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After yesterday’s closing segment I started thinking about what people should grow if they really need to grow food.  More what people with average sized yards can grow and how they should be growing it for real needs, not just the nice to have garden many of us maintain.

The crops here can all be grown on small patches of land and they are either very high value in either a monetary or caloric way.  In other words potatoes might be cheap but they actually feed you.  Baby greens and herbs may be low in calories but by the pound they are very expensive.  Additionally we will talk a bit about high value forage foods and even a bit about fish and game.

Today’s discussion will also mostly ignore small livestock because it tends to create a great deal of husbandry needs that many working families have a hard time keeping up with and it can all but kill your ability to travel without paying someone to care for your land.  The two exceptions we will at least mention today are fish and quail as both can be very automated.

Join Me Today to Discuss…

• Thoughts on how I grew up, and what we grew, hunted, fished and foraged and why we did it
• Crops that are high calorie and can be grown in containers or “stack systems”
  • Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes
  • Jerusalem Artichokes
  • Bush Beans
  • Bush Varieties of Winter Squash
  • Peanuts
• Calorie Crops that Fit in Small Spaces, Borders, Marginal Spaces, etc.
  • Corn or sorghum (plant in clumps vs rows)
  • Pole beans, bush beans and runner beans
  • Peas and lentils
  • Daikon Radish
  • Beets (consider golden beats here)
  • Parsnips (more calories than carrot and can be stored in the ground)
  • Ground Cherry
• Herbs and Greens
  • The most popular culinary herbs like oregano, rosemary, chives, etc.
  • Arugula – one of the most reliable greens in the most climates
  • Beets – harvest greens intermittently
  • Mixed baby lettuces
  • Swiss Chard
  • Kale
• Fish
  • If you live near the coast anything that is easy to catch is fair game
  • Crabs if you are on a coast
  • For most of the country the easy answers are catfish, sunfish and some rough fish like drum
  • If you live in the northern part of the country there are likely good opportunities for trout
  • In the south crappie and white bass are staples
  • Crayfish trapping
  • All turtles are edible, some are damn good
• Foraging – varies widely by location and region
  • Berries – Black, Blue and others
  • Fruits – Wind fall apples and such
  • Nuts – Black walnuts, pecans and others
  • Mushrooms – Use caution but the ROI can be massive
• Hunting
  • Of course big game if you have the opportunity
  • If someone says they have a hog problem be the solution
  • Squirrels and rabbits and other small game
  • Fur bearers like nutria, muskrat, beaver, raccoon, etc.
  • Pigeons
• Low Care Livestock – with automation and redundancy
  • Quail
  • Fish
  • Cycle runs of birds like chicken or turkey (because it lasts 3-5 months and is done)
  • Herd shares
• The entire point today is these things may end up being necessary
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Resources for today’s show…

• Find Me on Nostr
• Join the Members Brigade
• TspAz.com
• TSPC on Discord
• TSPC Group on Telegram (group chat)
• TSPC Telegram Channel (just messages from me)
• Jack on MeWe
• Join Me on Odysee
• All My Recommend Bitcoin Tools and Resources
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• Items of the Day for this Week
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• Join the MSB Here
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