WEBVTT 00:00:00.496 --> 00:00:02.238 Hey everybody, Rob Greenfield here and 00:00:02.238 --> 00:00:04.097 today I'm going to share with you some of 00:00:04.097 --> 00:00:08.072 the most easy and abundant foods to grow 00:00:08.072 --> 00:00:09.768 for those of you that are in a colder 00:00:09.768 --> 00:00:11.603 climate, so this applies to people across 00:00:11.603 --> 00:00:13.631 much of the Northern United States, 00:00:13.631 --> 00:00:16.700 Northern Europe and around many climates 00:00:16.700 --> 00:00:19.310 around the world. So if that fits you and 00:00:19.310 --> 00:00:21.533 you want to grow a lot of food in your 00:00:21.533 --> 00:00:22.852 garden and have a lot of food on your 00:00:22.852 --> 00:00:25.583 table then this is definitely the video for you. 00:00:37.073 --> 00:00:39.145 A lot of you know me for my year 00:00:39.145 --> 00:00:41.753 of growing and foraging 100% of my food 00:00:41.753 --> 00:00:43.559 where literally everything that I ate 00:00:43.559 --> 00:00:46.621 for a year was either from my garden or foraged. 00:00:46.621 --> 00:00:48.713 But I did that in Florida in a very hot 00:00:48.713 --> 00:00:51.249 climate where I could grow food year 00:00:51.249 --> 00:00:53.593 around. A lot of people saw what I did 00:00:53.593 --> 00:00:57.775 and they thought "Oh, you can only do this because you're in a warm climate" 00:00:57.775 --> 00:01:01.041 but the truth is: warm climate, cold climate, 00:01:01.041 --> 00:01:02.742 as long as you work within your 00:01:02.742 --> 00:01:05.876 region you can grow an incredible amount 00:01:05.876 --> 00:01:07.342 of food, and a lot of the most 00:01:07.342 --> 00:01:08.929 self-sufficient people that I've ever 00:01:08.929 --> 00:01:11.456 met live in cold climate places like 00:01:11.456 --> 00:01:14.282 Wisconsin or Ohio or New York so there's 00:01:14.282 --> 00:01:16.482 so many foods that you can grow it's 00:01:16.482 --> 00:01:18.530 just about growing what grows well and 00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:20.882 abundantly in your area. So when I'm 00:01:20.882 --> 00:01:23.578 talking about easiest and most abundant; 00:01:23.578 --> 00:01:26.466 easiest means they grow really well, it's 00:01:26.466 --> 00:01:29.947 hard to kill them, even if you have what 00:01:29.947 --> 00:01:31.946 you consider a black thumb there's a 00:01:31.946 --> 00:01:34.099 good chance you'll be able to grow these 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:35.582 and walk away feeling like you have a 00:01:35.582 --> 00:01:37.250 green thumb. 00:01:37.250 --> 00:01:39.169 And then abundant means that 00:01:39.169 --> 00:01:41.998 they produce a lot of food but there's a 00:01:41.998 --> 00:01:43.901 second part to that and that is that 00:01:43.901 --> 00:01:46.249 they produce a substantial amount of 00:01:46.249 --> 00:01:48.068 food on your plate and that they'll 00:01:48.068 --> 00:01:50.349 actually be able to fill yourself up and 00:01:50.349 --> 00:01:52.079 fill your pantry up to get through the 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.134 winter, because that's the key in the 00:01:54.134 --> 00:01:57.239 colder climates if you want to grow a 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:59.851 large portion of your food - it's that you 00:01:59.851 --> 00:02:03.000 produce as much as you can during those 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.583 growing months during the growing season 00:02:05.583 --> 00:02:08.718 and then you store it in jars, 00:02:08.718 --> 00:02:12.066 in freezers, dehydrating it and such, 00:02:12.066 --> 00:02:13.883 in order to be able to make it through the 00:02:13.883 --> 00:02:16.250 winter with the food from your garden. 00:02:16.250 --> 00:02:17.801 So these foods are gonna help you 00:02:17.801 --> 00:02:20.302 drastically reduce the number of times 00:02:20.302 --> 00:02:22.251 that you need to go to the grocery store 00:02:22.251 --> 00:02:25.682 and drastically increase the nutrition and 00:02:25.682 --> 00:02:27.603 the abundance that you're getting 00:02:27.603 --> 00:02:30.652 straight at home or on your farm right 00:02:30.652 --> 00:02:32.726 where you are. 00:02:32.726 --> 00:02:37.008 I have to start with the potato. 