Grow Your Own

  This is the first of many posts that I will be doing about self reliance. They will be called "Grow Your Own". I am doing this because I realized that not every body knows how to garden in large or small spaces. AND they really don't know how to garden in what I call "no space". Most folks don't know how to collect water and purify it. Lots of people don't even know how to sew any more. In these uncertain   times we need to be way more self reliant, we need to know that if for some reason the stores in our towns all close or we get too poor to buy food and water we can at least produce some things ourselves. And even if nothing bad happens its really nice to not have to buy every thing. I have been an off and on gardener all of   my life and I can tell you that when I am growing at least some if not most of my food, I have been at my healthiest. I am by far no expert, but I know enough to pass on some vital skills that could save you some money, may be put you on the track to learn more, and may be even save your life.
   There are many books at your local library about organic gardening that you can check out for free. DO IT!! This will save you time and heart ache. Remember to check out some of the old books too, not just the newer fancy ones with all the photoshoped pictures in them. If you can, buy some organic gardening books to keep on hand. If you find some good ones NEVER LET THEM GO!!!!! Look up as many organic gardening web sites and blogs as you can stand. Also check out books about herbs and wild edibles. Keep these on hand if you can as well.

As you can see I am growing some wheat grass in an old cookie bin from Trader Joe's. I try to reuse any old container that is deep enough to plant stuff in. The container can be as shallow as 2 in. and as deep as a foot or more depending on what you want to grow. If you are just sprouting or growing a little wheat grass then use some thing that is 2 to 4 inches. If you want to grow something bigger use 4 inches and above. Right now we live in a 23 foot RV so we do not have much room, so we mostly grow wheat grass, various bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts. We hope to expand our little garden when we get a different R.V. I plan to grow some tomatoes,carrots, onions, spinach, lettuce, straw berries, herbs, and anything that I can fit into small containers and a small space. Plants are quite accommodating, if you give them good organic soil, water, and enough sun light, they will grow most any place.(have you ever seen plants growing in the cracks of a sidewalk or in an unkempt rain gutter?) Well if they can do that, then surly they can grow in a pot or even an old hub-cap with your loving care. Some places to learn about what plant types will grow good in the space and climate that you have are organic gardening books, organic gardening magazines and organic seed catalogs. Stuff like lettuce, spinach,  some herbs and straw berries can and like to grow in small spaces. They also have shallow roots so they can grow in as little as four inches of soil. A four foot by two foot area can grow a lot of salad greens. Just remember to use good soil, grow them in the cooler months and water them. Straw berries are perennials so if you take care of them and trans plant them every so often you'll have them for ever! As I said I will be expanding the garden when we get a new rig. And as I do so I will be posting what we are doing in hopes that it will inspire folks to take the time to grow some thing even if it's only just sprouts or a few veggies. Here's a link to the Sprout People's web site just in case you want to start out with sprouts.sproutpeople.org