Learn to Grow Food Right Outside Your Own Backdoor
Are you ready to get planting and learning how to grow some yummy food? It’s really not that hard to grow some of your own simple fruits and veggies right in your own backyard. It’s really fun and relaxing to do.
One of the biggest reasons for growing some of your own food is that you’ll know where it came from and that it’s completely free of pesticides. Eating clean organic veggies and fruit is great for your health and the meals will be so delicious.
What to Grow?
It’s best to get started growing some of the easy veggies and fruit such as carrots, potatoes, peas, beans, raspberries and blueberries. These are all quite low maintenance and easy to grow in smaller spaces.
It’s usually inexpensive to get your own little food garden started using the different types of creative growing methods available. There are many planter kits and vertical gardens available to purchase. You can also build one of your own to suit the space you have.
Work with What You Have
Efficient use of the space at hand is all that’s needed and it doesn’t even have to require ground area. Vertical planters and hanging planters are fun build if you have the space or just buy and they come in many different sizes and designs.
Wall mounting systems are great for smaller rooted plants such as radishes, small varieties of carrots, lettuce, spinach and herbs.
Most fruits and veggies are adaptable and will be happy growing in a container. These include bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, squash, strawberries, blueberries and many more.
This makes it possible for people who live in apartments or condos to have a garden too. The picture below is a fresh picked pile of red, yellow, black and purple raspberries all quite easily grown in containers.
The Kitchen Garden
The kitchen garden is a great way to do a little bit of gardening right on your window sill or patio. Basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow. It’s fast growing and is delicious in so many recipes.
Kids in the Garden
As you probably know, kids are eager to learn anything and everything they can, so I say teach them about gardening!
It’s really important to pass the knowledge of growing food and love of gardening on to our next generations. Food is pretty important to our survival, don’t you think?
The kids gain great satisfaction from sprouting seeds and caring for the young plants so they produce delicious food they can eat. The first time they sprout a seed and grow it into food, they’ll be amazed and so proud of themselves. Gardening makes for a lot of great activities in schools and daycares. I definitely recommend getting all kids in to gardening.
Touching and working with the soil seems to have a calming effect on kids. Playing in the soil and gardening has been shown to reduce stress in both kids and adults. Gardening is also great therapy for a wide range of physical and emotional issues.
Start with the Youngest Kids
Even really young kids and toddlers can get into the digging and planting. Just make it age and ability appropriate but not 
too restrictive at the same time.
Give the kids the room to learn and discover what soil feels like and even what soil tastes like if they want to…a bite of good old fashioned dirt won’t kill them. It may not be tidy, they might spill some seeds and soil, but they’ll love it and learn so much.
Let them get dirty and most of all let them have fun. I bet they’ll even surprise you with what they understand and are capable of doing. Enjoy that time with them, it’s priceless. You might even create a life long passion for gardening in them.
I hope you like the site, spend some time here and most of all I hope you become inspired to grow some of your own fruits and veggies in your backyard or small space.
Even if you only have room for one or two containers, then still do it. The harvest is uniquely delicious and well worth the effort.
Thank you for visiting!
Let me how I can help you get started.
Stacy
You know I’ve always said this looks like alot of work but considering the chemicals, additives and preservatives I deliver every day which goes into our foods, I think I might have to look past that and maybe start planting my own veggies. If anything it might even relax me. Alot of people say it does.
It’s a very valid motivation, there are far too many things in and on our food that we don’t realize. Gardening doesn’t have to be a lot of work, it all depends on how you approach it and how much space you are working with.
Try some of the vertical growing systems that are available and it’ll stay pretty low effort. Even if you warm up to it slowly and start with just a few easy seeds or veggies like carrots and lettuce, it’ll become easier and more familiar as time goes along.
Gardening is oddly relaxing and very peaceful. It’ll provide benefits for you that you didn’t know you needed! It’s worth learning, for sure. Let me know if you need help getting started.
Stacy, we live in the mountains in the Southwest USA and our growing season is way too short. Any suggestions for vegetables that we could extend our season by moving in a few at night or would the change in climate be too much of a shock to them. Our kids are 9 and 11, they could help with the moving. Missy
Hi Missy
I apologize for the delay in my response. Thanks for asking.
I think you are right, the temperature shock would be too much for them if you moved them in and out each day.
Do you have room for a greenhouse? If you can, using a greenhouse (of any size) will extend your season significantly.
Stacy
Hi Stacy, I think we are out of luck on this. Our front and back yard are pine trees. Wonderful to live in but not great for a garden (no sun). Sunday we are suppose to be down to 36 at night. We did have greenhouses when I was a kid but I don’t think one would do anything here? I will keep a look out this winter for a location. That would be a great experience for the family. Missy
Hi Missy
I see, the pine trees make a huge difference. I agree, they are beautiful but not helpful for gardening. 🙂 I have a lot of trees around too but there is a gap in them (thankfully) and I have everything set out exactly in the areas of the sun that get through.
Your area gets cold sooner in the year than here, we’re still in the low 50’s at night. “Frost cover” fabric can help the veggies get through the chilly nights. It should be easy to find in a nursery nearby.
Carrots actually taste a little better when they get chilled and putting mulch on top of them will extend their time to grow even further. Carrots are so easy to grow and there are many colors available to make it even more interesting for the kids. Choose a smaller variety with a mature length of 6″ or so for a faster harvest time and sweeter flavor. Lettuce and most leafy veggies prefer shady spots and broccoli and peas are also suitable for cool weather.
I hope this helps a bit!
Stacy