Growing your own food can be incredibly beneficial for you and your family. The food supply chain can be complex and easily disrupted. When you grow your own, you get some peace of mind about it. But getting to that point can be difficult. Here are some tips on how to create a life growing your own food.
Move Somewhere With Plenty of Room
While this is not necessary to grow some of your food, growing all of your own food requires a lot of space. If you are moving to a new home in the near future, look for a property that provides the space you need to have a large garden. You might move for a number of reasons. For example, 40% of moves are due to work while 42% are for personal reasons. Meanwhile, 18% of moves are for military or government relocation. If you’re going to be moving anyway, you might as well get yourself into a space where growing your own food will be much more practical.
Be Thoughtful In Your Planning
Having a successful garden depends on a large number of factors. You need to have the right climate for many plants. If it is too hot or cold, they won’t be successful no matter how hard you try. So you have to be thoughtful about what you’re growing. Native plants are always a good option. About 92% of homeowners who add plants to their yards are choosing native plants. Since they have specifically evolved to thrive in your climate, they are most likely to be successful. Look for native edibles and make them part of your garden plan.
You should also make sure you’re growing things you and your family will actually eat. If you choose things that are easy but unappetizing, you’ll have a hard time motivating everyone to eat food from the garden.
Know Your Limitations
Gardening is a great activity, but it needs to be adapted to fit your specific lifestyle. If you have disabilities, lack time, or lack space, you will have to figure out how to garden in the situation you have. Don’t try to push yourself too far, it could result in injury. Up to 22% of slips and falls result in more than 31 days away from work. So if you’re injured as you start your garden, it’ll postpone your life of growing your own food as you recover.
Expect Setbacks
Gardening is unpredictable. You could do everything right and still not get a successful crop. A drought could destroy your garden or unusually cold weather could prevent it from starting at all. As you experiment with different crops, you need to expect that many of them will fail to thrive. If you expect to eat solely from your garden the first year you plant it, you’re likely to get discouraged when you realize how few plants actually survive until they’re fully grown.
Take Small Steps
If you’ve never gardened before, you shouldn’t dive into growing all of your food. Instead, take small steps toward your goal. Start with something small and simple. An herb garden can be easy to plant and care for, while also providing essential ingredients. Or you could try growing a small vegetable garden. As you gain more skills and experience, you can branch out into growing more and more of your own food. Eventually, you might be able to grow all of it yourself.
Growing a garden is a great way to care for your family and relieve some of your anxiety over food. However, it is important that you go into it with realistic expectations. If you celebrate small victories and take small steps toward your goal, you’re much more likely to be successful.
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