Anyone Can Grow a Garden!

I was just outside weeding my unplanted garden.  My dear husband has already roto-tilled it twice this spring and I still haven't gotten it planted.  In my defense, I was also waiting for him to finish my fence.  Last year we had electric fence going around it but it was kinda a nuisance for me.  Although I'm very pro-electricity, it sometimes doesn't treat me right.  :/  This year my husband put up a wire fence with 2x3" rectangle holes, so that's awesome.  However, our livestock guardian dog started barking one evening during dinner and we looked out into the unplanted garden to see bunnies running in and out of the fencing.  So....my husband just finished reinforcing the original fencing with a 2ft high strip of chicken wire.  Let's hope that does the trick.

Back to you.  You can plant a garden in just about anything.  Grow something!

Get a big pot, some dirt and put a tomato plant in it.  Surround it with a couple of basil plants.  Water them and give them sunlight and one day you'll have half of a Caprese Salad that you grew all by yourself. (You can also learn to make your own mozzarella, but I'll save that post for another day.)

Even if you just have a little strip of ground in front of your house, put something in it.  Herbs are SO easy to grown.  Pretty much plant them and give them some water in the first few days and they'll grow.  (Do a little more research than my scant directions.)

If you live in an apartment, you can still grow something to eat.  Herbs, peppers, carrots, radishes and onions, dwarf varieties of beans and peas.  Greens such as leaf lettuce and arugula are also easy to grow.  

This post is a sort of wake-up call to encourage you to get your Pinterest on and find ways to make gardening possible in your current situation.  I have no doubt that you can learn and grow just one thing this season.  

Check that out!  It's a jalepeno pepper (with a cover crop for added nutrition) growing in a plastic grocery store bag.  WHAT?!!!  Indoors!  

Here's another:

Correct.  That's a tomato plant in a bag being grown indoors.  

By the way, I found these pictures on the internet to illustrate my point.  It doesn't have to be pretty.

I have actually grown potatoes in a trash bag successfully.  Outdoors, of course.  

You can do an internet search or Pinterest search for container gardening.  

Did you know also that you don't have to necessarily start a plant from seed?  You can pick up started plants just about anywhere.  Quite frankly that's what I do.  I buy tomatoes, peppers, herbs, even lettuces already started and just waiting to be adopted and put into my garden.  

Growing food has many benefits:

1. You learned a skill that can never be taken from you ever!
2. You cared for the plant.  You know what nutrition you gave it.  How you watered it.  Did you add chemicals to keep off the buggies?  If not, you just grew organic.  
3. You have confidence that you can do it again and probably better and with more plants.
4. You've saved just a little money on your grocery bill.  Imagine what  bigger garden effort could mean.
5. If you planted a larger garden, you can learn to preserve your own food which carries into the winter months.  You'll be eating home-grown food when it's snowy and cold.  That's awesome!

The gardening season has just begun.  We had such a cold winter in the East that the ground is just now warming up to plant anything safely.  When you're out and about pick up some sort of plant and get started.

Good luck!  I hope to hear from you and your successes with gardening.

Don't Come To My House

For years now, when people find out that I’m “into” becoming as self-reliant as possible, their typical response is, “Well, if something bad happens, I’m coming to your house.”  Or, “If something happens, I know where I’m going.”  Or something along those lines.  I’ve heard just about every comment there is when it comes to others inviting themselves over to my homestead in case of emergency.  Usually I smile and say, “We’d love to have you.  Just make sure to bring your supply of toilet paper.  That—I don’t share.”  They laugh and then we go on with our regularly scheduled lives.

I used to get frustrated with these comments but now they make me sad.  Seems that people want to trust others with their lives and well being in case of some natural or man-made disaster.   So many “what ifs?” can apply to this scenario. 

What if…they can’t get to my house for whatever reason?

What if…they get here but I’m gone and took all my supplies?

What if…they get here and I don’t have room for them?

What if…they get here and they’re allergic to the food I have stored?

What if…they get here and they don’t like some of the others that have come?

What if…they get here and they don’t have their medicine?

Rather than leave preparedness to someone else and their likes/dislikes and way of life, I suggest we all take responsibility to think and plan out what their needs are.

Where to start?  That seems to be the hard part for everyone.  It’s such a vast topic.  Preparedness.  One can never be completely prepared for every scenario.  I’d like to suggest a few very simple ideas that you can do for free.  Really.

1. Think.  Use the computer or an old-fashioned piece of paper and pencil and start to make a list.  List all of the scenarios that could possibly happen in your area.  Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, ice storms etc.  Now start with the one that is most likely to happen the most often.  Create a sub-list of what you and your family need to survive that scenario. 

In the case of ice storms, you’ll need an alternative source of heat and cooking, blankets and warm clothes. 

Do the same for your top three scenarios.  You’ll notice that many of the supplies needed for one will work for the others. 

Now, start working on what it is exactly you CAN do.  What CAN you afford?  Do you feel like a generator is the most important supply you can have?  Can you afford it?  If not, you’ll need to start saving. Make a plan. If you have blankets around the house that you don’t necessarily use, put those in a designated place for your preparations.  Just keep moving forward that way.

I will GUARANTEE that as you make plans and actually follow through on the plans, your mind will make a pathway of thought causing you to realize your goals.  This will become a way of life for

you.

2.    Take an inventory.  Figure out exactly what you do have.  You don’t necessarily need to go out and buy a whole bunch of stuff.  You’d be surprised what you already have.

3.    Declutter.  Get rid of stuff you don’t need.  It’s taking up valuable space in your home and in your mind that is preventing you from creating a prepared home.  Many books have been written on the subject.  The one I highly recommend is called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.

Her basic premise is that if the “thing” doesn’t bring you joy...get rid of it.  I agree with that.  I have I have found that her approach is the most helpful for my family and me.  You may find some treasures you can sell to help with the purchase of food and other supplies.

4.    Identify skills you need and want to develop.  Pick one or two skills that you’ve always been interested in, i.e. beekeeping, sewing, fishing, soap making, etc. and start learning about it.  YouTube is a wonderful place to start.  It’s free.  Libraries are free.  Find a friend who has a collection of books and knowledge and ask him/her to be your mentor.  Check out www.meetup.com for self-reliance groups in your area.  Most are free to attend.  I currently belong to a couple and I host one myself.  I go out with group to learn how to forage for wild edibles.  I love that group.  Another group is a little more hardcore.  I enjoy the people and the knowledge I’m learning and it’s all for free.  I teach just about everything in my group like fermentation, bread making, dry pack canning, fire making, etc.  It’s endless what can be learned for free.

Never think you’re stuck because you don’t have money.  Having skills will be more valuable could be much, much more important in a dire situation than all the gold in the world.

The goal is to become as self-reliant as possible.  You’ll feel a sense of confidence and peace in your life and home if you’ve put time and effort into applying some of these suggestions.  As I stated earlier, I know without any hesitation, this will create a way of life for you and your family and you’ll find opportunities you didn’t know you needed and you’ll be ready to take advantage of them.

I look forward to hearing all that you will accomplish.  Good luck!