00:02:37.008 --> 00:02:38.792 One thing that a lot of people 00:02:38.792 --> 00:02:41.327 have the hardest time with is calories, 00:02:41.327 --> 00:02:43.525 now I wanted to show you this potato in 00:02:43.525 --> 00:02:45.259 particular, it might look crazy to a lot 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:47.459 of you but this is a potato that has 00:02:47.459 --> 00:02:49.675 been stored in the pantry for about six 00:02:49.675 --> 00:02:52.809 or seven months now. I'm in Southern 00:02:52.809 --> 00:02:56.364 France and it's mid-May, and this was put 00:02:56.364 --> 00:03:00.210 into the pantry in around October or November. 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:02.628 So these store for a very long time, so 00:03:02.628 --> 00:03:05.511 as far as your calories go potatoes are 00:03:05.511 --> 00:03:08.277 gonna be one of the most calorie dense, 00:03:08.277 --> 00:03:10.459 producing a large bulk of your food and 00:03:10.459 --> 00:03:12.526 they store really well so this knocks 00:03:12.526 --> 00:03:16.410 out two really important things and the 00:03:16.410 --> 00:03:17.976 potatoes that are left over that you 00:03:17.976 --> 00:03:19.643 don't eat - this one right here 00:03:19.643 --> 00:03:22.094 could be planted to produce more so that 00:03:22.094 --> 00:03:24.210 is the wonderful potato. 00:03:24.210 --> 00:03:25.364 The second one I 00:03:25.364 --> 00:03:27.463 want to share with you is pumpkins and I 00:03:27.463 --> 00:03:29.421 am in love with pumpkins, not just the 00:03:29.421 --> 00:03:30.656 ones you see that you make 00:03:30.656 --> 00:03:33.257 jack-o'-lanterns out of, there's many 00:03:33.257 --> 00:03:35.590 different shapes, colors and sizes of 00:03:35.590 --> 00:03:38.142 pumpkins. This is just a beautiful one at 00:03:38.142 --> 00:03:40.407 the farm that I'm staying at. Pumpkins 00:03:40.407 --> 00:03:42.241 are amazing because they store a really 00:03:42.241 --> 00:03:44.324 long time, again it's May and this is 00:03:44.324 --> 00:03:47.825 from the last season and it's just as 00:03:47.825 --> 00:03:50.308 good as can be and you can also eat the 00:03:50.308 --> 00:03:52.922 seeds, you can eat the skin - in a matter 00:03:52.922 --> 00:03:55.392 of fact I will take the entire thing 00:03:55.392 --> 00:03:57.791 except the stem and blend it up into a 00:03:57.791 --> 00:04:01.141 soup. So pumpkin and different winter 00:04:01.141 --> 00:04:04.840 squashes, they provide a lot of 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.625 sustenance, nutrients and a lot of them 00:04:08.625 --> 00:04:10.842 are very easy to grow. Grow the ones that 00:04:10.842 --> 00:04:13.591 are adapted to your climate. 00:04:13.591 --> 00:04:17.825 Now next I want to share summer squashes, 00:04:17.825 --> 00:04:21.441 so zucchini - this actually is more of a 00:04:21.441 --> 00:04:23.157 winter squash but it looks kind of like 00:04:23.157 --> 00:04:25.741 a summer squash so I'm using it. 00:04:25.741 --> 00:04:29.576 Now, zucchinis are truly amazing. 00:04:29.576 --> 00:04:32.907 I've traveled through Washington, through Wisconsin, through New York, 00:04:32.907 --> 00:04:35.559 all across the Northern United States 00:04:35.559 --> 00:04:37.792 and people tell me that they have so 00:04:37.792 --> 00:04:39.759 many zucchinis that they 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:41.143 have to try to give them away but they 00:04:41.143 --> 00:04:43.160 can't because everybody has so many of 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:45.425 them. They get huge, you can eat him when 00:04:45.425 --> 00:04:47.523 they're giant or you can eat them when 00:04:47.523 --> 00:04:49.141 they're small if you want them to be 00:04:49.141 --> 00:04:53.477 more tender, so zucchinis are a must 00:04:53.477 --> 00:04:55.344 for a huge amount of sustenance and 00:04:55.344 --> 00:04:57.659 being extremely easy to grow. 00:04:57.659 --> 00:05:00.042 The next one I want to talk about is beans 00:05:00.042 --> 00:05:04.093 and beans are truly incredible, you can 00:05:04.093 --> 00:05:06.510 either eat them fresh, right off of the 00:05:06.510 --> 00:05:08.994 vine or the bush, there's there's pole 00:05:08.994 --> 00:05:12.043 beans and there's bush beans, you can eat 00:05:12.043 --> 00:05:14.628 them fresh, you can wait for them to dry 00:05:14.628 --> 00:05:17.643 on the vine to have dried beans like you 00:05:17.643 --> 00:05:19.377 would buy at the store, like your pinto 00:05:19.377 --> 00:05:22.710 beans or your black beans or your lentils. 