The 5 Best Crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners

May 7, 2019 // by Rick// 38 Comments

Let’s face it, some crops are better than others to grow when you are focusing on providing your own food. Here’s my list of The 5 Best Crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners.

Our garden is a big part of our overall preparation plan. Of course, we have food and water storage at our place, but a big portion of the food we have stored every year comes from our garden.

Most years our garden produces 60 or more different fruits, veggies, and herbs. Many of these are eaten fresh but even more are either frozen, canned or dried and added to our food storage. But let’s face it. If we really want to be self-sufficient gardeners there are some crops that have much more value than others. I mean you are not going to grow 300 pounds of green peppers and expect to live on them all winter, but 300 pounds of potatoes would make a big difference.

Here are the 5 best crops for self-sufficient gardeners:

1. Potatoes

Of all the crops you can grow in your garden potatoes will bring you closer to self-sufficiency than any other crop. Potatoes are packed with calories, have a good amount of vitamins and nutrients, are fairly easy to grow and if stored under the proper conditions can last over 6 months in storage.

I have read several books that say potatoes are so important that you should plan on dedicating at least 30% of your total garden space to grow them. Most years we end up with around 20% of our garden planted to potatoes and end up with between 250 to 350 pounds. That amount gives our family plenty of spuds to eat most of the winter.

With a little planning, you can have potatoes ready to eat starting in June. You can then eat them fresh all summer and have a big crop ready in the fall to last you into the winter. Those stored potatoes can last well into March meaning you are eating garden potatoes 9 months out of the year!
Here are a few links to articles on how to grow and store potatoes:

Growing Potatoes Using the Hilling method

Growing Guide to Early Potatoes

How to Store potatoes most Efficiently

Growing Food Potatoes

Or even better if you want to really learn how to grow potatoes take my online video course.

Follow this link and you can buy it for only $10.00

2. Tomatoes

Everyone loves homegrown tomatoes, they are a garden favorite. But they are also a very important part of becoming self-sufficient.

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile and productive plants you can grow in the garden. They grow very well in all but the coldest climates. A small patch of tomatoes, say only 4 feet by 16 feet with around 16 plants can produce upwards of 200 pounds of tomatoes in a good year!

Tomatoes can be dried, frozen or canned. They can be made into soups, sauces, pastes and more. They then become the base ingredient in hundreds of kitchen recipes. Tomatoes are one of the easiest veggies to can because they are a high acid veggie and as such, they can be water bath canned instead of needing a pressure canner.

I have an online video course on growing tomatoes as well.

Follow this link to buy this 90-minute course for only $10!!

3. Popcorn

The 5 best crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners Popcorn

Popcorn is number 3 on the list of The 5 Best Crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners. Yes, you read that right, POPCORN! Why on earth would I suggest your favorite buttery treat is the third-best crop for a self-sufficient gardener? Well, let me explain.

I suggest you learn to grow popcorn because it is the only “grain” crop that can be practically grown in the home garden. You see there is a secret many people don’t know. You can grind popcorn, in a grain mill, into a really tasty and easy to use cornmeal! You can then use that meal for baking cornbread, and other corn-based bread products.

Popcorn is easy to grow, fairly productive and can be tucked into little hills all around your garden or even in your flower beds! It does require a lot of water so be prepared to irrigate. You also can’t grow popcorn and sweet corn together so be sure if you are growing both you leave at least 100 feet between.

For a more in-depth look at growing popcorn you can read this article:

Growing Your Own Popcorn

and you can learn how to grow popcorn in small spaces by growing popcorn using the hill method.

4. Squash

Next on the list of The 5 Best Crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners is a squash. Love it or hate it, squash, especially winter squash is an important crop to grow and learn to eat for someone wanting to be self-sufficient.

Keep in mind that there are two types of squash, summer, and winter. Summer squash, are plants like zucchini, yellow squash, and patty pans. These are very productive plants but have a very short shelf life and very few storage options. Freezing is really the only way to preserve summer squash. Please grow these great squashes but don’t plan on them being a big part of your winter storage.

Winter squashes are plants like butternut, spaghetti, banana and acorn squash and also include pumpkins. These squashes are very productive and when stored properly they can last through the winter. A big banana squash can feed you for several meals!!

You will need a larger garden to grow these winter squash. These vining plants take up a lot of room so plan on them sprawling all over the garden. Most winter squashes are good candidates for vertical growing. So try growing them on some type of trellis or other structure to save space.

5. Kale

The 5 best crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners Kale

Kale is a superfood! It is so packed full of nutrients that you just can’t ignore it in your garden. Kale plants are also super productive and very hardy. With a little planning and a simple hoop house for protection in the winter, you can easily grow kale all year long. If you grow kale in the winter you get the added bonus of eating the best tasting kale you will ever eat. The cold temperatures sweeten the kale up and turn it into a whole new veggie!

So there you have it! My list of The 5 Best Crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners! Do you agree or disagree with my list? What did I leave out? Let’s talk about it in the comment section below. Which do you consider to be The 5 Best Crops for Self Sufficient Gardeners?

