If I Could Only Grow 10 Crops, I'd Choose These...
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- Опубликовано: 15 апр 2022
- Stores running out of food, prices soaring...gardening can come to the rescue! Take charge of your food security and grow your own delicious veggies! But how do you know what to choose? Here are Ben's Top 10 inflation-beating crops. It's the final countdown!
Binge watch these videos! Swat up and get more bang for your buck!
🌱 X 🤓 = 💰💰💰
Did somebody say raspberries and blueberries?! Yum! (Bat your eyelids at your fruit bush friends!) For our video on that, see this link:
For • Grow Healthy Berries F...
Water bath canning (dilly beans etc.): • Water Bath Canning Ste...
Grow your own super-fast mushrooms: • How To Grow Mushrooms ...
Want to 10X your plants? See:
• Budget Busting Plants💰...
For more on how to maximise and multiply grocery-bought herbs see: • Grow Endless Herbs! 🌿
Or to create your own herb garden, go to:
• DIY Easy Herb Garden f...
If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which is available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
www.GrowVeg.com
gardenplanner.almanac.com
gardenplanner.motherearthnews...
and many more...
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Best thing I ever did was buy a marked down bundle of bare root strawberry plants. There was maybe 20 in the bundle and Its been 4 years and I have 4 strawberry patches in my yard. I wish I could bring little kid me back and show myself it. The first time I read "strawberry patch" in a book as a kid I dreamed of having 1 and now I have 4. Child me would be very impressed.
That is so lovely to hear. Superb result in getting them to multiply and offer you such abundance.
😍same here!
@@GrowVeg Hi Ben what was the mushroom growing kit you had and where can I get them I'm looking online and they are quite expensive
I had luck with strawberries before, but where I live now the chipmunks and squirrels get them before I ever see small green fruit. Short of a serious cage, do you have any ideas?
thanks
@@gunsofaugust1971 I use hoops and netting with holes big enough for bees to get through before the hoops I just made a low cage with bamboo canes, string and netting
The last meal I cooked for my Dad was borlotti bean soup with all home grown vegetables. He was so proud. He chased that last borlotti bean around the bowl with his spoon. He was determined to eat every last bit that I’d grown but his dexterity wasn’t very good by then and he couldn’t catch it. I helped just a tiny bit and he got that little sucker! 10 years later, borlotti beans are still incredibly special.
Any parent would be delighted to have a child like you. Best wishes from Ireland 🇮🇪
That's why I love gardening, it reminds me of my uncle.
@@markirish7599 awww thank you! That’s so kind of you!
@@WaveMurray yep, I understand. I feel close to Dad, but also to my grandparents. Mum’s parents always had a little veggie plot down the back of their gorgeous ornamental garden, and Dad’s dad was a market gardener and then they had a strawberry farm for many years. His mum is still with us. She’s 92 and getting very forgetful, but she loves hearing about my garden and telling me how they used to do the same task when she was a girl. Last time I saw her, she told me how they made passata and tomato paste without any kind of appliance. They did it in 2 metal sort of tubs. One had holes like a big sieve and they squished the tomatoes through by hand. I’m not planning to try it that way 😂😂😂 but it’s so interesting to hear how they did it! And when she’s gone, I’ll think of her every time I make passata with the juicer attachment on my Magimix!
@@moniquem783 happy Easter weekend ❤
I like how you didn't just list a bunch of veggies but showed us how to plant them and how to preserve them 👍🏼👍🏼 excellent video
Tomato plants in May: this one is for sauce, this one for sandwiches, this one for salad...
Tomato plants in August: you are all pizza sauce
🤣
🤣
@@GrowVeg hi love the channel. What was that berry that you picked after the blueberries?
@@lancecowen3604 gooseberries
Agreed! In the US Midwest, organic heirloom tomatoes reach upwards of $7/lb! If you enjoy eating tomatoes - grow them!
I meet other gardeners every year for a seed swap, and that really helps me cut down on my garden spending as well as get some interesting varieties! My favorite way to garden during inflation is to replace the flower beds with edible beds. Grow food, not lawns. ;)
Agreed!
Agree, that's my plan this year too. I hate to trim the evergreen bushes. Going to replace some with Jostaberry bushes.
Sometimes just adding veggies into a flower bed is great, and the flowers help with attracting pollinators. Eggplants, ocra and pepper plants can look lovely amongst the other flowering plants. It's stealth planting for strict HOAs that prohibit veggie gardens too. 😉
@@micheleolson9914 haha, I love the stealth planting idea!!
The late Geoffrey Hamilton used to make potagers, which looked beautiful, and mixed flowers and veg/fruit together. On Tv he took a small urban garden, and grew enough food for a family of four for a year. His compost bin was wooden, painted white and looked like an old fashioned beehive. His homemade cloches were square with pitched roofs made to look like Edwardian plant containers.
Summary:
(10) 0:28 Salad Crops / lettuce Varieties
(9) 1:20 Berries
(8) 2:50 Corn
(7) 4:25 Mushrooms
(6) 5:09 Herbs
(5) 6:40 Potatoes
(4) 8:15 Garlic
(3) 9:25 Zucchinni
(2) 10:20 Tomatoes
(1) 12:15 Beans
Thanks for the list. I screenshot it and I’m ready to go.
Ty
Thanks. This is very helpful, especially when I want to find something again.
Thank you
thank you!!!!
Great List! However, I would add "Bell" or "Green" Peppers to that list, especially if one lives in the US. Bell Peppers, especially the red or yellow bells, are VERY EXPENSIVE over here. Some stores charge as much as $2.00 US for a single red or yellow bell pepper. I have saved enormous sums by simply growing them in the garden.
