Growing it Yourself 1

I would be lying as much as I would love to say that we ditched the grocery store and have become entirely self-sufficient. Most people are limited in space, time, and equipment to be fully sustainable on their own, but that is ok. Taking that first step into growing your own food is a great start, and even if you only have room and the means to grow one type of herb in an old water bottle, that is still a step in the right direction.

As an introduction to a series on how to start growing and preserving your food, I think it would be a good idea to start with the basics. This read will be aimed at those who can plant a traditional garden or a raised bed. Later I will be talking more about container specific for those unable to plant directly in the ground.

1. Figure out what you guys eat

This one may seem simple, but the mistake that many people make is that they get overly excited and waste precious ground space on things they do not plan to eat. It may seem tempting to plant every kind of vegetable you can get your hands on and have such a diversity in your garden, and this is great in theory, but if you don’t eat what you grow, you end up wasting your time and resources.

2. Learn how to preserve the food you do grow

Depending on the size of your garden, there is a slim chance that you will eat everything in the time from when they are ready to harvest to when they go bad. Canning, dehydrating, and learning how to dry and set certain root vegetables and beans will let you stretch your harvest and save you at the grocery store further into the year.

3. Plan out your garden ahead of time

Planning out your garden will save you some panic come planting time. It doesn’t have to be hard set plans (trust me, allow some wiggle room), but having a general idea of what you will be doing ahead of time will allow you to maximize your space and yield. Pay attention to what neighboring plants work well with each other, so you get the maximum harvest and keep healthy soil for the following year. There are plenty of apps that can help you with that and some that are even zone-specific, so make sure you know your zone.

4. See what is common in your area

You don’t always have to plant everything you want to eat. If you are in a farming town like I am, see what there is usually an abundance of every year. Everyone grows sweetcorn in a multitude of varieties in my area, so why would I waste my precious space with something I can easily get at the farmer's market for cheap? Another great thing you can do is see if you can set up a trading system with some of your neighbors. All of this can help you maximize your diversity while saving you space in your garden.

5. See what your soil needs

Before you are ready to plant for the first time, you need to see what type of soil you have and if you need to doctor it up at all. You can send a soil sample off to be tested, or if you know any local growers, you can always ask them. You may need to add some extra nutrients into your soil for it to be ready. Once started, you can plant around with different types of plants that put different nutrients back into the ground, and you can begin adding compost, but that first year is usually the hardest and the learning curve of what your soil needs.

These seem like basic tips, but they are where everyone needs to start almost every year. We try to rotate what we plant each year to help keep our soil healthy. We grow extra of everything we can each year and can it up, so we don’t have to worry about it next year. Things like potatoes, onions, and garlic are things we grow every year since they don’t take up much space and they are great fresh. Your first couple of years will be learning curves, so don’t worry about if you don’t get it perfect right off the bat. Learn from your mistakes and make the changes; we still do.