Genesis 1:29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. Hundreds of years ago families went hungry if they didn’t grow a garden.  In today’s fast paced society most everyone goes to the local grocery store to buy everything they need.  Many people don’t think about where that food came from and what growing practices the farmer used.  Many don’t think about if that food was grown as a GMO, or what pesticides were used.  Another issue with conventional farming is that most of our soil is depleted of the vital nutrients needed to grow the food in the optimum way. In turn this causes the food we are eating to be depleted of the nutrition it had hundreds of years ago.   In the bible it tells us to give the land a rest every 7 years.

Leviticus 25:3-4 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops.  But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the Lord.

I don’t think I have ever heard of a conventional farmer giving their land a rest.  That’s just not done.  Think about how our soil vitality would be if we adopted this wisdom.

Gardening and growing your own food gives you control of your food.  There are many companies out there that sell organic/non-GMO seeds and plants.  There are more natural ways to take care of optimizing your soil, and keeping weeds down without using chemicals.

You don’t have to have a large farm to garden.  If you have a home with a yard you can grow food.  Many have adopted converting their yard into growing food instead of watering grass.  If you don’t want to convert your whole yard then you can plant a few fruit trees or create some raised garden beds.   Get as creative as you want to.

If you don’t have your own home with a yard you can have a few plants growing in pots in a sunny window.  Herbs are pretty easy to grow.  Also sprouting is another way to grow your own food.

I hope you can create ways to adopt some type of garden or growing your own food.  Its very rewarding and satisfying.

 

 

Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. The term permaculture was developed and coined by David Holmgren, then a graduate student, and his professor, Bill Mollison, in 1978.

Permaculture can be as simple or complex as you want it to be.  Permaculture to me is using the available space I have and planting things that will work together to provide food for me and my family year after year.

I have begun doing this by planting an orchard and grape vines and berries, and by using the left over hay that is just sitting on the ground of my hay barn as much as well as using rabbit and goat manure to both provide fertilizer as well as natural mulch.  There is also available space between the orchard trees to plant things that are seasonal.  I can plant pole beans that can utilize the orchard trees as a support.  I can plant blueberry bushes between the trees or other berry bushes or other seasonal vegetables such as cucumber, tomato, zucchini, or winter squash.

There are also plants that can provide natural mulch and nitrogen.  There are many sources and videos out there with tons of awesome ideas and tips on how to get started.

If you have a yard think of things you can plant that may provide food for you and your family for years to come.

 

 

If you don’t have a house with a yard you can still grow your own things yourself.  Container gardening is really awesome.  I have grown herbs, container trees, and micro greens indoors many times.

There are many ideas on the internet on how to grow container things indoors.  Some herbs that are easy to grow indoors are: basil, chives, cilantro, tarragon, lavender, lemon balm,  lemon verbena, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary,  sage, thyme, and parsley.  I am sure there are others.

Something else exciting is being able to grow things again that you get from the store such as: growing trees from avocado seeds, citrus seeds, or any other fruit seeds.  Although growing trees from seeds is a lot longer process to produce edible food than in buying trees already started.

Lettuce such as romain, red leaf, green leaf can be grown from the bottom of the head after you have cut off the lettuce leaves, celery can be grown from the bottom of the celery after you have cut off the stalks.  You take the base of the lettuce or celery and place it in water.  In a few days it will begin growing roots.  You can then transplant it in containers with organic soil.  Its easy!  Food from food!  How can that get any better?!?