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Last Updated on August 23, 2024 by Paul Clayton
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5 Best Crops for a Survival Garden
Establishing a survival garden is a strategic move for self-sustainability, especially in times of crisis. This concept involves cultivating certain crops for a survival garden that is nourishing, easy to grow, and resilient in various conditions.
- Planning: Design your garden with a diverse range of crops.
- Climate: Select crops suitable for your local weather conditions.
- Soil Quality: Ensure proper soil composition and nutrient levels for growth.
- Crop Diversity: Cultivate a variety of crops to ensure food security.
- Storage: Plan for the preservation and storage of harvested produce.
- Maintenance: Regularly care for your garden to ensure healthy growth.
It’s no secret that our world can be pretty unpredictable. Stay ahead of the unexpected by living off your land with a survival garden.
Please keep reading to learn what it means to create one and why they’re popular among organic nature lovers and emergency preppers.
What Is Survival Gardening and How Does It Work?
If you have no idea what a survival garden is or why anybody would create one, let’s break it down. It’s a garden designed to provide enough crops for your household to live on the garden produce alone.
Some people cultivate survival gardens with the simple goal of saving money and living more organically.
Others like to be prepared for emergency survival situations because, let’s face it, you never know what could happen in this wild world. Whatever end of the spectrum you’re on, creating a garden your family can live off may be an excellent idea.
Possible scenarios that make a survival garden critical may include:
- Unemployment
- Hyperinflation
- Economic Downturn
- Crop Failure
- Transportation Crisis
- Long-Term Grid Down
- Supply Shortage
A prepper garden can provide organic fruits and veggies that are far better quality than store-bought produce. It can also allow you to grow different foods that can’t be found in your local market.
These fresh crops, in turn, not only taste delicious but also help extend the life of your stored food supply.
Folks hoping to thrive fully from their gardens must choose crops that provide the fat, carbohydrates, and vitamins their bodies need to stay healthy.
But what are you waiting for if your garden can supply all the fresh greens and starchy carbs your family requires? Gardening is always an excellent way to spend more meaningful time outside, relieve stress, and get some exercise.
5 Best Crops for a Survival Garden
When deciding which crops are best for your survival garden, there are a few things to consider. The ideal plans will be easy to grow and store.
Additionally, you want to grow crops that yield the most calories and nutrition for the least amount of food. Ideally, survival plants will be propagatable, water efficient, and environmentally friendly.
So, which ones will do the trick?
How to Grow Beans
First, look at a food known for its nearly perfect survival qualities. When combined with white rice, the bean plant provides all nine essential amino acids to make a complete protein, but not all types are created equal.
The best beans for long-term survival storage are soybeans.
Plant soybean seeds in full sun; they’ll tolerate partial shade but with a less successful yield. These survival garden seeds grow best in loose, well-drained soil rich in organic matter.
It should be noted that soybeans are tolerant of poor soil and can even be used to improve their quality.
Little soybeans should be sown in spring, two or three weeks after the average last frost date, when the soil has warmed to at least 60 degrees F. In warm-winter regions, you can get an early start with some late winter planting.
Sow the seeds one or two inches deep, two to four inches apart. Then, cut away thinned seedlings with scissors at ground level. Be careful not to disturb any of the remaining plants’ roots.
When watering, keep mists regular during flowering and pod formation.
Avoid watering from overhead to avoid flowers and pods falling off. You’ll do great growing beans with potatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and celery. You’ll be ready to harvest some delicious and hardy soybeans in just a few months.
Survival Squash
Squash is an incredible survival vegetable. It’s rich in vitamins A, C, and B-6, potassium, magnesium, and iron. Butternut squash, in particular, is the best variety for a survival garden.
If the warm season in your area is short, you can start butternut squash seeds indoors about six weeks before the expected last frost.
Plant them in well-draining soil near a sunny window or in a greenhouse. Then, harden those seeds before transplanting them outside after the last frost.
Whether you plant the seeds directly in the ground or on a raised bed, butternut squash will do best in any area that gets full sun.
Like most vining veggies, this type of squash requires mounding the soil before planting. Gather the soil into a small hill, about 18 inches tall, before sowing your seeds.
When you’re planting, be sure to sow the seeds in groups of four to five at a depth of about an inch. Spacing the seeds about four inches apart will prevent overcrowding as the crops flourish.
Once they’re in the ground (or your planter), water the butternut squash seeds regularly. Keep them moist enough, and you’ll see sprouts in 10 days.
When they begin sprouting, thin them to the recommended spacing on the seed packet. Butternut squash is a heavy feeder and responds well to a good fertilizer.
In addition to planting the seeds in organic matter-rich soil, fertilizing your plants with a compost tea or liquid fertilizer every two or three weeks will help keep them healthy.
