For me growing your own food is empowering. You know exactly what you are eating, and how long it has taken to go from harvesting to your plate. It also hasn’t gone through all the processing the food in the market goes through so often tastes better and is better for your health #NoEndocrineDisruptingNonsense. Growing your food keeps you connected to your food which many of us are lacking. So below im suggesting 5 things to consider when growing your own food, you dont need to start with a farm, just growing one lettuce may be what you need.
1) Location / Space
Growing on a kitchen window sill and growing in a big garden require different approaches. A window sill leans towards growing herbs that are easy to grow and you can cook with like coriander / parsley / basil. If you have a garden you have more options but then you have to consider how the sun hits and type of soil as some plants need at least 6 hours of sun and some plants prefer some shade.
2) Time:
When deciding what to grow, think about the time you have to invest in helping a plant grow well. Some plants like mint can be left alone, other plants like tomatoes need a consistent watering schedule and like cucumbers are hungry so need ‘feeding’ at some point. If you are short on time and want to see the fruits of your labour quickly, Lettuce and kale might be a good choice. I think it’s best to start small and then grow your garden as you build your confidence.
3) Seeds
My personal advice is to buy good quality seeds. The seeds you buy in the shops are usually F1 seeds produced by companies by crossbreeding two desirable parent plants. The problem is that the offspring from F1 plants – F2 can show some funky characteristics so you have to buy new seeds each year. Now if you buy from a reputable company like ‘Real Seeds -` UK’ or the seed co-operative – UK, the seeds from the plant you grow can be used again so you don’t need to buy seeds again the next year or have a frankenfruit.
4) Plant selection
When choosing plants the main thing to consider is what you will actually eat. No point spending time growing vegetables that you can’t stand – all that effort will go to waste once its time to harvest. But growing things you like and eating the fruits of your labour (literally) will give you an extra vim to continue. Also know how certain plants behave, for example, if you don’t plant mint in a pot- it will spread take over your whole garden.
5) Learning
Growing food is a little science and I think it’s beneficial to join some online groups so you can learn from the ‘experts’ and not make some of the mistakes I have. Also there are a number of issues that might come up that these groups can support you in, like plant diseases. I have joined a few gardening/allotment groups, often visit the Royal Horticultural Society website, or even better, ask people in your community as many of them know their stuff!
Over time you will learn so much about plants and how they grow and you can be the expert for others.