Survival Gardening: How to Grow a Thriving Garden the First Year

[@TheProvidentPrepper]

Follow Zach and subscribe to Farm Table West on KZbin www.youtube.com/@farmtablewest5991 **FREE BACKYARD FARM LAUNCHPAD 👉mailchi.mp/baad441eeace/backyard-farm-launchpad How to Grow Food Guide **Set up your growing space in No Dig style by layering cardboard, 6 inches of compost and woodchips in the pathway. (see Backyard Farm Launchpad for how to set this up yourself!) **Buy the following seeds at True Leaf Market bit.ly/TrueLeafMarketProvident -- Carrots (4 oz), Turnips (1 oz), Radishes (1 oz), Spinach (15 g), Beets (4 oz), Zucchini (7 g), Cucumber (3 g), Kale (1 oz), Bunching Onions (.25 oz), Parsley (3 g) **Sow weeks before/after the last frost in your climate Carrots (2 before), Turnips (2 before), Radishes (2 before), Spinach (2 before), Beets (2 before), Zucchini (1 after), Cucumber (1 after), Kale (4 before), Bunching Onions (4 before), Parsley (8 before) **Water with Wobbler sprinkler amzn.to/4fKYT0U for 2 hours 1-3 times a week if no rain and multiple times only if 90°F or above. **As you harvest each spring planting, re-sow a new crop for fall in the same space. (See fall planting calendar below) THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. DOUBLE YOUR FOOD IN THE SAME SPACE. **Leave the Fall Carrots, Kale, Spinach, Radishes, Beets, Onions, Parsley, and Turnips in the ground until 25°F is in the forecast. 🥒SKOOL COMMUNITY🍅 www.skool.com/backyard-gardening-101-5702 🫛GARDENING 101 COURSE🥕 www.homesteadmentors.com/a/2147783206/XWjfGm4r 🫑KZbin🍅 www.youtube.com/@farmtablewest5991 🥔JOHNNY'S FALL SEEDING CALENDAR🥕www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/calculator-planting-dates-fall-harvest-crops.html We challenge you to grow some of your own food this year. Now is the perfect time to get started! Thanks for being part of the solution!

[@jjsolly5039]

Question for Zack: grew my 1st in ground potatoes= good harvest but small-med size, ideas? On Oregon coast. Thanks & God bless✝️🙏💕JJ & Service Dog Ruth

[@dougtheslug6435]

Zone 4b Eastern Ontario Canada here and starting plants indoors is the only way to reliably grow enough food to feed me all year. The best info is to be patient like this guy said, start the plants at the right time so they go out to the garden healthy and ready, not root bound and begging for more. Grow lights can only do so much and your plants will quickly outgrow there capabilities, so a plan is crucial to good results every year........almost 40 years now growing my food. Happy gardening everyone and may 2025 be great.

[@farmtablewest5991]

I wholeheartedly agree. My climate is very similiar. We start about 50% of our crops indoors. to save time in our 120 day growing season.

[@ninemoonplanet]

Start small, watch where the sun hits morning, afternoon, evening. Different types of plants require different sun exposure. Then note where the wind usually comes from. Grow what YOU eat first. Basics, potatoes, peas, beans. Carrots need a fairly deep soil with very few rocks or other obstacles. Dwarf beens grow well, when they're finished producing cut them off, leaves the roots in the soil.

[@farmtablewest5991]

I totally agree with starting small. Carrots work great in concrete clay soil too if you broadfork. I have a video on that on my channel. We grew and sold $16,000 of carrots in 2024 in clay soil.

[@mojavebohemian814]

Willows Green Permaculture also excellent. Bravo on the income and feeding your community.

[@pamelag.4417]

Thank you for sharing! We did this in 2021 and it works great! Another tip is if you make your garden large and you don’t get to using them plant cover crops to keep the garden soil happy til you acquire more skills. Beautiful garden!❤

[@farmtablewest5991]

Cover crops are a game changer!

[@bhazleton]

EXCELLENT. Will save this for future reference.

[@philw7174]

Awesome. Thank you Zach, Kylene and Jonathan. Impressive. Looking forward to trying this no-till gardening. Happy trails!

[@farmtablewest5991]

Thank you for watching!

[@clydesdalehomestead3807]

I like to grow kale for my chickens to eat during the winter. 😂

[@mojavebohemian814]

No dig is good. Charles Dowding has a YT channel, books, the best guide.

[@farmtablewest5991]

It's the best!

[@marygallagher3428]

Very interesting presentation!

[@farmtablewest5991]

thank you!

[@SuperWhatapain]

Excellent! 👌 Thank you 🎉

[@Undercoverbooks]

The link to the fall planting calendar takes me to a calculator for when to start seedlings indoors in spring. I don't see a fall option...?

[@TheProvidentPrepper]

I put the wrong one in. Try this www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/calculator-planting-dates-fall-harvest-crops.html

[@Undercoverbooks]

@@TheProvidentPrepper Thank you!