I roast the red peppers , then freeze; also jalapeños for salsa & pickles, & definitely poblanos.
Did you calculate all the money you put into growing those peppers?
I find it's cheaper, here, to buy a bag of green peppers, rather than individual ones. I cut them, remove the core and seeds, slice them as I would use them, lay them on trays and put them in the freezer. Then into Zip-lock bags and back into the freezer.
I hope to grow them here. But it got to 47 C last year and I got evacuated because of wild fires.
Jon in rural BC, Canada
@@JonTanOsb Peppers where I'm from go for 2-4 bucks each. I was curious to see what op will say about what's actually cheaper in the long run
Organic red peppers at whole foods are like 4-5$ its crazy
Asparagus! It takes a few years to get settled in, but then it gives loads of food every spring for almost no effort.
I agree
I would so love! I have a tiny space and tried it in my main bed but the tree roots completely ruined it. So now I'm stuck with container growing and I just can't see how I can grow asparagus now 😢
I’m growing saffron. 25 bulbs were about $15. They’re planted in the fall and then bloom the following. My plants have already nearly doubled in number and it’s hasn’t even been a year.
That's a real cash crop!
Well done, you! 👍
Where did you source the saffron from to grow, please?? I've never known it can be grown in a home garden!!
@@knoelbabin4340
Saffron is just a part of a very common Crokus flower.
Most of the price comes from the cost of picking the saffron and from the fact that you get very little per year per space unit.
I've grown it too. but a sunny spot is needed. Be sure to divide and replant to keep healthy.
My recommendation would be plum trees. I planted 2 Victoria plum trees on St. Julien rootstock in 2017 and have done absolutely nothing to them since. Last September I harvested over 300 beautifully ripe plums from them. And this is in the Isle of Lewis, way up in the north west of Scotland.
Wow that is very impressive. Particularly given the keen winds you get up there. Good job!
Fruit trees or any kind are so generous, depending on space of course, not everyone has room. I have 4 apple trees I planted last year and I am hopeful because they have blossom this year
Did the same thing in Brockton Massachusetts, my squirrels agree, all the plumbs they can eat😩
Plums
@@seaneustace9838 i hate squirrels
During lockdown I discovered raspberries growing near the local industrial estate. I managed to dig one up and now it's in its second year. So far it hasn't cost me anything except effort. Thanks for the tips. 👍 They were growing wild, I hasten to add.
It's worth noting that, if you get caught digging up plants this way, you can potentially get into trouble. Even if plants are growing wild, the land itself belongs to someone so technically you would be stealing. Seeing as it's already been done though, I hope the raspberries are growing well!
If you live in the eastern USA, you might have brought home wineberry instead of true raspberry. It's an Asian raspberry that is becoming invasive in some areas. We harvest them from public lands near us for jams, eating, cordial, etc. Use caution if you have them in your yard - they can take over more than ordinary raspberry!
@@juneeakin3445 Seriously, during rising prices and talk of famine, is ANY edible plant "invasive" or "alien"? Serious question.... And what "good" are lawns.. (Dandelions are more nutritious than organic spinach, for example......) ✌️and 🥰 from 🇨🇦
@@MrMuggles 🤔 Especially when famine is being discussed, maybe it's time to "Legalize Guerrilla Gardening...." 🥰🥰😀😀🥬🍅🌽🥕
@@carrolte1 what system? 👋 🤔🙄🤨
This summer I taught my granddaughter to pick just the outer leaves of her loose leaf lettuce, spinach, chard, and boc choi. They keep producing new leaves from the center. She had been pulling up whole plant and restarting from seed. Also broccoli, if left to grow after you cut the head, will produce a bunch of smaller side shoots.
That's the best way to harvest Pauline - you've saved your granddaughter a lot of extra work!
I didn't learn until this year that you can continually harvest many veggies. I've been wrongly harvesting the entire plant at once because that's how my city slicker mom did it. Her chard gets bigger than her by the time she picks it and it's too fibrous for my tummy by that point. Baby beet greens are my new favorite to continually harvest and then get a bonus beet root!
I've read that brassica greens like broccoli are edible.
Have you tried them?
I've only nibbled in the garden and they are spicy like mustard greens. I'm wondering if they become more mild when cooked like mustard.
My friend have you never eaten broccoli? I wonder what country you are from?
Yes, brassica are a genus of the mustard family, all brassica are types of mustard plant.
@@almostoily7541
A friend started me off some jerusalem artichokes. Even with the little bit of garden space I have, I had loads and loads.
Not gonna lie: Also here for the dog 🐶😍 Greetings from Germany! Love your videos and positive vibes 🤗
Thanks Lena. Rosie says hi! 🐕
Not even an animal person, I get stupid excited whenever they're in a vid! The dog is an adorable floof.
Thank you for mentioning all the preservation methods too. And the grain corn. You know they have a thing called the Three Sisters. The beans grow up the corn stalks and supply nitrogen to the corn, the squash and leaves keep the ground moist and shaded. I thought I would mention it since all three were on your list.
I grew the most wonderful spaghetti squash inside my corn bed a couple years ago. But my corn didn't produce as well as I'd hoped. I wonder if the squash affected it.
The grain corn around here is just used for cows, or Corn Mazes then discarded. Sometimes Corn Maze owners will delight some ethnic family with a bunch of free corn, probably wondering what they do with it. Check out mmazes in the Fall and ask for some cow corn. It's very beautiful.
Have never tried the three sisters but hope to one day.
I love this idea. How do you space it all? Is there a formula?
@@lbryony76 you can find guides online - you do have to time each crop a bit, ie plant the corn first, then the beans so the corn is established enough to support the bean plant. Then squash last, so you don't shade out the corn and beans when they're small. But it's very easy overall!
