We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few weeks prepping our new vegetable beds for spring planting and have begun planting the seeds in starter pots.
I labour under no illusion that a family of 7 will be self-sufficient with 3 vegetable boxes and a couple of chooks, but it’s definitely a starting point. We haven’t produced much food since moving to our new home/town 7 months ago, as we didn’t have a ready-made patch, so it’s been a work-in-progress to get that all sorted.
They’re taller than normal for a few reasons… The main one being that I don’t like bending down to weed! We also have lots of wild rabbits and the second hand pallets we got are this size, so we thought that rather than taking a couple of boards off the top, we might as well leave as is.
Now that we’re on the home stretch to having the gardens finished, I’m planning on not having to purchase lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini, spinach or onions.
We’ve started planting our seeds now.
It’s a lot of fun and has proved a worthwhile science lesson for the little people. Perhaps you can have a go? You only need an egg carton (or 6!), some seeds, old plastic crates and some soil.
The egg cartons are the planters (or starter pots) and the crates act as a kind of mini greenhouse, protecting them from frost and assisting a self-watering system.
If the process of self-sufficient gardening is all very new to you, you might like to grab a copy of my new eGuide – the Quick Start Guide to Growing Food With Your Kids.
Learn how to start a garden quickly and easily with children and without much space! It’s available HERE.
