Growing My Own Food

I believe we could all be a little more self-sufficient. My grandparents had many skills when they lived in their rural community years ago. My Great-Grandfather plowed the field behind his house and planted potatoes. My brother still has a scythe that he used to mow hay! For me, it is too easy to go to the grocery store and buy whatever food item I desire. I don’t have to struggle in the dirt and grow stuff…or do I?

But what if our food supply became scarce? What if you couldn’t get some food items?  I decided to learn a skill this past year and the skill I chose was growing some of my own food. I am hoping this will increase my food security. I will explain what I did in this blog.

Did you know that 100 years ago a vast majority of the U.S. population grew most of their own food and lived on farms? Most people had a garden and a flock of chickens. Some had cattle and goats. In 1920 there were about 6.5 million farms. They provided food for their families and shared with their neighbors. They sold the excess to people in nearby towns and cities.

But today there are far fewer farms. In 2021 the number of farms dropped to 2.0 million. How do we eat if there are not enough farms to provide food? Do we really have “food security” in this country with such a drop in farming?

In reality, many of the farms today are monolithic operations owned by giant corporations and grow food on thousands of acres. We call that “Big Agriculture”. They use tons of pesticides, herbicides and GMO seeds. Something I want to stay away from.

I decided to lessen my dependency on “Big Ag” and have an alternative food supply. One thing I did was start going to my local farmers market and buying food from people that I know and can talk to. I learn about their methods of animal husbandry and growing food. (You can’t do that at your supermarket!) When Covid-19 hit in early 2020, our supermarket got low on things like eggs and dairy. Everyone flocked to the farmers market and the market experienced a surge in interest.

This prompted me to be more proactive.  I became a farmer!  I planted vegetables in my own yard. However, I discovered that while I am good at growing native flowers and bushes (my yard won Yard of the Month in my neighborhood) I am miserable at growing vegetables. My early spring harvest was poor (the bugs ate everything!).  But I learned a few things and have made some changes. My fall garden has been more successful. Here is my backyard garden. It is 4’X8’ and was made from a kit I got at Home Depot (the Cedar Raised Garden Kit). (I had to get approval from my homeowner’s association to build it.)

I also have another garden located a few miles away in a community horticulture club (see below). It is 4X25 feet. I rent this bed for $40 a year.

I have grown chard, collards, lettuce, tomatoes, dill, cucumbers, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, black-eyed peas and green peas.

I have had trouble growing butternut squash, and yellow squash, zucchini and leeks. These plants don’t seem to thrive. My one lovely zucchini was growing nicely until it disappeared. Gone. Maybe some animal hauled it away for dinner.

Mind you, I do not get bushels of veggies as I only plant a couple of seedlings of every variety. I am figuring out what grows best and what I like the best. As I get comfortable with my skills, I will grow more.

Below are my learnings and recommendations:

• Start seeds indoors to get a jump on the growing season. Most seeds need warm soil to germinate (60-70 degrees). If it is too cold in early spring or too hot in late summer to plant outside, you can start seeds indoors.
• Start seeds in 4-inch pots (not the little 1-inch peat cups shown in the photo above). The roots need room to grow.
• Water daily after planting seeds (they must be damp to sprout)
• Use a strong LED light indoors that puts out 5000K so the plants won’t get leggy. Position it about 6 inches away.
• Outdoors, pick a full sun location (at least six hours) for your garden. Remove weeds, grass and rocks. Use wire fence to keep deer & rabbits away!
• “Topsoil” is best, but even sandy soil will work.  Add lots of compost (maybe 30 percent to 50 percent into your garden). Find compost at a garden store.
• Add soil amendments such as sulfates (to acidify) molasses (good for soil bacteria) and cottonseed meal (fertilizer). That is what I learned from my county extension agent.
• Check plants every day to catch a bug infestation and keep plants watered. Have an organic, safe, insect/fungicide spray handy like “Monterey B.T.”
• Fertilize after plants get started. I use “Alaska Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1  (Home Depot) but Miracle Grow will also work.
• Go online to ask questions when you don’t know how to harvest something.

Attend your local county extension agent meetings on how to grow things in your area.

Since it gets very hot here in central Texas in the summer, I don’t get much yield from late July/August/September. However, I planted some black-eyed peas as a “cover crop” in July and got a fair yield.  Black-eyed peas don’t mind the heat.

This last spring, I made tomato sauce with all the tomatoes (recipe).  My husband has made pickles from small cucumbers.

This fall my garden produced about 5 heads of broccoli and a couple heads of cauliflower. I par-boiled these and put them in the freezer. I was happy enough with that yield.  My dill grew really well and I have cut and dried some and bottled it up. The cabbages are still maturing at this time.

When I think back on this gardening adventure, I have had more successes than failures.  I am grateful to the “Garden Gods” for this. As it is now January when I write this, I need to start thinking about ordering seeds and planning for the spring garden. Oh! The mailman just delivered the latest seed catalog!  I need to go and “leaf” through it!  I will end here with a couple of paragraphs of great American agricultural rhetoric by Paul Harvey – “So God Made a Farmer”

“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker” — so God made a Farmer.

“And God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board”

“And God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadowlark.”

And “the rest of the story” is here.

Always talk to your health professional before starting anything new.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any condition and is intended only for entertainment. I welcome your comments.