Or, add compost to your soil hills in the middle of the growing season. Be sure to watch for pests and disease and care for those leaves, and you’ll be harvesting some scrumptious squash in no time.
Store these yummy and starchy vegetables on a shelf where they can get cool air and ventilation. Stick them in that guest bath no one uses and keep the window cracked (yes, even in the winter). It’ll store successfully for over a year.
Plus, butternut squash takes up less storage space than its squashy family members. We all love pumpkins, but try lugging that thing from the vegetable garden into your home; you’ll be in for a workout!
Starchy Potatoes
Potatoes are an absolute essential for preppers living off the land. They’re a good source of calories, vitamins C and B-6, and magnesium. Just one potato contains four grams of protein.
Plus, meals never get dull with potatoes: bake, mash, boil, or fry them right up! Yukon Gold potatoes, in particular, make excellent survival foods
There are several different ways to grow potatoes. You can start them from seed potatoes and small tubers grown during the previous season. You can also start the crop from pieces of larger potatoes, as long as each piece you plant has at least one bud or “eye” on its surface.
Before planting, let cut pieces dry and heal for about a week at 65 degrees F. Once the soil has warmed to about 40 degrees, it’ll be time to plant in early spring. They’re a bit slow to sprout at first, but your potatoes will flourish with some patience.
This video has been included to clarify the topic. Credit goes to Back To Reality
Potato plants grow best in well-draining, loose, and easily dug soil. If your soil is dense, heavy, and easily compactable, amend it with organic matter such as compost to loosen it while improving fertility.
Space them 10 to 15 inches apart and set them in a six-inch trench.
This more profound planting method prevents tubers from jutting out of the soil as they grow. Choose a sunny section for at least six hours of light daily for the prettiest, most palatable potatoes.
Watering must be regular and consistent during the significant growth period in early and midsummer. Mist your potatoes every two or three days, reaching an inch of water weekly (including rain).
Later in the season, avoid fungal problems by watering only once the soil feels dry to the touch.
Like any crop, icky pests, such as Colorado potato beetles and amphids, want in on the fun.
Hand-picking when harvest time comes is a good way to control insects. Once the vines start to dry and their foliage yellows, Yukon Gold potatoes will be ready to harvest in about 50 days.
Use a fork to lift the potatoes gently, shake off the loose dirt, and store them in an excellent spot. Store them in a root cellar, and your potatoes can easily last over a long winter.
Nutritious Kale
Kale’s a hearty producer, easy to grow, and adds vital nutrients to a survival diet; it’s one of the best foods to grow for survival. It’s a good source of vitamins A, C, B-6, magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, and protein.
Kale also dries quickly, so storing it for winter is no problem.
Even when you’re not in the mood for a hearty salad, kale chips are a delightful snack.
Plant kale about three to five weeks before your region’s projected last frost date of spring. Alternatively, plant it in late summer, six to eight weeks before the first fall frost.
Any survival gardener in a warm climate (zone eight and above) can continue planting in the early fall for a winter harvest.
This nutritious green isn’t picky; kale grows equally well in garden soil, raised garden beds, and containers. It can also grow indoors with a bright window, or some grow lights. When planting outdoors, ensure ample sunlight and no tall crops are in the way.
Organic matter-rich soil with sharp drainage is ideal for kale plants. Once you’ve got the soil, space the crops roughly two feet apart and a half inch deep. Luckily, no support structure is necessary.
Water kale plants regularly so the soil can stay evenly moist without getting soggy. Kale generally prefers just over an inch of water per week.
Along with cool temperatures, moist soil helps keep the kale leaves sweet and crisp instead of harsh and bitter. Kale belongs in your survival garden because it’s resilient; a touch of frost will even sweeten it.
When it’s time to harvest after growing kale, cut the stems above the growth point to allow maximum regrowth.
Cut just below where the stem connects to the larger leaves, leaving the smaller ones intact so they can continue growing. You’ll blend this tasty green into smoothies and salads in just a few months.
Growing Garlic
Even in survival situations, eating should be enjoyable. You still need yummy spices and flavors! Garlic is a simple ingredient that will amplify any savory dish, not to mention its many health and survival benefits.
Use your garlic plants as a mosquito repellent, fish bait, or as remedies against coughs, colds, ear infections, and more.
It would help if you planned to plant garlic in the fall, about four to six weeks before the ground freezes. Prepare the soil by loosening it to eight inches and mixing in some slow-release, granular organic fertilizer.
Break up garlic heads into individual cloves just before you plant, leaving as much of its papery covering intact as possible.
Plant your cloves three to four inches deep, orienting them so their pointy ends face up. Water gently to settle the soil, then cover the bed with a four to six-inch layer of straw.
