How to Discover the EASIEST Survival Crops for Your Garden (No, it's not the cow)

Which high-calorie survival crop is best for your garden? Today we share how to find easy-to-grow plants that will keep you full.
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Potatoes? Cassava? Yams? Sweet potatoes? Pumpkins? Let's take a look at growing a survival food supply in your garden that does well with your climate and soil!

[@Maria-ql3fc]

I’m old and I can tell you what my parents grew when I was growing up in the 50’s. They grew field peas, butter beans potatoes and corn. In the spring and fall they grew greens of all kinds. Plus we foraged from the land, blueberries, blackberries, wild cherries and persimmons in zone 8B.

[@idahoduckhunter]

Thank you

[@Maria-ql3fc]

@@idahoduckhunter Yw

[@agapefield]

When I was in my 20's I moved to a different area, different soil, different zone than I had grown up gardening in. My Daddy told me to go to a feed store and watch for someone buying seed and or bedding plants and ask them what they grow in their gardens. I met some really nice gardeners that were very happy to share their knowledge.

[@davidthegood]

That's great

[@carolhanson8036]

Smart man!

[@kayceb4503]

Last summer I knocked on the door of a house I admired with 3 green mangoes I had just harvested. I was rewarded with several large mexican sunflower cuttings.

[@jeas4980]

Can I recommend getting to know your local tribal members? I'm super fortunate given I live near the James River in Virginia outside of thr 7 cities region including Williamsburg and Jamestown, Yorktown. There are actually "historical gardens" in my area featuring both colonial and native tribe gardens. (I literally have no excuses). But some of my greatest resources come from attending the Powwows in my specific region which has a unique microclimate given it's swampy nature. Learning and understanding how they watch nature to signal their planting schedule has been very valuable information to have. Especially in years where thr dogwoods bloom early and the redbuds come late. I know what time to plant out which crops... because nature signals the appropriate timing. Fot instance... carpenter bees are in full swing but my stout little black honey bees are still elusive. Well.. if I had planted out my tomatoes and peppers based on the 80° weather we've had the last 2 weeks... they would have died last night or taken a huge stunting hit. But I didn't... because my bees are missing. They know better than I do to stick to the pollin they chose to form their hive nearby and reserve their energy for this late cold snap. They've naturalized themselves to this area over a much longer time than we have. So I watch them. I watch my birds and which visitors are showing up when... and who is nesting here unexpectedly. Maine... one of your native species is nesting in my backyard... so I expect that from Northern VA to Canada is going to have a colder than average spring because the migration has haulted for this species in Southern VA. Purple Deadnettle and wild violets went to seed very quickly this spring... I expect a second harvest this year.. so I'll have a second chance to plant out fruit trees. Cherry blossoms and apple blossoms are late... so I can't plant peach trees and shouldn't count on a good blueberry harvest. This is the kind of skill set you can get by interfacing with your local tribe's people.

[@davidthegood]

Good idea

[@phillipbampton911]

Okay. So, it's a year later and my curiosity is killing me. I'm begging you, please, how did your long range weather forecast go? 😂

[@ashleycampbell8767]

I happen to know the native Americans did in fact get their seeds from the burpee rack at Lowe’s. In hard years, sometimes ferry-morse at the surviving Walmarts. Those “sow easy”®️ kind with the little window on the packet were especially favored.

[@kensimmons9960]

Thanks! Possibly the best survival crop video I've seen. I live in the Finger Lakes area of New York State (on the border of zones 5 & 6). Because of our short growing season, I grow as many crops as I can that will produce food when direct seeded, in the case of A LONG-TERM power outage preventing the use of grow lights for starting seedlings. Glacier tomatoes, walking onions, potatoes, dried beans, squash, garlic (hardneck), spinach, Swiss chard, carrots, & beets all grow well here and will all produce viable seeds (as long as they are open pollinated varieties). Perennials are great, though they take tie to establish. I grow asparagus, raspberries, and dewberries. Also strawberries, they are kind of a semi- perennial, last about 3 years. They produce 'babies' that can be rooted and planted in early fall to create a new bed in the spring. Sorry to be so long-winded, I thought passing this information along might be helpful.

