We recently purchased a home with some acreage and I plan to get a hearty garden started this spring in an effort to produce my own food for free. I am going to grow as many different fruits and vegetables I can. The property even came with a couple dozen blueberry bushes, 2 Apple trees, a Siberian pea tree, strawberry bushes, and a Pear Tree. What do you grow to eat at home?
That is awesome, @Rosyrain , and it sounds like you will be having all sorts of good fruit to eat later this summer. I imagine that you must also have some of those giant blackberries that the West Coast is so famous for ? that is one of the things that I miss most from living out there, is all of the delicious blackberries. I have started some here; but the berries just don't get as large, or as juicy as those out west get, with all of that rain. We don't have any fruit to speak of yet; but I have planted a few raspberry bushes, blackberries, some strawberries, blueberries, and we also have two peach trees, an apple tree, a pear tree, and a small fig tree. Last summer, we had lots of blossoms; but didn't get fruit; so this year, we intend to watch the fruit trees closer, and use netting if we have to , so we can keep the birds from eating all of the strawberries, and maybe the little peaches. The main problem that we have is that this neighborhood has a lot of huge old leaf trees, so once they leaf out in the spring, everything is shaded all summer, and nothing gets as much sunshine as it needs to really grow and produce. My tomato plants all turned out tall and scraggly last year; so this year, I will just buy the fresh ones at the farmers market, and try to get the fruit and berries growing better.
Another strange thing I saw was people growing food indoors - but not in a greenhouse. Anyhow, I think growing your own food whether outside, in a greenhouse, or in your living room is an awesome idea because it's probably way cheaper and it's also safer for your health. Nonetheless, some stumbling blocks occur. For one thing, people don't have enough land or room to grow an adequate amount of crops. How could people get around that problem?
Like I don't have much space go grow plants of my choices but I have bought and planted pot plants of various herbs and vegetables that can be grown easily. These days there are all kinds of hybrid plants that give you fruits just as the plants grows few cms. These varities make it so easy to make a pot garden.
It is one of my fondest dreams to have a land of my own so that I could something to till and to plant as a good source for foods like vegetables and fruits. Several years ago, I was able to purchase a small piece of residential lot which is enough for my small house to be built and sad to note there is no space for a garden where to raise various kinds of veggies, root crops and fruit trees. I do appreciate people like you who have the urge to growing foods. I know it is the good source for an organic products. I wish the best of everything for your good intention. I know for sure you won't regret of doing that. More power for such endeavor for you will not only helping yourself, your family but you are setting a good example to the people around youl
One of the easiest ways to grow food almost anywhere is with indoor gardening and using grow lights. You can plant foods that do not need a lot of room to grow, or that have smaller root systems, and grow them in a sunny window, and almost anywhere if you can set up a grow light so that they get enough sunshine. We also have a growing center that is called an Aerogarden. It is a hydroponic system, and you can add water and nutrients into the Aerogarden and grow plants to full size when you are planting smaller foods like lettuce, and even peppers or tomatoes if you have the larger Aerogarden. They come with little "grow sponges" that you can plant the seeds in, and those for into containers in the Aerogarden that submerge the bottom of the growing sponge in the nutrient water. On top is a growlight that ensures plenty of light for the emerging seedlings, and you can adjust the height of the grow light as the seedlings grow taller. I use this to grow some foods in the house, and also as a seed starter to transplant some foods outside once they are large enough to transplant. Since the Aerogarden does not take up a lot of room, and it has its own lighting system, it can be used anywhere to grow food or even flowers.
Wow! What a nice place you've got right there I always wanted to have my own garden, and ranch I like to grow different kinds of plants and fruit trees. I would like to have an orchard of mangoes and apples, strawberries and lemons. I would also like to plant different veggies. Unfortunately, I don't have a huge place to plant since my place is too small
Oooh, blackberries, yum! I do have a few of those bushes near the back of the property. We moved into this house at the beginning of the fall and so I have no idea what all goodies I have here already. I can hardly wait for spring to get here. My husband is going to build me some raised beds so I do not have to kill my back while gardening. I will be buying seeds in a couple weeks and have read several gardening books in the last few months. We also have a chicken coup, so I can start raising chickens soon as well. I have never raised chickens so this will be a fun adventure.
