“4 Essential Foods for a Survival Garden”

Here are 4 essential foods that one might want to grow in their garden in case the economy challenges, catastrophic events take place, or something else happening. These foods are staples which are important for sustaining life over the long haul, and they are easy to grow and will store for long periods of time.

Organic Beans - Organic beans are great food, they sustain life and play an important role in all cultures around the world where people live to be over 100 years old. And beans are easy to grow, and have lots of vitamins, minerals, and protein. And there are lots of different kinds of beans that grow in different parts of the world such as black beans in South America and even in the states. Also organic soybeans, garbanzos beans, fava beans, and pink beans and other types of beans. Plus beans are a good nitrogen fixing plant which helps to create more nutrients for the soil. And beans can be dried on the plant and then shelled out and placed into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and thus will stay fresh for as long periods of time, in fact as long as 30 years— that’s an amazingly long time. And then using simple cooking methods those beans can be turned into something tasty. No wonder the cowboys of the old west always had dried beans in the chuckwagon. beans store well and keep people healthy.

Organic Winter Squash - The nice thing about winter squash is that they will keep for extended periods of time. And winter squash seeds are full of great oils that help to prevent disease. Winter squash may not keep for 30 years but they will keep for up to a year. Some of the harder fleshed varieties such as turban squash, kabocha squash, and some of the green colored squash store well. And if a little bit of wax is applied to the skin they will keep fresh in a cool dry place for extended periods of time. And as with all stored food sooner or later people get tired of eating the same thing, thus when a winter squash is available people just love it. And winter squash are really easy to grow, in fact they are so easy to grow it’s amazing. Just plant a few seeds in a mound mixed with mulch and compost and allow them to take off. Keep them watered and they will produce lots of great tasting winter squash, and winter squash can be canned, and dehydrated for later use.

Organic Corn - Corn has been a staple food for the Aztecs, the Incas, the Mayans, as well as for hundreds of Native American Tribes, and along with green veggies they sustained life. Even when the conquistadors came to the New World they ran out of food and were starving. And the Native Americans gave them corn which allowed them to thrive, unfortunately that didn’t help the Native Americans. Corn as gotten a bad rap because it does contain lots of sugar, but in life sustaining situations corn will provide lots of nutrition for the long hall, and pound for pound corn contains lots of life sustaining calories. And dried corn will keep for long periods of time in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, again up to 30 years. Also corn is easy to grow, and corn grows all over the world. Plus it’s easy to clean, it’s great tasting, and corn can be very prolific with 5 or 6 ears of corn per stalk. And the stalk can be composted back into the soil. Try growing organic heirloom varieties such as Hickory King, Tex Cuban, and some of the higher protein blue and red corn varieties. Buy a good hand food grinder to grind the corn and make cornbread and to use it like other grains. Corn works well for sustaining life because other grains need a lot of space.

Organic Moringa - Moringa is a plant but it looks like a tree and moringa has great nutrition value with lots of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals and some protein. Moringa will grow just about anywhere, and it’s prolific. The nice thing about moringa is that tree keeps producing all year long in mild climates and the whole tree is edible. The small leaves, the stems, and even the woody parts of the tree are edible. And moringa needs little or no attention at all, in fact it grows like a weed. And if moringa is allowed to grow tall it will create seeds pods and those seeds pods can also be used like okra. And those seeds can be used for planting or cuttings of the plant can be used to root more trees. And all of the tree can be chopped up and added to salads, used in casseroles, and added to any dish for additional nutrition. And the leaves and stems can be chopped up and dehydrated for later use. And those dehydrated leaves and stems will keep for long periods of time in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. Keep moringa trees cut short, cut it back on a regular basis, and every week it will provide more leaves and stems. In fact on some moringa farms they keep moringa trees very short about 5 or 6 inches above the ground, and thus it’s more like a shrub than a tree. And even in colder climates if the tree is cut back to the top of the soil, and straw or mulch is places over the stem moringa trees will come back in the spring after the cold weather is over.

There you have it 4 life sustaining foods which are important for any survival garden.

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider - Master Herbalist