Growing your own food can be one of the most rewarding, enjoyable, and tasty projects you take on this season, big or small! January is a perfect time to start thinking about what you want to grow. You can browse through a variety of seeds at Johnny’s Seeds from Maine.
{NOTE:} Look for Seed Libraries in your area. Each year many people save seeds and share the love.
When you make the decision to garden, you are allowing yourself to have a new relationship with your food. The act of gardening adds more than just future nutrition on your plate. It gives you the experience of opening your heart to the plant, a living thing with lots of beautiful energy to share with you in return. The process of caring for the plants support a grounding opportunity, as you place your hands and your feet into the soil, rich with nutrients. The air, water and nature are also forms of nutrition for you, because they create a positive energy that will be absorbed through all of your senses. This is a tool that may help with stress and anxiety in your life.
{NOTE} Gardening is a tool for growing your nutrition practice. (That’s why I do it!)
Sustainable gardening tips.
1. Start composting: food waste, grass clippings, leaves, charcoal, and manure.
2. Select size and location for your garden – remember a couple plants is all it takes!
3. Select your seeds: annual and perennials OR purchase plants from a local farmer.
4. Gather tools and supplies – keep it simple! Plan on getting your hands dirty.
5. Build your garden: lay your tarp, turn soil, lay compost, cover with leaves.
6. Start seeds in flats and trays – place them in a sunny spot inside your house or greenhouse.
7. Clear garden and plant crops – use a row sequence OR follow instructions on your seed packet.
8. Fertilize and cultivate (the weeds) – nourish the plants with water + nutrients if needed.
9. Harvest crop – Be grateful for what nature as provided.
10. Cover garden at the end of season and reflect on your experience.
{Most importantly! Enjoy what you grew.}
Benefits of growing your own food:
1. Nutrition – Increasing your nutrients + flavor of food in your life.
2. Sustainable – Sustaining your life, food and happiness.
3. Education – Learning about the plants, food + even yourself.
4. Connection to food – Cultivating healthy relationships with food. Releasing old unhealthy ones.
5. Environment – Less carbon footprint.
Compost is the heart of the organic or traditional farm. Composting is a thoughtful, deliberate act and requires diligence, but its rewards are ever-so-dear to our health and soil. By collecting plant debris and allowing it to decompose over time, we create a soil that is rich and full of nutrients. When we give back to the land, the vitamins and minerals present in the compost, make their way through the roots and the stems of the plants we grow, and eventually onto our plates.
Get going with some start-up plants with these easy steps:
Collect the following materials from your local gardening store:
1. Organic soil and some stones
2. Small pots or trays
3. Seeds
4. Water
Steps:
1. Lay some stones in the bottom for drainage.
2. Fill the pot about 2/3’s with soil
3. Make finger-tip deep holes in the soil
4. Sprinkle in the seeds, amount will depend on plant variety
5. Cover the seeds up with the soil, water, and place in the sun.
6. Now just wait for the seeds to sprout, continue to water & move to a larger pot if needed!
