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[Music] Hey friends, welcome back to Food Prep Guide. I have a very strange question for you. What do many fallen civilizations have in common? The Mayans, the Samrians, the Roman Empire, right before they collapsed, they became so comfortable and advanced for their for their time at least that they felt invincible. And pride comes before a fall. Now, I’m not an economist. I’m not a historian. And I am most certainly not a prophet. But if you study the rise and fall of empires, if you look at cycles of warfare, if you just study human behavior, we tend to go from abundance, which leads to laziness, which leads to hardship, which leads to war, which then restarts the cycle of rebuilding, which then leads to abundance, and then to laziness and complacency, and it’s just a cycle. Well, we are living in what is without doubt the most comfortable techsavvy society in human history. that is just overflowing with abundance and convenience. And because of that, we have become incredibly interconnected and dependent. For most of us, our food just appears. It comes from a grocery store that we don’t work in, on a truck that we don’t drive, or grown on a farm that we’ve never seen. And I’m concerned that this is going to be a problem for us very soon. So, today we’re talking about how to plan and lay out a Great Depression style garden. And before we get into the how-to, I need to address something that comes up in the comments of every single gardening video that we post. Now, we have the best community here on YouTube. Y’all are amazing and supportive. But every gardening video without fail gets comments that say something like, “Well, that’s great, but I don’t have land. I can’t grow food.” And I want to respond with grace. I try to. I think I do, but let me just be completely raw with you for a minute. And what I want to say is, okay, I understand, but what if you had to? At some point, with the track that this world is on, the mindset needs to shift from, “I can’t grow food to,” well, I have to, so how am I going to make it happen? And that’s really hard to communicate without sounding judgmental or bossy. So, please hear my heart and know that that’s not what I’m trying to do. I am just extremely certain that a time is coming when people will have to grow their own food. And so many people don’t know how. I just want to do what I can to help that person. We have a reprieve right now. We have time. And if you have an able body, I humbly believe we need to use this time to learn. When you look at the state of the world right now, you would have to be totally disconnected from reality to not see that war is coming. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year, but soon. So here’s my question for you. If you knew, not suspected, but knew that there would be global conflict within the next few years, what would you do today to prepare your family? What would you do to make yourself less affected by it? My answer is to grow my own food. And if you don’t know how, I highly suggest that you learn how. And if you’re in a situation where you aren’t even able to set some pots on your patio, highly consider what you can change about your situation so that you can grow food even on a very small scale. Okay, that was a long introduction, so let’s get into it. A little context about where I’m coming from for this particular video. I have over a decade of experience in gardening and not just gardening as like a hobby. I’m talking about growing food specifically for the purpose of filling my pantry. That means growing things that dehydrate well, that can well, that freeze and ferment well, things that you can put into jars and store on your shelf that will make actual meals with actual calories to feed my family. That’s what I’ve been doing for more than 10 years. Yet, I find myself in the unique position right now of starting over from scratch. There’s a lot of reasons for that and a lot of prayer going into what direction to take, and that can be for another video, but I am starting over and I am focusing on a staples garden because that’s essentially what a great depression garden is. Our grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t grow food because they had all this free time on their hands and wanted a fun hobby. They grew food because they had to. And when you approach a garden as essential, that really dictates your whole layout and your whole plan. Speaking of planning, it is fall right now. Fall and winter are the most critical planning seasons. And a good plan is what can make the difference between a small disappointing harvest in a pantry that’s literally overflowing with food. So, even though our brains aren’t really thinking about growing in spring and summer and crops right now, this is exactly the time to be making plans. And that’s what we’re doing this video right now so that we can spend the next few months preparing and planning. So when you’re planning your garden, every decision comes back to this. Will this feed my family? Can I preserve this? How will I use this in a meal? That’s the filter everything needs to go through. So look at what you use right now. How many jars of pasta sauce do you go through in a month? Or if you want to eat green beans twice a week all winter, you can figure out approximately how many plants you’ll need to grow and preserve to make that a reality. This doesn’t have to be a guessing game. We’ve actually done many of the calculations for you inside of our free staples garden plan, which shows you how much food to grow per person to feed yourself for a year. If you want it, comment staples garden and I’ll send you the link. It’ll also be in the description box. But planning like this helps you focus your precious time and energy on crops you’ll actually use, and it helps ensure you’ll have enough of the ones that you need. Now, let