9 tips to start being more self-sufficient in vegetable

2.Start with Staple Crops

Pick Easy-Storing, High-Calorie Crops: Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Winter Squash.
Staple crops, those that will produce most of your nutrition and calories, are the basis of a self-sufficient garden. Before the delightful descriptions get you carried away, understand what you need to grow to feed the fam.

Depending on your growing area, you may be able to get a couple of plantings of potatoes in late February and early June. I plant 80 plants total and end up with around 80,000 calories from potatoes.

Sweet potatoes need a warm climate. I plant those in mid-May and produce them in early October. Because they demand more extra room than potatoes, I simply plant 60 sweet potato plants. That makes us about 144,000 calories. If you consume the leaves, you will get more nutrients and calories!