The following list is made of things we tried to grow last year or are trying to grow this year. The starred ones worked well.
*Potatoes 2lbs a day x 52 weeks = 104lbs; this year we are trying blue, red, and white. Assuming one of these varieties fails, it's still possible to get 20-30 lbs of potatoes from a single stack.
Cabbage 1 head a week x 52 = 52 heads; this is great for kraut, it lasts a long time in cellar storage, has tons of vitamin C, and our bunny loves it. The big problem we couldn't grow it last year! The cabbage worms ate it, and it didn't get big enough to make a head before the weather turned hot. Plus, it takes up a TON of space.
Broccoli 1 crown a week x 52 = 52 crowns; broccoli freezes really well, which makes it a great option. However, we had the same problem we did with the cabbage. We only netted 2 crowns last year, and that wasn't until late fall. We need to get advice on how to make brassicas happen.
*Spinach AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, ideally 1 lb a week x 52 = 52 lbs; it freezes well, and we eat a lot of it. It grew really well last year, but we only planted like 6 plants. It's a cut and come again plant, but we still ate it all, so couldn't freeze any.
*Lettuce 1 lb a week for 12 weeks = 12lbs; tasty, exciting in spring, but doesn't last well. However, it comes up early, so it's great to interplant with garlic or onions, or can be pulled before the tomatoes are ready to go it.
Vit (Corn Salad) 1lb a week for 24 weeks = 24lbs; this one is new this year, but is endorsed by cold weather gardeners as the only green that truly prefers cold weather.
*Kale AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE; 1 lb a week x 52 weeks = 52 lbs of kale. Freezes well, filled with nutrients essential to vegheads, delicious, and grows in cold weather.
Collards .5lbs a week x 52 weeks = 26 lbs; a nice alternative to Kale, but not quite as healthy.
*Arugula .5lb a week x 12 weeks = 6 lbs; a short season crop, but adds a peppery interest to early salads.
*Carrots 4 a weeks x 52 wks = 208 carrots; Our bunny loves them, and they keep really well (you can even leave them in the ground.) In winter, this would be a staple. Plus there are lots of different varieties and they are really sweet, which would be good since there would be few sweets in this diet.
*Radishes 4 a week x 24 weeks = 96; makes the salads interesting in spring and fall; pickles well.
**Snap/Sugar Peas 1 lb a week x 52 weeks = 52 lbs; best snack food in the world, freezes well. I think this goal would be possible if we gave them enough real estate. The deer decimated our pole beans last year and we still got 10 or so lbs from 2 square feet.
*Edamame 1/4lb a week x 52 weeks = 13lbs; I'd love to have more than this, because they are high in protein, delicious, and there are so many ways to cook them. You can even let them dry on the vine so they keep. Unfortunately, more than about 13 lbs of bean is out of the scope of our yard. In an ideal world, we'd have 2 lbs a week of these or more.
**Green/Wax/Purple Beans 1 lb a week x 52 weeks = 52 lbs; delicious raw or cooked; freezes nicely; substantial enough to be the center of a meal.
*Drying Beans 1/4lb a week x 52 weeks = 13lbs; See edamame entry.
Rutabaga 30; would be handy in winter, but I'd be SO uninterested in summer. They are huge, so one is more than a lb.
Beets 1 lb a week x 52 weeks = 100 beets, roughly. Essential for winter. Also sweet.
*Turnips 1 lb a week x 52 weeks = 150 turnips, roughly. So tasty. Like a better-for-you potato. Lasts almost as well; can be grown quickly in spring and fall.
Corn AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (which isn't a ton.) Ideally 100 ears to eat fresh or freeze, another 20 ears dried for popcorn (we try to grow a variety that can be used for both since we don't have the space for more than one because they have to be 100 feet apart.) = 60 stalks. Last year the stalks mysteriously died when the corn was still tiny, so this could be tough.
