Self-Reliance: Gardening

Gardening is the second most popular hobby in the United States. Home gardens can be found on acres of land, or in small 4×4 square foot garden boxes. Many people are discovering the joy and benefits of learning to plant, grow, and harvest their own foods.

Gardening and Food Storage

Gardening goes hand-in-hand with food preservation (canning, dehydrating, or freezing). If you can grow your own foods to preserve them you can save a lot of money and your preserved foods will be a lot cheaper than store-bought foods. Many people who are interested in food storage have quite substantial home gardens to supplement their basic long term storage.

Gardening is something that could be a critical skill in a long-term emergency situation (food shortage, transportation system shut-down, etc.). Everyone should keep some emergency seeds on hand at a minimum. We highly recommend at least dabbling in gardening so you can get the feel for your area’s seasons, your soil conditions, etc.