30 Days to Learn Vegetable Gardening

Improve Your Skills With Tips From a Master Farmer.

Every time we plant a seed, it’s an affirmation of the future — and we can use that right now.

Preparing your food is empowering. Knowing how to cook a few things is the first step to becoming more self-sufficient — realizing you don’t have to eat out or buy frozen food.

I’ve been gardening since I was a child and an organic vegetable farmer for over ten years. My passion is spreading the word- everyone can grow food.

The second step is learning how to grow some of your food.

Gardening was a skill that nearly everyone learned, until the second half of the 20th century.

However, most people do not know how to grow food anymore. Many hopeful gardeners give it a try, but their under-nourished crops attract insects, fall to disease, and grow spindly. Discouraged, they abandon the project.

“To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil.” — — Xenophon, Oeconomicus, 400 B.C.

In some countries, growing food is still a significant part of everyday life. China has been encouraging urban vegetable production since the 1960s, and fifty percent of Beijing’s produce is now grown within the city.

Traveling by train in Italy last fall, I could peer into the backyards along the tracks. Nearly every home had a vegetable garden tucked along the side of the house or in the unused strip of soil near the tracks.

I could see olive trees and fruit trees, beehives, and often chickens. As a vegetable farmer from Texas, I’d get excited to see Toscano kale, collards, and colorful chard from the train window.

Author shopping in Orvieto, Italy. photo credit J. Drake

The bounty was reflected at the Farmers Market as I shopped for a picnic lunch.

Gardening is good for us — body, mind, and bank account.

And like cooking, once you know the basics, it’s not that hard.

Much of the produce available in grocery stores now is tasteless, doesn’t store well, and often lacking in nutrients — not ideal for building a healthy body. Everyone who grows their vegetables naturally eats more of them, too.

When you grow your food, you know it will be organic. It reduces the resources required to produce and ship your vegetables thousands of miles, and it can save you money.

It also provides a welcome alternative to hours spent sitting in front of the computer and gives you some exercise.

Growing food is a wonderful activity — how many hobbies can you eat? Gardening reduces stress and is a project your entire family can enjoy.

Keep reading over the next few weeks, and I’ll teach you the basics — from the ground up.

Whether you have a small balcony or a place in the country, you can grow something to eat.