How to Grow Your Own Backyard Survival Garden: A Beginner’s Guide
Growing food for survival is how gardening started! Before we had large farms and fields of wheat, families grew the food they needed close to home. Save money this year by cultivating food crops in your yard; seasoned grower Jerad Bryant shares how to get started.
Contents
Combat high prices and expensive goods by growing food at home. Instead of paying exorbitant amounts for olive oil, eggs, and tree nuts, why not try making them at home? You can create a bustling yard full of healthy fruits, veggies, and nuts with little time, effort, and space.
Whether you live in an apartment or on an acre of land, there are ways to reduce your grocery store bills. Tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are prolific producers in small spaces. They’ll help you turn empty spaces into productive gardens.
No matter how large your yard is, you can have a successful backyard garden by using the space to your benefit. We’ll learn how to maximize your space. We’ll also cover which crops you should start for large yields at harvest time.
Like the victory gardens of World War II, survival gardens are tools for adapting to the times. Use them to your advantage! Grab your journal, some gloves, and seed-starting supplies, and get ready to turn your yard into the garden of your dreams!
Your Diet
Your garden will look different from your neighbor’s, simply because you have different tastes and preferences! It’s best to grow plants you prefer eating and cultivating; when you grow plants you dislike, you’re less likely to care for them and eat their fruits.
Some other things will dictate how your yard should look. Whether vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free, your diet helps you determine what species to grow. Consider your diet, nutritional needs, and the time you have for gardening when planning the space.
Consider Nutrition
Nutrition is crucial for our survival! Without the proper vitamins, minerals, and fiber we need, our bodies quickly decline in health. They crave things such as fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. When choosing suitable species for the garden, it’s important to consider plants and their nutritional values.
I’m a vegetarian, so I understand the importance of getting enough nutrients from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I like to pair a whole grain with a legume or nut in every meal to form a complete protein. This means I should grow crops like corn, wheat, and rye, as well as leguminous species like peas, beans, and peanuts. Rice, soybeans, and quinoa are other excellent choices for vegetarians and vegans.
If you’re a meat eater and get most of your protein from animals, consider growing more leafy greens and vegetables to add vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals to your meals. Since a majority of your diet will be from your garden, you want to grow nutrient-dense foods that feed and nourish your body.
Grow the Plants You Like Eating
Nutrition isn’t the only thing to consider when starting a survival plan—you also want to note which plants you enjoy eating! That way, when you harvest them, you’ll devour them before they spoil.
Varieties are important; let’s say you’re growing corn, but you only eat popcorn. You should choose a variety meant for making popcorn rather than fresh eating. The same is true for other species like squash, leafy greens, and tomatoes. Select the types you like to eat and you’re more likely to consume them before they go to waste.
Trees, Perennials, and Mushrooms
Some of the best crops for homesteads are perennials. Trees, perennial vegetables, and shrubs offer nutritious rewards for little work in return. They’re ideal for planting first, as you can tuck annuals around them after they sprout in spring.
Here are some superb perennial vegetables to start with:
- Asparagus
- Rhubarb
- Sunchoke
- Groundnut
- Artichoke
- Horseradish
- Chives
- Pepper
- Sweet Potato
- Ginger
- Turmeric
Aside from perennial vegetables, other crops reliably produce healthy harvests for years. Fruit and nut trees, mushrooms, and fruiting vines are perfect for survival and victory gardens. After they establish themselves, they need little care to grow their best.
Warm-climate gardeners should try growing Pink Oyster mushrooms, while cold-climate growers should begin with Wine Caps. Try stone fruits, hazelnuts, and walnuts in cold climates, or mangos, bananas, and cashews in warm ones. There are many other suitable options; choose species that grow well in your climate for optimal harvests with little maintenance.
Consider Adding Livestock
Meat eaters and vegetarians who eat eggs and cheese should consider adding livestock to the mix! Even if you don’t eat animal products, having chickens or cows is a great way to create free, all-natural fertilizer from manure. You’ll boost your garden’s fertility with decomposed animal waste.
If you do eat animal products, chickens are a great first choice. You’ll have enough eggs for a small family of three with two to three hens in a coop. Add more to the coop if you plan to eat the chickens’ meat.
Goats and cows are excellent on large homesteads with ample acreage. To sustain themselves, they require many grasses and weeds in roamable areas. They’re excellent livestock options if you eat dairy products like milk, cheese, and sour cream.
The Space
Aside from your diet, the space you have will dictate how you garden. With ample space and plenty of garden beds, you can afford to be less diligent in planning and setting up. Small-space gardeners want to maximize their yard, patio, or balcony to fit as many crops as possible.
Big, Medium, or Small?
How big is your yard? Large yards can fit orchards, mushroom plots, and many beds full of veggies. Small spaces like porches, balconies, and patios lack the room for giant trees and corn fields. How big your space is will determine what species you should cultivate.
Growing crops that require a lot of space may not be the best idea in small and medium plots. Rather than using your valuable resources for cheap crops like rice, beans, potatoes, and corn, you can dedicate the area to expensive veggies and fruits to save the most money.
