My Favorite Survival Gardening Calorie Crop: The Yam Harvest!

How to grow yams: www.thesurvival...
Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening: amzn.to/2iiV1rS
Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening: amzn.to/2ieNHBn
Today I go down the hill and dig yams. Yams are my favorite survival gardening calorie crop. They're prolific, very easy to grow, delicious and starchy rather than sweet. I planted yam bulbils maybe six months ago and started digging after the vines died back and cows ran through my yam beds. This is the result - look at these huge yams! Some are small, sure, but some are great big things. I'm thrilled. Dioscorea spp FTW!
Learn the secrets of Florida Gardening: amzn.to/30I3Apo
Survival Gardening made simple: amzn.to/3hymy7V

[@davidthegood]

What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/ "Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener

[@vinnettepope8255]

I am glad you are sharing so many yam videos. Thank you 😊

[@sunnydayssandytoes4337]

Hunting and excavation for dioscorea, love it.

[@SansaStarkofWinterfell]

You're so lucky to be able to grow so many varieties of foods there. Enjoy the harvest of yams David! 🎄 Have a Merry Yule! 🦌

[@davidthegood]

I agree! Abundantly blessed with food. And Merry Christmas. Thanks for being here.

[@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy]

Our opinion. A great food forest plant. Vine grows up to the canopy, harvest on the ground.

[@davidthegood]

Absolutely.

[@adamelliott3694]

looks like they do well in zone 7b too. Just dug some good sized roots from the garden that I planted out in May.

[@PlantAssassin]

That amount of clay in the soil is crazy, just the way it sticks to the shovel. I was surprised how easily yams break, in my mind I was expecting them to be more like carrots, just pull them out by the stems. I have to admit I am somewhat jealous of you growing season, I tried planting several yams and none of them grew enough to be harvested the first year.

[@davidthegood]

Yes - the clay is like glue, especially right now. Everything is soaked. Raining all night some nights. The yams do need some time for sure.

[@evansullivanrichgels5531]

Man you have had so many yam videos. You should make candied yams with TRUE NAME YAMS. I have yet to see someone do that. I have seen so many videos where people have sweet potatoes and they call them yams. Some literally say in their videos, what's the dif. Well, there is a big difference and you're like the only person on youtube to tell people they're different, lol.

[@ALMRomero]

Nice video. I use half of a clamshell digger or a tile spade to get at them. You have to dig around them so you don"t break them which some consider a sloppy job. I have about 6 different types of yams.

[@davidthegood]

Yeah! I keep meaning to buy a trenching shovel, like a "Plumber's Friend" type because I think it would make it easier.

[@1stBumbleBeeMaster]

Thats YAMAZING! Some of the pieces you lost when they broke off will spring back up with in 1 -2 years Once they established they can have root shoots 3 meters down. Some Yams in Africa it takes 3 days to dig out with sticks, You cannot rush as super fragile! thats how they survive!

[@MrSymbolic7]

I live on Zone 9-A , so this should be as easy as growing sweet potatoes and I had a bumper crop ( still digging them up in Mid-Dec.) and it was my first time growing them , my question is where do you find the yam bulbils to start your plants ?

[@Everlidis1]

I love ñame!!! Great video

[@babbulooka3208]

I have planted those yams before, but because they grow long and slender I dig away from the roots till I find the bottom, then I can gently pull it out of the ground so as not to break it, .... stores better whole.

[@farmbeet2542]

Teamwork! Always nice to see. And a Merry Christmas to all the equatorial Goods!

[@davidthegood]

Thank you.

[@patriciam4123]

Nice! Luckily the cows haven't discovered the banquet that lay within your garden. Fyi there's nothing they won't eat..... yams, yucca and the like (root veggies ) are great for stews, creamy soups as mentioned and some can be crispy fried after boiling. Good stuff. ..thanks for the video

[@davidthegood]

You bet. And you're right on creamy soups. I boil yams, mix with some water, then put them in the blender, then back into the soap pot with bacon, onions, garlic and salt, among other seasonings. Awesome.

[@mjf719]

How can you tell the difference between bulbifera and alata? A purchased two yams from a small farmers market in Loxahatchee, FL. I was told that they grow wild out there. They also gave me two bulbils. I'm nervous about eating the yams and planting the bulbils though because I want to be sure that I have the alata variety and not bulbifera.

[@davidthegood]

See here: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/dioscorea-alata-vs-dioscorea-bulbifera/

[@JulieHiltbrunner]

Dang that was a huge yam! The Mr. wants to do a lot of peanuts this year. Peanuts are fun to dig up.

[@davidthegood]

Peanuts ARE fun. Also great as a cover crop. I haven't ever grown them seriously - I really should put in a bed myself.

[@amyrea4451]

David, I know this video is from several years ago and I don’t know if you see these latest comments, but I grabbed Name from the store and planted it and got a three part route, small medium and large. I’m gonna replant the small one, but my vines did not make any bulbils. I planted them last year. So my questions are do they produce bulbils in the first year, do they all produce bulbils, and do you ever sell any of the bulbils in your Etsy shop? Thank you!