me give you another example. Let’s say that you eat or make pasta sauce once a week. That’s 52 jars of sauce per year. How many tomato plants do you need to make 52 jars of sauce, probably around 20 plants. You’re going to do this for every major crop you want to grow. It sounds tedious, but this is how you avoid wasting space on things you don’t need and make sure you’re growing enough of what you do need. It’s not about being perfect. Estimates are totally fine, but having a ballpark number is way better than just winging it. Now, let’s talk about what to actually plant. I want to share the vegetables that our grandparents and great-grandparents grew to survive the Great Depression. These are tried and trueue survival crops. So, first up is tomatoes. This is number one for a reason. Potatoes store well in cool, dark place places for months. They fill bellies. They’re high in calories and nutrients. They’re incredibly productive. You can grow a lot of food in a small space. They are so versatile. Our ancestors survived on potatoes. This should be the cornerstone of your survival garden. I will caveat with that, of course, if you’re allergic or it’s it’s not you have a medical condition, like please, you know, be smart about it. Take all that into consideration. I can’t know everybody’s story when I’m suggesting things, but if for the average person, potatoes is a must when you’re trying to feed your family in that type of situation. Okay. Next is beans. Both snap beans for canning and dry beans for storage. Beans are high in protein. They produce prolifically and dried beans can store for years. You can eat them fresh, can them, let them dry straight on the vine. There are so many uses. They also fix nitrogen into the soil, which is going to help your plants that are planted there the following year be even better without excessive amounts of fertilizer. Okay, next is cabbage. Cabbage is a powerhouse. You can ferment it into sauerkraut, which stores for a year or more. You can store whole heads just as is in a root cellar for months. It’s nutrientdense, especially vitamin C. During long winters, it helped keep people from de developing scurvy. So, just don’t underestimate cabbage. Very important. I know I mentioned a root seller, y’all. I don’t have a root seller, so I’m not saying that you have to have a root seller to store cabbage. There are ways around that, and we will mention those in a minute. Next category is going to be root vegetables. Other than potatoes, these includes carrots, beets, tur turn turnipss, parsnips, and sweet potatoes if you can. They all store well in cool, dark places or even in the ground in milder climates. They’re packed with nutrients. They are filling. They’re relatively easy to grow. Now, beets don’t make quite as many meals, but they’re great because you can eat the greens, too, and they’re highly nutritious. Okay, next is tomatoes. This is your canning workhorse. This is your pantry staple workhorse. It is amazing. All of the common pantry staples and even meals that include tomatoes. They are the foundation of many preserved foods, sauce, salsa, soup, juice, tomato paste. I mean, y’all know chili, like so many things. They are productive. They preserve well. They add flavor to just about any dish. Y’all, you need some tomato plants. Okay, next is winter squash. These are going to be your butternut, your acorn squash, your pumpkins. These store for months at room temperature without any preservation done. They’re high in calories and vitamins. You can use them to make all sorts of soups. They are great roasted for like a quick sheetpan roasted vegetable side dish. They’re filling and then plant these where you have room because the vines do spread and we will also provide a quick tip in just a minute for that as well. Okay. Next is onions and garlic. These store dry for months and months. You just need to cure them first. We have tutorials of that on our YouTube channel that you can find if you’re interested. They add flavor, of course, which is important when you’re eating simple foods. They even have medicinal properties and you can save your own quote unquote seed by replanting the bulbs. Okay. Corn. If you have the space, corn is valuable. You can eat it fresh, you can can it, but most importantly, you can let it dry and grind into cornmeal. From that cornmeal, you have cornbread, tortillas, great grits. These are very very filling survival foods. Corn does take up a lot of space though, so calculate if it makes sense for your situation. Okay, next category is greens. Kale, collards, spinach, chard, lettuce. These are nutrient-dense and productive. You can dehydrate them for a green powder for when you can’t eat anymore fresh. Um, and they can be fermented. Um, they’re also usually one of the first and last things that you can harvest. So, you can extend your growing season that way, too. Now, why these specific crops? First, they store longterm through various methods. We’re not depending on refrigeration or freezers that need electricity. Very, very important. Second, high yield for the space that they use. When you’re trying to feed a family, you need crops that produce a lot without needing a ton of acreage. Third, you can save seeds from most of these crops, which is huge. If you can’t get to the store or seeds aren’t available, you can plant what you saved. Fourth, they are nutritionally complete complete when combined. Beans and corn together make a complete protein. Root vegetables provide carbs and vitamins. Greens provide minerals. Squash provides fats and vitamins. You’re not going to develop deficiencies if you’re eating a range of these types of foods. Okay, so now you know what to grow. Let’s talk about how you’re going to preserve it because different crops match different preservation methods. At least when we’re talking about ideally. So canning, this is your main method