Stand in front of your kitchen pantry, look to see what you can grow and make/can yourself.  Get away from the highly processed, GMO, and pesticide-ridden foods you have been buying.  Try to replace at least one or two items each year; your body will thank you!!

The seeds and the starter plants are in the ground, now what? The hard work is done, for a while, so between planting and harvesting what needs to be done in the garden? 

There are three most important things to do: watch, defend and feed.

Growing a Garden for the First Time

Now is a good time to start raising your own food; if you have never planted a garden at home,  before you start there are a few things to take into consideration.

First and foremost, you need to decide what you want to grow; that will dictate what type of garden space you need. 

Never in my 61 years have we seen a time such as this; where our food comes from all over the world and then suddenly the borders have been closed.  Farmers and food processors, canners, may have trouble getting the needed labor across the border to pick the produce.  Will there be a shortage of food in the US, probably, will people that have gardens be affected, not so much.   

No, volunteers in the garden are not a hoard of people showing up at your place to pull weeds, the volunteers I am writing about are the plants that pop up in the Spring that you did not intentionally plant.  This year in my garden I have a few mystery squash plants that sprang to life in a compost pile in my greenhouse.