How to Discover the EASIEST Survival Crops for Your Garden (No, it's not the cow)

Which high-calorie survival crop is best for your garden? Today we share how to find easy-to-grow plants that will keep you full.

Potatoes? Cassava? Yams? Sweet potatoes? Pumpkins? Let's take a look at growing a survival food supply in your garden that does well with your climate and soil!

[Maria-qlfc]

I’m old and I can tell you what my parents grew when I was growing up in the 50’s. They grew field peas, butter beans potatoes and corn. In the spring and fall they grew greens of all kinds. Plus we foraged from the land, blueberries, blackberries, wild cherries and persimmons in zone 8B.

[agapefield]

When I was in my 20's I moved to a different area, different soil, different zone than I had grown up gardening in. My Daddy told me to go to a feed store and watch for someone buying seed and or bedding plants and ask them what they grow in their gardens. I met some really nice gardeners that were very happy to share their knowledge.

[ashleycampbell]

I happen to know the native Americans did in fact get their seeds from the burpee rack at Lowe’s. In hard years, sometimes ferry-morse at the surviving Walmarts. Those “sow easy”®️ kind with the little window on the packet were especially favored.

[isabelladavis]

Well it’s looking like sweet potatoes ..black eyed peas… collards ..okra …berries…well it’s a start…stay blessed David

[kayceb]

Last summer I knocked on the door of a house I admired with 3 green mangoes I had just harvested. I was rewarded with several large mexican sunflower cuttings.

[kensimmons]

Thanks! Possibly the best survival crop video I've seen. I live in the Finger Lakes area of New York State (on the border of zones 5 & 6). Because of our short growing season, I grow as many crops as I can that will produce food when direct seeded, in the case of A LONG-TERM power outage preventing the use of grow lights for starting seedlings. Glacier tomatoes, walking onions, potatoes, dried beans, squash, garlic (hardneck), spinach, Swiss chard, carrots, & beets all grow well here and will all produce viable seeds (as long as they are open pollinated varieties). Perennials are great, though they take tie to establish. I grow asparagus, raspberries, and dewberries. Also strawberries, they are kind of a semi- perennial, last about 3 years. They produce 'babies' that can be rooted and planted in early fall to create a new bed in the spring. Sorry to be so long-winded, I thought passing this information along might be helpful.

[jeas]

Can I recommend getting to know your local tribal members? I'm super fortunate given I live near the James River in Virginia outside of thr 7 cities region including Williamsburg and Jamestown, Yorktown. There are actually "historical gardens" in my area featuring both colonial and native tribe gardens. (I literally have no excuses). But some of my greatest resources come from attending the Powwows in my specific region which has a unique microclimate given it's swampy nature. Learning and understanding how they watch nature to signal their planting schedule has been very valuable information to have. Especially in years where thr dogwoods bloom early and the redbuds come late. I know what time to plant out which crops... because nature signals the appropriate timing. Fot instance... carpenter bees are in full swing but my stout little black honey bees are still elusive. Well.. if I had planted out my tomatoes and peppers based on the 80° weather we've had the last 2 weeks... they would have died last night or taken a huge stunting hit. But I didn't... because my bees are missing. They know better than I do to stick to the pollin they chose to form their hive nearby and reserve their energy for this late cold snap. They've naturalized themselves to this area over a much longer time than we have. So I watch them. I watch my birds and which visitors are showing up when... and who is nesting here unexpectedly. Maine... one of your native species is nesting in my backyard... so I expect that from Northern VA to Canada is going to have a colder than average spring because the migration has haulted for this species in Southern VA. Purple Deadnettle and wild violets went to seed very quickly this spring... I expect a second harvest this year.. so I'll have a second chance to plant out fruit trees. Cherry blossoms and apple blossoms are late... so I can't plant peach trees and shouldn't count on a good blueberry harvest. This is the kind of skill set you can get by interfacing with your local tribe's people.

[ramtharthegreat]

I have a copy of a county history book where I live printed in 1840. Which, for my area, was still pretty wild and unsettled. TONS of great info on what was raised here. I think many of us think of the massive cornfields we have today as the result of modern agriculture, but there are stories in this book that say the Shawnee Indians had 80 acre fields of corn in my area. Natives here were also reliant on squash, potatoes, and beans, which combined with corn, are definitely my go to 4 crops that grow, store, and eat well in my area.

[lisarusso]

I have found other growers to be some awesome people! In no other group have I found folks so willing to share their knowledge and resources! Most are nonjudgmental and accept where you are on your own path. I have made many friends doing just what you say to do! I have pulled up to houses, walked up driveways and knocked on doors! I met my now best friend doing just that!! 😊

[sherryarch]

I love gardeners who's been around the many places & took the time to educate themselves with other foods.

[RachellesGardenDiary]

I'm trying to increase my edible native plants. I figure if they're native then I won't have to baby them like some commercial food plants. As long as I get them planted in the right spots and get them established. I still managed to kill a couple of them by putting them in the wrong spots.

[scotmhead]

My area was known for commercial fig growing, the town next to us is named "Pearland" because they grew pears. And across the freeway that city has the annual strawberry festival, because that's what they were known for. But what foods they grew all year long I'd love to investigate. Good ideas, DTG.

[Darkfyre]

Since i moved to zone 11 Australia to start my garden I've basically looked around the globe at places near my growing zone and collected as many of each place's staple foods as i can. Now i have a giant collection of staple foods that grow high calorie crops with little to no effort. For me here, that's cassava, taro, sweet potato, plantains, water chestnuts, Qld arrowroot, grain corn, jarrahdale pumpkins, amaranth, quinoa, chia, pidgeon peas, bamboo, nopales, potatoes in the winter, and probably some more that I'm forgetting

[marybk]

I accidentally did 3 sisters one year. I had never heard of the principle before then. It turned out great. I've never been able to intentionally duplicate those good results however! Of course.

[charitysmith]

Preach!! The humble delicious field pea! I made myself go to a plant swap with a friend and I'm glad I did..met a sweet young couple into homesteading and exchanged numbers. We talked excitedly forever! And the old timers have all the good local info. (I think hubby and I are graduating more into the old timers category hehehe)

[RocketPipeTV]

9:53 this is probably the best advice in this video! Experiment as long as it’s not essential for survival.

[NannaCarlstedt]

Hi David, Thank´s for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I agree, it´s not really lettuce that starving people are most happy to get their hands on... I also wolud like to add any kind of beans; They give you the proteins, and are easy to either dry the actually bean or ferment the bean pod, so it lasts through next years May, during the famine period, before the new crops are coming... The greens, as lettuce, are so very easy to find growing wild in nature, even berries are quite easy to find. But we really need the potatoes and the like, as Jerusalem artichokes which stand for even longer in the ground after all the potatoes is finished in your jute sack... If you´re living in a cold climate zone, they even stay in frozen ground, as a freezer, waiting for you in Jan-Mar!

[mollygardens]

For my trial with the three sisters in West Texas I used yard-long beans, Cherokee pumpkin and Hopi squash, I can’t remember the corn variety without my notes. The corn was not successful except as a trellis. But the beans and squash were highly productive! Also grown: okra, black eyed peas, zucchini and pattypan squash and melons! Lots of food all grown with a farm irrigation well.

[brownthumbnursery]

It was great to get to meet you yesterday!! May your thumbs always be Brown!!👍🏿

[rachelhall]

I’ve just got Grow or Die. Such a treasure of knowledge! Thank you for all you have shared!