10 Easy Survival Crops (Don’t Starve!)

There's loads going on in the world right now that could crash the economy and send food prices even higher, but there's something we can do about it. Everybody can grow some simple crops that will drastically slash food bills and keep you fed during challenging times. So in this video we'll look at what to grow to save money, keep food on the table, and bring peace of mind no matter what's going on in the news. When it comes to upping your food security and making sure you've always got something to eat, the first place to start is really very simple. Grow what you eat. Now it may seem obvious, but it's something many gardeners actually overlook. Consider what forms the backbone to your everyday meals, because if you're only growing food you eat occasionally, well you're not improving food security and you're certainly not saving any money, but focus on those crops that are the dependable staples and well you'll quickly see the benefits. So let's find a spare page in my daughter's notepad here. Now the things that I eat lots of are potatoes, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. These are all fantastic staples and they're all easy to grow, so they definitely make my list. It's also worth, by the way, just making sure that you choose crops that grow well in your climate. So in my slightly cooler climate things like potatoes, kale, and chard do really well, and if you're in a warmer climate you can probably add sweet potatoes and say peppers to that list. By growing things that thrive in your climate, well you're going to get much more to pick. We'll also want to choose crops that offer good nutritional value, especially calories. We'll also want those that are really good value for money as well, and we'll want to think about ways we can enjoy the food we're growing for as much of the year as possible. And we'll be touching on all of these points as we move through the video. But let's start with potatoes, because unglamorous as they are, if you're looking for a survival crop then this is honestly hard to beat. They're one of the densest for calories per area where they are grown, and they're incredibly filling, full of carbs that can replace the likes of bought-in rice or pasta. They're flexible and they store for absolutely ages. You can roast them, mash them, bake them, turn them into stews, soups, fries or chips. Potatoes are really fab and they do so much heavy lifting for so many meals. And of course they're incredibly flexible with where they will grow as well. In the ground, in raised beds like here, mine are just about popping through now. In containers, sacks, just about anything. And you can plant early, mid or late season varieties to extend the harvest window for as long as possible, finishing with late season or main crop potatoes to give you spuds to store over the winter months. Next up are two crops, onions and garlic. These guys form the starting point to so many savory dishes, at least in my household, and they are fantastic for food security because they store for months and months and it's easy to grow plenty of them. Grow them once and store them properly and you could be enjoying your own onions and garlic for much of the year. That's one less staple to buy. And in this bed alone I've got 50 garlic plants. That's 50 full bulbs of garlicky goodness from an area that's around 10 square feet or not much more than one meter squared. That's fab! Tomatoes are another excellent choice but for a very different reason. They are excellent value for money. Consider the cost of tomatoes now, and they're only going up, especially the good ones, but once you plant your tomatoes they are remarkably productive and form the basis to so many tasty meals. Now because the danger of frost has very much faded now, I can get my tomatoes in. Of course the most economical way to start tomatoes is from seed, but as it's a bit late in the season you'll still find plenty of tomato plants and there's absolutely no problem at all starting with those. You'll still get back three, four, even five times the investment for the tomato plants when you consider all of that lovely fruit coming off the plant. And the price of organic tomatoes these days, have you seen it? Well this is going to save you dollars and dollars, pounds and pounds. Preserve any surplus pickings long into the winter months by making your own passatas or tomato sauces. They can be frozen even, or you can just freeze tomatoes whole or sliced. And if you grow more than you can possibly eat, there is always the option of selling some of your tomatoes locally, perhaps just setting up an honesty box set up outside your home. Tomatoes could even help to subsidize some of the other things you are growing. When you're thinking of survival crops, nutritional value and calorie density really matters, because when food costs spiral that's when calories really become valuable. We've already mentioned potatoes haven't we, but we can add to this list winter squash here, as well as roots such as beets or beetroot, and then there's parsnips as well, corn, beans for shelling, and if you are in a warmer climate, perhaps sweet potato or yams. These will all help to keep you fuller for longer, which is what we want from survival crops right? Winter squash and pumpkins are incredibly productive and will store well for months on end. Now there's still plenty of time to start these off, either from seeds or plants that you bought in a garden center. And like I say, they'll produce several fruits on one plant alone and they will keep right through the winter, providing many meals for many mouths over a good sustained period during that winter chill when food can be a bit scarce. Beetroots are another go-to veggie for me, and they are quite high up on the calories metric as well. Now they're very easy to grow, they store well, but perhaps a real bonus is that you can eat both the leaves as well as the roots, meaning that every part of