[@Darkfyre755]

Since i moved to zone 11 Australia to start my garden I've basically looked around the globe at places near my growing zone and collected as many of each place's staple foods as i can. Now i have a giant collection of staple foods that grow high calorie crops with little to no effort. For me here, that's cassava, taro, sweet potato, plantains, water chestnuts, Qld arrowroot, grain corn, jarrahdale pumpkins, amaranth, quinoa, chia, pidgeon peas, bamboo, nopales, potatoes in the winter, and probably some more that I'm forgetting

[@cameronaustin4997]

choko

[@CurlyWirls]

Australia has growing zones? I live in South Australia (Adelaide) and didn't know we have zones here😮

[@Darkfyre755]

@@CurlyWirls we do, kinda! There's a world map online that uses the parameters the USDA used to define their growing zones. It's obviously not as perfectly defined as the zones in the US but still very helpful with figuring out what you can grow

[@sherryarch7374]

I love gardeners who's been around the many places & took the time to educate themselves with other foods.

[@ramtharthegreat]

I have a copy of a county history book where I live printed in 1840. Which, for my area, was still pretty wild and unsettled. TONS of great info on what was raised here. I think many of us think of the massive cornfields we have today as the result of modern agriculture, but there are stories in this book that say the Shawnee Indians had 80 acre fields of corn in my area. Natives here were also reliant on squash, potatoes, and beans, which combined with corn, are definitely my go to 4 crops that grow, store, and eat well in my area.

[@lisarusso6618]

I have found other growers to be some awesome people! In no other group have I found folks so willing to share their knowledge and resources! Most are nonjudgmental and accept where you are on your own path. I have made many friends doing just what you say to do! I have pulled up to houses, walked up driveways and knocked on doors! I met my now best friend doing just that!! 😊

[@isabelladavis1363]

Well it’s looking like sweet potatoes ..black eyed peas… collards ..okra …berries…well it’s a start…stay blessed David

[@scotmhead]

My area was known for commercial fig growing, the town next to us is named "Pearland" because they grew pears. And across the freeway that city has the annual strawberry festival, because that's what they were known for. But what foods they grew all year long I'd love to investigate. Good ideas, DTG.

[@Vixxiegurl]

Is this in TX near SE Houston?

[@scotmhead]

@@Vixxiegurl Yeah, I'm in Friendswood.

[@rachelhall4808]

I’ve just got Grow or Die. Such a treasure of knowledge! Thank you for all you have shared!

[@OffGridishHomestead]

found your channel years ago when researching composting toilets. enjoying the current content, especially your advice to experiment and start with what works in your area. thanks!

[@davidthegood]

Thank you.

[@RachellesGardenDiary]

I'm trying to increase my edible native plants. I figure if they're native then I won't have to baby them like some commercial food plants. As long as I get them planted in the right spots and get them established. I still managed to kill a couple of them by putting them in the wrong spots.

[@marybk882]

I accidentally did 3 sisters one year. I had never heard of the principle before then. It turned out great. I've never been able to intentionally duplicate those good results however! Of course.

[@goldengryphon]

Plants can be contrary. I think they spend their lives quietly p[lotting. It's the only thing I figure would explain some of the contrariness I see -the tomato that blooms like a forsythia, but just drops it's fruit before it's large enough to do anything with, the eggplant that has beautiful fruit, but falls over a week before it might be ready to pick and eat in a light sprinkle, the pole beans that refuse to climb, or run along the ground, but kind of bush out for no reason, .... Congratulations on having done it once!

[@phillipbampton911]

Out of curiosity, are you just planting or are you also putting fish waste in the bottom of the hole, because my understanding is that they used to put a fish head or something similar down there. I'm often wrong but I wonder if some people just forget that step. I've never done it myself but I intend to try it this (Southern Hemisphere) spring.

[@marybk882]

@@phillipbampton911 I do not put fish in the hole but occasionally I'll add fish guts to my compost.

[@charitysmith5245]

Preach!! The humble delicious field pea! I made myself go to a plant swap with a friend and I'm glad I did..met a sweet young couple into homesteading and exchanged numbers. We talked excitedly forever! And the old timers have all the good local info. (I think hubby and I are graduating more into the old timers category hehehe)

[@brownthumbnursery]

It was great to get to meet you yesterday!! May your thumbs always be Brown!!👍🏿

[@davidthegood]

You... too!

[@nancyfahey7518]

I am so happy you are where you are today. It's been a long journey.

