I’m curious to hear your answers, this is an open ended question - take it whichever direction you’d like. Perhaps briefly explain your reasoning behind it. I’m excited to read the answers 
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I think my answer would be different now vs in the past and will probably also be different in the future. It would likely change depending on the time of year too.
Right now I would say Okra, Bush Beans, and Watermelon. Because that is what I have grown the most lately and what currently performs the best in my growing style/conditions.
This is also narrowed down to annual crops, if you include perennials it’s a much more difficult top three.
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Besides years of trial and error to find what does best locally I say greens, a broad definition. High in fiber so good for your gut health and filled with minerals. Eat a whole bunch and you’ll feel full without taking in a large amount of calories. Add in a small amount of meat and you can make a tasty dish with extra protein and flavor.
- Turnip. You get both a root crop and a green tops crop unlike 2 and 3 below. Also unlike 2 and 3 you get a one time harvest. Flavor and taste they sit between collard and mustard greens. If you are not harvesting the greens you are throwing out the most nutritious part. If you are not into the root then you probably won’t grow as much of them as 2 and 3. Same depending on local pest pressures, if you have to spray your turnips you may not wish to grow as much of them. Variety Alltop doesn’t grow much of a root and it’s focused on for greens which allows for repeat harvests.
- Mustard greens. Fastest growing of the three. A quick reward in your backyard garden in as little as thirty days. The spicy aspect reduces when cooked. More tender so they cook fastest of the three. Old fashioned curly leaf can be harder to clean so folks like the smooth leaf types. Reds to be spicier than Greens.
- Colard greens. Tougher and thicker leaves than the other two they take a bit longer to cook and can have a stronger flavor. Your choice to single cut harvest or to harvest a few leaves continually from plants leaving the top leaves so the plant can keep growing.
Rutabaga (sweede), swiss chard, kale, lettuces you can adjust based on climate, pests and personal preferences.
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If I go into prepping mode: Potato / Corn / Squash (maxima)
If I think into breeding mode… for fun… and for what I love without regards to survival 
Watermelon / Kiwano / Physalis peruviana… So delicious!
But… once again I forgot all I could grow during autumn/winter^^… So my “winter list” would be:
Beetroot / Onion / Rutabaga
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without any hesitation:
1/ Tomatoes
2/ Lettuce
3/ Potatoes
I think these are the 3 vegetables that feed us most here.
In addition, they are plants that grow easily, without special need including poor soil
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- Apples
- Kale
- Walnut
These sum up what I like to grow, have some experience with and feel excited about.
Added benefit: They make up a complete meal. I could feed chickens on the kale and fallen fruit, turn the mayonnaise with walnut oil, and finally make myself a wonderful coleslaw with apples and walnut.
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My focus would be to recover the lost flavours. Fruit that is impossible to find at the groceries since they are caught too immature.
- Tomato.
- Melon.
- Plumbs.
are the ones I miss more their true flavours.
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That question is too hard for me to answer. I might cut it down to ten but not three. If I can only have three the only one for sure would be sweet potatoes.
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Well, it totally depends on circumstances. If I have to narrow it down to three today, when we have peace and abundance, the answer would be:
- Tomatoes
- Chillies
- Greens
but, as soon as emergency mode turns on, I would swith to entirely different trio:
- Potatoes
- Squash
- Jerusalem artichoke
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If i could only grow three crops where i live in zone 6a, they would have to be kale, squash and beans. I’m pretty sure kale is the thing i would grow if i could only grow one thing. Kale probably isn’t a subsistence crop (although the seeds are nutritious and high in fat, so that’s something one could pursue) but assuming you have access to a grocery store for your caloric needs then kale provides the vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy.
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Grain: mixed species including wheat, rye, and barley.
Squash: mixed species including moschata, pepo, and maxima.
Corn.
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Im curious, given your work with oats why did you exclude them from your grain mix?
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Oats are still too fussy for me.
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Hmmmm, three crops . . .
That’s hard. If I was going with crops that I consistently like that consistently do well in the summer with very little water, I’d choose apples, sunchokes, and squashes.
But winter crops are just as important to me, and winter is ideal for very different crops. If I were forced to grow only three winter crops, I’d choose brassicas, peas, and garlic.
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If I’d only do 3 crops, I’d pick 3 that grow well (I’d hate to focus on 3 and just that year have horrible circumstances for all 3 and there is no yield)
- Comfrey, the infertile one. High in Calcium, my chickens love it so I can turn it into yummy protein (and it contains 26% protein itself). High in NPK so can be used as fertilizer for other crops.
- Pears. I have a lot of wild Bradford pears growing, I can easily graft on them with edible pears, just have to take off the shoots couple of times a year. Squirrels leave my pears alone because they are not edible when you pick them (as they ripe off the tree). Apples are all eaten by squirrels so one less task to take care of with pears.
- Tomatoes. Grow very easily here, very versatile in the kitchen.
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Oh, that’s cool! I think that’s the first time someone’s mentioned comfrey. Focusing on growing animal feed so that you can get protein is definitely a valid option!
I believe comfrey can be eaten, too – the young leaves, flowerbuds, and flowers. Not in great quantities (because of liver toxins), but it’s mentioned in several foraging books as a perfectly fine potherb in small quantities. Plus I imagine you could forage, so you might not need to grow greens for yourself in order to eat them plentifully.
Hey, cool, it’s nice to hear about an ecosystem where pears do better than apples! Pears seem to be a lot more challenging than apples in my ecosystem, probably because they’re less drought tolerant. (Although they do grow here.)
Have you ever considered trying an Arkansas Black apple? The fruits are supposed to be hard as rock until they’re ripe, and they’re usually harvested unripe and left to ripen indoors for at least a month, much like European pears. They’re impervious to coddling moths, unpalatable to animals when they’re hard as a rock, and they’re supposed to be delicious when they’ve fully ripened inside. That may be a good fit for your needs.
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Grain for the flour : wheat, rye in winter, corn, sorgho, millet in summer
Beans for the protein : broad beans and peas in winter, common in summer
Garlic for the taste
I would forage the greens
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Thanks, Emily, I will try Arkansas Black.
Regarding the pear trees not being drought tolerant, the Bradford pear is an invasive species, I’d assume that when they volunteer, they grow a deep taproot so they do not need as much watering. They all grow wild around here and none of them seem to be bothered by the drought
Maarten
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Oh, that’s cool! It’s a shame Bradford pears are not considered to have very tasty fruits. Of course, grafting is a thing.
If you happen to find any wild Bradford pears with tasty fruits, those would be seeds well-worth saving and sharing.
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No, I wouldn’t eat those little Bradford berries, I graft on them, I have done it for multiple years now.
Maarten
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