For blueberries and azaleas, I go to coffee shops, and get free coffee grounds, to use as mulch.
Used tea leaves are also good for ericaceous (acid) plants or any plant. I dry out tea bags on a plastic tray on top of my tropical fish tank and rip each bag apart when they have dried.
It’s a myth that coffee grounds are acidic. Nearly all the acid is removed when brewing. The grounds are great for improving soil structure though.
I'm with you, you can NEVER have too much garlic! I always add extra to any recipe I'm making
dont forget sugar peas very expensive and easy to grow and can be one of the first plants that can be grown in the garden they can handle some frost plant by the end of april.
Yes!
Plus peashoots if you over sew when starting them.
I answered an add in the paper for free strawberry plants last year. They’d finished fruiting and I dug up about a dozen and brought them home, potted them up, and let them make runners. This early spring I dug them up and potted them on, and now I have 60 strawberry plants starting to bloom! I’m so excited!
Nice one Christine!
If you watch at the Community Gardens, people will, for some reason, tear out a bunch of strawberry plants, and you can rescue them from their compost bins!! And one time somebody had torn out ALL their cherry tomato plants and we got at least 5 pounds of green tomatoes which did ripen and were great!!! 🥰🍅🍅🍅🍅🤣
My all-time favorite "INFLATION-BUSTER SUGGESTION" is the heroic (yet often erroneously reviled) and spectacularly strong nutritionally DANDELION!!!
Shout-out to your very amiable gardening companion as well!! My dog perks up when yours comes on the screen... and he thinks an occasional small bite of dandelion leaf 🍃 is quite a treat to enjoy in the yard during his playtime with his ball.
Wonderful suggestion - I have plenty of dandelions in my lawn!
@@GrowVeg ... l keep a portion of my yard out back that gets lots of sun and very little traffic, and the dogs aren't allowed vist there there (they have the entire yard other than that area to romp on 😀.
I was raised by grandparents from the Great Depression/ WWII Eras... sooo many stories to tell!!! Often we had dandelion greens at the dinner table as a side dish with vinegar. I prefer mine chopped and added to salads or sandwhiches... they have more nutrition than anything else people pay big money for at the store. The leaves freeze well and crumble easily when frozen into rice or potato dishes and soups and casseroles in the winter.
The roots make a fine coffee when prepared well....and are a nice nutritional add-in to your morning cuppa.
I tell everyone about my passion for dandelions: even the lady that delivers the mail says she's going to let some grow in her backyard this year... she is a bee lover too!!!
I have been "naturalizing" my yard since the eighties...my philosophy is "anything that wants to grow in my lawn and can survive the conditions there is welcome". I mow it just as l always have, and never have pesticides or herbicides been used there. Friends marvel that even in the driest of summers: the lawn continues to flourish with hardy "low growing green stuff". There is always plenty of grass and a variety of low growing clovers and flowers....to the delight of the bees!!!
My yard is beautiful and hardy...no matter what Mother Nature decides to do...and it changes every year a bit to suit the weather conditions. Certainly not a "manicured" space....but beautiful just the same.
Last year, I grew melons and Tatume squash up and over a "cattle panel arch." They both produced like mad and I was giving them away to almost anyone I met. The Tatume squash is a Mexican variety, tastes like zucchini when green, can be used the same way. Later in the season, if they stay on the vine or if you put them in a cool, airy place, the skin will turn tough and yellow and they can be used like a winter squash, roasted or baked in the oven with butter and seasonings, cut into chunks and added to stews or cut into chunks and sauteed with onions, peppers, tomatoes and corn for a traditional Mexican dish. They store really well. I shredded them and used them for fried patties, just like you would use zucchini. Then, I froze the extra shredded squash to use in the winter for patties or zucchini bread. Several advantages - they climb so they don't take up as much garden space and they do not attract Squash Beetles so you are not fighting the pests.
The melons were extremely prolific. I had 8 varieties including Honeydew, Canary and 2 kinds of cantaloupes including Tuscan style from seeds I saved from the produce section of the grocery store plus some exotic melons from Baker Creek Seed Company. And, of course, a bed of watermelon. This year, I plan on cutting back on the varieties and only planting one of each, except maybe the watermelon. I love pickled watermelon rind.
Thanks for sharing your experiences there Suzanne. It's great you've made the most of space by training your melons and squash up cattle panels.
Great information!!! Thank you!!! 🥰
Hello Ben! Just thought I would mention asparagus, as it gives back year after year. Also, a tip to sprouting medium to larger seeds like beans and corn that I do is take a tray, ( I use platters or anything flat with a rim) and fold washcloths in half and lay them down in a row on your platter and I lay out the seeds in the middle of the cloths, between the folds. I fold the top half of the cloth over them like a blanket. Then, I soak the cloths thoroughly. I use window shade (blinds)slats that are old or broken to make a marker for them. They sprout so quickly this way… within days even! I take the little sprouts and put them in my plug trays and I have 100% germination without having to separate them or having to cull or toss the weaker one. It is really wonderful not having to separate roots as well! I hope you give it a try. It would make a great video as well! 😉 Love all your videos!
Love you larger seeds germination tip - that’s such a good method you’ve got there. Thanks for sharing it.
I forgot to mention after the initial soak, I keep them moistened with a spray bottle. This works great for squash, melons, and can be done with tomatoes. But not good with tiny seeds. Watch how fast they sprout! 😉
Didn't spot your comment before naming asparagus as well - I wholeheartedly agree!
@@cjblack5925 tinier seeds I sprout in a folded and dampened coffee filter....then slide into a ziplock bag to create mini greenhouse.
