The “Big Four”

What are and why the “Big Four”.

The big four crops I would encourage you to grow are potatoes, squash, dry beans and field or
dent corn. These crops will provide the most calories per pound produced plus many vitamins
and minerals.

These four crops can be grown throughout the majority of the CONUS. These crops are relatively easy to harvest by hand and store.

For storage, you will need a cool, dry place for corn, squash and beans. Corn can be husked and hung from the rafters to dry.

Squash can be stored under the bed in a cool bedroom. Beans, once hulled, can be stored in clean, dry repurposed glass jars in a dark closet. Potatoes prefer cool, humid and dark. There
are many examples available online of simple root storage facilities you can build in an
afternoon.

Select open pollinated varieties for planting. It is simple to save seed from these plants. Do not
mix varieties of corn, beans or squash if you intend to save seed. If you plant more than one
variety of these, there is potential for cross pollination. Therefore, select one variety of each
crop suitable for your region and if possible, your corn should be grown at least ½ mile away
from a commercial corn crop.

You can grow substantial quantities of each crop on a typical suburban size lot. Potatoes,
squash and beans can be grown in a garbage can, bucket, large planter or half barrel. Corn can
be grown in rows approximately 28-­40” apart. Plant at least 4 rows for pollination.

The length of the rows is dependent upon your needs and how much space you have available.

A small corn plot could be 10’ x 10’. A large plot could be ¼ acre (104’ x 104’ -­ the backyard of a common suburban lot) or even up to a full acre that could be planted, tended and harvested by hand.

On good soils, a well-­tended ¼ acre plot could yield a ton (2000 pounds) or more of corn each year. Some of this could be used to feed a backyard chicken flock.

Corn, squash and beans can also be grown together using native methods such as the “Three Sisters”. Squash and beans can be grown vertically up a fence or trellis arrangement taking up little space. We will offer more information on using limited space efficiently in a future article.

There are a variety of ways to prepare each of these crops to keep meals interesting. In
controlled experiments, people have maintained good health eating only potatoes (must
include the skin) for months at a time.

Native peoples routinely used parched corn for long—term storage and while traveling. Purple corn has nutrients that can help ward off certain diseases as Jeff discussed in a recent podcast.

Now is the time to find recipes for these crops that your family enjoys. Not that one wouldn’t want to grow or eat other things, but pound for pound these will get you a very long way toward meeting food self-­sufficiency.

As Jeff reminds us, grow it, find it, hunt it, or make it.