this vegetable is working really hard for you in the survival garden. New to me this year are sweet potatoes. Now sweet potatoes love a warm climate, and my climate isn't reliably warm, but if I grow it in something like this black tub that absorbs the heat from the sunshine, well I think we're on to a winner. Now I've had these bought in as little plug plants, but you can easily start sweet potatoes by sitting a tuber in a glass of water and letting them root naturally, and then planting those sweet potatoes. And it's very easy to plant them, I'm going to plant three into here and then these will love it in the sunniest spot possible, maybe on the patio where it's a real sun trap, and they will soak up that heat and then in towards the end of summer or really early autumn I can tip this all out and gather up my sweet potatoes, and they're full of vitamins A, C and manganese I believe, and would you believe it they've even got more calories than potatoes! Another great tuber to grow is the Jerusalem artichoke, a fantastically easy one to grow too, and I will add a link to our video on growing a Jerusalem artichoke in the description below. Not all crops need to provide masses of calories to be worthwhile though, this bag of carrots from the shops costs me less than a pound or around a dollar, and there's quite a lot in there. I'd say that's a fair value for money, so an alternative might be to shine the spotlight more on those crops that can save you a lot of money, potentially a lot more given all the dramas going on in the world right now. Fruit of all kind is an excellent example. Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants for example, they all produce so much once they get established, and of course they are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. Now these currants in front of me here were all started off from cuttings. Here's one I took a couple of winters ago, popped in the ground and then they produce an abundance of fruit for all sorts of cordials and puddings, and they're so good for you. Much of this fruit can be frozen, dried, and of course turned into all manner of jams and preserves, extending the usefulness of your harvest long after it's been picked. Herbs are another standout family of crops to grow, and of course they make everything taste so much better. And what's food if it isn't a joy to eat? Herbs are inexplicably expensive in the supermarkets, but very easy to grow. Many herbs are of course perennial, which means you plant them once and then they're in the ground or in pots indefinitely for you to take them as and when they are needed. Others are sown regularly, like these basil here. I'm going to separate these out into their own pots, but a single seed packet, well sometimes they have hundreds of seeds. This one has got 750 seeds in it, that will provide multiple sowings all summer long to keep me in an abundance of herbs. Fantastic! So we've mentioned fruit and herbs, next up salad leaves. Cut and come again salad leaves are worth growing for the same reason as herbs. They're often one of the very most expensive things you can buy in the supermarket by weight, and yet they grow so well in a range of containers. Containers of course, shallow trays, raised beds, wherever they fit, and you can just come along and clip off leaves as you need them. And then there are those crops that are particularly valuable just because they are so outrageously prolific, so that's climbing beans grown up, arches, trellises, or just a simple teepee. And of course the more you pick the more they will come, and they are very rich in protein, something a bit rare in a lot of garden crops. And then there are of course, famously so, zucchini or courgettes. Here are mine sown a few weeks ago, and look the first two are already popping up which is very exciting. Now I like to grow three or four plants close by for good pollination, and each plant is capable of producing 20 fruits or more, so you can see how the savings quickly stack up. Just like beans, the more you pick them the more will come. Another key strategy for upping food security and keeping well fed is to keep those harvests coming for as much of the year as possible. Choose a range of early, mid, and late season varieties to widen that harvest window and reduce your reliance on supermarket grub. Think of the wide selection of varieties from the likes of potato, carrot, strawberries, and apples for example. Then there is sowing successionally for fast growers such as salad onions, lettuce, and radishes here. Now this crop here is ready to pick, and don't these look fantastic? And as these come out I will replant with some clusters of radish seedlings that I sowed about 10 days ago, and at the same time I will make another sowing to keep the party going. Think ahead to storage too. Growing plenty of food is only worth it if you can properly preserve it and store it to enjoy for many months, whether that's storing squash at sort of room temperature, cold storing roots, freezing, drying, pickling, making chutneys, canning, you name it. Extending the life of your harvest is key to building up your resilience and reducing your reliance on bought-in food. When forging your way to food security, everything needs to earn its keep. Now, crops should save money of course, they should provide plenty of calories, be easy to grow, be prolific, and they should store well too. It may not make you entirely self-sufficient but it definitely will slash your food bill, and perhaps most importantly offer you a little bit of peace of mind, something that is quite frankly priceless in today's world. Knowledge is powerful too, especially if it's free, and to help with that, well, try out our garden planner. It can tell you exactly when to sow, plant, and harvest for your area, and it's got all sorts of information on a wide range of crops. Start your completely free seven-day trial today by just following the QR code over here, and I will catch you next time.