@@Outtahereasap yes, excellent! I do that from time to time, but I should do it that way more often because I do like as close to 100% success rate as much as possible, but I will admit, working with tiny sprouts is more time consuming than direct sowing. I do a large garden and run a homestead, so time is sometimes not what I have a lot of. 😉
Another great video! I’ve been gardening for years, but I’ve learned so much from you, Ben! It feels empowering to know that I can do something about looming food shortages and rising inflation. We’re not helpless….we’re problem solvers!
That’s the spirit - and thanks for watching. 😀
I have 4 different rhubarb plants that crop from February to October. At supermarket prices I would need a mortgage to buy the amount of rhubarb I can pick! Next on my list is starting an asparagus bed.
Rhubarb is super abundant - a real winner!
Remember if you cut back your raspberry canes to almost ground level during December/January they will give a much better crop the next season. Strawberry plants can be rotated on a three-yearly cycle by growing fresh ones from runners each autumn, and if you also companion plant with borage this maximises the yield. An underestimated crop is Aramanth, you can do lots of things with it and it looks pretty too.
Thanks for that Sandra. I've never grown amaranth but would love to give it a grow at some point.
If you cut them down to ground level you will have no berries the next year as they only grow on the older canes!! And while you might get great ones the yesr after that you may as well just give them some fertiliser instead and not cut them at all. Where I have cut mine because they were growing where they weren't wanted they didn't bear berries till the second year and the bushes grow much smaller to the ground than the ones left alone did but that may have been where they were which was a colder spot. I transplanted some to a cooler area as well and they made enormous berries last year no idea why maybe the soil is better or less dry or the shade helped. Hard to tell but I cant see that cutting them back did them any good at all.
Put in a gooseberry last year, got my lettuce and spinach sprouting in the cold frame (Ontario, here, and a cold spring, indeed). Peas and radishes are still waiting to break through. Going to add chard, bok choi and kale to the greens selection. An of course herbs!
Sounds like a great list of tasty crops Chris.
Arugula is soooo delicious and VERY expensive in stores, but dead easy to grow in my garden. I've got a bunch of it coming in now and will keep it going for months of terrific salads.
My arugula grows so well that I can barely stand to eat it anymore haha. Like zucchini, I don't understand how such a prolific food can be so pricey in the store! (Aside from, of course, the fact that they don't last too long and they're probably shipped great distances - all the more reason to grow.)
I am growing some this year too...it is $5.00 now in the stores..here in Canada
@@zan4110 You're lucky. Last time I looked around here (Oregon), it was more like $8/lb! I've got so much this year that I'm giving it to everyone who comes over.
@@peterbergel So wonderful...!.. I will do the same..I am seeding it today!!😁🐸
@@zan4110 Good plan!
You should be on the BBC's Gardener's World. In fact, they should dump their people and most definitely have you! You give more and better advice than I've ever seen on that BBC program, and I've only just found your channel and seen 3 video's so far!
Thank you.
Lynn From East London UK.
Bless you Lynn, that's very high praise indeed, thank you! A very warm welcome to the channel to you - it's great to have you along. :-)
My thoughts exactly.
Exactly, I love the enthusiasm, so much more than dreary Gardeners World!!
I saw the price of leeks at my local supermarket so leeks are a big crop for me this year
You are so right about the dilly beans. Everybody loves them. I will be making more this year. As far as valuable garden produce, I include winter squash. It can feed cats, dogs, chickens, cows ,humans, etc. For humans many different foods can be prepared from a squash. Pies, cakes, cookies, soup, or roasted squash. And most importantly they are easy to store.
Great list Ben! Only others I can think of are carrots and onions to go with those potatoes for soup or stews :)
Definitely! 😋
Leeks as well
I use some large planters and toss in the spring/green onion ends I have sprouted and plant them. GREAT source and grow easy. Beautiful green onions year after year as they reproduce naturally....and I'm in MN!
They are cheap to buy.
I'd add peppers to your list. They cost about $1000 each now... Maybe not quite that much, but you know.
My wife and I are excited for our first garden this year. Your videos are helping a lot!
Very best of luck with your new garden Robert. Be sure to enjoy it!
In the UK you need a license to grow peppers, because they can potentially make snowflakes cry (because they have "pepper" in the name). Actual chili peppers are only available to members of the armed services.
@@bigglyguy8429 what ? Really?
@@claires9100 No, I'm just teasing my old country, which is a cess-pit nanny-state. I now often hack my way through SE Asian jungles with a machete or two. When I tried to order some plastic sporks from the UK.. blocked. "Knives". ffs
*bigglyguy*
👏👏👏😂😂😂
I love watching these videos, they're fun, informative and well made. Ever since I started watching I went from 1 bed, to 4 beds, a mini greenhouse and trellis. I just want to keep growing!!!
Keep on growing! 😀
Spinach got to be the ultimate green, got them everywhere in my garden from self seeded plants, hens love spinach.
Jerusalem artichokes are a great perennial vegetable. They're easy to grow, they'll reproduce from even the smallest tuber (or part of a tuber), they can be eaten raw, or cooked (we love to make them into crisps). Low glycemic index and high inulin make them great for helping regulate blood sugar. They do tend to make one gassy (we call them "fartichokes"), but a sprinkle of Bean-O before eating usually takes care of that.
We call them fartichokes in our house too - but they are magnificent plants!
