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8 January by Melissa Norris

4 Tips to Success in Growing Your Own Food

Gardening, Raising Your Own Food

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Regardless, I only link to products we use on our homestead or believe in.

Today I share 4 tips to success in growing your own food this year. I believe everyone should grow at least one item of food. These 4 tips are items you can get going now to ensure a successful gardening season.

Ever wish you could go grocery shopping for free? Learn these great tips on how to get started growing your own food from a 4th generation homesteader! Who's doing this with me?

Very first thing we need to do is to commit for the season. This is two-fold. If you're a first time gardener or a long term you're going to run into some kind of pitfall when gardening. It happens to everyone.

I was raised growing our own vegetables, when we got married (I was eighteen) we started growing our own vegetables, so with decades of experience, every year we still run into something that is slightly different. This past year we had an extreme drought, most extreme in recorded history where we live, so I learned a lot and have a lot more empathy who live where there is a water shortage.

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4 Tips to Successfully Grow Your Own Food

1. Commit. We still had a good harvest, and I learned a lot. Gardening is a lifetime learning experience. Know you'll push through and on with your gardening. Commit to one season if you're brand new.

Enlist the help of family. Try to get everyone on board. From the time my kids were infants they've been out in and helping in the garden. If you're going to eat it, you help. The little kids help with eating and as they grow, get different jobs.

Small kids do well when they have a small section of soil as their own. Then it doesn't matter if they pull up things they shouldn't.

My kids don't necessarily always like veggies from the store (homegrown tastes better), a lot of times they wouldn't want to eat it, but if they grew it at home, because they'd helped raise it, they wanted to eat it. Gardening creates a good family time and bonding experience.

My daughter is six and anytime I bring out the canner or we're harvesting, “Momma, are we putting this up for dinner.”

If you're doing all of it yourself, it can feel like a lot of work, so have your family members help.

It can be family (or friends or neighbors) who live nearby and they don't have an area to do a large garden, so they've come and helped us raise things and then they share in the harvest. Community gardens are an option where you can rent land to grow a garden as well.

2. For the success of your garden, you need to know your first and last average frost date. 

This lets you know when it's safe to plant and when your harvest times are. You can find yours by putting in your zip code here

For your warm summer crops you put them in about 4 weeks after your last average frost date, when your soil temperature hits 65 degrees Farenheit.

3 Types of Garden Seed

GMO seeds are done in a lab and injected with things that aren't plant DNA and not from that species, such as animal DNA and pesticides. Those seeds are patented and it monopolizes the food system, I strongly disagree with the use of them.

Hybrid seeds are the same plant species, but in a lab a scientist takes two different types of the same plant and injects it into that seed. They're generally sterile and if planted, will revert back to one of the parent plants, but they won't be what you initially thought you were planting. For example, they won't taste the same, low germination rate, look different, etc. This is regards to large seed companies that you purchase in the store.

3. Heirloom seeds are exactly as God created them when nature began. They're what humans have used, saved, and planted every year. I've never purchased our bean seed from the store, talk about frugal! We like to seed save. Beans are one of the easiest seeds to seed save.

Heirloom seed sources

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Seeds for Generations -ran by a small family, who have also helped me on this website and other projects. I really love to support a single family and small operation.
Down to Earth Seeds
Anyone in your local area who saves seed

Even if you don't plan on seed saving your first year, if you use heirloom seeds from the beginning, and you later change your  mind, you've got that option. I only use all heirloom seeds  myself.

Ever wish you could go grocery shopping for free? Learn these great tips on how to get started growing your own food from a 4th generation homesteader! Who's doing this with me?

How to Keep Weeds Down Organically

Weeding– use a hoe and your hands

Permaculture– you put down a heavy natural layer of mulch to protect the soil and smothers out the weeds

Planting methods-use shade from your taller plants and the way you plant your vegetables. Ever heard of the Three Sisters Planting method? Native American Indians would plant a tall plant, corn, then they'd plant the beans to crawl up the corn, and pumpkins at the bottom to vine out and block weeds.

I can't start my corn enough in advance for the beans to grow up with our shorter growing season, but I plant our pole beans (which grows taller than our corn) or peas, anything to go up vertically, then plant at the base our vine plants, such as cucumbers, summer squash, and winter squash. Vertical planting is a great way to get more in a small space.

