Grow Your Own Vegies

by Annie Desantis
(Tasmania, Australia)

I'm a gardener from way back, and growing my own organic vegies is something I have done no matter where I have lived or what my financial situation.

My grandmother taught me to garden from a young age. She lived through the depression, with a husband that was an invalid, so had to be extremely creative to survive. She used to say, if you have a vegie garden you can always feed your family. When ever she moved the first thing she would do is put in a garden, and I have followed her path. I always start seedlings off before I move so they are ready to put in the garden as soon as we get the keys. In fact I have even had permission to start a garden before we moved in!

If you live in an apartment you can still have a vegetable garden in pots. Many times I have grown my vegies in large pots. So long as you can get 6 hours daylight on your vegies they will thrive. Pots need watering more often, but I have grown Tomatoes, cucumbers, Silver Beet, Spinach, Lettuce, Zucchinis and of course herbs. I've even grown potatoes on my deck with layers of straw!

The other advantage of a vegie garden, is keeping the family involved. When times are tight, it can be hard to afford to take a family on a trip to the movies, or a theme park. But gardening is something even tiny children can happily participate in. Many children are unaware that food grows in the ground, they think it comes from the supermarket! So you have heaps of learning and experimenting together, which builds great families!

And then of course there is cooking all your wonderful produce. You get cheaper meals, much healthier and it is so satisfying to look at your plate and know you produced most of what is on your plate!

Another advantage, is benefiting your community. You can share your extra seedlings and give away or trade your excess produce. I donate my extra vegies and eggs to a soup kitchen so people who are homeless get some benefit too.

Good luck with your gardening!
Annie Desantis
http://www.law-of-attraction-parenting.com