A good abundance of crop are small red chilli's, on small bush type plant, they just come and come. I've made chilli chutney with the excess, freeze them, I guess dry them too. A more lesser grown crop, though high yield 😊👍 thank you for all your great tips Ben, I pass them on✨🔆
Lovely of you to pass the tips on Angela. I’m also growing chillies this year and looking forward to a spicy haul! 🌶
@@GrowVeg Great Ben... Enjoy 😊🔆
Wonderful video hope everyone is planting a garden this year Prices are Insane 😊 🍅 🥔 👏
Is potato 🥔
@@psychedelicguitarartbyjima3850 yep 👍
Cucumber! I had two plants and had to give so many away. Made SO many pickles. Great for salad…
My great grandfather had a fully mature raspberry patch about 40 square feet big. Yellow ones too. My step grandmother had a strawberry patch about 12 x 12 ft. Asparagus 8x8 ft. An apple orchard. A decent patch of raspberry's too.
All gardening all my childhood and early adulthood.
3 farm families sharing in the cost, labor, and harvest of full freezers of sweet corn, chickens, duck, geese, turkey, pork, beef, and lamb. And the venison and small game I hunted, cleaned, and stocked up on. Pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, and bullheads, and walleye.
Home made jellies and canned food, root cellar fresh veggies, onions, spuds, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, frozen broccoli apple juice, apple slices for pies,. Etc.
Then there was the "other" crop. That one was pretty much my baby.
Intrigued by the other crop - but I think I can guess. ;-)
Wonderful memories of childhood there - and so much abundance!
Don't forget about okra!
So easy & beautiful to grow, costs a fortune in the store for sub-par pods.
@Victoria Nelson, great suggestion. Okra, if you like it, is well worth growing. And my hens can eat it too. Double duty crop. Cheers.
Okra is a great one, and if you're frying it that's a use for the corn meal from that field corn suggested in the video. However, it does need warm weather to do well, which might be a problem for Ben in the UK.
Great list, I'd add asparagus to it - never buy it in the shops as its really expensive but when the plants get going I can almost harvest it daily
I paid $5 for a smallish bundle of locally grown asparagus yesterday. 😳
It used to grow "wild" along the railroad tracks..... Something to establish in your "food forest". ✌️and 🥰 from 🇨🇦
Most expensive produce in my area are broccoli and cauliflower. I just planted mine outside today. I hope I get a bountiful crop this year.
So I am complete novice to growing vegetables and was inspired to start by new neighbour that gave me some tomato seeds and for what ever reason (probably not warm enough) they all died.
I noticed B&Q selling off cherry tomato kits instead of £4 it was £2 so I bought up the last four and planted one of them, I new it was late to do so but give it ago. I also bought a mini (1.2m tall) greenhouse from Aldi... made out of pressure treated wood an 4mm twin wall polycarbonate... I recently sat down to separate and plant the 79 cheery tomato seedings... yeah I might have a few too many.
For the next growing year I am going to build a raised planter and currently have baby sweetcorn and six varieties of tomatoes in separate 5l fabric pots.
So this year I will be mostly be eating tomatoes... I am also looking at where in the garden to build a "wall of herbs".
I wish I had known how therapeutic this was as it it is helping keep centred mentally.
Thank you for the informative and simple to follow videos!
Great work Mark. You won't be short of tomatoes this year!
Dilly beans are delicious in a Bloody Mary...We went to a Riverboat for breakfast. They were so slow...we had a liquid breakfast. Eventually the food came...so we did not have to totally embarrass ourselves by sleeping it off in the car. 11 AM no less...lol Best birthday I ever had. Love those dilly beans.
Sounds like a fab day!
This season I am going to step up my game on winter squash and extra potatoes into storage. This canning season will move up yet another level as well.
I planted some Blue Hubbard squash last year. We ate the last one about two weeks ago. They were the best keeping winter squash I've planted, so far.
@@mikemosey7986 Good to know. I have never grown those. Ty
Love it Ben. Love how Ur trying to help people's survive the impending food crisis.
Keep up the good works friend
Will do John!
The only food crisis is how much food is WASTED especially here in America
@@jarretv5438 so you don’t consider paying double for food a crisis?
I feel it very important to keep the knowledge of growing food in the families. Sharing between. Not just the price value but the knowledge to the next generations. Mass food productions is unsustainable and quiet teriffic. To your point Jarret, it is more heartbreaking to waste food if you grow it by yourself. So one more reason to grow food at home.
I have Egyptian Walking onions in my garden. We couldn't do without onions and these are perineal and spread where I want them to spread. Easy, cheap, and slightly spicy onion. A real winner!
They certainly sound like superb easy-care winners! :-)
I'm sold. I'm on my way to home depot this afternoon... raised herb garden and poles to grow beans.
We are on the same page! I’m growing lots of potatoes, sweet potatoes this summer, all kinds of squashes, garlic, red onions, radish, salads, perpetual spinach, herbs, flowers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, a dent corn called jimmy red corn, beets, celery, cucumbers, maybe watermelon 🍉- berries a few different kinds, fruit trees 🌲
A superb haul of edibles - you’ll be properly sorted this summer. 😃
Two changes I would make are to remove corn and potatoes from the list. With only 2-3 ears per plant corn takes more garden space than it's worth. Last fall potatoes were selling locally for $13 (US) for a 50 pound bag. I can save more money by growing other crops in my limited garden space. I would replace corn and potatoes with winter squash and rutabagas. My favorite winter squash is blue hubbard. 40-50 pound fruits are not uncommon. With rutabagas the whole plant is good to eat. The roots store well in a cool place like a root cellar and the greens can be blanched and frozen.
Different countries have different "inexpensive" veggies. I agree that potatoes and corn are so cheap to buy that it isn't worth growing them unless you have a variety you like. When i lived in the U.K., Brussel sprouts were an extremely inexpensive veg to buy. So I ate a lot of them because I love them. Here, in California, they are not cheap and often hard to find.
Great recommendations there and, yes, definitely worth tweaking the list to what grows best where you are. Love Blue Hubbard squash - the best!
