Putting Down Roots

One of the best ways to start homesteading, (if not THE best), is to plant a garden. Anyone, regardless of your living situation, budget limitations, plant knowledge, disabilities or amount of free time, can and should grow some of their own food. There are many benefits to growing your own food, such as having a more economical and healthier food source than what grocery stores offer and it's a great reliever of stress, anxiety and depression. So where do you start?

You can start small and most will suggest you do so! Gardening is not a race, you do not need to catch up to anyone else and with time, you will get to where you want to be.

So what if you fail? Then you try again! I'm going to be honest, not everything is going to go smoothly, you will make mistakes and things will happen, that's just part of the experience. We started attempting to grow some of our food in 2014. That year we started late, attempting a fall crop, but we chose the wrong varieties of plants and failed. In 2015 we tried again, using the square foot gardening method and we had more success. However, we did not have enough planted of any one crop for the size of our family and our efforts went up in a blaze when we lost our house. This year we are back at it and we're accompanied by a load more knowledge than what we started with! So far things look like they're going to go better this season.

So where exactly do you begin? Some people will tell you plan, plan and plan some more. I am not that person! I have spent years planning and the problem is it's easy to get caught up in the planning and never get to the doing. So my advice, just do it! There is no quick fix or easy answer. Different things work for different people regardless of the areas they live or soil they have. So, pick something your family enjoys eating, as there is really no point in growing things you hate, do minimal research and get to putting down roots. You might not have compete success, but you'll be learning, you'll be doing and just those things alone will make you feel accomplished and better about your efforts.