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I am not sure that I completely understand your premise. Products are generally available during a depression. The best financial course of action today is to save money... unless the dollar becomes devalued too, which will make imports more expensive.
In terms of finances, doing things to lowering your fixed monthly bills is always a good idea - looming depression or otherwise. Since you're in Texas and you're all engineers, perhaps look into solar and/or battery storage for electricity? Do the math first obviously. A small(er) garden can help save some $$ but you have to be careful how much you spend on it.
If you're coming from the perspective of wanting to provide value to your family, simply helping out around the house (cooking, cleaning, etc) and taking on projects you've all been putting off will probably go a long way. Your labor might not be cheaper than a builder's now, but... Doing home repair/improvements, landscaping, building an out-building, building some outdoor shade, etc could be really appreciated.
If you're looking to earn some $$, farming seems fairly depression proof, but should a depression hit people won't be buying cash crops. Relative to labor input farming will likely not be very lucrative. Starting a side hustle/business might be a better option. It seems like the demand for repairing basically everything would go up. People will also be looking for cheap local distractions.
The YOLO option is to buy a ton of imports from a country you expect will have their currency strengthen relative to the dollar and then sell those items once the cost of them goes up, but this sounds super risky.