Dehydrated raspberries make wonderful treats too!
I should add that apart from growing gazillions of garlic we really appreciate devoting space inside and out to shallots. They grow really well for us, and it’s a darn sight cheaper to grow them than to buy!
Yes to shallots! Great flavor but expensive to buy in the store.
You'd have to do an internet search of the variety name to work it out. Many modern varieties tend to be self-blanching. If you read the seed packet instructions and it makes no mention of hilling/earthing up, then you probably have a self-blanching variety.
Our list also includes melons - there are a few short season melons that we can grow in our zone 3. I just love melons, but our budget rarely allows for them at the grocery store. Last year, we grew two varieties that did surprisingly well during a drought. Pixie and Halona. We're growing those again, plus we'll be trying a couple of new varieties. Another for our list is onions. We use a LOT of onions. Even more than garlic. This year, we're growing 3 varieties of bulb onions, shallots and bunching onions from seed. The seedlings are struggling, though, so I also picked up sets for yellow and red onions, plus more shallots, just in case. If we end up with too much (ha! As if!) we can dehydrate some, turn some of that into onion powder, or use them in various canning and pickling recipes.
Love the idea of onion powder too - that would be awesome!
I have always grown tomatoes to make green tomato chutney which lasts the whole year through. As my growing season here in Wales is quite short when it gets too cold I pick all the rest of the green tomatoes and put them in various boxes separated by newspaper under the bed and have either one red one or a ripe banana in each box. Slowly this ripens the green ones and one year I was finishing off with ripe tomatoes near Christmas.
@@binanocht6110 They are grown outside or in a small plastic greenhouse to get them going first then outside in pots and went under the bed mostly totally green with one or two ripe ones with them. Any green tomato touching the red ones gradually ripened so you can control the speed at which they are ready to eat. The old favourite Gardeners Delight is the one I usually grow but any of the normal sized ones should be fine. the larger beefsteak ones would probably not work. It was my mother in law who gave me the chutney idea and I have now been making it for over 30 years. Good luck if you try them again this year. In a good year when I do not have enough green ones I get them from a grower or just use some red ones to make up the recipe.
I love your dog!!! They look so sweet and kind natured! The way they're sitting on you omg!!!
I absolutely loved your video!! Thank you!! I live in the Mojave Desert. Basically horrible growing conditions unless you get smart. I have the soil thing down well. Organic fertilizers. Now growing exclusively in pots. We have winds that are brutal, heat exceeding 40c 110f. Freezes in the winter. Decided to create a greenhouse. Had tomatoes all winter, broccolini 6 ft high 2m I harvest every 4 days, Planning to now install a subterranean geothermal greenhouse next in a week for my fruit trees etc. Next I am planning a small fish farm for fertilizer from the waste water and a food harvest of catfish. Never a dull day here!!! Transplanting beets and basil today and starting some desert willow seeds. I also have raised bed gardens outdoors which receive glass coverings in the colder winter months. Too many things growing there to mention! LOL
This sounds absolutely fantastic 👏🏾. I especially love the subterranean geothermal greenhouse idea.
Smart ways to deal with the desert temperature extremes. It's not as bad in Pasadena, but it can get challenging for the plants at times. Cheers.
Wow Philip - you're a busy fellow. Full of admiration for all your projects!
Great list to grow every year! Thank you for your enthusiasm in gardening! It's contagious! 😁 I want to add green leafy veggies that will survive in the summer if salad greens are gone. Malabar spinach, jute or Egyptian spinach, moringa, longevity spinach, sweet potato (yes the leaves are edible and good for soup), lemongrass (to flavor soup and stir fry), and basil to mix for the tomato salad or for pesto good for sandwiches, dipping sauce and pasta sauce. I am planning on growing the food this year of what I normally buy in store so if the grocery store are selling rotten veggies (which is happening now) then I can eat fresh from the garden. Besides, the price of food now are not wallet friendly. I love the idea of a salad garden and herb garden. Thank you all for the comments! I'm learning from them. Take care and enjoy gardening! ❤️🙏
Some really stellar additions to the list - great recommendations.
If you live in the right zone you could plant oca and use it for salads and get a tuber crop out of it as well
Butternut squash are a great addition. I live in the UK Midlands and from 4 plants I usually get up to 20 large squashs (2 Kilos plus some), and they keep in a cool garage up to late spring/early summer the next year.
They're so good for keeping for so long - a real winner in that regard.
Cucumbers! Once a patch starts going you've got a bumper crop of salad snacks and pickles
That's very true - they can be exceptionally prolific!
Mr Ben... garlic and onions are such good friends. They're in the same spot, for me.
Great video Ben.
You’re absolutely right about saving money with growing things like your own salad. Not only that but the environmental savings of delivery fuel, single use plastics etc…
Great job 👍
Absolutely. That's one of the great things about growing your own - cutting out the middlemen!
Your channel is one of the best gardening channels on RUclips! Great info, great presentation, and overrall very fun vibe! Chard rules!
It so does!
Add beets to your inflation-beating crops - they are expensive, can very well, and you can also eat the tops, very nutritious! I cook the tops, but also throw them in my smoothies uncooked. And, since I absolutely love green smoothies, I also grow lots of kale which is insanely expensive in the grocery stores here in Canada. Another expensive crops is asparagus which is easy to grow, but take a while to get started before harvesting..... If people don't have a great amount of space, I'd substitute doing the corn for the asparagus. Love your channel! Thanks, Ben!
Great additions there Donna. I do the same with my beet leaves - in the smoothie they go. They're so good for you!
Add to the cost the freshness/taste and reduced waste/environmental benefit of growing your own food and it's a no-brainer if you're able to.