00:05:22.710 --> 00:05:25.310 Or you can can them, these are 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:28.028 canned ones for example and another way 00:05:28.028 --> 00:05:31.177 to store them is freezing them, so the 00:05:31.177 --> 00:05:33.592 freezer is a really great way to store 00:05:33.592 --> 00:05:36.178 food, it generally costs only a few 00:05:36.178 --> 00:05:38.527 dollars a month to run a deep chest 00:05:38.527 --> 00:05:40.677 freezer and you can store a few hundred 00:05:40.677 --> 00:05:43.228 pounds of food. So again, one of the most 00:05:43.228 --> 00:05:46.277 important things in the colder climates 00:05:46.277 --> 00:05:49.377 is storing the abundance. Canning is one 00:05:49.377 --> 00:05:52.611 way to do that, freezing is another and then 00:05:52.611 --> 00:05:57.358 there's drying as well and then jams, I'll 00:05:57.358 --> 00:05:59.262 show those as well there's also the 00:05:59.262 --> 00:06:01.611 pantry for things like potatoes and 00:06:01.611 --> 00:06:03.812 carrots that can store in the pantry. 00:06:03.812 --> 00:06:06.028 So there's a lot of different ways to store 00:06:06.028 --> 00:06:08.646 your food and that's the key. Beans are 00:06:08.646 --> 00:06:11.077 very easy, very abundant and I also want 00:06:11.077 --> 00:06:13.546 to mention peas which are kind of my 00:06:13.546 --> 00:06:16.345 runner up to beans but very easy to grow 00:06:16.345 --> 00:06:18.246 for a lot of people, some people have 00:06:18.246 --> 00:06:20.744 problems with them and they're not 00:06:20.744 --> 00:06:23.829 nearly as filling as beans but peas are 00:06:23.829 --> 00:06:25.746 another really great crop as well. 00:06:25.746 --> 00:06:27.912 Alright the next one is carrots, this is 00:06:27.912 --> 00:06:29.612 definitely a favorite for me although to 00:06:29.612 --> 00:06:32.129 be honest I just love all foods that 00:06:32.129 --> 00:06:34.996 grow really abundantly and easily, I mean, 00:06:34.996 --> 00:06:37.862 so this is a great video for me to be 00:06:37.862 --> 00:06:40.478 filming because this is my passion. 00:06:40.478 --> 00:06:42.780 But carrots, now these carrots have been 00:06:42.780 --> 00:06:46.980 stored in boxes of sand in a cold pantry, 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:48.746 again these have been stored for about 00:06:48.746 --> 00:06:51.180 six months so they're not your fresh, 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:54.329 super crisp ones, but let me give this a 00:06:54.329 --> 00:06:58.431 bite - (chews) that's still pretty crunchy 00:06:58.431 --> 00:07:02.430 these are about six months stored, well, 00:07:02.430 --> 00:07:07.130 it's actually uh, wow, they're even sweet still, 00:07:07.130 --> 00:07:10.712 nice, not as flavorful as some carrots 00:07:10.712 --> 00:07:13.030 that I've had, but sweet, so these 00:07:13.030 --> 00:07:17.330 can be stored, they can be canned as well, 00:07:17.330 --> 00:07:19.114 I love to make carrot juice, I mean 00:07:19.114 --> 00:07:21.345 that's one of my favorite things so 00:07:21.345 --> 00:07:23.031 carrots that's an important one. And I 00:07:23.031 --> 00:07:26.229 want to mention with carrots - beets, now 00:07:26.229 --> 00:07:29.361 for a lot of people beets are super easy, 00:07:29.361 --> 00:07:31.413 some people beets have been a challenge 00:07:31.413 --> 00:07:34.879 so I don't necessarily consider them the 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:35.813 most easy but I have to mention them 00:07:35.813 --> 00:07:38.180 because they can be very abundant for 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:40.280 some people, they're very easy but if you 00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:42.362 grow beets you have to eat the greens, if 00:07:42.362 --> 00:07:44.348 you're wasting the greens 00:07:44.348 --> 00:07:46.581 you're wasting some of the best 00:07:46.581 --> 00:07:48.816 nutrients and taste, they're one of the 00:07:48.816 --> 00:07:52.327 most incredible greens if you ask me. 00:07:52.327 --> 00:07:54.431 They're, they're absolutely my favorite 00:07:54.431 --> 00:07:56.432 or one of my top favorite greens so 00:07:56.432 --> 00:07:59.964 carrots and beets. To continue on I want 00:07:59.964 --> 00:08:02.681 to mention a few more root vegetables 00:08:02.681 --> 00:08:05.580 and that would be radishes and turnips. 