[@LOLPAULISON]

Those are some tasty looks roots.

[@colleenrodamer6230]

God bless merry Christmas and a happy new year please keep up your video work it really helps people like me thank you

[@davidthegood]

God bless you too. Merry Christmas and thank you.

[@PermacultureHomestead]

nice harvest my man. keep that content coming. God bless

[@davidthegood]

Thank you.

[@GreenThumbGardener]

Yam like a boss. Great channel subbed for some updates. Happy gardening dude 🌽🥦

[@savetdsanctified7338]

you have some good yam. next time when you plant throw your weeds and trash in the pits it harvesta easier thats how we do it in jamaica and they will grow huge

[@davidthegood]

Sounds like my kind of planting. Thank you.

[@ZE308AC]

David the Good what was the biggest yam root that you ever harvested?

[@srlourdumarysjt2810]

Thanks for your video God bless you

[@tommyluck19]

Hey,David! I got 2 questions: 1. I live in NW Florida and leave the purple yams in the ground through in the winter. it'll survive or got damage from frost? 2. Can I grow it without trellis on the ground? Thank You, Sir! have a great day 😉

[@savaiitamoua7148]

Hello Tommy Luck, I am a Tongan living in Auckland, New Zealand and I have grown yams here for 3 years now. It's getting better and better harvest. Tonga is a tropical Island but moving down here its a totally different weather. It's very very cold. Frost almost all the way through in the winter and almost down to 0 degree sometimes.The year before, 2021, I got some yams stuck out there through winter and I thought it's going to rod. To my surprise they grew in 2022 season. I harvest them they got big roots. Because of the kind of weather we have here, I will always leave some in the ground to be harvest together with the new ones. The theory is that although Yams are a tropical plant but they can adapt to their new environment if it won't be too harsh. I think your purple yam won't be affect at all. If there will be any it will be very minimal. I think if only it will be too wet that is the only thing that will affect it. If that is the case I think you be better off take them out of the dirt otherwise it will be just fine. Hahaha!!! David, after all the typing I notice that your question was posted 11 months ago. I think by now you already got the answer. Please let me know what happen. And one other thing, I would love to have a purple yam posted to me here in New Zealand. Happy harvesting!! God Bless you and your family. Cheers!!

[@tommyluck19]

@Savaii Tamoua Oh,man! thank You! Yes,my question got answered a few weeks ago. The yams looked dead. But last month they started to grow among the sweet potatoes! Thanks for your help! God Bless You all

[@stevendennis4365]

good info .just wondered if you keep any honey bees on your place and make honey.i do there in florida.its a great thing to ad to the farm and you can sell extra bees and honey.it works for me thanks S.D.

[@davidthegood]

I used to keep bees but don't have any here yet. Maybe one day when we're more settled. I enjoy having a few hives around.

[@Tehcarp]

perhaps next time plant on a bit more of an honest slope or piled earth. Then you can dig from under and pull them out in the direction they are growing. undermining in these situations is so much easier (esp with clay, you can break it out with just a bar in chunks)

[@davidthegood]

You are right. I'm doing that with this year's beds.

[@sonnybrown1399]

So I often ask myself these questions. If others have yet to notice, or slow grasping g the ideas from "David The Good", "Hoss", "Naked Pig", "Deepsouth Homestead", to name a few, what are your go to survival food ideas to grow just in case? I know many don't have this option, but those that don't have dried goods to choose from and learn about the proper storage. Hey, none of us are experts to the flip-side of SHTF, but all of us who are willing to learn, and wise, will survive. Undoubtedly, near future, a shift is happening, just pay attention and be open minded, not pro of anything. Because as you've already seen, ........

[@davidthegood]

Potatoes, cassava, yams, beans, sweet potatoes, grain corn, turnips, cabbages, kale, moringa.

[@sMASHsound]

yam is great!

[@anyei09]

That is the d.r. I can tell by the soil. Sticky when wet and VERY stiff.

[@c.j.rogers2422]

Nope.

[@scuzzbecuzz]

I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam!! Popeye, my hero....:)

[@jorgeburgos2642]

I love names

[@joleneyaksich8358]

Just moved to the Orlando area from Utah so I have no knowledge of gardening in Florida. Got your book Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening book from Amazon and have the others on my Christmas list! Where can I get these yams, which variety is good and how do you cook them? Like a regular potato or do you roast them in the oven? Thank you for all the videos and knowledge you share!

[@davidthegood]

Thank you, Jolene. Sometimes you can find D. alata wild in the woods. That's where I found many of my yams in Florida. You can also find true yams or another sort in Publix sold as "name", pronounced "naw-may." I have more on growing and propagating yams here: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/how-to-grow-yams/

[@ThistleDew1776]

Walmart also sometimes has some interesting roots, including Name. I started sprouting some in a baby pool (to keep the soil moist) but the chickens took a mud swim and ate them all! Surprisingly, one Malanga root from Walmart started growing, and is safely tucked into the greenhouse.

[@davidthegood]

Excellent!