[@mollygardens6646]

For my trial with the three sisters in West Texas I used yard-long beans, Cherokee pumpkin and Hopi squash, I can’t remember the corn variety without my notes. The corn was not successful except as a trellis. But the beans and squash were highly productive! Also grown: okra, black eyed peas, zucchini and pattypan squash and melons! Lots of food all grown with a farm irrigation well.

[@NannaCarlstedt2]

Hi David, Thank´s for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I agree, it´s not really lettuce that starving people are most happy to get their hands on... I also wolud like to add any kind of beans; They give you the proteins, and are easy to either dry the actually bean or ferment the bean pod, so it lasts through next years May, during the famine period, before the new crops are coming... The greens, as lettuce, are so very easy to find growing wild in nature, even berries are quite easy to find. But we really need the potatoes and the like, as Jerusalem artichokes which stand for even longer in the ground after all the potatoes is finished in your jute sack... If you´re living in a cold climate zone, they even stay in frozen ground, as a freezer, waiting for you in Jan-Mar!

[@natalierinehart7109]

Very good point to focus on filling in the gaps left by what's already available to forage in your area. I may love raspberries... but I have no need to grow them when I can go pick wild blackberries and mulberries in my neighborhood. Better to save garden space for sweet potato and squash. Foraging calories is too hard for me.

[@ninemoonplanet]

I'm in the PNW temperate rainforest zone. Here it's tough to grow most root crops because of the rain, 🌧️ almost incessant at times so those rot quickly. I prefer legumes, especially those that tolerate shade. (Sunshine isn't raining) a long with trees like figs (yes they grow fairly well) and cherries, apples and nut trees like hazelnut, oak (the acorns can be processed fairly easily), Potatoes must be grown in pots with high drainage and good soil. Blueberries, same thing. Mildew and fungal resistance is necessary.

[@ninemoonplanet]

Zone 6 b, maybe pushing 7 in a good year.

[@ausfoodgarden]

Well, here in Melbourne Aus, I think zone 9'ish, for high-calorie crops, I'd go sweet potato in summer and regular potatoes in cooler months. Because I only have a small area to grow, I concentrate on leafy greens and herbs all year round, tomatoes, and peppers in summer. But yes, it's all based on climate and soil. Excellent info instead of the "grow this/plant this" that so many others push on YT.

[@qualqui]

Corn, Beans and Squash here, with a Prickly pear patch and an Avocado tree!

[@Ficus_blue]

Here in the UK for me it would be potatos, carrots, cabbages and kales, outdoor tomatos, runner and french beans, courgettes, chard, onions, salads, turnips. I usually always sow sweet corn but it's hit and miss, dependant on how sunny our summer is. I'm classed as zone 8b but we don't really use the zone system here but it's always useful to know which zone you are in.

[@daigledj]

Found my locally adapted sweet potatoes by going to our local Piggly Wiggly during season, grabbing a few and getting slips off of it. Done the same from farmers market for other things. Figure if someone else local was successful enough with the variety to market it then odds are it will grow for me too. I've also started taking excess seeds, volunteers, etc, and spreading them around on nearby unused land. If they fail, oh well. If they make it to flowering then I'll get some cross pollination and even more locally adapted seeds for next year.

[@MichaelWaddingtonDO]

What a simple and clear message. Nice job.

[@thisorthat7626]

David, you are asking the right questions to help people think about what they could be doing. Turnips, eat the roots, and feed the greens to your animals. Beets, same idea. Oats have a great nutritional balance. Easy to grow in many areas. Where I am now it is citrus, avocados, chard, tomatoes, peppers, squash, chickens, etc. I stockpile what is inexpensive that I have trouble growing. Plan ahead and things will work out.

[@laurascozycorner458]

Thank you for sharing this knowledge, still fairly new at gardening and this helps so much! ❤

[@davidthegood]

Thank you, Laura.

[@buckaroobonsaitree7488]

If you're in Florida , the only survival crop you need is Jerusalem artichoke. It provides all the animals fats, micronutrients, protein, fiber, animal feed, building materials, self defense, and moral support you could ever want from a sentient plant friend.

[@jenreelitz8766]

Unfortunately, in South Florida, zone 10 it doesn't grow too well. 😢

[@davidthegood]

hahahahaha

[@sam_sonya50]

How do you prepare Jerusalem artichoke? I planted 3 tubers & got a bumper crop. But my stomach did not appreciate it. I gave “all of the rest” to a goat farmer last month. Guess what’s thriving in the old planting bed now! They love my soil. I would love to know how to prepare them so I don’t have stomach pain later.

