Do you know that cultivating your farm produce impact enormously on your health and environment while saving you money?
Today, self-sufficiency continues to be a growing trend as people around the globe are looking to make living more fun, hassle-free, and enjoyable activity. Among these self-sufficient goals is the need to grow their food. But, how does one decide how much food to plant, especially when the goal is to feed a whole household? Or the amount of space needed to harvest the farm produce right from the backyard garden.
Making the move to grow your family’s sustainable gardening during the cool winter and spring months and the humid summer and fall can be quite tasking and requires meticulous planning.
If you’re seriously considering the sustainable living option of self-grown produce to feed your family all year round, in this article, we’ll walk you through:
· Where to grow
· Proposed garden size
· What crops to plant
· How to get the most from your garden space
· Watering techniques for the garden
· Proper preservation method to keep the extra yield from going to waste
Deciding Where to Grow Your Self-Sufficient Garden
How great your yield is will depend on the environment you choose to use. When considering environmental factors, the quantity of your soil, availability of water, and planting space should be key factors. To select the best planting area,
I. Select an Open Space with More Access to Sunlight
Before deciding where to plant, you also want to consider if that area has direct access to sunlight. Vegetables grow better in a sunny environment. Research shows that sunlight helps your seed germinate. Added to this, the sun works through a process called photosynthesis to help your plant convert elements like carbon dioxide, soil nutrients, and water into food. Invariably, without the sun, your plants wouldn’t survive.
Ideally, the direction of the sun will change with time and season. For the seeds to have the best chance of sprouting and growing healthy, you want to choose a planting area that would receive good sunlight and gets an average of about five to eight hours of direct sunlight during the day. But, you can always add shade as protection from the harsh sun rays for more delicate crops like cabbages and fruit bushes.
On the other hand, many home gardens may not have the necessary nutrients needed to grow your veggies. Other times, you find that the garden is swamped with weeds. So, do you plant on such low-quality soil? The simple answer is no. But, the good news is that you can get your garden in good shape by testing and preparing the soil.
II. Testing the Soil
Do you know that nutrient-dense and rich soil helps your seed germinate and the plants grow? When deciding on garden space, it’s best to test the soil. If you find that your soil seems darker and easily falls off the roots of a plant, then it is most likely rich in organic matters. Any soil with plenty of concealed animals or soil organisms such as earthworms will work great for gardening. But, if your soil doesn’t have any of these qualities, you want to make sure to prepare it before planting.
III. Preparing the Soil to Grow Your Own Food
Most soils look shallow and are often filled with stones. Others are clay-rich and can be really cold during the winter, making it difficult to harvest any plant yield. To avoid this, you want to prepare your soil for the gardening season. You want to do this by building a raised bed and getting rid of the weeds, stones, and debris. Doing so will help improve drainage while preventing the growth of weeds.
You also want to consider cultivating in a pest-free plot. Pests are nuisances, especially on your veggies, as they can impede their growth. If you find your gardening area pest-infected, try dealing with them naturally rather than using harmful pesticides, which can seep into your veggies and potentially cause health hazards.
How Big of a Garden Do You Need to Be Self-Sufficient?
Great question! But, here’s the fact, how wide and large your garden should be will depend on the family population. A family of two will not need the same land capacity to grow everything that would last them year-round like a family of four or five. However, the more growing space you have, the more crops, veggies, and fruits you can grow to feed the family.
Generally, a growing space meant to feed one person all through the year averages 200 square feet. So, if you’re considering self-sufficient farming to feed a family of four all year, it would mean 200 square feet multiplied by four, which averages to 800 square feet.
Also, you want to keep in mind that some crops are quite weighty and will take up more space than others. So, if you’re planning to grow large crops like Asparagus and Brussels sprouts or larger fruit varieties like melons, it’s always best to plan on a few extra square feet.
What Crops Should You Plant in Your Garden to Feed Your Family?
How much to plant depends on the specific types of veggies you and your family like. But, deciding what to plant to feed a family year-round is hard work, especially with everyone having their likes and dislikes. For instance, brothers A and B might love green Spinach, while brother C may only love whole-carb foods.
The number of products you aim to plant will depend greatly on your family’s likes and need. On the other hand, cultivating a portion of food that would last for only one season may not be favorable. That said, here are some things you want to consider when planning your garden layout:
· Consider Planting More of What the Family Likes
If you have a large household, you know how difficult it can be when sorting out meals for everyone. Planting more of what your family likes would mean you’re less likely to waste food.
· Plant Other Varieties to Last the Year
Having to eat the same thing over and over can be tiring. Most times, you may run out of your favorite food and have nothing else to eat. So, while every household is picky with their food and may have a variety they favor over others, you want to consider other crop varieties that would serve year-round.