This way, even as the air gets cooler, the soil will remain warm enough for the newly planted cloves to establish roots before the ground freezes.
Sometimes, green shoots form in the fall. They’re delicate and don’t harm the plants, so there’s no need to worry. Once spring rolls around, fresh garlic cloves will start sprouting in earnest.
Determining when garlic is ready to harvest is one of the trickiest parts of this plant. Though it depends on where you live, garlic is usually prepared to harvest in late July. Next spring and summer, keep the garlic bed weeded and watered for easy planting next season.
If you’re ready to eat it soon, you can store garlic at room temperature or in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Those looking to conserve their garlicky goodness can keep it in the freezer. Get ready for some flavorful meals!
Planning for a Survival Garden
So, now you know some crops to put in your survival garden, but how can you complete this enormous project? The best advice is to set attainable goals. You must identify the specific objectives before digging up the yard or canceling your Costco membership.
Are you looking to provide for the family fully or cut the grocery haul in half?
It’s wise to set attainable goals and then work upward. Someone who’s never planted a seed before may not be able to grow all their food within a year; be patient with yourself and the process! After setting goals and a timeline, it’s time to research.
This video has been included to clarify the topic. Credit goes to Country Living Experience: A Homesteading Journey
Reading up on organic gardening, food preservation, and seed saving is essential. Take classes, chat with experts, and refer to friends or family who live off their land. Then, it’ll be easier to determine the size of your garden.
The layout of your survival garden will depend on your family’s size and the land available. You’ll need between a quarter and two acres of land to feed an entire household without any supplements.
Additionally, consider your space’s conditions. Don’t get discouraged if open space in your yard isn’t an option.
It might require some fine-tuning and creativity, but there are ways to grow lots of produce without much space. Methods like square-foot gardening can help you develop the most food possible in tiny spaces.
As you plan and learn the ways of survival gardening, most preppers recommend creating an annual calendar.
Please track when it’s time to start seeds and transplants, when you plan to harvest, and other to-dos like pruning perennials, mulching, seed saving, and preserving food.
Remember that no matter how much you plan, gardening can be unpredictable. Finding the best methods and tools for your family might take several seasons of trial and error. Just be prepared to get adaptable.
Survival Gardening Tools and Supplies
After your plan is set, you’ll be ready to gather the necessary tools, materials, and seeds. Building a small greenhouse or hoop house might be a good idea if you want a head start on planting or an extended growing season. Seed-starting supplies will also be necessary.
Find containers and potting soil, and load on hand garden tools like shovels, pruners, pitchforks, and trowels. Prepper supplies like buckets, watering cans, and a sturdy wheelbarrow can also be essential.
Over time, you’ll learn the tools your survival garden needs.
This video has been included to clarify the topic. Credit goes to Stoney Ridge Farmer
Lastly, most gardeners recommend starting a compost pile if you don’t already have one. Composting is the best way to improve your soil health naturally while simultaneously reducing waste—no more lugging bags of soil home from the garden supply store.
Why is a Survival Garden Important?
It serves primarily as a reliable food source during times of crisis, ensuring self-sustainability and reducing dependency on external food sources that may be unavailable or unaffordable.
Moreover, a survival garden promotes healthy eating by growing organic, nutrient-rich produce. It also significantly contributes to teaching valuable skills such as gardening, preserving food, and managing resources.
Despite being perceived negatively as a symptom of fearfulness or paranoia, survival gardens represent prudence and preparedness for potential disruptions in the food supply chain.
Hence, understanding why a survival garden is essential is vital to appreciating its benefits.
Final Words
Planning and designing a survival garden requires thoroughly understanding the suitable crops for such an endeavor.
The choice of crops for a survival garden should be based on several factors, including the local climate, soil quality, crop diversity, storage potential, and maintenance requirements.
First, the local climate plays a crucial role in determining the type of crops that can be grown. It is advisable to select crops that are well-suited for your specific weather conditions to ensure optimal growth and yield.
Soil quality is another vital aspect to consider. The soil should have the suitable composition and nutrient levels to support the growth of the chosen crops. Regular soil tests can help maintain the balance of nutrients necessary for crop growth.
Crop diversity is also a major factor in planning a survival garden. Cultivating various crops not only ensures a balanced diet but also aids in maintaining food security, as it reduces dependency on a single crop.
Post-harvest, proper storage and preservation techniques are essential to prevent spoilage and maximize the utility of harvested produce.
Lastly, regular garden maintenance is necessary to ensure healthy crop growth, including weeding, pruning, and pest control.
Now that you know all the tips, tricks, and best crops for cultivating an excellent survival garden, living off the land has never been easier.
You can always enjoy fresh, yummy produce, and you’ll have an emergency food supply just in case. Check out more Crow Survival content before searching for more key survival info.
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