[@geoffreyshubert2263]

@@sam_sonya50 i read to cook them for 12 hours in slow cooker. Presumably that could be duplicated by cooking over warm coals too. Apparently there is none of the issue causing substance left after that.

[@sam_sonya50]

@@geoffreyshubert2263 Thank! I will try that this time since they obviously want to grow for me! 😁

[@afriendtoo6971]

I'm moving into more butternut squash, pumpkins, candy squash, sweet potatoes and reg potatoes for storage and multiple uses. Hard to survive on lettuce.

[@RocketPipeTV]

9:53 this is probably the best advice in this video! Experiment as long as it’s not essential for survival.

[@reneebrown2968]

Sweetpotatoes for me. I live in south Alabama. And some chickens. In the spring squash and greenbeans.

[@hopemore3493]

Thanks David... you're the best.

[@dustrabbit4761]

Excellent! Talk to people in TX. They can tell you that lights out comes without notice. I like the art vids, & lately my pupils dilate at grafting vids. You did good here. All gardening is local gardening. My resource-adequate gardening today is practice for resource-poor gardening tomorrow. Just build your experience. Right now.

[@jeremytrusty4845]

Sweet potatoes!!! They love it here in 8b, cassava, beauty berry, but everything I know I learned from "David the good" 😊

[@jeremytrusty4845]

On my first attempt, 1st garden ever got 150 lbs of sweet potatoes in a 10'x20' bed, and I did everything wrong

[@ashleycampbell8767]

@@jeremytrusty4845 sweet potatoes are great! Pretty hard to screw em up.

[@davidpritchett855]

I really enjoyed reading buffalo womans garden. The only thing is I went to Walmart and apparently they don't stock tanned buffalo scrotum foraging bags. I mean really what is the world coming to when you can't get buffalo scrotum foraging bags at your local Walmart! That said I'm growing pipe tobacco this year and I am extremely excited to try making tobacco prilep pipe tobacco

[@davidthegood]

It's so sad.

[@marahdolores8930]

Okra, hibiscus (the stuff they use in tea for health reasons), pink eye purple hulls, and uppaground sweet potatoes (a type of squash) are also things that have grown well historically in our South Mississippi zone 8b. If you're not already growing them, they should do well in Alabama zone 8b, too. I haven't trialed them extensively here (working on it), but currant-type tomatoes (the little tiny ones that grow in clusters) seem to do really well here with far fewer disease problems than big tomatoes, and have amazing big tomato flavor. I am also trying amaranth varieties out, and chufa, as well. Figs, blueberries, and persimmons also grow very well in hot humid deep south conditions. Chickens, woods rooter hogs, Muscovy ducks (harder to process than chickens), Pineywoods cattle, Gulf Coast Native, Barbado, or Kahtahdin sheep, Spanish goats, and Cotton Patch geese are known to have done well in the Coastal Gulf South over a period of time, too. Even with animals, sometimes the types that historically have done well in certain areas are better to consider raising than taking a gamble on other breeds.

[@marahdolores8930]

I've found that fall-planted elephant garlic grows really well here just south of Wiggins MS. (Don't forget to cut & eat the scapes!) Gingers and turmerics (including pinecone, black turmeric, shell ginger, butterfly, and lesser galangal) do really well here in sweaty 8b, especially when given filtered sunlight/afternoon shade. They normally hold well mulched in the ground over winter. Florida bettony is considered a problem weed here, but the rhizomes are edible. Same goes for dollarweed. Beautyberry grows wild everywhere here. Wild huckleberries are pretty common. So are winterberries/farkleberries. Usnea grows wild (as medicine). Lion's mane, turkey tail, and chanterelle mushrooms have all grown wild in my yard. (Definitely want to make sure to ID mushrooms correctly!!!) Yaupon is a source of FREE caffienated beverage (as a coffee substitute or iced tea) for those of us living in the southeastern US. I am trialing horseradish as a perennial green, as the greens can be cooked and eaten like mustard greens, plus roots on occasion as seasoning and medicine. Garlic chives, Oswego tea, oregano, rosemary, lemongrass, maypop passionflower, mint, and lemon balm are all reliable perennial herbs for me. Hostas are edible, and I am trying to obtain canna edulis, as the flowering cannas grow like gangbusters here. So do daylilles - I don't see them as a staple crop, but the blossoms could add some variety. Starting dahlias to trial, and another project is learning how to process colocasia bulbs, since those also grow REALLY well here. Oh, Long Beach Mississippi was once known as the (winter?fall?spring? ???) radish capital of the US, so apparently they have grown well here, historically. And Biloxi bacon - mullet kept folks from starving during the Civil War, so having a cast net and knowing how to use it would be a useful skill for those in coastal areas. Same goes for having crab nets and gigs on hand.