I’d add butternut squash-outrageously prolific. I had over 5 dozen squash from one vine last year. Its easy to dry a couple seeds each fall for next garden, so you don’t have to buy seeds each year. And SO filling! You can make many satisfying dishes for a hungry family!
I used to peel my garlic before I dehydrated it. And I waste so much time peeling the garlic but I realized you don't have to peel your garlic before you put it in the dehydrator just chop it up a little bit pop it in your dehydrator once the garlic dries the skin's blow right off. A much less time consuming way to dehydrate your beloved garlic.
Great tip, thank you!
I agree 100% with the berries and herbs. Less so with things like potatoes and beans. Tomatoes are a firm yes, but my family doesn't enjoy zucchini/courgettes so I don't grow ANY of those. My space, time and energy are limited, so I like to concentrate on things that give me the most bang for my buck! I focus on things that are either way too expensive in the store, or simply can't be bought in a store because they're just too fragile. Mulberries, blueberries and strawberries for sure. Herbs of many kinds. Also watermelons (store bought just aren't the same) tomatoes and some specific types of winter squash (pie pumpkins)
That's a really great way to prioritise what to grow. :-)
Just found your channel, absolutely fantastic stuff 👍🏼, got my first allotment this year, so will be binge watching your videos
Nice one - welcome!
Your enthusiasm is infectious! Love watching your videos and I have been gardening for 30 years or more. There is always something to learn. Keep 'em coming!!
Will do Jane. And thank you for watching.
Maybe grow a Collard Greens or Peas and Cilantro .
I love how you edit in the progression of growth, it's a nice touch
Thanks so much. :-)
Peppers and sugar snap peas would be my additions. Great video!
Cheers Teresa. Both peppers and sugar snaps are definitely worth growing.
Growing salads leaves has definitely saved a ton. I used to buy prepackaged ones which never last enough for me to finish even half of it. Now I have fresh mescluns growing in my balcony I can pick them whenever I want and however much I want. It also grows vigorously I think it has already covered the initial fees of buying pots, soils, and seeds.
Fresh is definitely best. 😀
The other thing is that now I have absolutely no excuse for not having greens on my dinner plates lol
I keep trying to grow parsnips, fennel bulbs, and leek. They are expensive to buy, but taste great in parsnip ginger soup and fennel leek soup. I like adding fennel stalk cut up in my cold tuna or chicken salad.
Fennel is a superb addition to the veggie garden - one of those royalty of veg.
As others mention: peppers! I grow all sorts, but they're beautiful, add so much flavour, and SO EXPENSIVE! They do like hotter regions, tho.
Once again great recommendations Ben. You mentioned quite a few that are my list as well. This season I planted more than usual to offset our grocery bill and share with family and friends. I also began growing ginger this season.
Ginger is something I’d like to try this season too. Great minds… 😃
Want hear how the ginger gets on. Mine ended up getting flooded and destroyed in storms, but always keen to try again! Any tips?
I love my sweet peppers. They take a while to germinate, but it is worth it for me. I chop them up and have them in the freezer ready for soups, sauces and eggs all winter (in PA) long. We also love stuffed peppers.
If the garden doesnt produce much. No problem, just eat the plantmater along with the root systems. Any dirt that is clumped into the root system is purified by water passing through the dirt into the roots. Thats three extra things to eat. Plant mass, roots, and dirt.
Great video. Not the most expensive vegetable but in terms of pure versatility I'd have to include onions on this list. Multisow 4-6 per module, then harvest spring onions to take each clump down to 2, then harvest bulb onions in the autumn. They will store all winter and any that didn't grow very large can be used as onion sets the following spring. They are also easy to grow, very few pests and somewhat frost hardy. Not to mention that they are used in thousands of recipes from all different cuisines.
Great advice - and a good way to have both salad and bulb onions from the same sowing.
Two suggestions for the subtropics ( Queensland, Australia) ...nasturtiums and red leafed hibiscus. They are easy to grow, very attractive and edible for interesting salads and great garnishes.
Super suggestions, thanks Shena.
Just one tip, you could just use one potato for the whole rise bed, potatoes are like strawberries they have runners, so the greens that come out of a potato you need to cut them and put them in a plate with water until the roots starting to come out then you put them in soil.
Great suggestion, thanks Yamil. :-)
I've been planting bush beans for a few years now and find them very prolific, easy to grow, and a good choice if space is an issue. Last year I had four harvests planting new seeds next to expiring plants about every three weeks. And that's in the mountains of western North Carolina here in the US. I start them at the end of March and am still harvesting in late September.
Also tree spinach, can be cooked or used in salads, gorgeous purple veined leaves. Real feature plant.
You get 5-7 years of 365 day availability from perennial kale's like daubenton's.
gooseberries are amazing producers, got a 3yo plant and it's pumping pound and pound of fruit every summers, just can't figure out what to do with those.
also really easy to propagate
There's lots you can do with gooseberries. You can stew them and can it, make pie filling and can it, gooseberry jam, dehydrate them, gooseberry sauce, make rumtopf to enjoy at Christmas, gooseberry wine, fruit syrup, chutneys and so forth. If you invest in a book about food preservation it will give you a ton of ideas.
I freeze loads of gooseberries. Just wash top & tail then pop into freezer bags. So simple. Bit soggy when defrosted but still perfect for crumbles or added to porridge
They make a great cheesecake with white chocolate. Gooseberry vodka is a fine summer cooler with soda. The chutney is fab with cheese or cold cuts. Mixed with other berries they are essential in summer pudding. Very lightly sweetened they make a sauce excellent with fatty meat or fish. Very versatile!