00:08:05.580 --> 00:08:05.830 So radishes are one of the easiest foods 00:08:08.961 --> 00:08:10.011 to grow and you can actually harvest 00:08:10.011 --> 00:08:13.812 radishes in about 30 days, the small 00:08:13.812 --> 00:08:15.962 radishes, they're one of the fastest 00:08:15.962 --> 00:08:17.978 growing crops that there are and you can 00:08:17.978 --> 00:08:20.694 grow daikon radishes which get really 00:08:20.694 --> 00:08:24.229 huge and I grew a lot of daikon radish 00:08:24.229 --> 00:08:26.496 in Florida. And then turnips, turnips can 00:08:26.496 --> 00:08:29.262 be pretty easy to grow as well, they are 00:08:29.262 --> 00:08:32.607 a nice root they go really well with 00:08:32.607 --> 00:08:35.274 potatoes and beets and carrots baked 00:08:35.274 --> 00:08:37.191 together. I love baked turnip. 00:08:37.191 --> 00:08:39.425 Living off of garden doesn't mean living 00:08:39.425 --> 00:08:42.191 without flavor, in fact it can mean a really 00:08:42.191 --> 00:08:46.074 delicious garden full of flavor, this 00:08:46.074 --> 00:08:48.190 food can be grown right here and you can 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:50.601 harvest it within moments before you're 00:08:50.601 --> 00:08:52.374 putting it on your plate so you can get 00:08:52.374 --> 00:08:56.359 some of the most delicious foods that you'll ever eat. 00:08:56.359 --> 00:09:00.108 But I really like, in order to have that for 00:09:00.108 --> 00:09:02.407 me there's some key ingredients - onions 00:09:02.407 --> 00:09:04.591 are one of them, herbs are as well which 00:09:04.591 --> 00:09:07.341 I'll get into pretty soon. Now onions can 00:09:07.341 --> 00:09:10.258 be extremely easy - I want to say that you 00:09:10.258 --> 00:09:13.425 might have a hard time getting those big 00:09:13.425 --> 00:09:15.908 giant onions that you would get at the 00:09:15.908 --> 00:09:17.792 store, that's not something that every 00:09:17.792 --> 00:09:19.792 gardener or beginner gardener will be 00:09:19.792 --> 00:09:22.191 able to get. It's more likely that you'll 00:09:22.191 --> 00:09:24.491 be able to be successful with small 00:09:24.491 --> 00:09:27.759 bulbs and the other thing that's really 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.024 one of the easiest is bunching onions 00:09:30.024 --> 00:09:32.076 and you can eat the greens. Now you can 00:09:32.076 --> 00:09:34.992 eat the Greens of all onions as well and 00:09:34.992 --> 00:09:37.526 actually if you eat just the right amount 00:09:37.526 --> 00:09:40.808 you'll get a crop of green onions and then 00:09:40.808 --> 00:09:43.109 a crop of the bulbs as well. So the 00:09:43.109 --> 00:09:46.276 smaller ones are generally easier 00:09:46.276 --> 00:09:48.110 for beginner gardeners. 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:52.194 Another one that I want to mention is garlic. 00:09:52.194 --> 00:09:55.726 Now garlic is super important to me, it's a 00:09:55.726 --> 00:09:57.393 wonderful medicine, it adds an incredible 00:09:57.393 --> 00:10:00.228 amount of flavor. For some people they 00:10:00.228 --> 00:10:03.010 found garlic to be super easy, it's a 00:10:03.010 --> 00:10:04.643 little bit more of a challenging one 00:10:04.643 --> 00:10:06.810 because you plant it in the fall and 00:10:06.810 --> 00:10:08.627 then harvest it in the late spring. It 00:10:08.627 --> 00:10:11.094 sits under the snow for the winter so 00:10:11.094 --> 00:10:14.210 that makes it not quite the easiest, it's 00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:16.410 a little more challenging especially for 00:10:16.410 --> 00:10:18.912 beginners but it can be pretty easy. With 00:10:18.912 --> 00:10:21.877 garlic this is a clove - pop that in the 00:10:21.877 --> 00:10:25.044 ground, starts to sprout and then you've 00:10:25.044 --> 00:10:27.529 got garlic. Now if you're not successful 00:10:27.529 --> 00:10:30.244 with the bulbs you can grow it just for 00:10:30.244 --> 00:10:34.594 its greens and you can get really, really 00:10:34.594 --> 00:10:37.428 productive, abundant greens out of garlic 00:10:37.428 --> 00:10:39.812 and they're very strong - that was quite 00:10:39.812 --> 00:10:42.729 strong just like garlic. So onions and 00:10:42.729 --> 00:10:45.077 garlic, those are also extremely 00:10:45.077 --> 00:10:47.695 important for preserving food when 00:10:47.695 --> 00:10:51.115 you're canning, and adding to soups, 00:10:51.115 --> 00:10:53.762 those really fill out the meal and add a 00:10:53.762 --> 00:10:55.495 whole lot of flavor. 