[@williammikell2210]

@@marahdolores8930 What a great post. I am just outside Mobile and will probably be trying some of your recommendations. But let me say this about elephant garlic. I have places where it has been growing for over 10 years. I only harvest the plants that bloom. When they bloom ( like now) I cut the scape off for use, then when the top dies I pull up the plant. I stick the small brown bulblets back in the hole, or another hole. These grow into immature plants the next and bloom the year after that. so by just harvesting blooming plants there is always next years crop planted. I have my plants scattered in my yard south side of stumps and trees, along side fruit trees where I can't grow other things, in flower beds, just any where that gets southern winter sun. I never really plant unless I want a new bed. I also grow Thia Purple Garlic, it is the only variety I have found that grows well in 8B.

[@marahdolores8930]

@@williammikell2210 Thank you! Yes, I should've mentioned the bulblets, and that is definitely so, but I didn't realize I could grow them near stumps and fruit trees. Thank you for the tip! Where do you source your Thia Puple garlic? I would love to try a new variety. My daughter's friend gave me some walking onion bulblets, which she bought from a feed store locally. (I am guessing from somewhere between AL exit 4 and exit 13 off I10, because that's close to her area.) Unfortunately, my Muscovies found the patch & helped themselves, so Ill be putting a short fence around this fall's patch. I think there is also a sort of multiplier onion with thick stalks that an elderly neighbor used to grow 20+ years ago, but I'll need to ask the neighbors that bought his house if I can see if any are still growing in their yard.

[@williammikell2210]

@@marahdolores8930 Thia purple garlic came for Filaree Garlic Farms. I guess I misplaced part of last year's harvest, I found it in November and replanted, should harvest in a week or so.. A thick stalk multiplying Onion would be a treasure, hope you locate it.

[@davidthegood]

Very good. I hadn't heard that hostas were edible.

[@agb6330]

We love beets! Trying turnips the first time this spring and nothing has come up yet. It’s been 2.5 weeks….. 😢. Maybe I’m not patient enough. Just got back into veggie gardening last year after working and commuting. It’s been a few years but so grateful for all the good KZbin channels! David here, I am Organic Gardening (close to my zone), No Till, 1870s Homestead. Have to guard time for actual gardening 😂

[@reeferfranklin]

0:33 POLK COUNTY!!! Yeayeaye! I was born in Lakeland and lived between Plant City & Lakeland my whole life.

[@shames59]

hey David love your show another way is to find a local hardware store mine is called latore hardwre they sell potatoe seeds strawberries all the things that will grow there

[@sathancat]

Lots of wisdom here, thanks David

[@LibertyNotLicense]

Super timely video, DtG, and sage advice! I've decided to go with the most certain to produce crops this season! After a couple of decades in zone 10, I'm now growing sand spurs and fire ants!

[@orbitingpluto3213]

Here in New Hampshire I have had the best luck with potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, and pumpkins. We also have wild raspberries, so I'm trying out a patch of an improved raspberry. The deer, rabbits, and groundhogs eat almost everything i plant. Those have been the plants that survived.

[@RocketPipeTV]

Asparagus is one of my favorites! Plant once, harvest for a lifetime

[@glenhac5973]

Got a turnip that stayed under the snow all winter. Ate it yesterday! Still Yummy. I got a pile of potatoes that stayed under the snow ready whenever I need it! I'm in Northern New brunswick! Gardens are apering but Still lots of snow in the woods!!

