Growing your own food is simple, but not easy
It has been a while since I decided to write a blog about my gardening journey, but I didn’t really know where to start and what message I should convey first. Which is kind of the inspiration and basis of my passion for growing food. Although, chatting with family and friends, I was struck by the fear of growing embedded in our society. In the contrary, my experience the previous year was the simplicity in spite of all the “what could go wrong” dialogs I have had. Therefore, I decided this to be my first official blog.
Gardening or growing your own food often is viewed as a hobby or a talent given to the few. However, I believe it is a must have skill that is innate in our human nature – it is worth to consider how food and water are the absolute necessities for survival. All plants, animals, insects and all other life forms instinctively know how to obtain their own nutrition. Human beings’ perceived “intelligence” led us through the evolution of hunting and gathering to growing our own food then apparently factory-produce our food and ordering it without even leaving the sofa. Our true nature, however, has the ability to understand and cooperate with nature to get nutrition in the most natural way possible.
But what got us as far as we are now is the only quality we have over other creatures, the act of gossip and ability to learn form one another. Currently, with regards to growing food most of the learnings we gather form fellow humans is negative. Try to recall the last conversation you have in relation to planting something. I can certainly say it involves what has gone wrong and the assumptions why. We have these myths ranging from more sensible ones, like amount of sunlight to the most obscure one – alien green figures. My advice is there is nothing like first-hand experience, scatter some seeds and chuck your seedlings somewhere and see what happens.
The basics are very simple and somewhat constant. What you need is very obvious seeds (seedlings), soil, water, sunlight and the right season. If you combine these in one way or the other, you are granted success – obtain some harvest. Now, you can tweak some of these to increase the yield and quality of your produce. Considering when, what and where to plant; using good quality, well drained and moist soil; the sunniest spot in the garden; and few pest control techniques would make your experience rewarding and exciting. They are all pretty basic stuff. Note this it is never a fail or successes, it is a wider range enough to keep you inspired, obtain some food and leave room to learn. My advice
- Start somewhere, think about the season and try to observe how life starts to emerge early spring. Sow some seeds or get seedlings form garden centers and plant on pots, garden beds or anywhere possible. Then observe.
- Some planning is always crucial, it doesn’t have to be complicated – some simple observation and need analysis. For me, it was primarily looking at things we usually eat and see which ones I can grow and how much of it.
- Consider vegetables and herbs you have not tried before but grow well in your environment. You will be impressed with the varieties of tastes you can enjoy.
- Bullet proof your garden with diversity. Diversified garden offers lots of benefits for all involved. First of all, it provides insurance for success, if one crop fails you would still have loads more to expect. It attracts pollinators and other beneficial insects. Diversity is also nature’s way of pest control by providing niches for predators; smell confusion for some pest and improving nutrient exchange between plants for vigorous growth.
- Think about secession. In our environment you can grow variety of vegetables mostly from early spring through to late autumn, pick production would be summer. It is possible to have two
- And remember every setback is an opportunity to learn. If a plant fails, observe possible reasons. Was it pest, nutrient, moisture, temperature or light related? It usually is one of these. Note what you would differently next time and keep learning.