Corn

Grow it so nobody has to go hunting for dinner. One ear gives a small boost to health, hunger and thirst, and you eat it straight off the plant, no fire needed. A planter of it on the roof feeds whoever stays home doing upkeep and building without anyone leaving the compound.

Nothing on the crafting side asks for it, unlike the berries the tea table wants. That keeps corn simple: you eat it, you feed it to animals, you compost what is left. The hitch and trough takes it as horse feed, so the same harvest keeps your ride alive between trips.

Picture a long build night. You are placing walls for hours, the hunger bar keeps dropping, and the nearest boar is three hills away. A stack of corn in the box by the TC fixes that without a single arrow fired, and the horse tied up outside eats from the same stack.

The farm runs on corn seeds for the first round and on clones of your best plant after that. Plants that die off leave fiber for the composter, so even a failed bed ends up feeding the next one.