[@Catesgarden]

Nice!! A Christmas surprise in the soil. ;)

[@iamdivinelyguided]

Awesome David - dropped in from Gab. :-) I subbed and liked

[@davidthegood]

Thank you - glad you're here!

[@shashakeeleh5468]

Wow, great yam. How do you cook those? Geez, look at the clay in that soil!

[@davidthegood]

I have two choices: try to garden, or make pottery. Heh. I will film Rachel preparing yams. Most of the time we chop and add them to soups. Or boil, then fry. Sometimes they don't cook all the way through when you fry them without pre-cooking and will make your lips itch.

[@shashakeeleh5468]

David The Good My Dad drove me nuts with his, "It's always good to have something to fall back on". I vote for gardening!

[@linaD08]

David The Good same with yuca/cassava, boil it first then fry it.

[@SuperJRREID]

Where is this ?

[@jorgeburgos2642]

This will make you live 100 years

[@JennySieck]

Do you grow or know where to get elephant foot yams? or elephant yam flour? Trying to procure some for the health and nutrition properties. Thanks for anything you know. Beautiful yams by the way!

[@mable5987]

Our country has lot of it

[@NoNORADon911]

Thats one phallic yam at 7:10 lol

[@junjuncamacho8998]

Nice

[@johndowney3248]

So nice to hear you recommend smoked bacon. So many of the gardening channels on youtube are by vegans. Vegans miss out on the deliciousness of bacon and I feel sorry for them.

[@davidthegood]

I think bacon deficiencies are what makes them so irritable.

[@stephanies9071]

David The Good 😂😂😂 it is not!!😂

[@crittert7828]

What is your favorite way to cook yuca.?.🎈

[@viviendente]

Critter T mo

[@crittert7828]

+Vivien Dente - .?.

[@Killuminati87]

should check out the yams in Tonga bro👊🏾

[@davidthegood]

I would love to.

[@thefamily_ak1863]

can u eat the bubils of the wing yams ?

[@davidthegood]

Yes, but they're not good.

[@inubaye2030]

Did you say yam ball bell or what?

[@davidthegood]

"bulbil," i.e. an aerial root.

[@CaptTurbo]

I didn't know you owned a shovel. I thought you did all your digging with the machete or that humongous broad-fork thing you use. ;) Also, aren't you tempted to harvest a cow here and there for steak and taters? lol

[@davidthegood]

Very tempted.

[@organicgrow4440]

Hello All, anyone know the exact name is of this Yam variety, I am on a hunt for a good yam & if you could help with the correct name that would be a great help as I have come across a range of them looking different with the same name from China, New Zealand etc ? Thank you so much

[@ruthhersh5987]

They sell "Name root" at Save-A-Lot. $1.39 lb. Just cut them into serveral chunks at least 2x3 inchs, roll them in wood ash and set them out in the sun to dry for at least a day, then bury them. I put out a lot of Vine like a sweet potato so make sure they have plenty of room

[@organicgrow4440]

Ruth Hersh that’s awesome! Thank you very much for your 💡 *ProTip* I had no idea it can sprout from the actual 🍠 like 🥔

[@michaelsiler5023]

hahaha no spinach in his teeth! funny opening

[@davidthegood]

hehhe

[@nancyfahey7518]

I'm a new subscriber, where are you located?

[@davidthegood]

Central America.

[@nancyfahey7518]

Wow, I've been with you for 4 years. Didn't think I'd make it did ya.

[@bogthing1]

That soil looks like our Georgia clay. "Raised Beds & Portishead"

[@davidthegood]

I do admit to some cognitive dissonance, as living here is almost as if you mixed Tahiti and Appalachia. The soil reminds me of North Carolina, but there are palms and bananas above.

[@hopeforthefuture8680]

Just bought a giant yam at the Mennonite store woo

[@cynthiamantooth1201]

Your outdoor sink reminds me of the ones I saw in Guatemala. The local ladies were washing their clothes under a covered lavandería. The ridges on the side of your sink are similar to a built in washboard used in early American households. Those yams were HUGE. What size would they get if you just left them in the ground for a couple more years? Would they rot?

[@davidthegood]

They'll get to be 40lbs or more, but after a couple of years parts will rot or get woody. And that IS a washing board on the sink!

[@Marcus-sh7vj]

add more varities of yams

[@Marcus-sh7vj]

thoes are my flavourit yams

[@melanielinkous8746]

And I complain when the dogs run through my seedlings. 🐄

[@scottdalton3877]

It's called a digging fork bro

[@rusaianbear9159]

Next time use.a fork and dont dig to close you damaging a lot of the yams

[@davidthegood]

In Florida sand I blasted the roots free with a hose.

[@josanders1428]

How can those ugly things taste better than sweet potatoes.😂😂😂

[@davidthegood]

I don't know about better, but they are rather like white potatoes.

[@KipandJake]

Yay! First like. 😂

[@davidthegood]

You win!

[@auntyp2980]

Next time use a cutlass.afterall you're in the caribbean

[@srlourdumarysjt2810]

Thanks for your video God bless you