Hey everyone, welcome to Boone Appétit! I wanted to talk today about growing your own food. I know most of us don’t have a lot of land to grow a huge abundance of food, but anything you grow yourself is usually better than store bought items . Most of the country has been cooped up at home and just getting outside can be a huge relief. It’s been proven that gardening can lower blood pressure and relieve stress so you’ve got nothing to lose!
There’s many ways we can grow things these days. You can plant a large garden in your backyard or a few small pots on your window sill. You can grow in soil or in water. First thing to decide is how much commitment are you willing to put in and how much space do you have? The second thing to think about is, what is it you really want to grow? I love growing , and eating, a salsa garden. Tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and onions, all are pretty easy to grow. I also like having fresh herbs to clip and add to dishes and I raise these outside and in the kitchen window. You may want to try and grow without soil using kits like the one in the picture or dip your toes into the world of hydroponics (growing in water) with a kit like the Salad Box by Hydrofarm. The great thing about Hydroponics is that you can grow fresh greens, all year around, but it does take a little more money to get started.
If you decide to grow outside in soil, depending on where you live you might want to do a soil test , at least for lead. It’s almost a given if you live in an older home that the ground closest to the house will have lead in it from years of chipping and peeling paint. Creating a raised bed is one way to work around the lead problem and having a raised bed actually helps the soil to be warmer and extends your growing season a little. You can use 2inch x 12inch x 8ft pine boards if you can’t find cedar. Please don’t use pressure treated wood as the chemicals will leach into your soil. Pine won’t last as long as Cedar but for the cost it’s a great way to start. You’ll need three boards with one cut in half to make a nice manageable 4 foot by 8 foot garden patch. Fill it with some organic soil from your local nursery and you’re good to go. Later if you get into it read some articles on amending the soil and creating living soil. Soon you’ll have an amazing garden with an abundance of fresh vegetables or flowers. You may want to plant fruit trees or berry bushes all of which are great ideas, just don’t think you’ll get fruit right away, apples take at least five years to start producing and berry bushes at least a year.
To get started I’d recommend growing some easy things first that give a nice harvest , especially if you have kids. Beans are amazing growers and you can try sprouting dried beans from your kitchen if you have a bag laying around. Start them in a few small cups of soil on your window sill and transfer them outside after they’re about 4-6 inches tall. If you have any old potatoes laying around that have started to grow eyes you can plant those as well. Cut the potato in 1 inch chunks being careful not to damage the eyes and pop them into a hole in the ground and put about 1 inch of soil on the top.Growing potatoes can be fun because you won’t believe how many you get from one plant until you get your hands into the soil and start harvesting after the leaves have turned yellow. One year I had over 20 pounds from about 4 plants! Greens are also super easy and hardy. I found a couple of onions that had sprouted too, you can remove the outer layers of the onions and remove the “bulb” with the green sprout, place it in water and in about a week or so roots will start growing and you can place that in the ground and watch it grow. The Kale in the picture actually over wintered and is growing like crazy right now. I know its not everyones favorite but it is packed with a lot of nutrition. You can do what I do and juice it with an apple or banana and you won’t even know its there. Or one mother I read about put Kale into the food processor, then stirred it into mashed potatoes and called them Martian mashed and her kids ate them up! Zucchini, Summer Squash and cucumbers are also easy to grow. Tomatoes are a favorite of most gardeners and everyone should have at least a couple tomato plants growing. They can be grown in pots on your porch too. Try cherry tomatoes they’re easy to grow and abundant.
Whatever you decide, growing a garden is a great way to stay connected to the earth and keeps us grounded. We sometimes forget where our food comes from and we take things for granted. There’s also a sense of pride that comes from harvesting your own food and serving it to family and friends. Growing it organically can also reduces the pesticides in your body and the ground! I’m going to say it tastes better and studies have shown organically grown food also contains more nutrients. I’d like to go into more depth but that would take more blog posts. In the future I may post more about gardening. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the box below and if you have any tips or tricks or favorite things you like growing please share them with the rest of us. The more we share with each other the richer our lives will be. Keep calm and garden on! Until next time Boone Appétit.
