If you’re seeking true self-sufficiency, growing crops that are productive, nutrient-dense and easy to store or preserve will bring you a big step closer to reaching your goal — and will ensure lots of fabulous eating! Sound appealing? This Guide to Top Crops for Food Self-Sufficiency features our best articles on growing and stowing potatoes, carrots, beets, apples, onions, garlic, winter squash and many other superstar storage crops.
While we all love eating fresh spring salads and straight-off-the-vine tomatoes, with a little planning, you can turn your garden into a year-round source of food, decreasing your dependence on the grocery store — even in winter. You’ll also learn how to grow beyond fruits and veggies and cultivate your own pantry staples such as wheat, rice, grain corn and dry beans.
Apples
Grow
Growing Apple Trees Ecologically: A Guide to a Low-Spray Orchard
Growing Dwarf Fruit Trees and Nut Trees
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Apples
Apple Vinegar From Peels and Cores
Cook
Harvest Fruit Favorites: Seasonal Apple Recipes
Candied Apples, Chicken-Apple Curry and Apple-Sweet Potato Bake
Cooking With Apples: 11 Delicious Fall Recipes
Apple and Raspberry Pie, Open-Faced Apple Sandwiches, Apple Ratatouille, Spinach Apple Salad, Apple Frittata, Apples and Red Cabbage, Applesauce Gingerbread, Grated Apple Fritters, Apple Cream Cheese Tart
Apple Salad With Pecorino Romano
Fennel, Celery and Apple Salad
Beets
Growing Beets in Your Vegetable Garden
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Beets
Cook
Polish Chlodnik Litewski (Cold Beet Soup)
Simple Beet and Balsamic Salad
Cabbage
Grow
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Cabbage
Cook
Golubtsy (Stuffed Cabbage Leaves)
Carrots
Grow
Growing Carrots in Your Vegetable Garden
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Carrots
Cook
Celery
Grow
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Celery
Cook
Fennel, Celery and Apple Salad
Dry Beans
Grow
How to Grow Shell Beans
(includes information on dry beans as well)
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Dry Beans
Cook
Try These Satisfying, Low-Cost Bean Dishes
Garlic
Grow
How to Grow Garlic (And Why You Should)
How to Grow Great Garlic: Expert Tips for a Blue-Ribbon Crop
Plant Garlic in Fall for a Larger, Healthier Crop
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Garlic
Guide to Growing and Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Cook
Garlic Recipes: Garlic Dip, Soup, Ice Cream and More
Eggplant Tapenade, Creamy Spinach Dip, Caldo Con Ajo (Garlic Soup), Artichoke-Garlic Dip, Garlic Ice Cream
Chickpea Salad With Garlic and Herbs
Grain Corn
Grow
Floriani Red Flint Grain Corn: The Perfect Staple Crop for Every Homestead
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Grain Corn
Cook
Floriani Hush Puppies With Chipotle Sauce
Leeks
Grow
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Leeks
Cook
Bacon, Blue Cheese, Lemon and Leek Quiche
Onions
Grow
How to Grow Onions, Garlic and More
Storage Onions: You Can Grow Onions That Keep All Winter Long
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Onions
Parsnips
Grow
The Benefits of Growing Parsnips
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Parsnips
Cook
Pears
Grow
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Pears
Cook
Grilled Pears With Honey-Cinnamon Crème Fraîche
Pear and Blueberry Polenta Cake
Arugula, Pear, Pecan and Blue Cheese Salad With Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Sautéed Pears With Vanilla Whipped Cream
Potatoes
Grow
When and How to Plant Potatoes
Make Your Own No-Space Potato Barrel
One Potato, Two Potato, Fingerlings Galore!
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Potatoes
Cook
Great Potato Recipes
Potato and Leek Soup, Spicy Oven Fries, Healthy Mashed Potatoes, Spinach-Stuffed Potatoes, Winter Potato Salad, Chocolate Potato Cake
Potato and Jerusalem Artichoke Latkes
Caldo Verde: Portuguese-Style Kale and Potato Soup
Pumpkin Gnocchi With Sage Butter
Roasted Root Vegetables Recipe
Thick Potato Soup With Butter Dumplings
Pumpkin
Grow
Growing Pumpkins for Cooking, Eating and Carving
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Pumpkins
How to Pick and Preserve a Pumpkin
Cook
Grilled Pumpkin With Rosemary and Sea Salt
Rigatoni With Pumpkin and Bacon
Pumpkin Gnocchi With Sage Butter
Rice
Grow
Sweet Potatoes
Grow
Grow Sweet Potatoes — Even in the North
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Sweet Potatoes
Cook
Enjoy Fall Flavors With Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes
Sweet Potato Waffles, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Curried Sweet Potato Soup, Sweet Potato Molasses Pie
Southern Peanut Stew With Sweet Potatoes and Collard Greens
Wheat
Grow
Winter Squash
Grow
All About Growing Winter Squash
Winter Squash: Big Yields From Spectacular Plants
Growing Squash: From Plant to Plate
Stow
How to Harvest, Cure and Store Winter Squash
Cook
Cooking Winter Squash
Spicy Squash Soup, Baked Acorn Squash, Harvest Salad, Spaghetti Squash With Ancho Sauce, Pumpkin/Squash Muffins
Smoky Bacon and Butternut Squash Pasta
