The best advice I can give about starting a garden or a homestead is just to start.
It is super easy to get caught up and bogged down with posts, blogs, podcasts, books, etc that you don’t actually start.
For me it all began with seeds.
For a winter garden in central Texas (zone 8), I decided to plant:
1. Spinach
2. Swiss Chard
3. Red Leaf Lettuce
4. Kale
5. Romaine
6. Peas
7. Carrots
Each of these is pretty hardy and will grow quickly.
To give my babies the protection they needed and shelter to encourage growth this time of the year I used a greenhouse method.
To do this, collect 2 liter bottles, milk gallons, even a large olive oil bottle will work. The key is plastic where sun can shine through.
Then you cut the bottle in half and leave a little hinge in the back you can open and shut for watering and protection.
Make a few cuts in the bottoms to give the plant the ability to drain water.
Then add your seeds. We got our seeds from Rebel Seeds, finding organic, non-GMO seeds is essential.
Then I just used the dirt we had in our backyard, because again I was eager to start.
I added a mixture of dirt, I poked a hole with a pencil put about 2 seeds in per hole and covered with dirt and watered gently.
I placed them in the sun. At night I would gather them together and lay towels over them to avoid the delicate new plants from dying in case it froze.
A few awesome fertilizer tricks I learned are:
Banana Peel Water
- Cut up the peel
- Place in a mason jar
- Fill with water (we use our Berkey)
- Let sit for at least a hour
- Pour on your plants
- This mixture has phosphorus, potassium and a slew of other minerals and nutrients that plants will love
Coffee Fertilizer
- When you are done with your coffee grounds put in a mason jar
- Top with a teaspoon of cinnamon
- Add bubbly water
- Let sit and put on your plants once a week as a wonderful fertilizer
The next things on my list to build was a planter box for my baby plants to live in! Check out what we built here.
And of course I am already thinking about what I am going to plant next, potatoes and onions are on my list. Gardening is therapeutic and connects us back to creation. Please tag and send me your new garden pics!
I started my garden at the end of fall season, so find my other posts based on the season of the year it is for best seeds to plant.