It’s natural to want to grow everything.
However, if your goal—like mine—is to grow and preserve enough food to feed your family for months to come, then you need to be strategic.
During the years I planted 30+ different types of plants, I ended up with very little. Sure, I was able to make a few meals, but I didn’t grow enough of any one plant to put up on the shelves.
Plus, my time, budget, and attention were stretched too thin.
In the name of efficiency and productivity, I switched to a “staples garden” mentality—and that’s when my pantry started to grow.
I highly recommend growing a staples garden.
It consists of crops that give us the most bang for our buck. These are crops that store well, preserve well, and make a variety of meals.
Over the years, I’ve eliminated plants from my garden because they simply weren’t worth the time and space due to low yields or difficulty preserving.
For instance, sweet peas. They are one of our favorite vegetables! Unfortunately, you have to grow A LOT to yield enough to preserve.
Other examples include broccoli and cauliflower. We love these brassicas, but they don’t preserve well. Not only that, but each plant only yields one head. It was a hard decision, but we no longer dedicate garden space to them.
These are the types of points to consider as you plan your garden.
With the above in mind, I now have 10 staples I try to grow in large quantities.