00:10:55.495 --> 00:10:57.346 I want to talk to you about greens now 00:10:57.346 --> 00:11:00.413 and greens are where you get a lot of your nutrients. 00:11:00.413 --> 00:11:02.262 They're one of the things that makes the 00:11:02.262 --> 00:11:03.878 most sense to grow locally rather than 00:11:03.878 --> 00:11:06.446 having them be shipped, they take up a huge 00:11:06.446 --> 00:11:09.663 amount of space and they really are just 00:11:09.663 --> 00:11:11.597 one thing that does not make sense to be 00:11:11.597 --> 00:11:14.164 shipping long distance. So this is kale 00:11:14.164 --> 00:11:16.730 right here and some of the beginner 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:18.613 greens that are really easy would 00:11:18.613 --> 00:11:26.197 include kale, arugula, lettuce, mustard greens, swiss chard, spinach and amaranth. 00:11:26.197 --> 00:11:29.297 Those are 7 of the easier ones to grow. 00:11:29.297 --> 00:11:31.447 Amaranth, what's really special about 00:11:31.447 --> 00:11:33.430 that is it's often self seeding and once 00:11:33.430 --> 00:11:35.296 you get it going you'll have amaranth 00:11:35.296 --> 00:11:38.030 coming back time and time again. 00:11:38.030 --> 00:11:40.462 So greens are one of the most nutrient 00:11:40.462 --> 00:11:43.913 dense foods out there and if you can eat 00:11:43.913 --> 00:11:48.381 greens every meal you are, you have the 00:11:48.381 --> 00:11:49.963 ability to change your life if you're 00:11:49.963 --> 00:11:54.163 not eating healthy and they make a huge difference. 00:11:54.163 --> 00:11:56.998 Now greens are generally what you're 00:11:56.998 --> 00:12:00.464 going to be eating during the the months, 00:12:00.464 --> 00:12:03.098 during the the growing season. A lot of 00:12:03.098 --> 00:12:05.414 people don't preserve their greens so 00:12:05.414 --> 00:12:08.279 much. You can and one of the greens 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:13.547 that's easiest to preserve is sauerkraut. 00:12:13.547 --> 00:12:16.263 So this here isn't exactly sauerkraut, 00:12:16.263 --> 00:12:19.731 this is more like preserved cabbage, 00:12:19.731 --> 00:12:22.413 sauerkraut though comes from cabbage and 00:12:22.413 --> 00:12:25.614 you can store away jars and jars and 00:12:25.614 --> 00:12:29.348 jars of sauerkraut. It's just salt, cabbage 00:12:29.348 --> 00:12:32.030 and not even water. And then you add 00:12:32.030 --> 00:12:34.513 other things if you want like herbs. 00:12:34.513 --> 00:12:37.165 But literally just salt and cabbage stores 00:12:37.165 --> 00:12:41.299 easily for through the winter and it's 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:44.264 delicious, adds so much value to your meal. 00:12:44.264 --> 00:12:47.583 The fermentation of it through wild fermentation 00:12:47.583 --> 00:12:50.097 actually increases the nutrient value of it 00:12:50.097 --> 00:12:53.347 so cabbage is one that grows pretty well, 00:12:53.347 --> 00:12:57.281 stores and makes a really value added food 00:12:57.281 --> 00:13:00.348 to add to each of your meals. Can't say 00:13:00.348 --> 00:13:03.347 enough about sauerkraut. And if you're 00:13:03.347 --> 00:13:05.698 interested in wild fermentation check out 00:13:05.698 --> 00:13:11.998 Sandor Katz's book called 'Wild Fermentation' - it is a must read if you're going to 00:13:11.998 --> 00:13:14.481 get into the storing and fermenting of foods. 00:13:14.481 --> 00:13:16.382 Alright, next I want to talk to you about herbs. 