by Daniel Ayers
It’s not just about the plants and making everything pretty. Gardening is a vague term, and can contribute to anything really. Whether it be the traditional flower garden or something totally different such as permaculture, self- sustainment.
There are so many different things that go into making a garden, but perhaps my favorite coming out is food. There’s not a thing I can think of that can compare to the importance of food. Food is the basis of all life, so obviously it’s the most important, right? But being able to sustain yourself is a wonderful and rewarding thing. It can be costly and a lot of work, but there is no greater reward in the end. If you know what you’re doing and are passionate about gardening, this can be one of the most rewarding things you’ve ever done.
just a fraction of your total food income from your own backyard can greatly impact the way you picture life.
Choosing Your Style
1. In Ground Garden – Start with a simple bordered in ground garden if your landlord allows it. If space is a problem, ideally 3ftx10ft should be plenty to start obtaining some decent amounts of food, without taking up a grand amount of space. That would total to 30 sq ft, plenty to start off with experienced gardeners and beginners alike. Organic is the way to go, I’ve seen a huge difference from my own homemade soil and big box soils such as Miracle Grow. But you may purchase organic soils and amendments from local companies and organizations that compost materials to sell or even give away for free to all different kinds of people in need of it.
2. Raised Beds – If you are not a fan of digging up grassy areas and are good with wood, think about making your own raised bed. It’s not as much work as people presume. Scrap wood can be found or purchased cheap from around the neighborhood, or go to your local home depot to purchase planks of wood. They’ll even cut it to what length you would prefer. You can look up how to make a raised bed and great ideas if you wish, but ideally all you are doing is screwing in 4 planks of wood together to form a rectangle. This can help drainage and prevent flooding, give your plants a border to ward off animals eating your plants, and more.
3. Container gardening is a bit harder to produce the amount of food you may desire, but is a great way to stay in the game. 5 gallon buckets can be purchased also from Home Depot or Lowe’s, for about 3-6$ each, and will last for years to come. For most of your vines 1 plant per bucket is deal, and will produce an immense amount of food. Make sure they are well supported, as you will be growing them vertically. Other lettuces and veggies can be grown such as carrots, onions, beets, potatoes, and others will be 2,3,4, or even many plants if you want to produce lettuce or carrots. Drill a few holes in the bottom with a drill for drainage and fill it with good organic soil and you’re all good to go!
Compost
Composting is the main ingredient in a successful home garden, as all of your kitchen waste such as all veggie and fruit scraps, coffee grinds, banana peels, egg shells and plant waste, will be converted into a rich amendment to put back into your soils that will make your plants explode with growth! Good soil is the key to healthy plants, as this helps plants ward off disease and pests, just as our own immune systems do if we are kept healthy. Their soil is their immune system! So essentially, all life starts with your compost!
The Reward
With a good plan and excellent soil, even with limited space, a lot of good quality food can be produced through anyone! It’s not rocket science, it’s a way of life. A way of life we used to live, and has now been overtaken by big corporations and GMO foods. We depend on them for food (or at least a large majority of the population does) and the dependence needs to be on us. Even if you don’t have a large corporation or own a lot of land, you CAN produce your own food! It does take a bit of experience to really know what you’re doing, but with good advice and a good start, anyone can do it. And it’s what we need to be doing!
Daniel Ayers</strong>, is an urban home gardener, and founder of the Home Gardening 101. He is also 16 years old, located in Florida, U.S. and focuses on producing his own food. His goals include helping others and creating future local food business collaborations in sustainable living and education.