[@ml.5377]

Here in Peru we have ovet 3,000 varieties of potatoes. I grow our favorites and try new things. Yacon, uncucha, olluco. I am growing sweet potatoes in the green house. A local farmer just told me to try with bananas, red papaya and pomegranate. He says they did it in the old days. I am ready to try. We exchange seeds with some people and I have also been able to grow amazing herbs, fruits, greens and tubers that do great in my climate but nobody has. I always say is playing kitchen... Some things work and some do not, but you will not know until you try... And not only once. Sometimes yo mive your sowing time , you change the soil type or the watering and boom, you get a crop. No time for discouragement in the garden.

[@auntT67]

The tung nut still grows along the coast. There is also a pan squash bred here in Mobile County I hope to get some this year at the farmer's market and save the seeds. I appreciate all you do.

[@davidthegood]

Yes, I know it still grows - I've stopped by the roadside to look at some tung before. It's just that the industry cratered. I would love to see that local pan squash.

[@bobbyamandaflores4470]

Haha Polk county 863 . My hometown . I’m in north ga now 7b . Thanks for all your videos , and knowledge !

[@negrammy3743]

Here in central Nebraska we have lots of hills. 1 mile can make a huge difference in the type of soil you have. I have heavy clay. After nearly 2 decades I have found a potato that grows well for me. 2 years ago I planted 20 lbs and got over 200 lbs. I do amend my soil with straw and old hay and it makes a huge difference. I'm reading your Grocery Row gardening book right now and plan to start with 1 or 2 rows this year. But I think for now I will continue to grow my potatoes together in one row. Although I may inter plant some other varieties in my grocery row beds. Also I like 4 foot rows also. I have found they work best for me.

[@TrickyVickey]

My three sister’s choice’s are Hastings Prolific corn(multi-purpose), Seminole Pumpkin Squash, and Rattlesnake pole beans. Only one of those is “native” to my 9b-10a zone. I have some of the corn growing for the first time in poor sandy Florida soil with no amending(with the other two sisters). A live or die experiment at this point. I recommend growing native things. Stuff you do not have to tend very much if at all. Citron melons would be a good choice for here.

[@melanielinkous8746]

Always full of great info and interesting tidbits. Much love to you and the family. 🌴 🌺 ☀️

[@albanymtnlife]

Cherokee Tan pumpkin both bug and drought tolerant. Amazing crop for those with a longer growing season, definitely let them grow on the ground for maximum production.

[@JosiahK555]

Nebraska zone 5b. I really like sweet potatoes. And it does get hot enough to grow them. The trick is to stay growing the slips inside in February and transplant middle of May. I think a simple green house could extend the end of the growing season from mid September to mid October. The only catch is it better be warm enough in your house in February. Something to could be an issue in grid down survival situation..

[@NilsNone]

Yeah I am from Germany. So suvivalfoods are brassicas, potatoes and peas/Beans. Onions and Garlic do greeted too and with the heat and dryness of the past years I am dipping more and more into meditereanien varieties... not to mention the greenhouse for some yummie tomatos ans cucumbers ....

[@Huntnlady7]

Yes sir! A little bit emphatic about that!

[@DeepSouthBama56]

David if you drive a little more north of you, you will find a lot of veggies being grown commercially. Such as tomatoes, squash, melons and such.

[@visnuexe]

Thanks David! It seems as though i have had to learn this lesson the hard way! Still with fluky weather pushing the zones in either direction can produce unexpected rewards!

[@lambsquartersfarm]

Having just started on YT, I have a HUGE APPRECIATION for the quality of info you put into 1 take 👏

[@GLG_YT]

I agree when you start yt channel your like howwwwwwwwwww is he so great at this

[@cherylbaker6806]

Thx

[@davidthegood]

Thank you

[@KEENDARLING]

I read the easy Florida gardening book! So that's how I got answers Excited for this video and information Thank you ❤

[@davidthegood]

Thank you

[@rjo49]

Regarding the 3 sisters: it's my impression some of these may fail because the growers don't realize the maize grown by indigenous peoples was open-pollinated field or flint corn, not really much like our currently grown corns. I still remember my Dad taking the family out for a ride in southern Illinois in the late 1950's to "see the countryside" (he was a city boy through and through), and I clearly remember all we could see from the car was the first row of corn. So we stopped and got out and we could see...the first row of corn. It was probably 8 feet tall. The old varieties were very susceptible to wind damage, and that height has largely been bred out of them. The means much lower support for your beans, and less shade for your pumpkins through the long summer days.