00:13:16.382 --> 00:13:18.514 These add incredible amount of flavor to 00:13:18.514 --> 00:13:21.237 your meals, you can make teas with them and 00:13:21.237 --> 00:13:24.432 they are often one of the absolute easiest things to grow. 00:13:24.432 --> 00:13:26.983 Some of the herbs that I am going to mention 00:13:26.983 --> 00:13:32.949 are basil, dill, cilantro, oregano, rosemary, thyme and mint. 00:13:32.949 --> 00:13:36.082 Here is basil, this is being grown in a 00:13:36.082 --> 00:13:38.416 greenhouse to get it started, i want to 00:13:38.416 --> 00:13:41.319 mention one thing about basil and that's 00:13:41.319 --> 00:13:43.283 that it likes heat. So this is more of the 00:13:43.283 --> 00:13:44.466 peak of the summer. If you try to grow 00:13:44.466 --> 00:13:47.449 this while it's cold in the beginning of the 00:13:47.449 --> 00:13:50.255 year you're gonna have a really hard time. 00:13:50.255 --> 00:13:51.719 And that's an important thing, growing 00:13:51.719 --> 00:13:55.121 the right things at the right time of the year. 00:13:55.121 --> 00:13:57.455 Now another herb that I want to mention, 00:13:57.455 --> 00:14:01.421 this one is just, I mean for a lot of 00:14:01.421 --> 00:14:03.671 people it's a problem because it's so 00:14:03.671 --> 00:14:06.839 successful and it reproduces so well 00:14:06.839 --> 00:14:09.087 that it takes over a garden. So when I'm 00:14:09.087 --> 00:14:11.121 talking about easy and abundant, 00:14:11.121 --> 00:14:15.021 mint is the picture plant for that. It 00:14:15.021 --> 00:14:17.071 reproduces through these roots and they 00:14:17.071 --> 00:14:21.688 just spread through the soil. So all you 00:14:21.688 --> 00:14:23.339 have to do is take some roots from a 00:14:23.339 --> 00:14:26.055 friends garden, put those down and those 00:14:26.055 --> 00:14:29.505 will produce mint. So mint is definitely 00:14:29.505 --> 00:14:32.539 one of my top recommendations and it 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:34.372 can end up being a problem, so if you 00:14:34.372 --> 00:14:37.489 do plant it, I mean for me when I was a 00:14:37.489 --> 00:14:39.405 beginner gardener I said that any plant 00:14:39.405 --> 00:14:40.939 that becomes a problem is a friend of 00:14:40.939 --> 00:14:44.389 mine and I still generally feel that way. 00:14:44.389 --> 00:14:47.040 One thing I want to mention about herbs 00:14:47.040 --> 00:14:49.355 and that is some herbs grow really well 00:14:49.355 --> 00:14:55.772 from seed, like for example coriander, cilantro. 00:14:55.772 --> 00:14:58.923 These are really great to plant from seed. 00:14:58.923 --> 00:15:01.589 Now on the other hand mint is a 00:15:01.589 --> 00:15:03.907 difficult one to start from seed so for 00:15:03.907 --> 00:15:05.207 the one's that are difficult to start from 00:15:05.207 --> 00:15:07.840 seed I would recommend buying those 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.189 as already started plants from your 00:15:11.189 --> 00:15:17.006 local nursery or another gardener or a plant sale or something of that sort. 00:15:17.006 --> 00:15:19.640 So, herbs galore, there are so many. 00:15:19.640 --> 00:15:21.539 I just named seven but there are 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:23.874 a lot of other easy herbs to grow as well. 00:15:23.874 --> 00:15:25.724 Now I want to talk to you about fruit trees 00:15:25.724 --> 00:15:27.306 which are totally different from a lot of 00:15:27.306 --> 00:15:29.557 these crops, most of these are annual 00:15:29.557 --> 00:15:33.277 crops that you have to plant again and again each year. 00:15:33.277 --> 00:15:34.958 If you can invest in fruit trees you're 00:15:34.958 --> 00:15:37.427 investing in your future. You can plant 00:15:37.427 --> 00:15:40.843 fruit trees and now the thing is, you are 00:15:40.843 --> 00:15:43.028 investing in the future. To start getting 00:15:43.028 --> 00:15:45.344 a lot of apples might take a few years 00:15:45.344 --> 00:15:47.712 before you get your first apples and 00:15:47.712 --> 00:15:49.845 five years before you start to get a lot, 00:15:49.845 --> 00:15:53.578 but you'll have apples for decades to come. 00:15:53.578 --> 00:15:55.696 So fruit trees that I recommend - 00:15:55.696 --> 00:16:00.560 apples, pears, plums, mulberries and cherries. 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:02.513 Those are some the easiest ones to grow 00:16:02.513 --> 00:16:04.960 in those more northern climates. