5 Best Crops for a Survival Garden
Living Off the Land: Survival Gardening 101
It’s no secret that our world can be pretty unpredictable. Stay ahead of the unexpected by living off your own land with a survival garden. Keep reading to find out what it means to create one, and why they’re all the rage for organic nature lovers and emergency preppers alike.
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
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A prepper garden can provide you with organic fruits and veggies that are far better quality than store-bought produce. It can also give you the ability 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 fully thrive off the garden will need to choose crops that provide fat, carbs, and vitamins the body needs to stay healthy. But if your garden can supply all the fresh greens and starchy carbs your family requires, then what are you waiting for? Not to mention, gardening is always a wonderful 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 most ideal plans will be ones that are easy to grow and store well. 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, let’s 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 its quality!
Little soybeans should be sowed 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.
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Sow the seeds around one or two inches deep, two to four inches apart. Then, cut away thinned seedlings with scissors at ground level. Just be careful not to disturb any of the remaining plants’ roots! When it comes to 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. In just a couple of months, you’ll be ready to harvest some delicious and hardy soybeans.
Survival Squash
Squash is an incredible survival vegetable. It’s rich in vitamins A, C, and B-6, as well as 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 off before transplanting them outside after the last frost.
Whether you choose to plant the seeds directly in the ground or in a raised bed, butternut squash will do best in any area that gets full sun. Just like with most vining veggies, this type of squash plant requires you to mound 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 out about four inches apart will prevent overcrowding as the crops flourish.
Once they’re in the ground (or your planter), water those butternut squash seeds regularly. Keep them moist enough, and you’ll see sprouts in just 10 days. When they do begin sprouting, thin them out to the recommended spacing indicated on the seed packet. As a heavy feeder, growing butternut squash 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 keep an eye out for pests and disease, 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 ‘em 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 pumpkin 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 boring with potatoes: bake, mash, boil, or fry them right up! Yukon Gold potatoes, in particular, make excellent survival foods
There are a few different ways to go about growing potatoes. Start them from seed potatoes, which are small tubers grown during the previous season. Or 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. It’ll be time to plant in early spring once the soil has warmed to about 40 degrees. They’re a bit slow to sprout at first but have some patience and your potatoes will flourish.
This deeper planting method prevents tubers from jutting out of the soil as they grow. For the prettiest, most palatable potatoes, choose a sunny section for at least six hours of light daily.
Watering needs to be regular and consistent during the great growth period in early and midsummer. Mist your potatoes every two or three days, reaching an inch of water weekly (including rain, of course). Later in the season, avoid fungal problems by watering only once the soil feels dry to the touch.
As with any crop, icky pests, like Colorado potato beetles and amphids, want in on the fun too.
Control insects and bugs by hand-picking when harvest time comes. Yukon Gold potatoes will be ready to harvest in about 50 days, once vines start to dry and their foliage yellows. Use a fork to lift the potatoes gently, then shake off the loose dirt and store them in a cool 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 vitamin A, C, B-6, magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, and protein. Kale also dries easily, 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 if you have a bright window, or some grow lights. When planting outdoors, make sure there’s ample sunlight and no tall crops in its way.
Using organic matter-rich soil with sharp drainage is ideal for kale plants. Once you’ve got 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 will cool temperatures, moist soil also helps keep the kale leaves sweet and crisp instead of tough 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. In just a few months, you’ll be blending this tasty green into smoothies and salads!
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 tons of health and survival benefits! Use your garlic plants as a mosquito repellent, fish bait, or as remedies against coughs, colds, ear infections, and more.
You should plan to plant garlic in the fall, about four to six weeks before the ground freezes. Prepare the soil by loosening it to a depth of eight inches and mix in some slow-release, granular organic fertilizer. Just before you plant, break up garlic heads into individual cloves, 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 you’ll see some green shoots form in the fall: they’re fine and don’t harm the plants, no need to worry. Fresh garlic cloves will start sprouting in earnest once spring rolls around.
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 ready 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 pull this big project off? The best advice: set attainable goals. Before digging up the yard or canceling your Costco membership, you need to identify the specific objectives in mind.
Are you looking to fully provide for the fam, or maybe just cut the grocery haul in half?
It’s smart to set attainable goals and then work upwards. 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 do some research.
The survival garden layout will depend on your family’s size and the land available. To feed an entire household without any supplements, you’ll need between a quarter to two acres of land.
Additionally, take your space’s conditions into consideration. If open space in your yard isn’t an option, don’t get discouraged! It might require some fine-tuning and creativity, but there are certainly ways to grow lots of produce, in not a lot of space. Utilizing methods like square foot gardening can help you grow the most food possible in tiny spaces.
As you plan and learn the ways of survival gardening, most preppers recommend creating an annual calendar. Keep track of 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.
Keep in mind that no matter how much you plan, gardening can be unpredictable. It might take a few seasons of trial and error to find what methods and tools work best for your family. Just be prepared to get adaptable!
Survival Gardening Tools and Supplies
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After your plan is set in place, 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 grow season. Seed-starting supplies will also be necessary.
Find containers and potting soil, and load up 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 what tools are most needed in your survival garden.
Now that you know all the tips, tricks, and best crops for cultivating a great survival garden, living off the land has never been easier. Not only can you enjoy fresh, yummy produce all the time, but you’ll have an emergency food supply just in case. Check out more Crow Survival content before you go for more key survival info.