[@matthewjbauer1990]

I live in Kentucky, zone 6/6b. Rocky clay soil is an issue for me. So, I've resorted to pots and raised beds. For survival, I'm trying sweet potatoes and squash and zucchini. I've still got some time and room and might get some Brussels Sprouts, carrots, and radishes going (all of which are good nutritious survival foods).

[@stanclayton221]

Like you talk about in the video at the 3-minute point, I grow the 3-sisters. Only in my case, since I live near the Eastern Cherokee in SW NC I grow their recommended varieties; White Eagle dent corn, Greasy pole beans, and Candy Roster winter squash. My point? To have success with 3 sisters you have to grow varieties adapted to you local conditions. I'll bet you can find Native American varieties for close to your location on the internet within 5 minutes.

[@mfgaainc]

Another good post. Thanks, David.

[@dertythegrower]

👍

[@cbak1819]

I live in Western NY Thanks for the tips ;)))

[@maryannpeel7549]

And okra

[@paulblankenship7865]

Great information

[@monarchkitty]

Excellent, informative video!!!

[@deannewilliams3321]

Following your lead on the potatoes. Also legumes like camellia red beans, cowpeas/black eyed peas, green beans, any onion I can get to sprout lol. Love my sweet peas and cucumbers. Things I know are easy for me to grow in my area. I can’t seem to get the timing correct on brassicas or celery… corn and tomatoes never grow for me. Only get male flowers on squash. Herbs and flowers do ok sometimes. Okra goes on and on almost like a perennial lol. Trying to get more perennials like asparagus. Fruit trees only get about a foot tall before winter again. Finally figured out my stuff was getting sprayed on purpose when I put up cams. So fence up, police know, clearing sight lines to neighbors, hoping for better this year ✌🏻We have to protect our food from more than critters and bugs yall!! Thanks for another great episode of DTG!

[@brendanelson1027]

Deanne, if all the squash put out only male flowers, try removing a few male flowers from each vine. Apparently when conditions are great, squash, pumpkins etc go crazy putting out male flowers. If some are removed, the plants think things are not so great & they better busy putting out female flowers so they can have seeds in the ground for next season! The last 2 years I only had male flowers until I heard about 'stressing' those vines. Last year I did get a couple small squash that way... at least until the bunnies & squirrels ate them! Blessings from NW Florida!

[@deannewilliams3321]

@@brendanelson1027 Sounds good to me, I’ll try it. Thanks for the tip and the blessings!

[@RunninUpThatHillh]

@@deannewilliams3321 i'm in upstate NY. i can never get cabbage, celery, anything like that going very well. tomatoes, definitely. but they never taste that great (they go from unrip to mushy)....and i've been gardening for over a decade lol

[@tracycrider7778]

I’m so sorry 😢

[@Ricosyard]

Great video I’m going to try that I have a older dude a block away that has a few mango trees I’m about to bring him a plant or something

[@vicwickgardens9174]

You’re the best! Thanks for sharing 🥰

[@mayshomesteadchronicles]

Good word, David!

[@PhilippinesFarmLife]

Sweet potatoes, yard long green beans, UBE and cassava grow like weeds for me here in the Philippines. I am constantly planting and harvesting.

[@davidthegood]

That sounds perfect.

[@bobbun9630]

One of the things I sometimes find a little vexing about garden channels is just how often they're in a coastal area. That usually means they have a much longer cool season in the spring, fall, or winter than those of us in inland areas far enough south to experience a hot summer. The problem that you mentioned a few weeks ago with your potatoes applies to those and to a lot of other cool season crops for those living in areas with cold winters, hot summers, and only minimal mild periods between. I'm about to go outside and cover stuff up for frost protection, perhaps not for the last time this year. My cabbage and potatoes better hurry up, though, because it will be mid-high 80's daily and perhaps even a few 90's this time next month. One of these days I might get a fava bean. Corn? Sweet potatoes? Those work just fine.

[@HealthyDisrespectforAuthority]

with that description.. we're one month apart neighbors.. I'm in the 40s -80s range now.. with a sprinkling of low 90s.. I just finished my row covers on, row covers off game.

[@DebRoo11]

My issue as well. I can sow peas or carrots early right after the snow melts but then by the time they should maturing its so hot and humid everything is bolting. If i want a fall crop to mature when its cooler, im planting in sweltering heat and they dont want to grow. Very frustrating

[@betty8173]

Trying to adjust to practically freezing still up here in the north!! Adjustingvwhat to grow and when. There is no planting in ground yet...still talking to locals. Thank you, great to listen to what others did/do!

