Growing Your Own Food

George Bucheimer

Barefooters
Dec 1, 2013
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I've been thinking about renting a small plot of land to grow my own vegetables. I might try some fruit as well but I think that fruit will take a lot longer and be pretty tough to grow where I live in Maryland.

I'm not planning on becoming vegan or following a strictly "paleo" diet or anything, but I would like to hear some advice on the types of foods that would be well worth my time to grow, because of health benefits or the amount of food that they (the plants) yield.

I've also learned that the maximum growing season you can get here in Maryland is about 6-7 months, which is a bummer, so I am also curious about people's experiences who grow their own food year round (those who live in warmer/more temperate areas).

Here is what is on my list of possible things to grow this year:

Lima Beans
Beets
Lettuce
Cabbage
Kale
Onions
Peppers
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes

I've heard that dark leafy greens and nuts (walnuts) are some of the most healthy foods out there. My grandfather has a couple of walnut trees in his back yard and he said that he has friends who give him 5 gallon buckets of walnuts every year, he said he can give me a lot of those.

But yeah, obviously I won't be able to grow all this stuff my first time ever growing, so let me know what you all think would be best, or if you have any other recommendations about things to grow.
 
Hi George,

I live in a studio condo with a small patio, plus I keep pretty busy when I'm not relaxing. I do love gardening, especially to grow food. I think edible landscaping is the way to go if you have a yard, even a small one. Ornamental may be pretty, but you can have pretty edibles and eat them too. Way better than cake (as in "You can't have your cake and eat it too" - you could if cakes grew on trees).

Even though I buy most of my food at local groceries, Trader Joe's, and outdoor farmer's markets, and accept excess fruit from friends, family, neighbors and co-workers (Southern California is wonderful!), I have thought a lot about growing my own food, maybe after I win the lottery (hey, I'm not moving away from my condo across the highway from the beach, unless it's to move to a larger more expensive home on the other side of the highway nearer the beach)...

If you have limited space and time, you'll want to get the most bang from what little land you do have. I suggest planting crops that produce fruit that is normally expensive in stores. While an avocado tree may take a while to fruit, when it does you have some nice tasty rich fruit that costs a dollar or more each in the stores (organically grown, even higher). Cherimoya costs as much as good steak per pound, and all you need do is plant a seed and watch it grow. We planted one at Cathy's parent's home about 10 years ago. Now it produces hundreds of dollars worth of sweet pudding tasting fruit!

P.S. Fruit trees are long-term investments, and require little care, other than annual or bi-annual trimming - so consider that even if they won't give you fruit right now, you still have plenty of space around and under each tree to plant other foods, and eventually, as you get older, food will be almost literally falling from the sky - Eureka!

If you don't have your own land, take advantage of relatives, friends, and neighbors, who may like some food growing in their yard, but may be unable or too busy to care for it. We regularly visit Cathy's parents about 30 miles away, and trim their fruit trees, and help them eat the harvest. They have an average size lot just outside of Los Angeles, and have apples, figs, lemons, kumquats, guavas, mint, Asian dates, pears, etc. growing in their back and front yards.

Nuts are usually pretty pricey in stores and farmer's markets, which makes them worthwhile contenders for your land. You can also grow smaller crops under the trees. At a couple dollars a pound, tomatoes are well worth growing in small places, and they grow in most climates.

I'm using examples mostly that grow well here in California, so you'll need to consider your own climate, and which costs for each type of fruit, nut, and vegetable make it worthwhile. Colder climates are good for berries, cherries, apples, plums, even grapes, etc.. I lived my first 24 years in the Cherry Capital of the World (Traverse City) in northwestern lower Michigan. I wouldn't bother much with potatoes, beans, corn, carrots, etc., since these are usually pretty inexpensive to buy ... unless you have lots of space and want them fresh from the ground.

Greens are fine and can be grown in raised gardens, pots, on even on window sills inside a window, etc. just remember, you WILL be sharing some of your harvest (at least outdoors) with local wildlife, so grow enough with that in mind.

My family used to go to the local forests and forage morel mushrooms (which I didn't like as a younger child), wild raspberries, blackberries, etc.. Which brings up another consideration, if you have areas where you can still forage for such berries, why use your own land to grow those same berries? Grow something a little more "exotic" ... well not entirely exotic, it needs to thrive in your climate.

Which brings up another thought; greenhouses, which could simply be a frame with a clear vinyl covering. Still, it doesn't need to appear tacky - be creative and artistic. After all, you need to live with it (as well as your neighbors).

I also don't concern myself too much with whether foods are organic or "conventionally" grown, EXCEPT in the cases of greens, where pesticides are likely sprayed directly on the part of the plant we eat! Also, the certification process for "organic" producers, may make it difficult for small family growers to provide "certified organic", even though they may be using more sustainable techniques than some of the organic producers. Plant-based foods nearly all come from dirt :) so don't be snobbish...

The most important thing about this, or any other adventure, is just like with running barefoot, relax, relax, RELAX!

and HAVE FUN!
-Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton
 
Hi George,
Growing your own veggies is great!
There are some things to consider for your plantations: climate (that's pretty obvious), the kind of soil you have on your patch of land (which might not be ideal for every kind of vegetable you wish to grow), the kind of gardening/farming you would like to practice (organic, biodynamic, homa farming ... to name just a few of the healthy kind)
Organizing where to plant what and when is also important from one year to the next. Rotation of cultures is a must.
Have fun!
 
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I think if your renting land you need to stick to annuals and your list looks good to me... heck even on my land I've wanted to grow fruits and berries and other perrenial veggies but didn't yet, and now looks like I might be moving sometime.

Ken Bob has it right about the greens, I had a couple good rows of varies lettuce and some kale and the whole thing was eaten in a couple days. Luckily most of it grew back!

I've had a pretty good sized garden the last few years, but always struggle on the other end - using it all. When your growing your food, you need to be ready to use or preserve it when its ripe. For a small garden its not much a concern but if your really growing enough to live off for a year, its a lot to deal with all at once. Larger gardens can be a real hassle to keep up with weeding too, or more work/money upfront putting down mulch or weed farbric or whatever. I go back and forth about what method works best for me.

I really can't wait until I feel like I've settled down property wise and put in a nice orchard and gardens. I hope to have all sorts of fruits and berries, and besides fresh eating, drying, freezing, and canning, I'd like to experiment with wine, and perhaps even distill into eau-de-vie.

I really havent given much thought into what exactly I grow in terms of money, just what I find I'll use the most and what I know I like. I'd say my most used garden veggies are peppers and tomatoes. I grow many different types of peppers (the orange/yellow/red bells are pricey at the store too) and a veriety of hot peppers too. And several types of tomatoes but the biggest crop is San Marzano tomatoes I use for sauce and salsa. I love making salsa, can use it for every meal of the day, and the ingredients don't need to be exact and each batch is a little different. I'll can a lot of it too, it might be a little time consuming and tedious to can, but really its pretty easy.

Speaking of wich its about time to start thinking about starting seeds indoors, wish I knew for sure what we are going to do with the house. This year might be no garden for me. :(
 
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