Some Low Maintenance Crops for Your Survival Garden

March 5th, 2013 |

One of the goals of survival gardening is low maintenance gardening. The least work for the most food. It’s not about being lazy. It’s about being resourceful and having food.

A couple of my favorite crops are Swiss chard and multiplier onions. Chard is cut-and-come-again, which means you cut it and it grows back all season long. Multiplier onions divide underground or produce above ground bulblets to give you an ongoing supply.

Jerusalem artichokes are considered a weed by most people, but one thing’s for sure. You’ll always have a source of their tuberous roots to cook up or eat raw in salads.

And I can testify to the ongoing productiveness of chives. I planted some in a 5 gallon bucket over 20 years ago, and I’ve had them in abundance every year since.

There are other crops which you can plant once and have food for years to come. That’s the topic of an article by Jackie Clay-Atkinson in Issue #140, March/April, 2013, of “Backwoods Home Magazine.” She covers…

Asparagus
Chives
Jerusalem artichokes
Horseradish
Mushrooms
Multiplier onions
Rhubarb

An excerpt of Jackie’s article follows. Be sure to read the whole article by clicking on the link to it below.

Plant once
Harvest for years

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson

Year after year we start seeds, till the ground, plant, weed, harvest, then tear it all out at the end of the season. It’s a lot of work, no doubt. But there are some plants you can plant once that will produce a lifetime of food after they are established. Old-timers knew the value of these plants and added them to their new homesteads. Pioneers carefully wrapped and tended baby fruit trees, grapevines, rhubarb, and asparagus roots in their covered wagons. Maybe it’s time to lighten your annual workload by adding some of these hardworking plants to your garden. If you do, you’ll reap the rewards for many years.

Read the whole article here:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay-atkinson140.html

Excerpt used with permission of Backwoods Home Magazine.
http://www.backwoodshome.com 1-800-835-2418.

Find out more about how to plant a low maintenance garden with high yields for survival from Rick Austin in Secret Garden of Survival: How to grow a camouflaged food- forest.

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