[@morninglight7544]

Excellent video, thanks!

[@patriciaserdahl5577]

Awesome advice David I took notes 📝 👍 God bless 🙏 🇺🇸

[@lynnjasmine3216]

No to brassicas!!! I did not even hear of things like kale until I was halfway through my life....thank goodness. Cabbage is grown here, but blackeyed peas and cornbread are the bomb! (And sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.😂

[@coreyellerbe]

I really need to get going on the landracing.

[@GypsyBrokenwings]

I just had to cover my plants! NE Bama is crazy this year! Frost warning tonight.

[@FM-qm5xs]

Canna edulis is becoming my top staple. It's like having potatoes with zero effort. I don't even water them. I still grow sweet potato but mostly as a summer leafy vegetable. I rarely get much in the way of sweet potatoes with my poor soil hydrophobic soil.

[@LearnWatercolorPainting]

I live in a subtropical place but potatoes grow well here. They are just growing everywhere in my garden.

[@definitelyp8652]

Zone 8 Potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, most berries, and Asian pears.

[@breaking_bear]

Hahaha! Awesome outakeblooper at the end.

[@my3bsfarm863]

Excellent

[@dinavoutour7796]

I enjoyed this!!! I think I grow the wrong stuff. Some things grow very well here others not so much. David do you grow asparagus? I am. Seventy five percent died last year after they came up. But the three remaining ones are thriving in their grow bags. I will see promising shoots come up but they turn out to be more shoots. For a couple of weeks I wondered why the fern parts had little balls all over. So finally I crushed one… they are seed pods.

[@davidthegood]

I have a few

[@PlantObsessed]

Question. What is a popcorn tree?

[@davidthegood]

It's a common invasive tree here, also known as "Chinese Tallow Tree."

[@kellyelizabeth9858]

Hi! Thanks for the video. What is the song at the end of your video, it's super cool.

[@davidthegood]

It's titled Fall Into You - it's an original - full track here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmPFh6GLrKZrqbM

[@9tenabigfathen403]

It seems like such a waste because Irish potatoes are so cheap at the store, but I’m learning that they produce and the deer don’t wipe them out. I even managed to grow this year’s off of saved last year potatoes. Zone 8a/7b South Carolina. I need to hunt the deer probably. That would expand my options that grow outside of tall fences.

[@thisorthat7626]

@9tenabigfathen403 I agree that potatoes are so inexpensive, they aren't worth growing in my case. Same with onions, though I do grow green onions as they are easy to grow and are great for cut and come again. Though I will stock up on both in case things change. Cheers.

[@sr2340]

Potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, fava beans I can do nearly year around where I’m at with hardly any work. Sunchokes too. Grow like crazy in 8A.

[@ursamajor1936]

In zone 4B and definitely potatoes although chitting needs to start the first week of April for planting out in early May otherwise they'll be tiny 'tates! 😊

[@terencechandler845]

You are a legend 🙌

[@cooperchauvin8163]

Quebec is potatoes, squash and various roots.

[@user-sw8tw4yk9q]

What a great video! May God bless you brother.

[@ComynAcres]

Great video. Thank you for posting them.

[@peggyoconnell3733]

Great advice!

[@stripedelicstudios]

Cool video, thanks!

[@timmooney2460]

David I am located in Deltona Florida. I have just started some pigeon peas. Do you have any advice?

[@HealthyDisrespectforAuthority]

I'm in a good grow zone but have garbage dirt.. working on it, a little at a time. Southern yellow pine seems to do well.. rhizome grass is happy here and those sand spurs.. prickers.. whatever they're called are everywhere. My little animal of choice is ducks.. best eggs for baking and really entertaining little buggers. If you don't mind noise, guinea birds are a good pairing for the ducks and they take care of bugs.. even love bugs. during love bug season, when we had guineas in the early 2000s.. roof stampedes were common. local ethnic market.. Bwhahaha.. the only local market of any kind here is dollar general... and really doesn't qualify as a food market.

[@umiluv]

I’m in E TN zone 7a. So potatoes, peaches, squash/pumpkin, corn for the calories. Tomatoes, peppers, and a bunch of herbs to make the calories tasty.