Are you worried about the rising cost of food or even worse, a food crisis, running out of food at the mall, or no food at all? Or, a worldwide fertilizer shortage, supply problems, an energy crisis, and even a lack of fruits and vegetables.
How about inflation? It's out of control, the only thing that has been going down and fast in the last few years is the IQ of our politicians. Well, the current hike in food prices is enough to drive you bananas. So, if we can't rely on the government and big corporations, therefore it becomes imperative for us to take steps on an individual level to buffer ourselves against hard times.
That's why in this article am gonna give you my six top crops to grow at home to save you from starving. Let's jump right in.
This six food, I have put a lot of thought into them. They have to be ones that you can effectively and easily grow at home, in an average-sized yard, which also gives the best return for harvest, have good preserving qualities, and of course a high sustenance to keep us going in an emergency.
1. POTATOES
Did you know that the great famine in Ireland back in 1845 was due to a lack of potatoes? It's true! Over a million people died of hunger despite efforts from USA and England to help. Potatoes grow so easily and are so full of calories that the Irish population basically became dependent on them and when the crops were suddenly devastated by a fungal disease called ''Late Blight'', they effectively ran out of potato chips and starved. What the Irish didn't know back then was the key to growing potatoes is diversity. Grow different varieties at the same time, and from year to year to limit the buildup of pests and diseases.
These days they're more variety of potatoes and ones that have better resistance to disease. Speaking of diversity, I love the diverse ways potatoes can be grown such as direct in the ground or hilled up, in trenches, boxes, or containers.
There's a way to grow potatoes that suits just about everywhere, every budget, and every sized property. I think it's interesting how potatoes have gone from a main to a side-on plate-like fries. During tough times potatoes can become your main meal again.
2. CORN
During the potato famine in Ireland in 1845, the United States sent tons of corn to Ireland in other to help the starving population. They survived off corn chips and of course many other things derived from this wonderful grain/vegetable depending on how it is consumed. Corn is one of the three biggest plant-based food sources in the world, rice and wheat are the others in case you're wondering.
But, unlike rice and wheat, corn can be grown effectively on a much smaller scale and still produce a lot of food. Corn has a compact and upright growing habit which saves space. It can be interplanted in the garden with other crops like beans and squash, to utilize even more space.
Also, corn grows as fast as grass. Just as commercially, homegrown corn has many uses from eating it straight on the cob to making flowers, grits, tortillas, and popcorn. All these things can be easily done at home without too much effort, making corn extremely versatile. Even the whole plant can be chipped and put back into the garden as a nutritious mulch.
No wonder corn became such an important crop for humanity after its discovery in Mexico about 10,000 years ago. And now, it's growing on every continent around the world except for Antarctica. So, I encourage you to grow it as well because the way things are going, we're not going to be able to afford to eat at Taco Bell.
3. CABBAGE
One of the most intriguing things about cabbage is that it is known to lower blood pressure. With all the terrible news spewing out of the box these days, we need all the help we can get to lower our blood pressure and heart rate.
Cabbage has a heap of other health benefits such as, it's full of nutrients to help bone building, the immune system, muscle function, and energy, which are all vital if you're trying to survive. Cabbage grows relatively fast, and I think it's remarkable how tight and juicy the heads grow in such a short amount of time.
Cabbage can go a long way in feeding a family using it as a filling stew, shredded on its own, and fried or raw in a slaw, KFC even uses it in their burgers. It is easy to preserve too. You can freeze cabbage, freeze dry it, simply keep it in the crisper for several weeks to use all the time, or ferment it to make tasty foods like kimchi and sauerkkraut, which also accentuates the health benefits.
And if you don't like the taste of cabbage, I suggest you get used to it or fry it up with bacon, that makes everything taste good. Growing cabbage is easier than people think, I hear food gardeners say how cabbage moth destroys their crops or the birds eat it before they can even harvest, but it's one of the easiest crops to protect.
Cabbage doesn't need to be pollinated, so you don't have to worry about bees or anything like that, and they ain't really any long stalks that can be easily broken off. So, all you need to do is drape over with a fine net and that's it. Sit back and your cabbage crop is protected.
4. PUMPKIN
There couldn't be anything easier than sowing a few pumpkin seeds and letting the vine meander around your garden doing whatever it wants. Some people believe pumpkins originated in North America, which makes sense about Halloween because if you can't possibly eat them all, well you might as well make something out of them.
And whilst being surprisingly low in calories for such a dense and often large veggie slash fruit, they make up for it in fiber, making you feel fuller than you are, which can help if you're hungry. Plus, pumpkins are full of vitamin A, which is needed for good eyesight.
5. BEANS
Beans are almost the complete food, containing most vitamins, nutrients, and essential amino acids needed by humans to live. The bean seed can be stored or preserved easily through drying or canning, and they don't take up much storing space. So, they're ideal to keep as survival food.
Beans don't take up much room in the garden either, as they typically grow vertically, so you can fit more in a smaller area, which means you can get a bigger harvest even with a small space.
There are a ton of different varieties of beans to grow, and because they practically make their own nitrogen fertilizer by forming a relationship with bacteria in the soil, beans can also add more to your garden than they take.
6. TOMATOES
Nothing goes better with beans than tomato sauce. Tomato sauce actually enhances a very important antioxidant called lycopene, this antioxidant is known to be one of the most important cancer-preventative antioxidants we can eat.
So, growing tomatoes for the sauce alone is good enough reason. But there are many more benefits that come with eating tomatoes such as tomatoes go well with most other foods and help to bulk up and add flavor to otherwise dull-tasting dishes.
And of course, tomatoes are just good on their own, they can be dried and made into tasty snacks that are healthy to eat or pickled and spread on bread or biscuits, they can also be canned or frozen for later use.
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Tomatoes are easy to grow and also have a good tolerance range which means you can grow them in a lot of mediums without too much preparation or worry. You can grow tomatoes from seed or simply clone it in the garden from offcuts, bury it several inches deep, keep it watered and in no time a new tomato plant will grow.
I have said this a lot in the past and I will keep saying it, homegrown tomatoes aren't artificially ripened with ethene gas, unlike supermarket tomatoes. Homegrown tomatoes taste better, they're healthier for you and they cost considerably less to grow than to buy them.
Can you think of any other crops that might save you from starving? If you can, tell me what and why down in the comment section below.
Growing these six staples that we just talked about or being self-sufficient in at least something, is more than just about saving money, it's peace of mind knowing that you will have something in case the world turns into something else especially due to the actions of our politicians.
Thanks for reading, plant these crops and try not to starve.
Also read Winter Gardening - Top 15 Vegetables To Plant This Winter
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