I am giving my abundant squash to the Food Pantry this year. That way I won't alienate my neighbors!!! 😁 I make a lot of fried green tomatoes too. Both my son, who lives down the alley from me, and I love them. I give tomatoes and jalapenos to my back neighbors who and a fella over on the corner. They both make salsa.
What wonderful gifts. :-)
I love peas, from the sprouts to snow peas, they're hard to beat! Another easy vege to grow is eggplant.
Solid list, Ben. 👍
I've got all of these except corn & mushrooms. I don't grow corn simply because my next-door neighbor grows more than enough for our entire neighborhood, and he always gives me a bushel of it. I live in mushroom country, so the generic crimini or baby bellas are cheap. I've thought about getting one of those mushroom kits though, for more fancy, gourmet mushrooms. But then there's always the woods across the road, where at the right time of year it's easy to find Chanterelles.
Those are crazy-expensive in the store, BTW...$25/lb for something that's mostly water. No thanks. I forage for my own in the Fall & dehydrate them so I've got them year round.
What a wonderful neighbour you have Jeff!
Spring onions / scallions are easy to grow and save money (they are in a lot of recipes); asparagus produces for decades, basically set it up and you're done other than mulching. Artichokes are very expensive at the store, and they also produce for years once established.
Even better, get perennial onions so you can plant once and never have to buy seeds or sets again.
Love spring onions - always worth growing.
I'm in zone 9A and just able to grow citrus in the ground in a choice spot with some babying or generally in pots. So I'd add Meyer lemons and limes which are prolific, perennial and often out of stock for some reason at my local supermarket. I'd add snap peas as well if they aren't covered by "beans". They're often the first thing to take off in my garden each year and I could just snack on them all day.
Really fab additions! :-)
Great tip about drying the garlic, I will definitely do that this year, as I got carried away and have over 50 bulbs growing! At least we will have no vampires about! ☘️☘️☘️☘️
Definitely no vampires Fiona!
Around here root crops such as beets, turnips, and carrots, to name a few, are so much better homegrown. They can be grown in containers or tucked into existing beds, and are invaluable additions to the grow list. As a bonus young greens can be used as salad greens too
Yes, definitely worth growing Kimberly.
No cucumbers? Pickling cucumbers are a thousand times better than that long smooth tasteless salad cucumber from supermarkets. Good variety, can be excellent fresh in salads superb for low salt sour fermentation and pickles. It is a must on par with tomatoes.
Agreed! 🥒
Warmer climate folks may not be able to grow some things easily, like garlic and lettuces, but there are a few plants that produce a ton of food. Sweet potatoes grow like weeds in warmer climates and even sprout up in sand! I've gotten over 200lbs from a single garden bed of various varieties and after curing they store a long time. Not only are the roots edible but you can eat young leaves in salads and older ones can be cooked up like spinach. I've found the purple and the marasaki to do better in florida around all the nematodes but in other places most work well.
Okra also grows like crazy in hotter climaters and produces a TON of pods. A couple plants can supply a family and they are also easy to freeze.
Yams, the Jamaican and African sorts not the sweet potatoes under another name, produce HUGE edible roots too. We're talking breaking 100lbs sometimes per root and they store a long time. Similar taste to potatoes! You need something they can vine on and you need to make sure they don't spread out of control due to neglect as they can be invasive in some areas due to growing so well.
Hot peppers sure love to grow in the high heat too. Bell peppers are harder to get growing well but things like Jalapenos, Serranos, habenaros, pablanos, and scotch bonnets grow very well! You can pickle them for later if you get a ton and can be overwintered in hot areas. I have two ghost pepper plants that are 4 years old that produce a ton!
Some really awesome recommendations there, and great to read your experiences as a warm-climate gardener. Thanks for sharing.
We have spinach rather than chard, because we like it better, and don't forget the brassicas, which in our climate grow well into winter.
This is only my second year growing my own veg and the first year I'm attempting to grow beans - yep, I picked Borlotti, on a total whim! Thank you for showcasing them so I can see what I'm looking for 🤣
You're very welcome. Happy gardening!
Ugh! I'm just dying to be outside planting my garden but we had over a week of crazy late season snow here (very unusual)! I have seeds started inside but it's not the same as being outside with my hands in the dirt!
I think the#1 thing I grow that I love and saves the most money is all my salad greens. And they are the easiest thing too. I just mix up a bunch of seeds and scatter them all over the bed when the spring rains start and it becomes a solid jumble of leaves that lasts for months and months. I call it my salad bar.
That's a very prolific salad bar - and so easy - good job!
The best way to get green tomatoes to ripen at the end of the season is to take them off the plant but keep them on the vine and lay them together in an open shallow box. You can stack them 2 or 3 vines deep. They don't need to be put in the sun. Just keep them at room temperature and the ethylene gas they will produce will quickly facilitate ripening within a week or two.
Great advice, thanks Antony. I've done similar in the past.
I agree with:
corn,
tomatoes,
mushrooms,
potatoes,
and I would also suggest:
onions, &
carrots.
You may also grow coffee & avocados indoors.
Great recommendations! :-)
Thank you so much for all these videos!
It's always a pleasure to look at your garden and your seedlings!
Thanks Martina. Appreciate you watching. 😃
Good-day Ben!👋 I'm growing more of our own food too...some to share, some to preserve and of course much to ear fresh. Through the years I have grown more and more of our own herbs because of the cost and it's so wasteful if I don't get around to using it all.
Great list you have.🙂 I would add greens like collard, broccoli, sweet potato, and turnip. I cook they up and freeze in servings to eat year round. They are so good for us.
Wishing wellness all around for you, your family and co-workers on the videos. Y'all do an excellent job!👍❤
Some great additions to the list there Valorie. 😃🌿