With rising food prices and growing uncertainty, more people are turning to gardening for food security. But not all crops are created equal! In this video, I break down the best crops to grow for maximum calories per square foot, focusing on high-yield, long-storage crops and fast-growing foods you can eat sooner rather than later.
⇻ In this video:
– The most calorie-dense crops for your garden
– How much space each crop needs & its expected yield
– A look at perennial crops that provide long-term food security
⇻ Garden Tools & Resources I Recommend
Favorite Gardening Book: https://amzn.to/3Q6hDxI
Hori Hori: https://amzn.to/4gtk8Vn
Favorite pruners: https://amzn.to/3QeniS8
Bucket Organizer: https://amzn.to/4gwNX7t
⇻ Timestamps:
00:00 – My Current Food Security Worries
01:06 – Best High-Calorie Crops to Grow
06:28 – Fast-Growing Crops for Quick Food Supply
09:48 – Vegetable Calories per Square Foot
10:10 – Long-Term Perennial Crops for Resilience
12:45 – How Are You Maximizing Your Harvest
#FoodSecurity #SurvivalGardening #SustainableLiving
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12 Comments
No nonsense… Love your practical thinking 👍🏻
This is great.
Great video. I've been thinking about the same things.
Great video! Agree about beans for storage. I bought 1 pack of green beans like 4 years ago and shell some each fall to use for the next year. I just weighed this past falls harvest. 7.6 oz. Think it took me at least 30 minutes to shell them. Its enough beans to grow fresh green beans for many families but for shelled beans its a ton of work.
Great video, thank you for sharing that chart and all the info. I've gardener for years but in a very small plot. Retired so I need to step up my garden game. Grew butternut squash first time last year and still have a couple left! Def want to start some perennials including asparagus, blueberries and raspberries. I'm zone 7 in Southern IL
Thank you for not downplaying the seriousness of “things.”
Caution about sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes). They can be rough on the digestive system. Also, they will take over your property. They pull up easily, but tubers break easily and will propagate. Even neglected, mine grow 10-15’ tall. The further away from your beds that you can plant, the better.
Five-color Swiss Chard grows easily. Ground cherries are delicious and are easy to grow for jam & jelly (Aunt Molly’s is dependable). (Central NC).
Thank you for your timely video.
I got a dwarf sunchoke variety. They are a little reddish tubers. I’m not sure the variety because I got it off Facebook marketplace place, which is the only thing I ever got off there. Red Dutch Dwarf is likely it as it sounds identical. They get a little under 2’ tall. They do NOT send runners all over the place. The tubers are only at the base of the plant in a clump. I didn’t weight, but I got at least 2-3+lbs per plant and grew 9. I still need to get through some before they start sprouting, which I imagine is soon. NW Oregon winters are mild, but still pretty cold and mostly frostless late winter/early spring so things slowly start waking up. I grew it under a squash trellis, so probably even works in part shade. I think it does inhibit weed growth a bit too, because there weren’t many.
I will say I was curious. I had essentially a twig left after pulling off all the tubers. I wondered if it would regrow if I threw it in the compost or something. I stuck that small twig that was originally surrounded by tubers in some potting mix indoor where it’s warm. It is regrowing!! So, got to be careful, only these are under 2’ and don’t spread everywhere much unlike the regular variety.
Hey Tyler, would you consider making a video talking about the methods of storing foods long term? Watching this video you seem to have good knowledge on the subject, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for all the videos, and inspiration!
Great video!
I know it takes a bit of time to start up but I wonder if your garden could benefit from mushroom colonized logs? Would be additional protein every season once they take off and can be dried.
FWIW I've had a lot of trouble growing peas and green beans, probably from not being able to find a variety suitable for my climate (SE USA)… that said the peas have always been eaten by common centipedes as they sprout and green beans have just not survived well. But radishes, usually grown to be harvested for their roots before maturity, produce "green bean"-like seed pods with similar taste and use, dozens per plant. We have chosen to use radishes in this fashion. Not sure what their efficiency per square foot is but we definitely like how easy they are to grow compared to almost everything else we've tried.
I have also grown sunchokes, they are indeed trivial to grow and produce TONS of tubers, but we have observed they tend to rot if a lot of late-season rain happens, which isn't good since they do not store well after harvest (therefore should be stored in the ground). They are also difficult to process due to their complex shape with many nodules and hard skin, but we still keep them around just because of how they grow as vigorously as weeds, rain or drought. We may grow to regret this as they are seriously vigorous plants; we may be pidgeonholed into relying on them because of just how keen they are to take over. Not the worst problem to have, but not the best asset either. If I could go back, I'd definitely have selected a variety with more simple tuber structure for easier processing.
What are your thoughts on garlic and onion? They store for a few months….not sure about the calorie per SF.