Gardening
Gardening is at the heart of self-sufficiency and homesteading. Believe it or not, I am not a long-time, expert gardener, but a relative beginner. The photo in the banner above is of my garden, taken in January 2014. A mere 14 months earlier, this space looked like the photo on the right.
As a child, I liked the idea of gardening - I had my own "garden" fenced off in my parent's paddock. I grew impatiens and daisies and a few other things. As a teen, I chose high school elective courses in Horticulture and Agricultural Science - I enjoyed the theory of those subjects, but avoided the practical as much as possible.
After I got married on my 19th birthday, there wasn't much time for gardening. Five years and two children later, I planted some zucchinis on mounds behind a house we'd just moved to - the mounds were mostly dried out cow manure from a local farm. They grew HUGE!
Then we moved to the South Island. And moved and moved. I started gardens in various places, but it was disheartening to plant things only to move before enjoying the harvest, so I gave up. I did inherit an already planted garden when we moved into one place out in the Marlborough Sounds - but I had no clue what I was doing. The potato patch was infested with wireworms, the possums would climb the tomato stakes, eat all the toms, then scratch on the bedroom windows as if to say "Come and get me!" and the slugs were, I swear, at least 8 inches long - a single slug would eat a whole lettuce in a night! So that wasn't terribly successful!
In 2006 we moved to our current home. At first I didn't think about starting a garden - who knew how long we'd be here, and I was very busy homeschooling all 5 kids. A few years later I did plant four small garden beds. But then I developed severe food allergies, and at that point was so allergic that if I merely touched a plant, I had a full-body allergic reaction! No more gardening.
By late 2011, the food allergies were under control, and I began to dabble again. I cleared the four small beds and planted a few things, with limited success. I joined a local gardening group designed to motivate people to grow food. At the end of 2012, I decided I needed to get serious about growing food, and set a big goal - I decided to aim to grow 1000 kg of fruit and veges in 12 months - starting from pretty much scratch. I achieved that goal in a little over 12 months, and since then have continued to expand the garden. My 2013-2015 garden was blogged on a site I called Kiwi Urban Homestead. All of those original blog pages are located HERE, or under 2013-2015 blog in the drop down menu under Gardening.
As a child, I liked the idea of gardening - I had my own "garden" fenced off in my parent's paddock. I grew impatiens and daisies and a few other things. As a teen, I chose high school elective courses in Horticulture and Agricultural Science - I enjoyed the theory of those subjects, but avoided the practical as much as possible.
After I got married on my 19th birthday, there wasn't much time for gardening. Five years and two children later, I planted some zucchinis on mounds behind a house we'd just moved to - the mounds were mostly dried out cow manure from a local farm. They grew HUGE!
Then we moved to the South Island. And moved and moved. I started gardens in various places, but it was disheartening to plant things only to move before enjoying the harvest, so I gave up. I did inherit an already planted garden when we moved into one place out in the Marlborough Sounds - but I had no clue what I was doing. The potato patch was infested with wireworms, the possums would climb the tomato stakes, eat all the toms, then scratch on the bedroom windows as if to say "Come and get me!" and the slugs were, I swear, at least 8 inches long - a single slug would eat a whole lettuce in a night! So that wasn't terribly successful!
In 2006 we moved to our current home. At first I didn't think about starting a garden - who knew how long we'd be here, and I was very busy homeschooling all 5 kids. A few years later I did plant four small garden beds. But then I developed severe food allergies, and at that point was so allergic that if I merely touched a plant, I had a full-body allergic reaction! No more gardening.
By late 2011, the food allergies were under control, and I began to dabble again. I cleared the four small beds and planted a few things, with limited success. I joined a local gardening group designed to motivate people to grow food. At the end of 2012, I decided I needed to get serious about growing food, and set a big goal - I decided to aim to grow 1000 kg of fruit and veges in 12 months - starting from pretty much scratch. I achieved that goal in a little over 12 months, and since then have continued to expand the garden. My 2013-2015 garden was blogged on a site I called Kiwi Urban Homestead. All of those original blog pages are located HERE, or under 2013-2015 blog in the drop down menu under Gardening.
My 2016-2017 Goals
I am aiming to spend this year re-developing parts of my garden, and also more deliberately plan my planting to ensure a year-round supply of fresh food we like to eat. By the end of 2016, I want a large portion of our every-day food to come from our gardens. In 2017, I'll be aiming to spend as little as possible on groceries. I'll be blogging about my garden as I go - see the drop down menu under the Gardening tab above. I intend to include monthly planting and harvesting lists, monthly garden photos, and information about growing particular crops as well as details of various gardening methods I use.
Update: 2016-2017 turned out to be a crazy time in which I was forced to largely neglect my gardens. That was beyond my control.
Update: 2016-2017 turned out to be a crazy time in which I was forced to largely neglect my gardens. That was beyond my control.
My 2017-2018 Goals
But now, as the 2017-2018 season begins, I'm finally starting to get back into the garden. I think, though, I need to keep my goals fairly simple. I'm aiming to:
I have some health issues which also impact both on my gardening and on our diet - I will write more about that in the general Blog.
- Get the garden back under control
- Re-develop the main garden beds into different configuration
- Grow food we like, and use the food we grow
- Be able to eat largely from the garden/homestead
- Develop workable garden routines and methods that give the most benefit from the minimum amount of my input (permaculture thinking)
- Post more regularly on the blog
- Enjoy the garden!
I have some health issues which also impact both on my gardening and on our diet - I will write more about that in the general Blog.
You Can Too!
Whatever size your garden - be it postage stamp or football field, a window box or much more, you CAN grow at least some of your own food! I hope you will be inspired by my garden to have a go yourself. Please do not let the size of my garden discourage you! We all need to start somewhere, and more isn't always better - after all, I struggle to keep on top of the weeds and other chores; sometimes I think it would be much easier if I reduced the size of my garden. Check out the photos and ideas, and have a go!
