10 Easy Survival Crops (Don't Starve!)

There’s loads going on in the world right now that could crash the economy and send food prices even higher – but fortunately, there’s something we can do about it! We gardeners can grow some simple crops that will drastically slash food bills and keep you fed during challenging times. I’m going to share what to grow to save the most money, keep food on the table and bring peace of mind, no matter what’s in the news headlines!

Staple Crops to Grow

When it comes to upping your food security and making sure you always have something to eat, the best place to start is actually very simple: grow what you like to eat! It sounds obvious, but it’s something many gardeners overlook.

Consider what forms the backbone to everyday meals, because if you grow food you only eat occasionally, you’re not really improving food security and you’re certainly not saving money. But if you focus on crops that keep your household fed – the dependable staples – you’ll quickly start to see the benefits.

For many households, including mine, that means the likes of potatoes, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. These ingredients form the basis of countless meals, and they’re all surprisingly easy to grow.

Of course, it’s worth considering what grows best where you live too. Every climate is different, and crops that thrive naturally where you grow will usually be the easiest and most reliable. For example, potatoes, kale and chard are particularly easy to grow in generally cooler climates like mine, while warmer areas may favour veggies like sweet potatoes or peppers. Growing what naturally thrives in your garden is one of the simplest ways to improve your chances of success and get more grub from your garden.

We’ll also want to grow food that offers good nutritional value, especially calories; choose crops that offer excellent value for money; and think about how we can keep enjoying the food we grow for as much of the year as possible.

But let’s start with potatoes because, unglamorous as they are, if you’re looking for easy survival crops they’re honestly hard to beat. Potatoes are one of the most productive crops you can grow in terms of calories per area. They’re filling, with plenty of carbs, so there’s less need to buy the likes of pasta and rice. They’re versatile – you can roast them, mash them, bake them, turn them into soups, stews, chips or fries – they do the heavy lifting for so many meals. And potatoes store well for months.

Another advantage is just how flexible they are. You can grow them in beds, containers, or even sacks. And by growing a spread of first early, second early and maincrop varieties – or early, mid and late-season types – you can stretch your harvest over a long period, with late-season or maincrop spuds often storing well into winter.

If you haven’t planted your potatoes yet, there’s still time – just get them in the ground as soon as you can, and grow what will become the heart of your larder.

Next come onions and garlic: two ingredients that are essential in just about every savoury dish, at least in my household! These are brilliant crops for food security because they store well for months and months, and it’s easy to grow plenty of them.

Grow them once, store them properly, and you could be harvesting your own onions and garlic for much of the year. That’s one less essential staple to buy, and they don’t take much space to grow – for instance, you can fit 50 bulbs of garlicky goodness into an area of around just 10ft (1m) squared. Not bad at all!

Tomatoes are another standout crop, but for a different reason: They are one of the very best value crops you can grow. Tomatoes are often expensive to buy, especially the good ones, and they just seem to be getting even more expensive all the time! But once your plants get going, they can produce a remarkable amount of food and, again, they form the basis to so many meals.

If you haven’t had time to start tomatoes from seed, no problem. Just grab a handful of plants from the garden centre and get them in. Growing them from seed is the most economical way, but you’ll still get at least three or four times as much value back from purchased plants, making them a very savvy buy.

Preserve any surplus pickings into the winter months by making and freezing sauces, passata, or by simply freezing tomatoes whole or sliced. And if you grow more than you need, there’s even the option of selling some locally, perhaps using a simple honesty box setup outside your home. High-value crops like tomatoes could even help offset the cost of other things on your grocery shopping list.

High Calorie Crops

If you’re thinking about survival crops, then calories matter. Because when food prices spiral, or availability becomes uncertain, calorie-dense crops become especially valuable.

We’ve already mentioned potatoes, but winter squash is another excellent option. And I’d also add to this list roots such as beetroot and parsnip, plus corn, beans for shelling, and if you’re in a warmer climate, perhaps sweet potatoes or yams. These will all help to keep you fuller for longer, which is exactly what you want from survival crops!

Winter squash and pumpkins are incredibly productive and store well for months, often at room temperature. There’s still plenty of time to get these started from seeds or store-bought plants, but don’t delay. Their long storage life makes winter squash ideal for extending your harvests well into winter and beyond.