for most things. Tomatoes, green beans, pickles, relishes, soups, sauces, all of this gets canned. Canning requires some jarred lids, and a heat source and your actual water caner. But you don’t even have to have a special water caner. You can just use a really large pot. And once you have those basic supplies, you can use them for years and years. I highly, highly recommend learning how to water bath can and pressure can. You have to pressure can vegetables. So, it’s really important to learn both of them. We have so many tutorials on the can on on our YouTube channel. We have a whole playlist dedicated to it. We have a self-paced online course that teaches you how to can safely with confidence. All of those links will be in the description box. Okay. Next is dehydrating herbs, tomatoes, peppers, some fruits. A dehydrator is great if you have one, but you can also sun dry or even oven dry at low temperatures. Dehydrated foods take up very little space and are shelf stable for years and years. Next is fermenting. Turn cabbage into sauerkraut, cucumbers into pickles, carrots, beets, even some greens can be fermented. Fermentation requires no electricity, improves digestibility, and creates probiotics. So, it’s extremely beneficial to the immune system. Okay, next is root celering. Now, hear me out. I don’t have a root seller, so don’t ignore me on this tip because you don’t have one either. But potatoes, winter squash, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, turnipss, all of these can be stored in a cool, dark environment for many, many months. And you don’t have to have a root cellar. You can use the corner of a basement. I don’t have a basement either, but here’s what you can do. bury an old refrigerator or bury multiple um of those aluminum trash cans or bury multiple coolers. You bury those, get them under the ground where the temperature stays pretty much the same year round and use that as your root celler. Okay, next is drying. And this is different from dehydrating. I’m talking about letting beans dry right there on the vine and just letting corn just dry in the air and then shelling them or shucking them and storing them dry. This is how you get dried beans and this is how you get dried corn for cornmeal. No equipment needed except time and some dry weather. Next and last is freeze drying. If you have a freeze dryer, it’s amazing. It can make food last for decades. Use it while you can. If you don’t, you have all the other options that I just mentioned. The overall key here is to plant with preservation in mind. Don’t just plant we what you like to eat fresh. Plant what you can preserve and store, which is the difference between a hobby garden and a survival garden that will feed you all winter and spring long and get you through to the next summer. Now, let’s talk about how to actually lay this garden out efficiently because space matters and effort matters. There are several approaches you can take, and I’m going to give you a very brief list of pros and cons of each so you can decide what works for your situation. That said, we have a whole playlist with quite literally hundreds of gardening videos. I will link that in the description box below. First, traditional rows. This is what our grandparents did mostly. Plant in long rows with walking paths between. The pros are they’re good for large spaces. They’re efficient. They’re easier to weed with a hoe. The cons are you need a lot of space typically, and they can be very hard on your back for tending and weeding and keeping them clean. Next is raised beds. build boxes, fill with soil, and plant intensively. The pros are you have better soil control. You can plant closer together. It’s a lot easier on your back, and there’s going to be way fewer weeds. The cons is the cost. The the cost and labor to actually build a bed and then to fill it with soil and then amend it and continue topping it off year after year. Next is square foot gardening. This is maximum production and minimum space. You divide your beds into one foot squares and plant specific numbers of plants per square. Pros are incredibly space efficient, great for small yards. The cons are that it just requires precise planning and may not work well for large vining plants. Last but not least is inground intensive planting. These are not raised beds and they’re not technically rows. You plant them in blocks and you can still take advantage of intensive planning. The pros are less work initially and that the plants are so closely grown together that they shade out the weeds. It’s an efficient use of space. The cons are you really need to have good soil to do this. If you don’t have good native soil, it’s really not the best option. So, choose the method that you can maintain. And whatever method you choose, don’t build 20 raised beds or 20 rows if you can’t keep up with them. It’s better to have three productive spaces than 10 overgrown ones. Now, some layout principles that require or that apply regardless of which method you choose. I want to talk about succession planting. You don’t want to plant all of your quick growing crops like lettuce at once. Um, you want to stagger your plantings about every two weeks so that you have a continuous harvest of your quick growing crops that maybe don’t preserve as well. Lettuce and greens are the first thing that come to mind. Next is companion planting. This is how you control pests without chemicals. Um, you can plant basil with tomatoes. You can plant beans near corn. Um, you can plant some maragolds near tomatoes. Like these combinations either repel the pest or they attract beneficial insects or they help each other grow. For instance, the beans and the corn. Uh, you want to research companion planting for the crops that you are growing specifically. We do have done for you companion planting um blueprints. If you’re interested in those, they will be linked