Last year we got serious with growing our own food, and this year, we’re finally starting to see lot more production in our plants after learning a lot through trial and error. Growing food is so important right now, it’s empowering in these times of uncertainty, especially with concerns of supply-chain issues.

If you can grow just a little bit of your own food, by starting a small garden bed, or learning the process of growing from seed, you’ll learn a lot and also become more healthy by spending time outside and eating fresh food from the Earth. This is why gardening is so important, it reconnects you to your food and reminds us the importance of nature and its intricate and beautiful systems.

Here’s an aquaponics system built by our dad. Water is sent up the pipe to the plants up top, and then sent back down and cycles. Eventually there will probably be some fish in the bottom basin. This system is completely diy, using reused pallet wood and two reused coolers up top filled with pebbles.

I think some people may forget the importance of having flowers in your garden, if you are only focusing on growing a food garden. Flowers attract pollinators like bees and butterflies that are important for all your plants, not just flowers, and of course, in turn you are helping the bees who really need the flower nectar. Another reason to have sunflowers, or flowers in general, is the beauty and calm they elicit. Right now the world really needs some beauty in it, and by sharing that beauty you can brighten another person’s day.

If you have doubts, but have always wanted to try gardening, start small, it doesn’t have to be grand or complex. It could be as simple as planting a fruit tree in your yard, starting a window box, or even just putting some clippings in a jar of water to see if they will root. Recall the inner explorer! Experiment and see what happens, it doesn’t hurt to try.

When you first get into gardening, no doubt you will make mistakes. It takes time to master certain aspects of it, and sometimes trouble shooting can be caused by environment, soil, or even figuring out the right type of plants for your climate. The great thing about permaculture is that it’s all about “turning the problems into a solution”, meaning, your gardening mishaps can always be composted, or fed to the chickens!

What we grow isn’t much right now, and it certainly isn’t enough to feed ourselves yet, but we are learning and making progress in being more self sufficient and stewards of the garden, and in doing so we can share what we learn and hopefully inspire others to do the same.

Be kind, live free, eat healthy.