Ok, so you are here because you want to become more self sufficient, right?
And you realize that growing your own food is a great place to start and and is probably the best way to be more self sufficient. What better way to be prepared for the worst than to have the knowledge that you and your family will eat no matter what?
But, if you don’t have a lot of room you may wonder what you should grow. What will provide the most food in the least space? What provides good nutrition? What is easiest to store?
Well, to get you started you need to make a list of what you and your family love to eat. It dies not matter how great a vegetable is if no one in your family will eat it. It will be a waste of time, space and money.
The less space you have the more careful you need to be about that.
If you have more room you can grow some other things but concentrate the most of your favorites and those that can be used in numerous ways.
So, I will give you a list of some top crops to grow in a self sufficiency garden but always check it against what you and your family will actually enjoy eating.
The best self-sufficiency garden will start with crops that can be turned into a wide variety of dishes.
Potatoes tops our list. You can grow a lot of potatoes in a relatively small space. For years people have talked about growing food crops in used tires.
Some people think that it isn’t safe while others think that it is. Use your judgement as to what answer you are comfortable with.
Personally I have read that you can grow as much as 50 pounds of potatoes in an area less than 2X2 ft.
How you wonder? Well, you plant 4 potatoes evenly spaced inside a tire. WHen the potatoes get tall enough you simply add another tire and fill in around the potato plants being sure that the tops are above the soil line. Keep doing this all summer untill you have it 4 tires high. Let the potatoes flower and grow all those fabulous potatoes. In the Fall they are so easy to harvest.
Potatoes can be baked, fried and boiled. You can use potatoes in so many ways that it is hard to get really tired of them. That is the mark of a great self sufficiencey crop.
Next?
Beans
Personally I prefer pole beans as you can grow more in less space and you don’t have to bend over to pick them. Grow them on fences or use posts to make bean tepees. Kids love them.
You can grow all types of beans. Yellow beans, Green beans, Purple beans, dry beans, soy beans, mung beans.
You can grow beans for fresh use, to freeze, to can, to dehydrate. You can evenn pickle them. Yes, I said Pickled Beans.
My Mom used to can pickled beans for me. They make a great side dish or snack and they are super easy to can.
Dehydrate and not only are they super easy tostore but they are quick amd easy to refresh too. You vcan use them in soups, stews, casseroles or as a side dish.
Beans have long been considered poor man’s meat as they are high in protein but they are very low cost.
Your best bet is to grow several different colors and types for a nice variety of meal choices.
Mung beans can be sprouted for using in stir fries or chop suey. You can use different types of bean sprouts fresh or in dishes.
Sprouts are also a great way to take a small amount of seed provide you with a large amount of food.
I cup can be turned into 2-3 cups and, depending on the seed you can turn as little as a spoonful into several cups of sprouts.
During the Winter a wide variety of dried seeds can be a great insurance policy that your family will have fresh vegetables to eat. When you can’t grow fresh vegetables you can still eat fresh vegetables and it is very low cost while providing great high quality nutrition.
You can use them fresh to snack on, use them in sandwiches, meatloaf, soups. There are a wide variety of ways to prepare them.
So, while saving seeds for next years crops remember to store some for soups and fresh eating.
Always make sure that any seeds that you use for cooking whether they have been sprouted or not, are NOT TREATED with chemicals.
Well, I must get to bed as it is late and I am tired.
I will add to this asap as there are lots of other great vegetables to add to the list for your self-sufficiency garden.
Free $20 Garden seed & plants with any $40 Order
