Creating a Sustainable Home: 5 Easy Plants to Grow for Food
Last week I was daydreaming, imagining what it would be like if we took these lessons taught to us by the pandemic and changed the way we did things. Imagine if we started to live more sustainably – reduced our chemical exposure, travelled more intentionally, changed the way we ate and shopped, and gave our planet the chance to regenerate. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, pondering how I can use this time to reduce my impact and set myself up for a more sustainable future. I decided that a worthwhile activity in this regard would be to learn more about starting a garden of my own, yet I had no idea where to begin. And so, I’ve been doing some digging (both on the web and in the garden)!
Why bother, I hear you ask? There’s a whole bunch of reasons. Commercial produce often has residual pesticides on it, even after washing, and these toxins are absorbed into our systems, harming our health. It’s also much less resource intensive to grow your own food. What we don’t realise is that our diets have a large resource footprint, which comes from watering crops, transporting costs, and the energy taken to pack, store and maintain them. Growing your own food removes most of these. And of course, you can’t overestimate the satisfaction factor of biting into your own freshly-grown produce.
If anyone else is interested in starting their own veggie patch, here are some easy plants to start with:
Carrots
Carrots are one of the easiest veggies to grow. I have great memories of picking these as a kid, both at home and at my Pop’s place, gambling to see whose carrot was going to come out of the soil and be the biggest. Carrots are also a good veggie to grow as they can be sown directly into the ground. Carrots love to be planted in nutrient-rich, loose soil, so make sure to boost your earth with compost before planting.
Herb Garden
Herb gardens are perhaps the easiest and most popular food to start with. They’re a great one, especially if you live in an apartment or don’t have much space. I find rosemary, mint and parsley particularly easy to grow. I also love herbs because they continue to grow (as long as you don’t butcher them) and you can use them in your meals every night! If you’re looking to get started with your own herb garden, check out this DIY guide.
Chillies
Everyone should have a chilli plant! Even if you’re not a chilli addict, a hint of chilli in every dinner makes a dish that much better. The good news is that chillies are easy to grow. They like to live in a warm, sunny spot that has well-drained soil. They also like to be watered regularly when the weather is dry, and don’t like to live in anything colder than 18 degrees! Sow in pots in early spring, and transfer to bigger pots as needed.
Strawberries
One of the best benefits of growing strawberries is their perennial nature. It’s easier to grow strawberries from plants than from seeds; you should be able to pick these up from your local nursery. Strawberries love sun and growing them in full sunlight will produce the best yields, so choose a suitable patch in your yard. Boost your soil with compost and make sure it has good drainage. For a step-by-step on how to set out your little strawberry patch, check out this guide and this one here.
Lettuce
We all know that you don’t make friends with salad, but let me suggest that we make an exemption, because lettuce is super straightforward to grow and is extremely good for you. Once again, make sure your soil is nice and rich (if we’re looking at sustainability, a good ol’ fashioned compost pile will make a good addition to your project list). Make a shallow hole in the dirt, drop a seed in and cover it with dirt and water. That’s all it takes! Water them every day. Don’t forget that lettuce is a cool-weather vegetable, so avoid planting or harvesting in summer.
If you decide to start your own vegetable garden, I’d love to see how you go. Send me in your pics or drop a comment below letting me know which was your most successful crop!
D x