In a tropical country like where I live, planting edibles is common. And since we don't have harsh season, most vegetables can be planted all year round. But I only plant easy to grow veggies like sweet potato, garlic, ginger, red pepper. I have tomatoes and squash that has yet to bear fruit. For the fruit trees, the star fruit is heavy with fruits while the sugar apple has some ready to harvest. It's just sad that the hundreds of mangoes were ruined by an unknown pest.
You could consider container gardening, if you do not have much space, and it solves a lot of problems,like having poor soil. You can also place the plants in different locations,like tomatoes that need full sun or lettuce that needs partial shade to do its best. You can put the plants in window boxes and place them in containers and not, do so much tilling and digging. This way of gardening, cuts down on weeds and is also better for keeping insects and critters out.
I have a vegetable garden because I want veggies with no pesticides and GMO . I am now also raising my own protein source. I keep hens for eggs, Yup they lay eggs without a rooster. I don't keep a rooster because they are illegal to keep on cities. I also keep rabbits for meat. Rabbit is the best meat source because I can feed them grass and vegetable trimmings only so I save a lot of money and I also make money because I sell their fur.
Wow. That is so good to hear. I have just started to grow plants in my home and I have 5 rose plants and 1 hibiscus. Next, I am planning to grow vegetables. Happy gardening
I have learned that you can grow food just about anywhere if you put your mind to it. I had an apartment a few years ago and actually managed to grow some cucumbers, carrots, and onions on my back deck. Small space gardening is becoming popular as more people are trying to be self-sustaining. Retailers are beginning to cater to this by selling small space gardening containers and horizontal vegetable garden supplies. I am so excited for spring to get here so I can start moving my hands around in the dirt. I already started the other day by creating a flower garden in my front yard. I have purchased a bunch of vegetable seeds...now just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit more.
I can't remember if I already mentioned here that we have planted trees in our farm. We have a growing Mango and avocado there. In our backyard, we have lemon and Malunggay also known as a Drumstick tree. The latter is used as vegetable ingredient and as herbal medicine.
@brightmind you are so lucky to have tropical fruit trees and be able to grow tropical fruits at home, sadly I do not have that luxury where I live. Only hearty fruits like apples and pears grow well here. I can't wait to see the bounty of food I am able to harvest by the end of the summer.
Growing fruits and vegetables in your own garden is the best way of eating healthy. Unfortunately, we don't have that much of space to produce our own vegetables. We, though have a terrace garden, and I try to grow small plants like Lady finger, chilli, egg plants, mint leaves, coriander leaves etc.Something is, after all, better than nothing.
I am starting to grow Oyster mushroom. It is a cheap way to grow very nutritious vegetables indoors as you can grow these mushrooms in different mediums and they love to grow in the dark. Some people grow them on wood chips or hay but I grow mine in old news papers! I am a couponer so I never run out of news papers.
I have no idea how to plan those vegetables (sweet potato, garlic, ginger, red pepper) you mentioned, but I always wanted to plant them. It is good to know they are easy to grow. I have planted some vegetables (sweet potato leaves, spring onion, basil, lady fingers or okra) and some small trees (lime, kaffir lime, lemon, mulberry), aloe vera, lemon grass, and pandan leaves. I just started to learn how to grow our own food, and learn how to manage my small garden. Among those small trees I have planted, we only got mulberries to eat, the other trees never bloom and they only attract butterflies.
In my view it's good development to cultivate a garden where we grow crops for subsistence level if we cannot take it to a larger scale. This way we are more guaranteed of very fresh produce from the harvest of the crops and economic advantages. If one can't grow the major cash crops we can have a garden of fruits and vegetables this will help the family needs a lot too.
I actually don't really like to plant, but my dad does, and he plants patola, mango, chilli, jackfruit, tamarind, calamansi, etc. to name a few. He has been buying watermelons during this summer, and I just learned that it can grow during this humid season, so I will try my luck planting the seeds next time he buys one again.