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.212 Apples can store just like this through 00:16:07.212 --> 00:16:11.128 the winter, you can freeze them, you 00:16:11.128 --> 00:16:13.960 can make jams - there's so much that you 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:17.610 can do with your fresh fruits and you 00:16:17.610 --> 00:16:18.908 can also just enjoy incredible amounts 00:16:18.908 --> 00:16:21.193 of them during the season. So fruit trees 00:16:21.193 --> 00:16:23.942 are definitely a must, you can plant those 00:16:23.942 --> 00:16:27.142 around the edges of the property and 00:16:27.142 --> 00:16:30.192 make use of that vertical space with fruit trees. 00:16:30.192 --> 00:16:32.058 It's starting to rain here in the garden 00:16:32.058 --> 00:16:33.243 so I got to cruise through these but 00:16:33.243 --> 00:16:34.509 we're getting towards the end. 00:16:34.509 --> 00:16:36.590 Keeping along the lines with fruits 00:16:36.590 --> 00:16:38.691 I want to mention some berries. 00:16:38.691 --> 00:16:40.543 Raspberries and blackberries 00:16:40.543 --> 00:16:42.859 generally are the easiest and those can 00:16:42.859 --> 00:16:45.810 go crazy and become a problem for a 00:16:45.810 --> 00:16:48.476 lot of people. Blueberries, on the other 00:16:48.476 --> 00:16:51.109 hand need acidic soil so for a lot of 00:16:51.109 --> 00:16:53.376 people they are not a beginner. 00:16:53.376 --> 00:16:56.126 Strawberries also can be pretty easy 00:16:56.126 --> 00:16:58.725 however generally raspberries and 00:16:58.725 --> 00:17:00.110 blackberries are more abundant than 00:17:00.110 --> 00:17:02.511 strawberries. So raspberries and 00:17:02.511 --> 00:17:04.344 blackberries are my two biggest 00:17:04.344 --> 00:17:06.442 recommendations for berries. 00:17:06.442 --> 00:17:08.193 But I just want to say there's a lot of 00:17:08.193 --> 00:17:10.694 other ones out there, got to mention 00:17:10.694 --> 00:17:14.060 juneberries, also called Saskatoon or 00:17:14.060 --> 00:17:16.411 service berries are a really great one as well. 00:17:16.411 --> 00:17:18.111 Right here I am holding blackberry 00:17:18.111 --> 00:17:21.512 chutney, and jams are an incredible thing 00:17:21.512 --> 00:17:23.529 to make out of your raspberries and 00:17:23.529 --> 00:17:26.312 blackberries. You can store lots and lots 00:17:26.312 --> 00:17:29.277 of jam so that is a really, really great 00:17:29.277 --> 00:17:30.976 thing about those berries. 00:17:30.976 --> 00:17:33.845 Ok, next thing I want to mention is tomatoes. 00:17:33.845 --> 00:17:36.878 Tomatoes grow super abundantly for so many 00:17:36.878 --> 00:17:39.745 people, and with tomatoes you can make 00:17:39.745 --> 00:17:42.177 huge amounts of sauce. I've just realized 00:17:42.177 --> 00:17:44.563 how many times I've said 'huge and abundance' 00:17:44.563 --> 00:17:46.745 over the last twenty minutes of so but 00:17:46.745 --> 00:17:48.810 that's what we're talking about - plants 00:17:48.810 --> 00:17:50.428 that produce a huge amount. 00:17:50.428 --> 00:17:51.961 I've just said it again! 00:17:51.961 --> 00:17:55.095 So, tomatoes, one that I absolutely 00:17:55.095 --> 00:17:56.925 recommend in abundance. At my 00:17:56.925 --> 00:17:59.130 friend's house this weekend we just planted 00:17:59.130 --> 00:18:01.395 over a hundred tomato plants for a 00:18:01.395 --> 00:18:04.095 family of four. It's a lot of tomatoes are, 00:18:04.095 --> 00:18:07.195 I mean most people love them. 00:18:07.195 --> 00:18:10.462 Hot pepper is another one, this is something 00:18:10.462 --> 00:18:13.011 that can often grow in huge abundance 00:18:13.011 --> 00:18:16.161 and be very easy. I took one seed from a 00:18:16.161 --> 00:18:19.047 my friends serrano pepper plant and 00:18:19.047 --> 00:18:21.230 that produced over a thousand serrano 00:18:21.230 --> 00:18:23.980 peppers, just from that one seed. 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:25.631 Another thing that I want to mention, 00:18:25.631 --> 00:18:28.196 sometimes this is a little bit harder but 00:18:28.196 --> 00:18:31.180 cucumbers for making pickles. 00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:33.346 Alright, I've got two last ones for you. 00:18:33.346 --> 00:18:35.297 And these are perennials and with that 00:18:35.297 --> 00:18:37.246 I want to mention that I really recommend 00:18:37.246 --> 00:18:39.797 perennials. These are plants that grow for 00:18:39.797 --> 00:18:43.347 year after year after year rather than 00:18:43.347 --> 00:18:45.379 things that you have to plant each year 00:18:45.379 --> 00:18:47.831 like carrots. So rhubarb is one of the most 00:18:47.831 --> 00:18:49.664 incredible perennials. You plant 00:18:49.664 --> 00:18:53.080 rhubarb and about, it will produce 00:18:53.080 --> 00:18:56.147 for about twenty five years. 