12/02/2022 / By Zoey Sky
Many preppers who want to be self-sufficient start a home garden so they can grow fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for their family. If you have excess crops, you can also preserve fruits and veggies for your survival stockpile.
But if you want to make the most of your garden crops, think of the gardening calories resulting from your vegetable garden. This means carefully choosing which vegetables to grow and the number of calories that you will get from those vegetables. (h/t to ModernSurvivalBlog.com)
Another option is to plan on gardening to be a significant or exclusive source of calories together with other food sources, like raising other protein foods and livestock.
You need to plan ahead because what you grow in your garden may be the only thing you can eat when SHTF and you can no longer get more supplies at the grocery store.
Before disaster strikes, you need to learn how to maximize your caloric return for your time and effort when you’re growing a vegetable garden to feed your family without other ways to get more supplies.
When it comes to survival, preparedness and self-sufficiency, crops you harvest from your garden will need to produce calories. However, many vegetables are low and very low in calories.
Fortunately, there are some vegetables that contain more calories than others.
All caloric quantities in the vegetable list below have been normalized to 100 grams (3.5 ounces) to compare properly.
Note that some of the foods are not typically consumed in these amounts, but the results will let you know where they are when it comes to calories. Nutrition is not accounted for in this list.
The food calorie data for each item was determined based on the common method of consuming the item, like some vegetables are consumed raw while others are typically boiled or cooked a certain way.
Normalized to 100 grams (3.5 ounces):
Generally, vegetables are not very calorie dense. Some notable exceptions are corn and potatoes.
But if you want to maximize all the effort you put into your survival garden, you should prioritize calories to maximize the garden’s output based on the diversification of nutrition and the things that you like to eat. When SHTF, calories are going to be crucial when the whole family is in “survival mode.”
When disaster strikes, you should plan ahead so you have other food sources aside from your home garden. You can also start growing fruit trees and bushes or shrubs.
If you have the space to do so, raise animals like chickens, goats or pigs.
You also need to account for failure, which is a normal part of prepping. Learn from your mistakes and try to control what you can control.
If you like eating low-calorie but nutritious vegetables like juicy tomatoes, you can still grow them in your home garden.
However, when it’s time to start planting, dedicate most of your time and effort on high-calorie crops that will help you feel full longer, like beans and potatoes.
For example, if you have excess crops of regular potatoes, you can process or home can them or leave them in cool, dry and dark storage. (Related: Food storage tips: How to dehydrate foods for long-term storage.)
Try these recipes using high-calorie veggies like beans, corn and potatoes.
Pinto beans and ground beef with rice
This recipe includes protein-rich pinto beans, carrots, onions and ground beef to make a filling dish.
Ingredients for four servings:
Preparation:
Southwestern corn chowder
This chowder recipe pairs corn with flavorful Southwestern spices and coconut milk.
Ingredients for four servings:
For serving:
Preparation:
Vegan potato leek soup
This healthy soup is vegan and can be served as a side dish or with bread.
Ingredients for six servings:
Preparation:
Maximize gardening calories to make sure you have enough to feed your family after SHTF.
Watch the video below to learn how to make a tasty veggie curry.
This video is from the CookingIna channel on Brighteon.com.
Home gardening tips: 17 Veggies you can grow in buckets.
Home gardening tips: How to grow flowers and vegetables in bucket planters.
Gardening tips: Learn about secondary nutrients that help nourish your garden plants.
Sources include:
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calories, emergency food, food freedom, food supply, gardening calories, green living, harvest, home gardening, how-to, nutrients, nutrition, organic farming, organics, preparedness, prepping, recipes, survival, sustainable living, tips, veggie
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