Grow Your Own Food

“This year we have attempted to grow as much of our own food as possible in the city. In our society growing food yourself has become the most radical of acts. It is truly the only effective protest, one that can – and will – overturn the corporate powers that be.”
Path to Freedom – The Original Modern Urban Homestead

home grown asparagus — Home Grown Asparagus

Tremendous progress achieved by the trucking, frozen food, and food processing industry is getting fruits and vegetables to the market as close to fresh picked as possible. Foods from the U.S., namely California, Florida, Arizona are available throughout the entire nation during winter months when this production over the rest of the country is at a standstill.

Even with the crusade by industry and local groups to achieve the quality of garden and the progress made in this direction, I have yet to taste the equal of home grown food. Eating a strawberry within an hour of it being alive on the plant is only attainable one way, picking it off the plant yourself. The only way to achieve this quality is to grow your own food. The health and taste of food grown in healthy organic soil is a condition that even organic growers, never mind the commercial industry cannot ever hope to attain.

A home food grower with even the tiniest bit of growing space can, if selectively planted, yield a surprising amount of food. In fact a gardening space of 15×20 will take care of much of the vegetable needs of a family of four. The phrase “selectively” planted means avoiding sprawling plants like vine squashes and melons. It is also unlikely that corn could be accommodated.

Small space consumers like carrots, beets, lettuce, bush beans, onions, turnips, radish, kohlrabi, spinach, and bush summer squash all recommend them to a limited garden space. Square foot and other “intensive” gardening methods help obtain maximum yields. Vertical gardening is another method that can be employed to conserve space.

To gain full use of limited space plant “early” or quickly maturing vegetables like radishes, lettuce, turnips, beets, and the quick yielding bush bean will, after harvesting, permit second plantings of additional veggies for a late fall harvest.

Growing Vegetables for Food

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy
Seed Starting Basics
Vegetables in Containers
Top crops for pots… ha ha ha!!
Ten Steps To the Best Little Farm
Follow these ten sustainable organic garden principles to make your little farm the best it can be!

Corn

Three Sisters
A time tested trio used by the American Indians.

Cruciferous

(Cabbage and Mustard Family) including Broccoli, Kale, and hmmm… Brussell Sprouts!

How to Grow Broccoli
Cruciferous Vegetables and Winter Gardening
How to Grow Cabbage & Kale
History of Cabbage and Kale

Cucumbers

Growing Cucumbers
Learn How to Plant, Pick and Preserve This Crisp Vining Squash

Greens

The Magic of Leafy Greens
How to grow lettuce and other cool weather greens.
Lettuce & Mixed Salad Green
Popular mixed greens to grow in your garden.
Growing Lettuce
Growing Lettuce in Containers

Legumes (Peas, Green Beans, Lima Beans, etc)

How to Grow Green Beans
The bean is a tender, warm season vegetable that ranks second to tomato in popularity in home gardens.

Root Crops

Alliums
Growing healthy onions, garlic, chives, shallots, leeks, and scallions. Find solutions to problems with growing, pests and disease.
Long Day and Short Day Onions
How to Organically Grow Beets
From top to bottom, beets are a nutritious, delicious plant to eat.
How to Grow Carrots Organically
Where did Carrots Come From?
Where do you think carrots originated? We’re not talking about the wild carrots that only a rabbit might consider delectable. We’re talking about the nice thick tuber, (now) orange and full of Vitamin A.
Horseradish
The name “horseradish” is thought to have come from an English adaptation of its German name.
How to Grow Garlic
When you go to the grocery, you’re most apt to find only “generic” garlic. But go to a farmer’s market in the summer and fall, and you’ll likely find at least a few of the dozens of garlic varieties available. Why take a chance on finding some of these when it is incredibly easy to grow your own?
How to Store Root Crops
Have your fall garden of root crops mature as late as possible by planting as late as possible. Cold weather sweetens the roots and you’ll be putting the freshest produce into a cool root cellar, garage or back porch.
What To Store In A Root Cellar
Ideal Storage Temperatures, Relative Humidity, and Average Storage Life
Using A Root Cellar to Preserve Food

Tomatoes

Tomatoes
Seed Starting Tips for Tomatoes
Starting tomatoes from seed is a very rewarding experience. Watching them grow from a tiny seed into a towering plant full of the most delicious taste experience ever is tremendously fun! It may have a few days of hard work involved, depending on how many tomato plants you decide to grow, but still, fun!
How to Choose Tomato Plants
Tomatoes are consistently the most popular vegetable in American gardens. But for most gardeners, just any old tomato won’t do. How do you choose tomato plants? Some like them red, some like them yellow, orange or even purple! Fortunately, there are almost 700 different tomato varieties in cultivation today.
Tomato Container Garden
Tomato container gardens are an alternative to a traditional tomato garden. Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables of people around the world.
Tomato Pests & Diseases
Although tomatoes are relatively easy to grow, there can be problems with a variety of tomato pests and disease. Here are listed the most common and ways to reduce your risk and how to deal with them.
Extend Your Tomato Harvest
Extend tomato harvest from your garden and enjoy them longer when you take these simple steps in late summer and early fall. Here are the steps for extending tomato harvest

Winter Gardening

Many Winter Vegetables Can Be Grown In Containers
The satisfaction of growing fresh vegetables is undeniable, but many gardeners do not have a suitable in-ground location to grow them.