This article will show you 7 easy to grow foods for survivalism at home and what the circumstances necessary for their growth are.
We live in times of uncertainty. The past couple of years have proved how vulnerable the world can be. Who knows what’s coming next? Maybe a few months from now, we’ll witness a shortage in the food supply.
That’s when your survival instincts need to be at their sharpest. Fortunately, if that ever happens, you’ll have an advantage that anyone who hasn’t read this article won’t; you’ll know how to grow your own food at home.
Survivalism is only part of prepping – the other part is having knowledge and skills. If you can grow your own food, no one will ever prevent you from eating fresh.
Contents
7 Foods That Are Easy to Grow at Home
Now let’s see what every type of food on this list brings to the table and how to grow each one of them.
1- Black Beans
- 50-55 days. Annual. The Black Valentine green bean features long, round, curled bean seed pods with excellent color and flavor. A strong, upright bush habit holds pods above the ground which...
- Black Valentine Bush Bean: Sow the seeds 1" deep and 3" apart, in rows 2'-3' apart, and press down the earth above them for good soil contact. These seeds rot easily in wet soil, so do not over...
- USDA Zones: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Latin Name: Phaseolus vulgaris Type: Open Pollinated, Heirloom, Warm Season
There are several reasons why black beans make the top of the list: They provide a lot of calories and a good amount of protein.
They’re a great resource for minerals. The calcium and iron in them will help maintain and strengthen your bones.
They also contain resistant starch. As the name suggests, it resists digestion. So your body won’t turn it into simple sugar, and your sugar levels won’t rapidly rise when you eat black beans. It also improves insulin sensitivity.
Growing black beans is easy because they’re very flexible. You can grow them in more than one way; both the bush and pole form will produce good results. You can decide which way works best for you based on the environment in which you’ll grow them.
Black beans grow in warm environments. The soil’s temperature should be around 65°-75°F. Make sure that the soil has good draining properties because beans hate wet soil.
2- Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great resource for vitamin A. They contain a lot of beta-carotene, which your body then turns into the vitamin A that it needs to maintain a healthy immune system.
Boiled sweet potatoes are low on the glycemic index. That means that they slowly release sugar into the body. The steady flow of sugar in the bloodstream gives the body the chance to regulate the sugar levels in it, making sure that they’re not too low or too high.
Sweet potatoes contain a lot of magnesium, which helps reduce stress and anxiety. So, when you’re trying to survive and the stakes are high, a sweet potato might ease the stress.
Sweet potatoes don’t grow from seeds. They grow from slips (rooted sprouts). You can buy slips online to grow them.
What makes sweet potatoes an important crop is that, once you grow them, you can use them to grow more slips. Then you can use those slips to grow more sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes grow in warm environments, so make sure the temperature of the soil is at least 65°F. The soil also needs to be sandy and loam, with good draining properties.
3- Potatoes
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Don’t confuse potatoes with sweet potatoes. They aren’t closely related. They both offer different nutritional values and belong to different plant families.
While normally associated with french fries and chips, potatoes are actually quite healthy. They’re packed with vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, magnesium, and zinc.
In terms of satiety, potatoes rank high on the list. That basically means that when you eat potatoes, you’ll feel full for longer than when you eat rice or white bread.
Potatoes also contain resistant starch, so your sugar levels won’t get too high when you eat them. Resistant starch helps improve insulin sensitivity.
Most importantly, they can grow in limited spaces. If you don’t have enough ground to grow them, you can grow them in grow bags or five-gallon buckets.
Potatoes grow best in cool spring temperatures. Your soil needs to be fluffy and light so that your potatoes can grow to their maximum potential. Its temperature should be around 45°-60°F.
4- Cabbage
- Name: Golden Acre Cabbage | Type: Heirloom
- Size at Maturity: Up to 3 Pound Head | Days to Maturity: 65-75 Days
- Light Requirement: Sun/Partial Shade | Planting Time: Cool Season
Cabbage is packed with all sorts of nutrition. It’s filled with vitamin C, vitamin K, and more.
It also provides the body with an abundance of vitamin B6, which helps the immune system work better.
It’s packed with minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium. These minerals keep your bones and teeth strong and healthy.
Because cabbage offers a lot of fiber, you can consume less amount of it than other types of food, but stay full for longer. The insoluble fiber in cabbage also helps with bowel movement.
When it comes to its growth, cabbage is the first item on this list that grows at a temperature of 45°-75°F but can still survive frost. Make sure to use moist, fertile soil with good draining properties.
5- Corn
- Name: Peaches & Cream Corn Seed | Type: Hybrid
- Size at Maturity: 8" | Days to Maturity: 75 Days | Light Requirement: Full Sun
- Planting Time: Warm Season | Sowing Method: Direct or Indoor Sow
As with cabbage and potatoes, corn contains a lot of fiber. So you’ll stay full for longer. The fiber in it can also balance the sugar levels in the body.
Corn also offers all sorts of minerals, such as zinc and iron. It’s a great resource for vitamin C, which can reduce the risk of heart disease.
Lutein and zeaxanthin in corn have proven to be effective when it comes to protecting the eyes from vision impairment.
Growing corn is pretty straightforward. It grows in warm temperatures. Anything below 60°F won’t work. Use sandy, loam soil and water it once a week.
The only drawback is that it’s difficult to grow indoors. It needs a bit of space. An 8’ by 4’ area would do the trick.
6- Winter Squash
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Winter squash will provide the body with plenty of vitamin C and beta-carotene. Vitamin A that beta-carotene produces, combined with vitamin C, helps build a strong immune system. Vitamin C also reduces the chances of developing cataracts.
Most varieties of winter squash provide plenty of fiber, potassium, and more. The nutritional value in them helps in several bodily functions, such as digestion and balancing blood pressure.
The “winter” in the name doesn’t refer to when you grow them, but to the fact that you can store them all winter long without them going bad. That’s, of course, if no external factors cause any damage to them.
When growing winter squash, cold is your enemy. Make sure that the soil is rich and has good draining properties, with a temperature of at least 65°F.
7- Herbs
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Yes, this may be very general, and a lot of people may overlook herbs, but they’re actually very important.
In tough times, you’ll have to prioritize what food to grow in order to get the nutrition your body needs. You might think that herbs are not that essential.
But, eventually, you’ll get bored of eating all the different types of food we’ve mentioned on this list without seasoning. You can mix different herbs to make different spices, and they’d add a lot of flavor to your food.
There are lots of herbs that you can grow at home, such as rosemary, lavender, oregano, and more. Choose whatever works for you and your food and grow it.
Easy to Grow Foods Survivalism – Wrap Up
These 7 foods that are easy to grow at home will provide you with the nutrition your body needs.
They pack different nutritional values and require different environments to grow. But, if you manage to pull it off, you’ll have a good supply of food that will help you survive whatever emergency you’re going through.