9 Survival Gardening Crops to Grow in a Post Apocalyptic World
9 Survival Gardening Crops to Grow in a Post Apocalyptic World
Buy high-quality metal raised beds: https://shop.epicgardening.com – Preparedness, prepping, SHTF – it all can seem a bit like a maniacal obsession with the end of the world. At the same time, there’s real value in becoming even a LITTLE more self-reliant in our modern society – that’s what growing your own food is all about!
Here are my Top 9 crops for survival:
1. Beans
2. Corn
3. Squash
4. Cabbage
5. Potatoes
6. Kale
7. Sweet Potatoes
8. Lentils
9. Herbs
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awesome!
Sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds would give you access to sunflower seed oil, which you could use to cook the various veggies/foodstuffs in while the cake produced by the extraction process can be used as feed for chickens. Good little source of protein that produce a bunch of seeds per stalk that can help provide you with oil in a situation where you don’t have access to butter or other oil producers.
I’ve found green onions and radishes are also good crops to grow, as are carrots. Carrots don’t need a lot of space, are a good source of nutrients, you can eat both the greens and the roots (which is what most of us eat and throw away the greens). Green onions and radishes are good because they also don’t need a lot of space and if you’re in a real pinch, you can grow them in a 4 litire ice cream bucket or similar sized container, squeezing out some extra growing space out of any nook or cranny you have left. With the radishes, you can eat both the bulbs and the greens, which both can go good in salads (perhaps with that kale you were also growing) and they’ll add great flavour and nutrition to whatever you’re using. Personally, I prefer the radish greens cooked, as they can be a bit bitter and tough to swallow raw. Cook them with your potatoes as an extra green or seasoning and they’ll go well. Beats are another good one, as both the bulbs and greens are edible. The greens taste and would be used similar to chard. The bulbs you should already be familiar with.
How long can I leave sweet potatoes in the ground?
Awesome video, very good points! Another ‘survival’ garden idea would be hydroponic systems. You can build some very simple kratky systems, or more active DWC/NFT systems and have fresh greens and veggies indoors year-round, provided you have electricity for indoor lights or seasonally outdoors. Fun thought experiment here!
I’ve had Russian Kale growing in the fall snow
Add hot peppers.
Tomato, cherry, beefstake or others?
I would add sun chokes. I get them last year and was pleasantly surprised by the result. The fact that they are perennial is a big bonus.
Right?
Great video, you’re challenging me to up my survival garden game, I love making kimchi but my cabbage attempts have done nothing but feed every bug within a mile around. I suspect urban gardens have the advantage of less pests.
Jerusalem artichokes!
Squash three sisters
Heavy carbohydrate diets work if you’re not pre or T2 diabetic (which unfortunately hundreds of thousands of Americans are).
For corn: it may help to mention that to get the full nutritional benifit the corn must be cooked with wood ash, lye or baking soda. This is to prevent the disease Pellagra which is a nutritional deficiency that can happen when untreated corn is a staple crop.
Mushrooms!
All indigenous foods ✊🏽
glad i found you. is there a playlist on your videos for those 30 days?
ugh fuck lentils, taste like shit. grow peas instead
What do you want to see me talk about more in light of recent news?
You can make almost any veg palatable if you add onion. If growing them from saved seed is too difficult (and it isn’t) then grow a perrenial alternative: maybe alium fistulosum(in, the UK, ‘Welsh onion’) or Allium xproliferum (in UK, ‘tree’ or ‘walking onion’).
First time watcher… I like how you keep it simple…short and sweet!
The only other plant which I have recently been looking into growing, is Moringa. It’s a super food apparently and easy to grow almost in any climate. We’ll see….