Year-round, it’s easy to get veggies and crops ins seasons like carrots, tomatoes, bell pepper, corn, lettuce, spinach, potatoes broccolis, celery, cucumbers, peas, and eggplants. So, make sure to cultivate long rows of each of them to last you throughout the year.
If you have little kids who eat in small amounts, you want to downsize the number of plants to cultivate. But if you plan to preserve your veggies and crops by freezing, canning, or drying, especially when they are out of season, you’ll probably want to grow a little extra. Plan on planting a few extra varieties for everything you want to preserve.
Alternatively, planting a seasonal garden would work effectively to provide food for the family year-round. So, try growing some veggies and crops in the warm summer and fall months and others in the colder winter and spring seasons. This will allow you to benefit from your garden’s harvest all year long. While sunlight helps plants grow, you’ll find that some vegetables grow better in the colder climate with less sunlight so, they’re perfect for winter gardening.
· The Climate Matters
Weather conditions differ with the environment and location you find yourself. While each climate is beneficial in its own way, the cold winter may not do your farm produce any good, and growing anything decent can be challenging.
The good news is that planting other varieties and larger quantities of your summer crops will keep the family well-fed even during the cold weather. However, you may need to preserve them properly.
How Do You Get the Most from Your Garden of Any Size?
Maximizing your garden’s produce may seem impossible as seasonal yield depends on factors, including the quality of both the seeds and soil, proper plant spacing, adequate water, and the weather.
But, of all these factors, the climate condition may just be the only thing out of your control. What then does this mean? You can easily influence other factors to get the most from your garden’s production year-round. Consider the following:
1. Choose Veggies and Crops Wisely Before Planting
When it comes to planting a household garden, you want to always keep in mind that your aim of planting is to foster sustainable living. With the family’s likes as a determining factor on what to plant, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of planting what you like over what you actually need to sustain the family throughout the year. To get the most from your garden, it’s always best to weigh the food options and choose wisely.
2. Try Succession Planting to Take Advantage of Garden Space
Succession planting simply means the art of planting again and again to maximize available space. As soon as you harvest your crops, you want to pull it out and plant a new variety of the same crop to ensure that there’s always something growing in the ground. But, not all varieties grow fast or healthy from the previously uprooted crop spot.
Depending on the season and its length, it’s best to be strategic in choosing the next best plant that would grow healthy and faster in that spot. If you’ve previously planted potatoes in the spring period and your second or third planting follows towards the end of the growing season, it’s best to continue by planting cool weather crops like leafy greens, root vegetables, or broccolis.
3. Consider Intercropping
Intercropping is a gardening technique commonly used in small gardens. However, this technique has gained traction in larger gardens as it helps gardeners maximize their harvest. How? Intercropping enables one plant crops of varying sizes and growth rates together to maximize more yield in a small space. Imagine having to grow your Brussels in a large row and using the next available ample space to cultivate your quick-growing lettuce or radish crops.
4. Cultivate Crops Suited for Your Area
When selecting the best seed for your garden, you want to put in mind the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Most locations are prone to extreme climate conditions and can damage less-hardy vegetables. If you do not understand the Zone Map of the USDA, talk to other professional gardeners to get the best advice on cultivating the best crops suited for your area.
5. Maintain Soil Quality and Moisture to Make Your Garden Self-Sufficient
Every self-sufficient garden requires the right amounts of nutrients and moisture on the soil to grow plants. But, every time you cultivate crops, you end up losing more of this soil quality. Hence, you want to consistently replenish the soil’s nutrients. How? Maintain nutrient level by adding some base of organic matters through compost or cover crops.
Meanwhile, unhealthy soil loses its moistness to become dry and waterlogged. To get the most from your garden, make sure to drain and water your garden properly. Otherwise, it may become more tasking to harvest good yield.
6. Harvest Early and Consistently
An early harvest would increase the chances of a higher yield. In essence, your plants generate more produce throughout the season. So, you want to form the habit of picking your plants once every day or week.
7. Plant Different Varieties in Your Garden
Where possible, plant different varieties of crops that grow during the early, mid, and late growing seasons. This will ensure the family has a steady flow of products throughout the entirety of the season. It also helps cover up for all the losses caused by pests during the different stages of plant growth. So, if you’re growing seasonal crops with numerous varieties, plan to cultivate their different varieties at the different growing seasons.