00:18:56.147 --> 00:18:57.847 Really recommend rhubarb. 00:18:57.847 --> 00:18:59.815 And then lastly we're going to finish 00:18:59.815 --> 00:19:03.931 it off with Jerusalem artichoke, also called sunchokes. 00:19:03.931 --> 00:19:06.014 And these another one where if you don't 00:19:06.014 --> 00:19:08.631 contain them, they can spread though your 00:19:08.631 --> 00:19:11.563 garden and they can become wild as well. 00:19:11.563 --> 00:19:13.014 They produce a huge amount, 00:19:13.014 --> 00:19:14.864 I just said huge again! (laughs) 00:19:14.864 --> 00:19:16.747 They produce an incredible amount of food 00:19:16.747 --> 00:19:20.581 and they're very tasty and I cook them 00:19:20.581 --> 00:19:23.497 basically like a potato. 00:19:23.497 --> 00:19:26.116 So there you have it, that is about forty 00:19:26.116 --> 00:19:28.232 of my top recommendation for the 00:19:28.232 --> 00:19:31.131 easiest and most abundant foods to grow 00:19:31.131 --> 00:19:33.227 in your garden, I just want to say there's 00:19:33.227 --> 00:19:36.277 a lot more out there. I picked a lot of the 00:19:36.277 --> 00:19:39.427 common foods that people have a lot 00:19:39.427 --> 00:19:42.311 of experience with and recognise 00:19:42.311 --> 00:19:43.927 because it's easier to get started with 00:19:43.927 --> 00:19:46.561 that, rather than plants that you might 00:19:46.561 --> 00:19:48.911 never heard of - like gooseberries which 00:19:48.911 --> 00:19:50.477 grow well in northern climates or like 00:19:50.477 --> 00:19:55.378 Moringa Kale and Moringa Kotuk and Chaya which are more 00:19:55.378 --> 00:19:58.127 southern climate. So I just want to say 00:19:58.127 --> 00:20:00.428 that I did kind of pick things that are 00:20:00.428 --> 00:20:01.778 more known but there is a lot of 00:20:01.778 --> 00:20:04.610 unknown foods that grow extremely well. 00:20:04.610 --> 00:20:07.594 I want to say try your best to get your 00:20:07.594 --> 00:20:11.227 seeds locally. Locally adapted seeds will 00:20:11.227 --> 00:20:13.312 grow much better in your area because they 00:20:13.312 --> 00:20:17.630 are adapted to that area. And then buying 00:20:17.630 --> 00:20:20.061 plants from local nurseries that are using 00:20:20.061 --> 00:20:22.012 varieties that have been grown in the area 00:20:22.012 --> 00:20:25.413 for decades helps a lot. Also for support 00:20:25.413 --> 00:20:28.495 join a community garden if you feel like 00:20:28.495 --> 00:20:30.378 you have a black thumb, it would be 00:20:30.378 --> 00:20:32.779 incredible helpful to be around other 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:35.278 people. And then also volunteer at 00:20:35.278 --> 00:20:38.578 farms and gardens. That way you can be 00:20:38.578 --> 00:20:40.911 learning and you can be helping at the 00:20:40.911 --> 00:20:42.762 same time, and the amount of knowledge 00:20:42.762 --> 00:20:46.080 that you gain from volunteering at gardens 00:20:46.080 --> 00:20:47.779 and farms is pretty priceless. 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:50.029 I hope that this video has really inspired 00:20:50.029 --> 00:20:53.230 you to grow a lot of food this year and 00:20:53.230 --> 00:20:55.879 the years to come. Start small, don't feel 00:20:55.879 --> 00:20:57.964 like you have to grow all forty of these 00:20:57.964 --> 00:21:01.313 crops this year and add on each year as 00:21:01.313 --> 00:21:02.813 you start to get better and better. 00:21:02.813 --> 00:21:04.064 I'm excited for you to get the out there 00:21:04.064 --> 00:21:05.979 and start growing some of your own food. 00:21:05.979 --> 00:21:07.779 If you enjoyed this make sure that you 00:21:07.779 --> 00:21:09.430 subscribe to the channel. 00:21:09.430 --> 00:21:10.432 Lots more to come 00:21:10.432 --> 00:21:13.532 Comment below and also like this to 00:21:13.532 --> 00:21:15.464 help this get out into the YouTube world 00:21:15.464 --> 00:21:17.079 and inspire more people to start 00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:18.430 growing their own food. 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:19.547 I love you all very much 00:21:19.547 --> 00:21:20.321 And see you again soon!