How to start growing your own Food
If you are interested in learning to grow your own food, it can be easy to feel intimidated by people with large homesteads, huge, lush gardens or generations worth of experience.
A few years ago, we started to dream about farming, becoming more self sufficient, and enjoying food we had produced or grown ourselves. The only problem was we both grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, had no practical experience, and at the time only had a 1 bedroom condo with a balcony. It didn’t seem like we had much to work with, but we decided to start learning and see what we could do.
If you find yourself wanting to garden, but don’t know where to start, or if it is even possible in the limited space you have, maybe some of our story will help inspire you that you can do something no matter where you are located. Here are some things we’ve learned along the way.
Start where you are
At the beginning of our “farm” journey, we had very little space to work with. However, we were itching to get started growing something, so we decided to put a few planter boxes on our tiny balcony. We started with a few small store bought planters and put in a few herbs, flowers, lettuce, a tomato plant and a pepper plant.
After deciding this still was not enough, we built a larger wood planter box on wheels in our parents garage, and then hauled up the elevator to our third floor condo. This gave us the chance to try a few more varieties of greens and even some carrots. What we lacked in experience, we made up for in enthusiasm, and it was fun to plant, water and wait for our harvest. We were able to enjoy the lettuce, herbs and a few tomatoes and peppers, but our carrots were a complete failure (we didn’t really know anything about growing carrots!). We did manage to grow one teeny, tiny little specimen that we carefully divided and enjoyed. We had grown it ourselves and considered that an accomplishment!
Here are a few ideas for getting started in a small space:
Utilize whatever sunny spots you may have; a balcony, patio or even a windowsill. You can start with a few pots or a window box and start to experiment with some of your favorite greens or edible flowers.
Start with easy to grow plants like lettuce, basil, parsley or spinach. While it may be tempting to try all kinds of fruits and vegetables right away (like us with the carrots!) you will probably be more successful starting small and learning the basics before you move on to more demanding crops.
Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t successful right away. Growing takes time and experience. If, for example, you find your growing space does not get sufficient sun, try lettuce and herbs that are better in the shade. You can almost always grow something no matter how little the space.
Don’t let the seasons limit you
The hard part of growing in the Midwest is that winter will come. Once you start to eat some of the food you’ve grown yourself, it is really hard to go back to buying it at the store.
We have found a few ways to continue growing, even during the coldest months of the year. Our first indoor growing medium was the AeroGarden. This hydroponic growing system was perfect for our little condo, and made it possible for us to continue growing a few things all through the year. The company has expanded since we had one, and now offers many options and sizes, as well as premade seed pods, or the option to create your own. All you have to do is insert the pods with the desired seeds, set the lighting system, and keep refilling with water and fertilizer as needed.
Our next indoor growing solution was microgreens. The ability to enjoy the nutritional benefits of an entire plant, but being able to harvest and eat it within 10-14 days was an exciting new concept. Growing microgreens can be as simple as starting with a small container, filling with soil, and finding a warm, sunny place. Since we wanted to grow on a larger scale for our family and friends, we set up a rack in our living room, purchased some trays and grow lights, and started planting. We soon were able to enjoy many different varieties of fresh vegetables, even through the dead of winter.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
Our next home actually had a yard, although small, and was in more of a country setting, although we lived within a small town. We had a tiny backyard, and our immediate plan was to turn it all into a garden. So we killed all our grass (I’m sure our new neighbors thought we were a bit crazy!) and built some raised beds. Now we really felt the world of gardening had opened up to us. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, herbs, flowers, lettuce and garlic. Although we had a small garden compared to many others, we still were able to produce a decent amount of food. We quickly learned a few lessons and made some mistakes that helped us learn how to utilize our space in the most effective way.
Choose the plants that you enjoy eating the most.
Even though it is fun to try one or two new varieties a year, you will reap the greatest benefits from focusing on plants that you already eat regularly and are relatively easy to grow. For us, the best options were tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and herbs.
Know your space limitations
One year I was eager to plant butternut and acorn squash, which are favorites for our family. I failed to realize just how long winter squash vines grow, and as a result our garden and walkway were completely taken over! We did enjoy the squash we grew, but decided that we could use that space a bit more effectively with other plants.
Grow vertical
When you use up all the ground space you have, the next way to increase your growing space is with trellises. We focused on adding plants that could grow upwards, like pole beans and vining cucumbers. Adding that vertical option increases the amount you can grow in the same footprint.
Grow things that you can preserve and continue to enjoy throughout the winter
We love tomatoes, so focusing on this plant allowed us to can or freeze extra for later use. We also were able to dry bush beans and herbs, and store garlic and onions to use long after summer was gone.
Follow your dreams
Often the biggest obstacle to accomplishing a dream or goal we have is the fact that we don’t just take a step in the right direction. We wait for the perfect time, the ideal location, the right amount of money, and we find ourselves no closer then we were before. We can look back to our first tiny step and see the small, but continual progress that we made as those little steps added up to big changes in our life. We still have a long way to go in our journey to grow more of our own food, but we are so happy we started when we did.
Whether you live in the city or the country, have a large piece of property or a tiny windowsill or balcony, don’t wait to begin the journey of growing your own food. You may be surprised to see where you end up!
If you have questions or ideas about growing in a small space, I would love to hear them below!