My grandmother was a terrible cook but could can anything under the sun…jams, jellies, veggies, soups, kraut.
garlic onions and marygold!!! you need to interplant as well as on the outer sides in between the other plants to repell e lot of different bugs. Also interplant different types of veggies ( watch companion planting tips though) , never lots of one sort, because the more of 1 thing you plant the more bugs it will attract. Grow things that get affected easily upside down in buckets, hanging, so they don’t come into contact with the ground (slugs for one and mildew) and also keeps the from rotting on wet soil: tomatoes all sorts, strawberries, and if you have a strong enough structure like cattle panels you can trellis up[ squash and pumpkins all sorts and thus save space.
This is your "outdoor" garden, but inside you could, for your apocalypse garden, grow both sprouts and microgreens. Neither can really be preserved, but they would add a great deal of fresh crunch to your meals and they take up so little space nearly anyone can have both inside their home.
What would you do if most of your yard is in shade from trees?
I love the column of bush bean pots. It’s a great space saver.
Reading through all the great comments, the only thing I can think of to add is learn about wild plants. There are many edible plants that grow wild and are very nutritious. Just be careful because a few have dangerous look-a-likes. A little research and you can find food growing around you that you didn’t even have to plant. They could add a lot to the garden you do tend.
Straw berries they dry well, can easy, and are nutrient and calorie rich. ever bearers can be kept growing over winter in hot houses/cold frames and will fruit for large chunks of the year. plus they’re hard to beat when it comes to staving off scurvy in a survival situation as not every one can grow citrus but most everyone can do a pot of strawberries.
Lol true hate. I’m a pro bodybuilder and he ain’t lyin! You get sick of repetitive foods w no seasonings haha
Great job! Yes to Amaranth! Chard- Nasturtium..Beets..😋
All you guys are the best the world has right now so I take my hat off and say ready set grow!
keep up the good work.
Much love
Moringa
I think potatoes are good but not safe… Potato crops can be absolutely destroyed by disease and fungi in an instant. Sweet potatoes are more resilient. I’m not saying you shouldn’t grow them but being dependent on them is a great risk
where do you buy your metal raised bed walls /containers?
You rock… can you link the old vids please
#3 is definitely gonna be pumpkin or squash, I see you’re building up to a three sisters setup
(watch me unpause and be completely wrong lmao)
Warning about your list. Potatoes are in the nightshade family. Any food in the nightshade family should be avoided, if you arthritis, like I do.
Should you add medicinal plants? garlic, ginger, etc.
Thank you great ideas!!
And like your Ginger video! Will try it with Turmeric!
I love Beets because you can eat the whole plant! So I probably would do beets rather than potatoes!
Gracias
Honestly potatoes are the best due to their variety, little to no maintenance, and ability to continually grow back so long as you leave some behind. My only issue with them would be that you can’t use wood ashes as a straight up fertilizer for them, due to their intolerance for alkalinity rich soils. It’s simply too "sweet" for the acidic loving plants. It can still be used as a pest deterrent if you lightly dust overtop the soil, but it’s simply better to add the wood ash to the compost pile if you’re working with a large number of potatoes.
How do you keep people walking by from stealing your crops?
Oh thank u for the encouragement. This is my first winter growing kale, collards, peas, Swiss Chard and lettuce in pots. It has been fun to pick from them and eat. I know to cover them when temp drops. I bring inside the Swiss Chard then overnight. I will try potatoes soon. Thks. Atlanta Ahna
Assuming your well secluded from any threats then an apple tree could be a good one, within a few years you can start to eat the fruit giving plenty of vitamin C and other benefits and it grows in both hot and cold climates
thank you for adding kale. kale and spinach. how do you know if you have bacteria on your vegetables?
In zone 5 its definitely all about the cold resistance! Cabbage, lettuce, kale, carrots. That’s the name of the game for me.
Sprouting your lentils multiplies your crop and has added nutritional benefits too 😉
1:29
What, the weed?
Hyacinth beans (genus Lablab) are in my apocalypse garden for sure!
Garlic! With a little planning you can grow different varieties that will store over the year, meaning you can add taste to those dishes. Not sure about its nutrient or calorific density though!
grow Moringa tree in any climate that permits it. a quick google will uncover the many benefits of this plant.