in the description box or you can ask me for the link in the comments. Okay, vertical growing. Use every dimension that you have. Beans, peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers can all grow up instead of out. You can make trelluses. You can use stakes, cages. It just saves ground space for other crops. Or if you just don’t have hardly any space, maybe you’re not opening it up for other crops, but you’re just being able to pack in a lot more food in the small space that you have. You also don’t want to forget to lay out based on sun and water. Your most sunloving, water hungry plants are going to be your tomatoes, peppers, squash, and corn. That kind of family. They need full sun. Your greens can handle some shade. So, place plants strategically so you’re not fighting against their needs. Just quickly research kind of um what the plant’s sun and water needs are and be sure to lay out your garden kind of in that way. Okay, here’s just kind of quick reality. If we are in a situation where we actually need this survival garden, we need to assume we don’t have a lot of money to spend. We need to assume we might not have access to fertilizer or fancy supplies. So, I did want to mention how to make this work with limited resources. First, seeds. What if you can’t afford heirloom seeds or your favorite seed company or they are just extremely scarce because everybody’s buying them? Buy what you can afford right now. Like in the fall and winter of 2025, right now, even basic hardware store seeds grow food. Dollar Tree seeds grow food. Is heirloom better? Yes, because you can save seeds. But don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Start with what you can get. Learn to save seeds now while you have access to good varieties. It’s easy with some crops. Tomatoes, just scoop out the seeds, ferment them for a few days, dry them, done. Beans, let them dry right there on the plant, shell them, store them, you’re done. Squash, scoop out the seeds, rinse and dry. I mean, it dry them on a plate, label with a Sharpie. I mean, it’s done in minutes. This is a skill that you want to start practicing and learning now if you don’t already. Um, another option is to trade with neighbors and other gardeners. Build a seed saving community. Share what you have. This is how people survived for thousands of years is with community and trading. You can focus on heirloom varieties when you can because they breed true. Hybrids won’t give you the same plant if you save seeds. But, um, quick tip, my Dollar Tree at least, there are seeds that they put on sale in the spring, four for a dollar. Most of them are heirloom. A lot of people don’t realize that they are great seeds actually. Okay, fertilizer. What if you can’t get it or can’t afford it? Start composting everything like grass clippings, leaves, kitchen scraps, cardboard uh without the tape, paper. All of this can become fertilizer over time. You can also find some free wood chips or mulch. Call tree companies. They often give it away because they have to pay to dump it otherwise. If you or your neighbors have animals, manure is gold. chicken, horse, cow, rabbit, it all works. It needs to age properly so it doesn’t burn plants. Although goat and rabbit is what’s called cold manure, and it can be used immediately. That’s one of the main reasons we got rabbits. But age manure, your chicken, your horse, your cow, you want to age that. It’s some of the best fertilizer you can get, and it’s often free if you can, especially if you offer to go scoop it out yourself. Now, human waste can be composted safely if you know what you’re doing. I am not going to go into details on that here. But if you want to research it, go ahead and do that. Some of our ancestors did it. You know, everyone, you know, should do what they need to do or what they want to do, but research it first. That’s all I’ll say about that. Now, wood ash from your fireplace or burn pile adds potassium. You don’t want to use too much, but sprinkled a little bit at the base of your plant really helps. But wherever you are, start where you are with what you have. Don’t wait for the perfect situation. Okay. Now, I have a call to action for you before we close out. I want you to take the next few months, these winter months and plan. Make that list of vegetables based on what your family actually eats and what do you actually cook, what will preserve well. Calculate your needs using the methods that we talked about. Go ahead and grab that free Staples garden plan. We’ve done a lot of those calculations for you. Just go ahead and make it easier on yourself. How many jars do you need? how many pounds. Work backwards to get to the plant counts. Draw your layout if you can in the winter before spring even comes. This is just a plain old piece of paper. You can sketch it out and go ahead and draw yourself a sun and put an arc, an arch on the line of where the sun passes across your garden. Go ahead and draw your water spigot so that you know where it’s located in relation to where your future garden might go. And keep that in mind, sun and water in mind as you’re sketching out your garden plan. Remember, order seeds and supplies now while they are available. And next, during these fall and winter months, learn one preservation method. If you don’t know any or what you don’t know, pick one of those and and learn that water bath canning is a good place to start. Master it, then move on to something else. And here’s what I want to leave with you. This is a reprieve. Right now, we have time. We have access to resources. We can learn without the pressure of immediate need hanging over us. And I cannot state how important that is. Use this time as well as as much and as well as you are able. Start with where you are. Use what you have. And remember, function over perfection. Okay friends, that is all for today. We’ll see you next time. Bye.