Ever since humankind figured out how to successfully plant and farm vegetables, gardening has been a way of life. Gardens have become not only a viable food source; they have become creations in living art.
Not that you need to make art with your food, but planting a garden can be a cheap source of food, as well as a wonderful therapy.
To plant a garden, all you need is a little bit of sunlit land, some good soil, and some seeds. Then all you have to do is water every day, make sure the weeds don’t take over, watch your little seeds grow into delicious fresh vegetables ready-to-eat.
There are several ways to go about getting the land ready for planting. If you’re starting from scratch, you can either dig it up, turn it over, and mince it into loose soil, or borrow, buy, or rent a rototiller and let it dig and turn.
Depending on where you live, your soil may be already good and rich. If your soil is full of rock, too sandy or full of clay, you may need to add a layer of top soil to supply the kinds of nutrients your plants can use to grow healthy and strong.
Then you need to decide which way the water is going to run. You don’t want runoff to strip away the soil around your plants budding roots will it tries to grow. Water your soil after all the digging and mincing and observe how it flows through your garden. When you start planting your rows of seeds or starter plants, you’ll want the rows to go in the same direction as the water did, so the water runs down your rows, not over them.
Decide which vegetables you want to grow. And plant them at least 4 to 6 inches apart. They look little as you plant, but as they grow, they’ll need room. Water them at least once a day and watch them grow!
Planting some marigolds her and there throughout the garden will help keep pests away. And a good pest repellent made of a little dish soap and water can be sprayed on your plants if they start having little holes.
Yes, this is a simple version, and getting a good garden book will help, but planting isn’t very hard and you can have wonderful fresh vegetables to go along with your natural meats, and enjoy meals that cannot be duplicated!

This is a guest post written by Elizabeth Krause

Elizabeth Krause publisher of an Italian food website featuring simple Italian recipes.

Less than 50 years ago, growing your own food in your backyard or using indoor pots was common practice. As society progressed and much of the food industry became larger and more powerful, we soon found many new stores began to meet all our culinary needs.
Gradually over time more and more homes soon turned into two career households. Less time at home meant less time to garden. Buying your own food was extremely convenient and fully embraced.
But in recent years the 30 and 40 year olds who had previously spent their time focused on their careers and fast paced life, between yoga work outs and kick boxing classes, have begun to cultivate a desire to learn more about this dwindling activity – growing a vegetable garden.
Growing your own food is still very popular in many European countries, for example Italy. Italians belong to a culture where food is very important – not just to live, but to also be enjoyed. Much of their day to day recipes involve the use of fresh ingredients – most of which are grown in their own yards or on their balcony.
Being able to learn the skills of gardening isn’t hard, yet it is not magic either. It takes time, patience and a willingness to learn from mistakes. For example, planting basil too early can cause it to go into shock and die. Understanding that basil is a fragile herb susceptible to the cold weather and therefore must be planted only when it is certain there will be no more frosts is critical.
Learning to manage your own garden whether you choose container gardening or not, holds many advantages. Here are three of them:
1. Vegetables in your back yard are not subject to major price fluctuations caused by troubled economic times, as are retail stores. If tomatoes increase in price to $3.99 a lb, you can get your free right outside your door. You can also recycle your seeds from one year to the next – now that’s efficiency!
2. Understanding how to use organic pesticides (or even making your own), you can grow your own organic vegetables and fruit. This is a lot less expensive than buying organics at the store. Having control over the quality of the soil, seeds, fertilizers and even water is a huge benefit.
3. Convenience is key. Yes, buying your food is convenient, but when making a dish of fresh pasta or when craving your favorite chicken cacciatore recipe which calls for a bell pepper – isn’t it more convenient to just walk out to your garden and pick one fresh off the plant rather than postponing the recipe until you can find time to go to the store?
The old phrase, “You can give a man a fish to eat or you can teach a man to fish…” is very true. Learning to grow your own food will help you in times of plenty as well as in times of need. There are a variety of benefits to this practice, and with some planning and thoughtful preparation you will soon be able to experience them firsthand.