Vegetable Gardening - What it's All About for Me
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By Clair Schwan
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When I think of vegetable gardening, I think of it as one of the more basic forms of self reliance. It’s relatively easy to do. If you think about it, the idea of growing your own food is one of the most popular forms of becoming more self sufficient.
I’ve been told that is doesn’t require much to be successful. I’ve been told right! All it requires is:
- seed
- sun
- warmth
- water
- soil
Even if you didn’t do much to protect against weeds, rodents, insects and disease, you’re likely to get vegetables. It’s not as easy as falling down, but it’s pretty close to it. Some think of it as “set and forget,” but it takes a bit more work than that.
For me, vegetable gardening is all about eight things, so let me overview these so you get a good idea of where I’m coming from when it comes to growing my own food. In no particular order, the eight focal points of growing vegetables are:
- Variety – we’re getting more variety in the grocery store, but not nearly what you can get out of your garden.
- Flavor – some varieties of vegetables in the store have improved flavor, but most commercial varieties are grown for their ability to ship and keep well, and their size and appearance.
- Health – you know where the seed comes from, and you know what’s in and on your food if you grow it yourself. That means organic methods for me.
- Freshness – from the backyard to the kitchen. How much fresher can it be?
- Storage – how we store our food and for how long can be important. Leaving vegetables on the vine and in the ground can be a wonderful way of storing them until you need them.
- Abundance – there is no way that one person could eat all the food that they could grow even in a small backyard.
- Ease of care – if it grows vigorously and with ease, that’s the kind of vegetable I want in my garden.
- Cold hardiness – it sounds crazy, but I like to harvest vegetables throughout the winter (in an unheated greenhouse), so I focus on varieties that grow in cool weather or are otherwise highly resistant to frost.
Other folks have their own idea about growing vegetables. As for me, I plant vegetables that produce well, are easy to grow, store well and give me good variety and flavor. I don’t care too much how beautiful the plant or fruit is – just give me plenty of good stuff to eat!
Oh, and I almost forgot – plant something to nibble on while you’re in the garden. My favorites are cherry tomatoes, ground cherries and edible pod peas.
Happy vegetable gardening!
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Author Bio Box: Clair Schwan
 Clair Schwan is an experienced gardener and enjoys gardening in homemade greenhouses of his own design and construction. He believes that vegetable gardening in a greenhouse is a good way to start achieving self sufficiency in produce and encourages others to invest time, space and energy in what can be much more than just a hobby. He also has advice about cold climate gardening for those who would like to experiment with this aspect of vegetable gardening.
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