Herbs and spices are some of the most expensive food products at the store! Plants like saffron, oregano, and basil thrive in small spaces like containers, raised beds, or planters. Cultivate them instead of large crops to save money and space.
Plan It Out
After determining what plants you’re growing, it’s a good idea to plot out the space. Online garden planners allow you to make realistic blueprints of your space. Plot fences, beds, and containers to determine how many plant species you can fit in the yard. The Epic Gardening Planner has plugins for everything from arbors to raised beds!
You may also use pen and paper to draw out your yard. Start by measuring the site. Determine how long your beds are, how big the yard’s perimeter is, and how many containers you have. I equate a foot outdoors to a centimeter in my planner to fit the entire region on a single piece of paper. You can use whatever measurements you like in a way that’s easy to understand.
Maximize Your Garden
Once the space is on paper or an online planner, it’s time to start prepping! Convert unused lawns into in-ground beds, add containers to patios, and install raised beds throughout the site. The more growing areas you have, the more food you can produce.
Raised beds are ideal for big and small gardens. There are aboveground types with stilts and drainage holes—these work well in patios, balconies, and porches because they don’t need landscape fabric below them. Bottomless raised beds are ideal for installing above existing soils rather than on concrete or wood.
Grow Vertically, Not Horizontally
A key aspect of maximizing space is growing crops vertically rather than horizontally. Common species like tomatoes, peas, and beans perform well on trellises, arbors, and cages. Instead of letting them take up valuable plots, have them grow up in the air and plant other crops in the space below.
Large species such as grapes, hops, and passion fruit require arbors or giant trellises to thrive. They perform well in large areas and are less than ideal in small spaces.
Squash, cucumbers, gourds, melons, and watermelons are other possible options for vertical growth. Tie their stems to supports and let them ramble above the ground.
Best Survival Practices
Aside from selecting yummy plants for your space, other practices ensure you save money, time, and effort while growing food. Aim for a closed-loop garden, where organic waste recycles itself and no nutrients leave your property. The more you can reduce, reuse, and recycle, the less you’ll have to buy from stores!
Composting
Compost turns rotting, organic waste into valuable humus. What is humus? It’s a soil particle that bacteria, fungi, and worms make as they turn waste into soil. Help facilitate this process with composting practices. You’ll mimic natural environments—think of the forest floor, where thick leaf litter turns into soft, cushy dirt over time.
There are two easy ways to compost at home: cold or hot. Cold compost takes a long time to finish but requires little maintenance and upkeep. Hot compost is quick and efficient, though you’ll need to turn the piles daily and water them often.
Adding Mulch
Finished compost, leaf mold, and wood chips are all examples of organic mulches. They protect existing soils while boosting fertility, drainage, and moisture retention. Mulch is essential in cold climates to protect the ground during winter, and it’s incredibly useful in warm ones for trapping soil moisture on hot days.
The cheapest option is to make compost with your garden clippings, kitchen scraps, and yard debris. Compost is an excellent material because it’s fertile and protective; it works as mulch and organic fertilizer!
Use whatever materials you have on hand, so long as they’re organic and decompose in natural environments. Other materials to try include straw, fall leaves, and pine needles.
Seed Saving
Once you start growing crops, you’ll learn which are your favorites. Save seeds from heirloom varieties so you don’t have to buy them each spring. Tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos are excellent types to start saving.
The truth is you may save seeds from any vegetable. Though saving crops like corn, beets, and squash is complicated, it’s not impossible! Wait until you see seeds, collect them into jars, and store them in a cool and dark location. Pantries and closets work well, as do fridges. Ensure the seeds are dry before storing them to prevent rots and molds.
Seed Starting
With stored seeds, you have all you need to start seedlings for your homestead. Sow seeds in pots with soil, keep them moist, and transplant mature seedlings outdoors according to your local climate. Work with the seasons to have cold and hot crops growing at the appropriate times.
Winter and direct sowing are other seed-starting methods that work well in homesteads. Winter sowing involves repurposing clear containers into mini-greenhouses to cheat the seasons. With direct sowing, you plant seeds in the ground so they germinate where you intend for them to grow.
Indoor Growing
The final aspect of a survival garden is indoor growing, where you repurpose your home so there’s room for microgreens, sprouts, and small crops. Many sprouts can grow in the dark in a seed sprouter, while microgreens and lettuce thrive with partial shade or bright, indirect sunlight inside.
With a window planter or a few small containers, it’s easy to turn your kitchen windowsill into an indoor herb garden. Plant seeds like chives, basil, and parsley for an endless supply of fresh herbs. Consider adding grow lights to boost the brightness for optimal growth.
Food Preservation
Storing your harvested food so it lasts as long as possible is important. Canning, fermenting, and drying are three easy methods for helping food last longer in storage. I prefer to can tomatoes, jams, and sauces so they last through the winter.
Freezing is another excellent method for keeping veggies perky, flavorful, and nutritious. Freeze crops such as broccoli, fresh beans, and peas to enjoy them year-round.
