Gardening Is For Everyone

It can feel daunting to try and grow your own food. The time and resources it can take might seem difficult to come by, plus your living situation might not feel ideal. The great thing about gardening is that if done correctly, it will save you money in the short term in the way of grocery bills, and long term by helping to keep you healthy. There are a few steps and a few considerations to take before you jump right into growing your own food. I'm telling your, gardening is for everyone

The first step for anyone who is going to start growing or continue growing food this spring through summer and fall is that you need to start composting now. Dirt and fertilizer can be expensive, and composting is your best way of beating down those costs while creating fewer trips to the dumpster. This is a great composting resource from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The next step is figuring out how and where you are going to procure the seeds or seedlings you will care for and who, in return, will nourish you. First off, if possible, start from seeds and buy your seeds directly from the seed producers, not from Walmart or other markets. A package of seeds will usually cost the same or even less than a single seedling. Depending on the fruit or vegetable, you can purchase a package of 25 to 2000 seeds from burpees.com for less than five dollars. Don’t worry about extra seeds; they can be saved in a sealed glass container for a year or more as long as they are dry and kept in a semi-cool place.

With all that out of the way, here is how people, regardless of living circumstances, can grow their own nutritious food.

Apartment Gardening 

First, if you live in an apartment, you would be amazed at how little space you need and how little light you need to grow some simple staples like lettuce. If you are living in a small apartment, you will not be able to grow all of your vegetable needs, but you can grow some, and you should pick vegetables that provide you with the ability to continuously harvest from the same plant, like most leaf lettuce varieties, herbs and spices, broccoli, and cucumbers. Here is a website that has a good list and explanation of vegetables that can be harvested continuously or over multiple months. Choose produce that does not need direct sunlight as well.

Fruits could be difficult for apartment dwellers to grow since putting a fruit tree in your living room is probably not realistic. You could still grow berries in your apartment, though. Think strawberries that you can grow in hanging baskets. There are some fruit trees that come in a dwarf size that could be suitable for balconies or apartments with big windows and taller ceilings. Bananas, apricots, and Meyer lemons can all be grown indoors.

Speaking of balconies, this is your sweet space. Grow tomatoes, peas, radishes, carrots, beans, peppers, or even blueberries on your balcony throughout the summer. Pretend it is a tiny house greenhouse and take advantage of any vertical space you might have. Focus on plants that need more sunlight than those you are growing inside. Leave enough space that you can move around and tend to the plants.

An important aspect of growing your own food is being able to use everything you grow. Focus on foods you can easily can or freeze, and those you can barter with your neighbors for those things you don’t have, whether that be cash or other goods you need. Frozen and canned food still has to be stored somewhere, so think ahead before you just plant willy-nilly. Planning is one of the most important aspects of growing food. This is another reason I recommend planting vegetables and fruits that you can keep growing while harvesting.

House Owners and Renters 

If you own your own home, the sky is the limit—well, the sky and your property footprint. My first plea is for you to tear out your grass and plant food. If you have children who play in that yard, the argument might be a hard one to make. If you live close to a park, you could argue that the community greenspace costs you less than the front or back yard does, and the savings in water use and food prices will definitely put you in a net gain. If you have to keep the grass, use whatever space you can for a garden.

You can grow a lot of food in a small area. The space around your house is a great place to plant early and harvest late, using the heat your house will hold and release to keep your plants warm. When planting in small spaces, be sure to do your research on companion planting. The Farmer’s Almanac website gives a good companion chart here. This will help you grow as much produce as possible.

If you live in a shorter growing season, grow fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and peppers in pots so that you can move them inside when the temperature drops in the fall. Plant bushes among your garden that produce fruit like blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries to help with soil retention. If you have access to wood chips, look into Eden Gardens, as they retain moisture and naturally fertilize the ground. Along with companion growing, be sure to plant vegetables and fruits that are harvested at different times.

Different strains of the same fruit produce at different times of the year. Including early and late-blooming strains of the same fruits and vegetables will help keep you eating fresh food for a longer period. Different vegetables are harvested at different times as well, keeping the work spaced out and your crops continually producing food for your table.

Farmers and Ranchers 

With the current administration’s focus on tariffs, there will be a decrease in the amount of agricultural exports due to the need for local produce to make up the difference. It would also be expected that the demand for American exports will decrease due to a tariff trade war. This means you will have products that can no longer be sold to the markets you are used to selling to.

If you want to continue to be a backbone of our economy and country in general, you need to change part of your focus. Take a plot of the land you farm and focus on consumable vegetables. If you're an alfalfa and soybean farmer, take a portion of your land and transition it to a vegetable farm. Don’t sell it to the local grocery store, but rather open up a roadside stand or work together with your community's farmers' markets or neighbors and distribute it directly to the families in your community.

Hire the neighborhood kids or that single mother down the street to work for you. Teach them the joy of the process of growing their own food. Return our nation to the dirt and out of the concrete.

If you are a rancher, do the same thing. Focus on selling your protein-packed products to the community and not corporations. Cut out the middleman. Partner with local butcher shops and sell your meat to your own neighbors. Maybe your ranch is too big to do this solely, but cut out a portion that can help your community stay fed with your healthy products.

In Conclusion

This is the time for you to take ahold of your food sources and save precious dollars that will be needed for other purposes. You can increase your health by cutting out the corporate truck stop that much of our food goes through. Not only will it provide you with the needed healthy food, cutting out preservatives and chemicals currently found in our food, it will help reconnect us all to the earth we are bound to.

Gardening is for any age

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