In 2022 I began finally gardening at home now that I have my own yard (we "bought"/mortgaged this house at the end of 2020). My goals are to learn how to grow my own food, to learn about planting and caring for native plants, to create some independence in being able to feed myself apart from buying groceries, saving money, and just feeling more connected to life and nature and the Earth.
2022:
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I succeeded in growing radishes and cilantro. My tomatoes, green beans and peas ended up getting eaten by rabbits. I still really enjoyed tending to my garden and watching everything grow.
2023:
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This was a garbage year in general and by the spring I was already miserable at work and really depressed from internet friendship breakups, so I mostly just planted radishes and cilantro and some random stuff and left it alone. I was growing catalopes but the fruits were gone before they got very big. The radishes grew tall and created little bean sprouts, though I didn't do anything with it. My morning glories began blooming eventually and were really nice. I basically called this garden my "chaos garden" since I didn't really tend it, I just let it grow however it wanted to.
Toward the end of the year I did begin baking break from "scratch" (no, don't make that Carl Sagan joke, man) and really enjoyed that process. I'm not very good at cooking, but when I bake it tends to work out pretty decently.
2024:
It's only February right now but I'm too excited to start on gardening so I decided to keep some in my home office by the windowsill.
I already have fairylights in here so I put those on top of the container, though I don't know if they'll be much good as "grow-lights". :p
My goals for gardening and "homesteading" this year is:
- Stagger planting stuff to get the crop for months (cilantro, ???)
- Try growing tomatoes and beans inside the house or inside the little greenhouse (need to build) to protect from animals?
- Dry, preserve, and jar the things I grow.
- Dry out the seeds from the things I grow for use next year. (Need to buy some jars to organize them...)
- Plant native Missouri companion plants and flowers.
- Get a breadmaker, make bread at home instead of buying bread/bagels from store.
- Try planting dried beans from the grocery store?
- Grow stuff Rai can use for cooking: Ginger, Spinach, ???
- Weave some home made trellises (and maybe little fences) with all the sticks I have in the yard.