Gardening is a great adventure.
A gardener needs a lot of faith…and imagination to get the job done – PreparednessMama
Why should you bother growing your own food if you can purchase it at the store?
We’re all about self-reliance here at PreparednessMama, and that’s my number one reason to grow it yourself. It is a “just in case” skill that will allow you to feed your family in times of trouble. That trouble could be because of job loss or an economic downturn. No matter what, you’ll be glad you’ve learned to grow your own food and preserve it.
Growing your own food also:
- Saves money in the food budget
- Gives you control over the chemicals that are added to your food
- Is a great way to get inexpensive food for canning, freezing and dehydrating
- Children are more likely to eat “unusual” food if they have had a hand in growing it
Where can you get your knowledge to be a great gardener?
First, you just need to jump in and try it. Everyone can grow some kind of food if they have the skills and are willing to try. I don’t believe in having a “brown thumb.” Brown thumb people just haven’t learned the rules of gardening yet.
Ask a gardener friend. Every person I’ve met that loves to grow also loves to share their knowledge, you only need to ask. They are most always willing to share plant cuttings too!
Take a beginning gardener class at the local community college or extension office. Who knows, you’ll be a master gardener in no time.
Ask the extension office. Every major metropolitan area has an extension office ready and willing to help. Not only can you get information about growing in your particular area, but they will also have extensive skills in home canning and food storage. See the links below for some extension offices in the USA.
Read great books – here are some of my favorites.
Follow great gardeners, like PreparednessMama online. I promise you will learn a bunch about gardening from this site!
PreparednessMama Gardening posts to get you started:
Other PreparednessMama Gardening Pages:
Gardening for Food Production – What’s your Garden Style? – Tips, Tricks, Sprays & Brews (DIY Gardening) – Growing Herbs – Composting and Soil Building
Extension Offices –
The purpose of an extension office is to teach, which is just what you want. Go to this website to find the county extension office closest to your location, plus these are some of my favorite extension websites:
Oregon State University: Don’t forget to check the guides and handbooks section. If you are new the Pacific NW, or new to gardening, this is the place to visit for valuable information.
Visit the Utah State University site and look through their extensive publications page.
Texas A&M Agrilife has, in addition to other publications, free online courses and an extensive area dealing with water management and rain catchment.
The University of Georgia has a very good Fruits & Vegetable page with downloadable publications.
Here are some others, by area that you might be interested in I am not as familiar with these pages, but as I was doing my research, these pages looked promising: Penn State Extension, Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Ohio State University
Find your first and last frost dates – by zip code – at Dave’s Garden
What other extension offices have you found to be helpful with your gardening endeavors?