8. Grow More of Calorie Crops to Maximize Your Gardening Space
Calorie crops are farm produce that has high-calorie content. If you’re planning self-sufficient gardening for your family, you’ll want to include this hack. Why? These crops quickly fill you up. Hence, they will last longer than other varieties. Likewise, they are generally stress-free, store well and for longer periods, and are versatile foodstuffs that can spring up useful delicacies for your home. The top five calorie crops you want to include in your garden are beans, potatoes, corn, winter squash, and grains like wheat.
9. Mulch to Reduce Weeds
While the growing season continues, weeds can invade your plot. Before it gets the most of your garden, it’s always best to keep weeds at bay. How? Build a layer of mulch to shield your plants. Doing so will keep your crops growing well without being weed-infested. The best part, you won’t have to work extensively to maintain your sustainable garden.
10. Try Cold Frames
When it comes to keeping your garden in good quality year-round, a protective method like cold framing is essential. Cold frames keep your harvest safe from scavengers and frost while letting in sunlight to ensure your plant thrives. The best part, you won’t have to build it yourself. You can easily purchase a ready-made cold from the store to lay over your plants.
Garden Watering Techniques for Sustainable Self-Sufficient Living
How you water your plant is one other important factor to keep in mind when considering self-sufficient gardening. A poorly watered garden will leave your crops to wither and die out. Hence, observing the right watering technique is crucial for successful gardening. To properly water your plant:
1. Water During the Day
Most times, people water their crops at night to shield themselves from the humid sunlight. But, doing so can attract fungus and insects, as your leaves are not properly dried out. Moreover, the sunlight makes your soil warm.
Hence, your soil may not retain water till the morning. The best time to properly water your soil is right before the sunrise, as the earth is still cool from the night, and the leaves will have plenty of time to dry before the night comes.
2. Water at Intervals
A quick five minutes sprinkle won’t give your soil the strength it needs for the seed to germinate. You want to water at interims and for an extended time. This way, the soil has a constant supply of water that reaches the root to help seeds germinate.
3. Water Directly to the Roots
It’s easy to sprinkle water on the leaves believing that your plants will grow in time. Well, you may be wrong as watering directly on the leaves does not have any effect on your plants. For better absorption, it’s always best to water the roots.
4. Don’t Underwater the Roots of Your Crops
Give your plant roots about an inch of water every day of the week. Why? Neglecting to do so can lead to poor root growth, which will, in turn, affect plant production rate.
How Can I Preserve My Self-Sufficient Garden’s Harvest?
Your produce can easily damage when they are not preserved properly, especially during the harsh winter months. If you do keep to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map or you simply anticipate an extreme winter climate, it’s always best to preserve your home-grown crops to ensure they survive through the winter and early spring.
Wonder how? There are preservation techniques like freezing, canning, and trying to help you achieve this.
a. Freezing
One of the easiest methods to preserve your produce is freezing. Why? It will keep your veggies and crops long-lasting even without any special equipment. But, you may need to get a freezing bag to store your produce.
If you’re considering freezing as a preservation method, you have to first wash your produce, whether veggies or calorie crops, dice them neatly, then place them on a clean single-layered baking sheet.
After this, place the baking sheet with your product inside the freezer for close to thirty minutes to freeze. Once frozen, get your freezer bag, portion them into individual servings, label the type of product, date them to keep track of them, and freeze until you are ready to use them again.
b. Canning
Unlike freezing, canning can be quite complex, especially for the novice gardener, as it requires some technical know-how to carry out safely. For this process, you’ll need your clean, sterilized, and dried canning jars. You’ll also need to know the proper sealing procedure suited for your produce.
To can, consider preparing your produce. Vegetables and fruits work perfectly when made as soup, sauces, relishes, and even jams. On the other hand, calorie crops will demand you precook and season them before storing them in your canning jar.
c. Drying
Another preservation technique to consider is drying. Like freezing, drying is a simple process that requires little to no know-how. But, while this procedure is quite useful in preserving your produce all year long, it is less commonly practiced.
The good news is that a technique like this will save you space. Dried foods are ultralight and less spacious. Plus, you won’t have to worry about them getting spoilt due to an extended period of a power outage.
Deciding on the Right Sized Garden to Be Self-Sufficient
Gardening to feed your family can be a long and difficult process, and only a few ever fully achieve it. The good news is that self-sufficient gardening is extremely rewarding. Now, add the cost of feeding the full household throughout the year, and you save money while gaining peace of mind.
The key to its success lies in choosing the right garden space, what crops to plant, how to get the most from your plot, the right watering techniques, and proper preservation methods to save the extra harvest from going to waste. While deciding where to grow, especially the garden space can be tasking, a family of four would do well with an 800 square foot plot of twenty by forty feet in size.