinnettepope]

Thank you, David, for reminding 🙏 me about the potatoes 🥔

[markirish]

Happy st Patrick's day from Ireland 🇮🇪 ❤️🌱