1. Choosing your Crop
The first step is choosing your crops! This may sound simple. But put a little thought and effort into it. Think about the things that you eat most and the things that would cost the most if you had to buy them. If you have to cut things out because of lack of space in your garden make them the things you can get cheaply at the store and plant the things that are more expensive to buy. I personally grow…
- Green Beans
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Lettuce
- Spaghetti squash
2. Making Calculations
Now that you know what you want to plant. Make your calculations. Either take the measurements of your current garden or decide how large of a garden you will be making. Once you know how big of a space you are working with, draw it up. Almost like a blueprint of a house draw what you want your garden to look like and where the plants will be. Now I understand that there are totally different personalities out there. If this is too much for you just draw something super simple. It really does not have to be that detailed.
But I would encourage you to at least draw up something. It really does help in the planning process. And it will help you to see where things should go. For example make sure your plants that “crawl” get put on the outside of the garden so they don’t overtake your other plants. (I say this from experience 😉
Another aspect when planning is keeping room in between the rows. When you are planning how much space you need I would highly recommend keeping enough room in between the rows for a tiller. You can get a small tiller so the rows don’t need to be that big. But trust me on this one! It will save you SO much time on weeding. And the tiller gets the soil turned up better than we can by hand. This has been a lifesaver for me!
3. Buying the best plants/seeds
Next you will need to buy your seeds. Now I would recommend to get organic heirloom if you can. You might not know this, but if they are not heirloom you can not use the seeds again and if a plant happens to come back the next year it will most likely not produce. And part of being self sufficient is not having to continue buying things year after year right? RIGHT! If you can’t get organic heirloom its not the end of the world it is just helpful if you can. If you have amazon prime you can get seeds and have them to your door within 2 days! I highly recommend it!
4. Starting your seeds early
Now if you want to get a head start I would suggest that you plant your seeds early. If you happen to have a greenhouse..go you! I do not! But you can still start seeds early in the house! I just recently saw that you can make your own mini greenhouses out of old strawberry containers or a rotisserie chicken container. How fun is that? And what a cool way to get the kids involved at an early age. They can help plant the seeds and watch them grow until they are ready to go outside. This step is optional! It will definitely give you a head start..But your garden will work just fine if you start them outside!
5. When do you want your harvest?
Be thinking about when you want to harvest. I generally plant a little later and therefore don’t get a harvest until about September. But this totally depends on what you are planting. So just make sure to look at the labels and see how long things take and plan from there. You can plant things at different times so that you are not overwhelmed all at one time. I did that last year unintentionally. The animals ate some of my beans so I replanted them and then was able to harvest the beans at different times..which ended up being really helpful! You don’t have to have a huge gap in between your planting times! a few weeks is fine.
6. Get the kids involved
Depending on the size of your Garden it can be a big job. You not only have to plan, but you have to create the garden space,till the garden, plant the garden and than keep up with it all summer. I would highly recommend getting your kids involved. This is a great way for them to learn where their food comes from and the work that goes into it. This is a great way to teach them that food does not just magically show up on the store shelves! Kids of any age can help! I even have my 3 and 5 year old help. Just make sure you are guiding them so that they don’t rip out all the plants thinking that they are weeds.
The benefits of canning
I am sure that you already know why you want to can, but I just wanted to share with you why I personally take the time and effort to can, here is a list of my top 5 reasons I choose to can…
- Saving money
- Convenience
- Health
- Getting the kids involved
- Becoming more self-sufficient
Let me expound on them a bit…
I am a pretty frugal person and like to save money where I can. Now you might not think that canned veggies are expensive BUT if you think about it they add up! I mean, yes you can maybe get a can of veggies for a $1 but if you have a larger family you will need at least 2-3 cans a meal. So if you eat veggies just at one meal a day you are looking at spending almost $100 a month on canned veggies! What?!?! And those are canned not fresh! Fresh veggies are WAY more expensive. So just by canning your own veggies, you can save your family at least $1200 a year!
Now let’s talk about Convenience…I for one hate menu planning! Who’s with me? I LOVE knowing that I have all the veggies I will need to be stocked in my pantry for the whole year. And if something happens you have a stocked pantry! As I have mentioned I am not a crazy prepper person. But you never know what life will throw at you! I mean your husband could lose his job…and how nice is it to have food on hand in case you need to fill in a bit?
One of my favorite topics! Health. When you buy canned veggies you are most likely not getting the most healthy option. First of all the can along is bad for you and I can almost guarantee your produce is not organic. If you do get organic you will have to pay a much higher price! I am a huge advocate in doing things myself. When I can my own veggies I know exactly how my produce is grown and taken care of. I know that is was not sprayed with chemicals and that is was not pumped full of junk. Did you know that a lot of produce from the store is pumped full of crap to make them “look” more appealing? Crazy!
Get your kids involved! I strongly believe that our kids should have the responsibility in and around the home. Have your kids help you plant and take care of the garden. Depending on their age they can be a very big help in the whole process. If they are young have them help pick out the plants and assist in planting. Use it as a learning experience. Help them to understand how plants grow.
It is such a privilege to be able to teach our kids how to plant and grow their own food. If your children are older they should take more responsibility. Have them do most of the work with guidance from you! It is so great to not only be able to grow your own food but to be able to teach your children self-sufficiency in the process!
Speaking of self-sufficiency…
That is our next point. My families goal in homesteading is to become as self-sufficient as we can. Now we are far from 100% self-sufficient. But I am trying to take it a step at a time and do more and more each year. It is so rewarding to do as much as possible on your own. I believe that we should do things more on our own and not rely so much on the stores and the big chains! I assume if you are homesteading than this would also be one of your goals as well. Therefore to me, I love that I can plan my garden and have produce for the whole year through canning! It is so great to be able to have pretty much all my veggies put away for the year! One step closer to not needing the grocery stores! YAY!!
Conclusion
Now don’t let this all overwhelm you! It is actually pretty manageable and fun. I never thought I would be one to love gardening but I DO! It is so nice and peaceful being outside in the garden. And It is so rewarding being able to provide this food for my family. I hope this was a help to you when it comes to preparing your garden to can! You will not regret growing your own food and having a year supply of veggies, sauces, and salsa at a moments notice!