Just a few plants can produce several large squashes that will feed many mouths, and, once harvested and cured, they’ll provide a reliable source of food during colder months when fresh produce is scarcer.

Beetroot is a go-to veggie for me, and is relatively high up on the calories metric too. They’re easy to grow, store well, and offer the bonus that both the roots and the leaves can be eaten. That means every plant really earns its keep, something especially important when growing for food security.

New for me this year are sweet potatoes. I’ve had organic tubers sitting in water to get them started and they’ve shooted nicely and are ready to plant. They’re more suited to warmer climates than mine, but I’m going to try planting them in a black container to help soak up the heat from the sun. Sweet potatoes actually inch slightly ahead of potatoes for calories, and they’re of course loaded with good stuff such as vitamins A and C, and manganese.

Another fantastic root crop to try is Jerusalem artichokes, which is wonderfully easy to grow. If you want to try growing this, check out this video for all you need to know.

Money-Saving Crops

Not all crops need to provide masses of calories to be worthwhile, though. Some cost a lot to buy at the supermarket, so we can save a bit more – and potentially a lot more given all the drama going on in the world right now! By growing our own.

Fruit is a great example. Berries of all kinds – strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants – can all be surprisingly expensive. But many of them are easy to grow and highly productive once established, and they’re packed full of vitamins and antioxidants. And much of this fruit can also be frozen, dried or turned into jams and preserves, extending the usefulness of your harvest even further.

Herbs are another standout crop when it comes to saving money, and they make everything taste so much better. Fresh herbs can be very expensive to buy, but they’re disproportionately easy to grow.

Many, like oregano or rosemary, are perennial, meaning you plant them once and harvest for years. Others, like basil or coriander, are easy to sow every few weeks for a continuous supply. A packet of basil seeds, for example, might cost around two-fifty but contains hundreds of seeds, so will do several sowings, keeping me you in masses – and I do mean masses – of aromatic leaves all summer and autumn long. When every penny counts, having an abundance of flavour like this to hand will make anyone feel a lot better off.

Cut-and-come-again salad leaves like lettuce are also worth growing for the same reason. Salad leaves are often one of the most expensive foods per kilogram, yet they’re extremely easy to grow, even in small spaces. You can grow salads in containers, growbags, or even shallow trays, harvesting little and often over many weeks.

Some crops are particularly valuable simply because they’re so prolific, offering meal after meal after generous meal. Climbing beans of every type are excellent examples. Grown up arches, trellises, or simple teepees, they produce heavily over a long period as long as you keep on picking them. They also offer the added bonus of providing plenty of protein – something relatively rare in homegrown crops.

Then, of course, there’s courgettes. Just three of four plants can produce an astonishing amount of food once they get going – each plant will give, I reckon, at least 20 fruits over the course of a summer, often much more. So you can see how those savings quickly stack up. Keep plants well-watered and harvest regularly, and they’ll keep producing right up until the first frosts.

Swiss chard is another reliable performer. Sow it in spring and it will produce steady harvests throughout summer and well into autumn. With its colourful stems and cut-and-come-again growth, it’s both productive and attractive. What. A. Winner!

Year-Round Pantry Fillers

Another key strategy for upping food security and remaining well fed is to keep those harvests coming for as much of the year as possible. Choose a range of early, mid, and late-season varieties to widen that harvest window and reduce reliance on supermarket-bought grub – think of the wide selection of varieties available from the likes of potato, carrot, strawberries and apples, for example.

Then there’s sowing successionally to ensure a continued supply of fast-growing favourites such as radish, salad onion or lettuce. Sow little but often – every few weeks or so – to keep those tender pickings coming.

Think ahead to storage too. Growing plenty of food is only useful if you can preserve and store it effectively. There are many options: storing crops such as squash at room temperature, cold-storing roots, freezing, drying, pickling, and making sauces, chutneys, and jams. Extending the life of your harvest is key to building resilience and reducing reliance on bought food.

When forging your way to food security, everything needs to earn its keep. The best crops are those that save money, provide essential calories, store well, grow easily, and produce heavily. It may not make you completely self-sufficient, but it will help reduce your food bill and offer true peace of mind – something that, quite frankly, is priceless in today’s world.

Plants Related to this Article

Potatoes (Maincrop) Grow Guide

Onion (Spring planted) Grow Guide

Garlic Grow Guide