Seed Selection for 2026, Part 2 (Priority: Calorie-Dense Crops)

Research on this series of articles began with the goal of identifying the most important crops to grow, including any new ones that I should consider.  Yesterday’s post focused on what are considered the essential crops to grow for survival purposes, perhaps the place to start for those who had stored little to nothing, or for those who are planning to bug out with a backpack, settle someplace remote, and restart civilization.  Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what people are thinking.

Today’s focus is on the calorie-dense crop recommendations provided by gardeners and preparedness gurus.  As I perused their recommendations, I realized that I am not striving to grow the most calorie-dense crops.  I fear that if I were I to do this, my family would all be looking like the starving Indians of yesteryear.  While on paper I have sufficient acreage to grow wheat, oats, and dry beans, my property is too steep and rocky, my native soil rather infertile.  The weather is too unpredictable.  Many years winter begins in October (sometimes September) and doesn’t end until June.  This year?  I could have been growing tomatoes until Christmas with just a little frost protection, were it not for the mountain shadow that allows us only five hours of sunlight each day in the yard right now.

I definitely don’t get enough rain to raise crops without irrigating here in the summer.  Irrigating 10 acres by garden hose is unrealistic.  But even if we could plan on rain and conducive temperatures, the return on investment would be poor.  Raising and harvesting those few crops requires an awful lot of time and space.

But perhaps someday my family will be living in an area much more conducive to growing a wider variety of food.  They could find themselves in a situation where they need to grow the most calorie-dense crops possible.  So let’s consider what those are.  The following table includes lists of various authors recommendations for what to grow.  I can’t say that I agree with all of them.  Consider them as food for thought. 

1	2	3	4	5
Avocado	Soybeans	Potatoes	Corn	Potatoes
Butternut	Chickpeas	Sweet potatoes	Potatoes	Corn
Cassava	Bush beans	Corn	Sweet potatoes	Sweet potatoes
Corn	Navy beans	Parsnips	Green beans	Winter squash
Jerusalem artichokes	Pinto beans	Leeks	Peas	Beans
Lima beans	Butter beans	Garlic	Fava beans	Quinoa
Peanuts	Kidney beans	Jerusalem artichoke	Winter squash	Kale
Dry beans	Adzuki beans	Salsify	Parsnips	Spinach
Potatoes	Split peas	Peanuts	Beets	Jerusalem artichokes
Quinoa	Green beans	Soybeans	Grains	Taro
Sunflower seeds	Taro root	Dry beans		Amaranth
Sweet potatoes	Mung beans	Cassava
Wheat	Corn	Kale
	Fava beans

1.      https://urbansurvivalsite.com/highest-calorie-crops-survival-garden/

2.      https://balconygardenweb.com/high-calorie-vegetables/

3.      https://caloriehealthy.com/which-vegetable-yields-the-most-calories-per-acre.html

4.      https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/survival-garden/

5.      https://associationofresearch.org/growing-a-survival-garden-ten-calorie-dense-crops-you-can-grow-at-home/

The author of list #1 alphabetized his recommendations, so we don’t know which are most essential in his opinion.  And #2 clearly revealed his opposition to grains, with corn listed at #14 among all the beans and a token taro root.  Lists 3-5 appear to be much more based in reality.  Again, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and winter squash make the list as the most critical crops to grow.  I’m not quite sure why they included kale, spinach, and garlic in their lists of calorie-dense crop recommendations. And I’m puzzled as to why more people didn’t include beets, especially sugar beets, in their lists.  They’re not that difficult to grow.  Processing into sugar is an entirely different matter.  Not difficult, but definitely time intensive.

This concludes with Part 3 tomorrow.