Grow Your Own Food Self-Sufficiency

Why not grow food at home to eat? A food garden can be a precious resource when times are tough. Research what food grows easily in your area.

Becoming more self-sufficient is an excellent idea. Especially if you have a yard and the opportunity to work it. However, you really should do your research before jumping in.

In my case, I have purchased large garden beds, manure and various fertilisers over the last few years. As a result, to make back the money I have spent, by saving on food purchases, I would need to live to 103. However, by gardening ‘smarter’ you can avoid my mistakes and really enjoy your time in the garden.

Growing Your Own Food for Beginners

If you decide to take the plunge into the world of food gardening, I have two recommendations for you:

1. Grow food that thrives in your geographic area; and
2. Grow food you like to eat.

We live in the tropics and have prepared a tropical fruit trees list pointing out which fruit trees grow easily in our part of the world.

Tropical vegetables also thrive here. Consequently, we have also put together a list of some of the vegetables that grow well in the tropics.

Grow Your Own Food Indoors

High density living can create challenges. However you can still grow food at home. Smart growing can even include growing food inside your house.

Why not make use of windowsills and another available space to grow food at home? Many plants will grow inside. Good examples are basil and micro-greens.

Grow Your Own Food Benefits

Learning to grow food at home can also be extremely useful during times of natural disaster or other turmoil. Most cities have food shipped in from other areas. Should roads be blocked or traffic otherwise disrupted, food supplies can go down.

In this time of climate change we are also seeing more crop failures. This is as a result of changes in traditional climatic conditions. With normal weather conditions also pushed out of whack, there is no guarantee that crops that have always been there, will be there in the future.

Growing your own food and give your food supplies a small buffer. It cannot protect you fully from food shortages, but it may help you to have at least some food available during difficult times.

Grow your own food meaning

Where you can, collect seeds. This way you won’t have to purchase seeds to grow food at home. For example, when you purchase a pumpkin at the shops, it is great to save the seeds. They can be used later to grow your own pumpkin vine.

We do not mean growing for ‘complete self-sufficiency’. Very few of us can do that. However any level to which you can ‘increase your level of self sufficiency’ is a good thing.

Growing Our Food

Make sure you know how much water your plants need. It is very important to save on water. There is not much point growing your own food if all the money you save is being handed back to the water company. Search online to get information about the water needs of specific plants.

Mulching around your plants is a great way to save water. Some studies show mulching can save up to 50 per cent of water (which would otherwise be lost in evaporation).

Grow your own food quotes

Some quotes about growing your own food:

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Gardening is the purest of human pleasures.” – Francis Bacon

“Gardening requires lots of water, most of it in the form of perspiration.” – Lou Erickson

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn

“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.” – Gertrude Jekyll

“Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.” – Unknown

Thank you for reading how to grow food at home.

Relevant Content

• Collecting Seeds
• Green Smart Growing
• Tropical Herbs
• Tropical Vegetables

Tropical Gardening