This is what you need to start growing your own food:
1. empty egg carton
2.seeds
3. seed starter-soil
The most expensive item will be the seeds. I choose different ones to try each year in a different plot, that way, I am excited about the results. This is my hobby after all; it feeds us in more ways than one.
Usually, I plant Territorial Seeds, from Oregon.
I use what I have at hand to create my starters. This year, I crushed the egg shells at the bottom of the container to see if the extra calcium will do some good. I do not bother to poke holes, as the paper is porous and will leak out any extra moisture. When the plants have grown out of them, I plant the entire pod, paper and all.
Everything will fit and disentegrate in the ground.
You can use pots to grow vegetables.
I started my daughter with a couple of planters and a big black pot. In the planters I had spinach,lettuces and peas. In the big black pot, three kinds of tomatoes. She was hooked after that. Three things to take care of. I showed her that an upside down water bottle with a single hole can continue to water her pot for days.
This year, she is converting her lawn, building raised beds, and using compost she built all winter long. She'll save a few hundred dollars on food. Most importantly, she'll taste what food really tastes like when it is has not been contaminated and fussed over with chemicals.
Notice that I am trying some new Italian seeds because I was told these have not been engineered. Besides, they remind me of the special greens I had growing up in Italy: rapini, radicchio, finocchio. I even found Papaveri, poppies, that will grow to an enormous size. I'm looking forward to these experiments.
This beautiful hillside can also grow edibles for me. I have lots of herbs here and there: lavender, camomille, thyme, rosemary, oregano, sorrel, bay.
In my lower garden, I can grow peas, favas, artichokes and berries without any problems.
So, try raising something from seed.
Try including edibles among your ornamentals.
Find out what grows best in your area and indulge yourself.
You will be rewarded!