September is National Preparedness Month and The Prepared Bloggers are at it again!

It’s safe to say that our ultimate goal is to help you have an emergency kit, a family plan, and the knowledge to garden, preserve your harvest and use useful herbs every day – without spending a ton of money to do it. Luckily that’s obtainable for every family and a journey we would love to help you with.

This year we have posts about food storage, 72-hour Kits & Bug Out Bags, and every aspect of preparedness, from water storage to cooking off the grid. You’ll also find many ideas to help you be more self-reliant. Look for information on the big giveaway we’ve put together for later in the month.

Be sure to visit our sites and learn as much as you can about being prepared. We’ll be using the hashtag #30DaysOfPrep for these and many other ideas throughout the month of September, so join in the conversation and make 2015 the year you become prepared.

About Rick

Hi I'm Rick. And I am a gardening fanatic! I love growing organic fruits and vegetables in my backyard garden. And I love teaching others how to grow their own organic food!

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Comments

Small Steps of Sustainability

September 5, 2015 at 5:30 pm

Great post. Had no idea you can’t plant popcorn and sweet corn together

Reply
- Mr. Stoney
  
  September 5, 2015 at 9:38 pm
  
  Thanks! Yep if you plant them together they will cross pollinate and it ruins the popcorn.
  
  Reply
may

September 12, 2015 at 10:35 am

This post makes a great resource for beginning gardeners like myself. Thanks

Reply
Deborah

September 12, 2015 at 9:16 pm

I loved when I lived in a warm enough area to grow my own popcorn. It’s probably the crop I miss the most since moving to a zone 4.
Since I can no longer grow popcorn, I’d have to replace it with beets or cabbage. Neither are my favorite, but putting up a year’s worth a produce all at once makes these two a must. They go directly into the cold cellar with minimal prep and are a few of the things that will last til next year.
Great post 🙂

Reply
Cynthia Skelton

September 13, 2015 at 10:48 am

I just wanted to mention that zucchini is worth growing to preserve by freezing. I grate the monster zuccs and freeze in 1 cup portions. These are perfect for thawing and using to make zucchini bread, zucchini nut muffins, or chocolate zucchini cake all winter.

Reply
- Mr. Stoney
  
  September 14, 2015 at 8:33 am
  
  Cynthia, I absolutely agree with you on this. We grow and freeze a lot of zucchini, most years more than 50 pounds from just a few plants. As it is National Preparedness month and I only could choose 5 crops for this post I went with the 5 I felt meant the most to an over all food storage plan for an emergency situation. If I were to do a top 10 list zucchini would be number 7 or 8.
  
  Reply
Kari

September 14, 2015 at 10:58 pm

I wasn’t aware that it was a month long celebration! Great post! We planted popcorn at a local community garden. Thanks for all the info!!

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Kelly

September 15, 2015 at 4:41 pm

This is wonderful! I really need veggies like these since I start out all enthusiastic and then end up saying, “Garden? Oh yeah!” I’ve never tried growing popcorn, but we use so much of it I think it would be fun!
Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop. I hope we see you again tomorrow. Pinning! 🙂

Reply
Michelle Newman

July 27, 2016 at 4:36 pm

I think beets and turnips are good garden crops because you can eat the whole plant,roots and leaves. Frozen,canned, and cold storage are all possible for the dual use plants.

Reply
Ernie

May 31, 2017 at 7:31 pm

I’ve been growing storage food for almost 60 yrs, I agree with your list only I would include pole beans,you can use them fresh can them ,dry them

Reply
- Mr. Stoney
  
  June 1, 2017 at 9:03 am
  
  Yep, If I had made the list longer, beans would have been #6!
  
  Reply
  - JR
    
    November 5, 2020 at 9:46 am
    
    Couldn’t find regular place to reply. Anything that doesn’t need any canning or freezing has to come first as well as calories.That means potatoes, squash, Beets ,carrots, turnips,Beans. corn or popcorn .All can be stored as is in root cellar or in house .Then tomatoes and a biggie you missed cabbages.If you can actually grow Kale all year to eat fresh then by all means. Add to that Brussel sprouts the late fall veg that will give you vitamins into LATE fall. The communist countries grew those cabbages as a staple for vitamins.They get huge and can be water bathed canned into coleslaw that is amazing.They also can be stored successfully in root cellar longer than you think . and can be pressure canned and or used for sour kraut.So no canning by root cellar storing or making sour kraut that can be eaten all winter. I am going to try the kale idea and the popcorn idea thanks for your great articles! JR
    
    Reply
Julia Gray

November 17, 2017 at 7:44 pm

I agree that that potatoes, tomatoes, and kale are needed to be self sufficient. Not only just pumpkins but a variety of squashes, bell peppers and a variety of fruit. I grow all the above plus blueberries, black berries and raspberries plus cactus fruit, I make jellies, freeze, dehydrate and can my produce. That makes you self sufficient.

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Rebecca

May 7, 2019 at 9:12 am

I grew spaghetti squash on my pea fence as they waned as summer came. Biggest crop of squash ever! Took up no room in my garden. That leaves more room to grow carrots or other root veggies I would add to your longer list. Easy to grow and store.

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