**Tomatoes 4 lbs a week x 52 wks = 208 lbs; They grow well, freeze, can be canned, are great for snacking, and are my favorite food. A necessity for chili, enough said. No problem getting this volume. I had 45 lbs of tomatoes from a single plant last year. Yes, it was an aberration, but 25 plants should do this no prob.
**Peppers 5 gallons hot, 10 gallons sweet; I think of peppers in gallons, since that was how I stored them last year. I think this is also viable. 10 sweet bell plants of different varieties, and three hot pepper plants should make this happen.
*Eggplant 10 total; I don't love eggplant and it doesn't store well, but it's a nice break from potatoes.
Garlic a clove a week x 52 weeks = 52 cloves. This would be no prob to grow (I currently have 25 cloves sprouting I think) but it might be a struggle to store in such a way that it lasted all winter. Then again, I could always freeze it minced. Or can in the pressure canner.
Onions 2 a week x 52 weeks = 104 onions. I struggled with onions last year. You have to find the varieties that can grow in the amount of sun you have, and start each little one under a grow light. This year, I'll go with sets.
Cucumbers 50 lbs; fresh eating, pickling, and sauces. We were drowning in cucumbers last year and we had 3 plants. Not a prob.
Sunflower (seeds) 20 lbs; This diet is very low in fat thus far, so seeds would really help with calories. The kind of flower we bought says you can get almost a pound of seeds from a flower, but finding space for 20 sunflowers might be tough. We were thinking at the row ends of the corn.
Squash: 104 lbs; stores well, calorically dense.
Melon: 10 lbs
Perennials:
Rhubarb 10 lbs; a pipe dream for our baby plants, but they are emerging from the ground, so eventually this would be viable.
Asparagus 6 lbs; I think our asparagus crowns are dead, but perhaps not. In any case, this would be essential if only from a psychological perspective if we were growing our own food.
Raspberries 12 pints for jam making, 12 pints for eating and freezing. Not viable from our one sad plant, but eventually if we got them to grow on the edge of the property, would be possible.
*Blueberries 12 pints for eating and freezing for pancakes
Goji berries 2 gallons dried, a few pints fresh. It's a super food, but we only have one plant, so this is already way out of reach.
Wintergreen berries 2 pints, for a nice autumn snack or crumble
Honey berries 12 pints to eat and put in pancakes or jam
Apples 52 lbs. Our 4-variety tree might one day produce this, but that's a long way off. If we get one apple this year, I'm ecstatic.
Plums 20 lbs. They freeze, they make good jam, they are a great snack, and the chickens love them a lot.
Strawberries 4 pints for jam and 12 pints for snacking
Herbs:
**Thyme
**Mint
**Sage
**Basil
**Chives
**Stevia
Animal Products:
**Eggs 2 a day = roughly 700. This is no prob. In an ideal scenario, we'd each get 2 a day, but that'd mean 2 more chickies.
I was feeling pretty good about this, because I was thinking how much of this stuff we usually eat a week, not considering that we supplement this with bread, cheese, and grains, not to mention processed soy and the like. But when I added it all up, what would our caloric intake look like for a week? Let's just say we'd be very thin.
500 calories from potatoes, 560 from eggs, 400 from other root veggies, 210 lbs from squash, 300 calories from greenbeans or snap beans, 200 from apples, 100 from other fruit and berries, 100 from spinach, 100 from raw greens, 350 from tomatoes, 700 calories dried beans or edamame, 200 other green veggies, 100 cabbage, 400 sunflower seeds, 300 corn = 4520 calories.
Yup, not going to cut it. And the above numbers really stretch the capacity of our yard if we want variety. Good thing the zombie apocalypse isn't here. I think Leningrad under siege was eating about this much, 500 calories a day, and that didn't go well, as we all know.
If we were ever in this situation, we'd use virtually all of the yard for potatoes and green or soy beans. It'd be boring, but we'd do better survival-wise. For us now, this would work well if we could supplement with sugar, flour, quinoa, rice, and dried beans. Which, of course, we can and do.
No comments:
Post a Comment