[@tooshieg2059]

QUESTION for Zach: Pertaining to "survival gardening" I'm thinking the crops you mention are great side items but they don't make a meal and they don't provide notable calories. Calories = survival. Which crops do you recommend for a "survival garden" meaning I'm depending on my backyard garden to provide, as an example, 1/4 of my total food. I like your no-dig ideas. Thanks for that. I'll check out your resources. Thank you Jon and Kylene for bringing us another gem!

[@Maffro-lb3mr]

- Beans - several varieties (long, cowpeas, etc) - Sweet potatoes (especially in warmer climates) - Irish Potatoes - Amaranth (giant varieties produce a lot of food and will self seed) - Jerusalem Artichoke (will take over a space, which is good for sustainability. Lots of calories. Great animal fodder if it makes you too gassy. Cooking methods can take out the compounds that give you gas.) - True yams (Dioscorea polytachya) - Corn (flour corn is better for storage) - Cassava (lots of calories but would need to turn into flour for long-term storage) - Squash (tahitian melon) stores really well - Seminole pumpkins also stores really well.

[@scrapykat3028]

I’d suggest growing dry beans and potatoes. Potatoes fill and dry beans like pinto or black beans will help with protein. I’d also suggest above ground planting boxes/raised beds. Bags require a lot of water. Vego is good but you can also use cement blocks and put up 2-3’ high for under $100.

[@farmtablewest5991]

Potatoes for sure. The only reason I didn't talk about them is because you need to get seed at the right time of year and really plan out how much to grow so you can save seed the next year. It's hard to explain potatoes in the short time we have. It's a whole video in itself. Carrots have tons of calories. So does zucchini. I only went over the 30,000 foot view of growing food here, and the easiest crops to get success your first year. There's tons more food you can grow but it takes a lot more time to explain.

[@farmtablewest5991]

@@scrapykat3028 Dry beans are a huge winner if you grow pole beans and set up a trellis. I only went over the easiest beginner stuff in this interview and figured a beginner isn't going to have a trellis. Snap peas are also a winner on a trellis. We grew 60lbs on a 50' bed this year and can get better yields.

[@farmtablewest5991]

I'd also argue you want to grow food that's above and beyond survival. Growing kale and spinach may not give you calories but it does give you health and vitality. Living off potatoes and dried beans alone is not going to be super fun in my opinion. You will feel better eating fresh too as well.

[@TexasScout]

Sounds very interesting. I wonder what I should modify for Zone 9.1?

[@farmtablewest5991]

Yes you should. This is for cold climates. Grow determinate tomatoes, and peppers, sweet potatoes, Honey Nut winter squash (HUGE yields with that variety and stores for 1 year)

[@clydesdalehomestead3807]

Think about what people ate in your area 100+ years ago. Okra, collards, southern peas, sweet potatoes. Fall gardening is good for broccoli and such.

[@kimberleydierdorf3865]

Our problem is that our summers are brutally hot and very little grows

[@IsraelEdenBeHereNow]

1) Adding organic matter and microbial life to soil, 2) mulching, 3) interplanting, and 4) shade cloth

[@amyhood6562]

I live in the southeast and have the same issue but I’m trying to start taking advantage of cool weather crops during the winter. I can grow a lot as long as I pay attention to when I need to get things in the ground. The best thing I’ve done for my gardening is follow some channels in my region because they address everything I struggle with. There was been some great advice here but it made me thankful that I have a very long growing season. I do resent the the fact the squash vine borers must not be a thing in the west. The struggle to harvest squash is real 😂

[@scrapykat3028]

@@IsraelEdenBeHereNow cover your planting boxes/raised beds and make sure they are covered with 40-50% shade cloth.

[@farmtablewest5991]

I'd tweak what I said for hot climates for sure. grow more squash, determinate tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, legumes

[@rnupnorthbrrrsm6123]

Grow in your cool season.

[@sandiheilman-ry4jt]

Do you put the compost on top of the cardboard?

[@TexasScout]

That's what he's saying.

[@farmtablewest5991]

yes. 6 inches deep

[@huskerdeedee]

All winter to remove tape. Soooo much cheaper!

[@farmtablewest5991]

builders paper costs $15 for a 400 foot roll. Free cardboard works too but lot more work

[@kb6lcw99]

😊❤🙏

[@kenderon]

If you're gardening on tar, or damaged land then no till is the way to go. Kind of dumb to not till and fix the soil on your property. Let's call it what it is " the lazy way" to garden. We all have different opinions on the subject.

[@jackgoldman1]

In my fantasy life I live in the Garden of Eden, perfect place, perfect weather, perfect people, perfect life, food growing free from the ground. I wake up. I live on planet Earth, hard work, imperfect people, food that rots, work, taxes, imperfect life, wars, IOUs, lies, insects. My fantasy is a huge garden. My reality is I garden at Aldis, have money, and buy stuff instead of making it. My fantasy is not my reality. My reality is I farm people, collecting rent every month buying food. Much easier than gardening. LOL.

[@aquarius.thompson]

I didn't get the joke....

[@jackgoldman1]

@@aquarius.thompson the joke is on us and our fantasies. Our reality is what we have. Our fantasy is not going to come true. The joke is on us. We talk about fantasies.