The vining plants create shade so the weeds don't come up. Pumpkin releases a chemical that inhibits the growth of some weeds, but it doesn't inhibit the growth of your pumpkins or your harvest yield. (Awesome, right!)

I also talk about in The Made-From-Scratch Life how to plant your garden to do as much of the work for you as you can. I share in the book that most of the seeds about 10 days after you've tilled and planted, you can take a hoe and shallowly hoe the surface, you disrupt the weeds life cycle. Easy peasy!

How to choose your garden spot

4. Choose your garden spot carefully. Your garden spot needs to be level. You don't want it to be at the bottom of a hill, so it doesn't get swamped or flooded out by heavy rain. The top isn't good because the water will run off, leaving thirsty plants. Make sure it's not near property lines or where you'd get unwanted run off or contamination.

Full sun- vegetables need at least 6 hours of sunlight in order to grow and ripen. Make sure your garden spot provides plenty of sunlight.

Remember, in the middle of summer, the sun is higher in the sky. If your trees are bare, in the summer they'll have leaves and will be shady.

Close to a water source-most of us will need to water to a degree in the middle of summer. You don't want miles of hose to water your garden and then have to remember to move them every time you mow the lawn.

No one wants to pack water for long distances. During harvest season, you'll want to be able to rinse your produce off, and having it near the garden is a plus. I'm a barefoot gardener and rinsing off before coming back inside saves a lot of cleaning time.

Learn how to return to a simple and frugal life in The Made-From-Scratch Life.

In our new book we've got amazing charts, you just plunk in your last average frost date and know when to plant, when to harvest, seasonal buying guide, root cellar storage charts, and more!

Over $20 in FREE digital bonuses, including exclusive access to The Made-From-Scratch Life Workbook and our 5 Day Bonus Fast Track e-course! 

For full bonus info and how to access them go here–> Yes, I want all the charts and bonuses!

Filed Under: Gardening, Raising Your Own Food

Melissa Norris

Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.

Read more about Melissa

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Comments:

  1. Bill

    7 years ago

    Super story, but unable to get the link for first and last average frost dates to open.

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      7 years ago

      Bill,
      Somehow it got erased, I redid it, so try again. Sorry about that and thanks for letting me know.

      Reply
  2. Darlene

    7 years ago

    The method I use to keep weeds under control is old carpet. I have been using it for about 15 years. we have very sandy soil and a terrible problem with burmuda grass. I do have to replace the carpet after a few years but I just put an ad in the local sale paper for used carpet for my garden and this year I got 2 houses of carpet. I just cut a square hole leaving a hinge on one side and fold it under so if in the future I don’t want a hole there I can pull it back up Also I use a cart to sit on that my husband made that is close to the ground so I can plant my starts with out killing my back. I make the rows wide enough to roll between them. I have a pretty big garden. We grow all we can for this area. We do have a short season but we grow plants that have a short mature date. I have not seen any one else use this idea but it works great for me. It is great for holding in the moisture too as our ground is so sandy. It makes it easy to roll the cart on. I could not garden if I had to deal with the weeds and burmuda grass. I also use it around my grapes and blackberries. I roll it back and put goats manure in the spring or fall and work it in a little and roll the carpet over. I hope this will be a help to someone. I am 76 years old and enjoy growing and harvesting my garden.

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      7 years ago

      Darlene,

      Thanks so much for the tip! Gardener’s are some of the most resourceful people I know!

      Reply
  3. Arla Sessions

    7 years ago

    I am pretty sure that I preordered your book. How can I get the bonsuses? Thank you

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      7 years ago

      Arla,

      Thanks! So just go to this page and follow the instructions at the bottom of the page http://madefromscratchlife.com/bonuses/

      Reply
  4. Lisa

    7 years ago

    Any suggestions on grow lights?

    Thanks!
    Lisa

    Reply
  5. Nancy Davis

    January 29, 2017 at 12:33 am

    Hi Melissa, number 99 your last Podcast? You said you do one every Friday and I may be missing some. Thank you. Nancy

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      6 years ago

      Nancy,
      I’m on deadline for my book, it’s due Wednesday, so I don’t have one up this week. 99 is the latest. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Donna OKeefe

    6 years ago

    Have you ever used Organic Preen. It controls weeds.

    Reply

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Melissa K. Norris

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