I think everyone can agree that we are still in a weird time in life. I know we are, at least, so I speak for our family when I say that. Trying to find “joy” in the small/every day things has been a huge goal of mine as of lately. I feel like every corner we turn we are saying “when it rains, it pours”….and that’s just a horrible place to be in.
One thing that brings me massive amounts of joy is gardening. And canning. And all things homesteading! We decided this year we were really going to focus on our small little backyard garden! I think there is this misconception that you have to have a ton of space or a ton of gardening equipment in order to make something great. And the truth is, you just don’t. I know someone who grew veggies on their small balcony of an apartment/condo and it was wonderful!
Last year it was hard to get your hand on seeds so I knew I wanted to be proactive this year and get our order in. We ordered through Johnny’s Selected Seeds, but really any type of seeds that you can find will be great. I suggest if you’re reading this now and thinking you might want to try planting something this year, now is the time to get seeds ordered! Ours took almost a month to get to us, a lot of things were sold out, and this particular company would close down sales to home gardeners every few weeks. So just a heads up…plan ahead!!!
Last year was a good year because I found a lot of things I liked in the garden and things that just weren’t right for us.
Here is what we have decided on this year:
– Crimson Sweet Watermelons
– Sugar Baby Watermelons
– Zucchini
– Pickling Cucumbers
– Hot Peppers
– Corn (we’ve never done corn before. I am very excited to try this!)
– Beans
– Bell Peppers
– Green Cabbage
– Cherry Tomatoes
– Big Beef Tomatoes
– Spaghetti Squash
– Carrots
– Acorn Squash
We are still hoping to get potatoes, canning tomatoes, garlic, and herbs.
Growing your own food gives me such an intense feeling of gratitude. I love that we get to try new things and see what works and doesn’t work. In this crazy season of life (uhm…when is this all ending?!) I love that it allows us to slow down a bit and just disconnect a little bit, while focusing on something exciting.
Have you ever done a backyard garden? What has been your favorite (or not so favorite) thing to plant? True life: I hated growing yellow squash. We just couldn’t eat it fast enough for how much it was producing and it honestly wasn’t my favorite thing to eat.
