By: Marjory Wildcraft of GrowYourOwnGroceries.com
A friend of mine, Maria, now has a huge bountiful garden. But in the beginning she got started by simply growing a few herbs on a window sill.
Just a few simple herbs made a huge difference. Maria called me one day ecstatic about her success “Marjory” she exclaimed, “You won’t believe it. I am feeding my family the same old stuff I always cook. My now husband is raving about how good the food tastes and the kids are diving for seconds. They all think I have new recipes, but I am only adding a few fresh herbs”.
Starting with a few plants on a windowsill can teach you a tremendous amount, and these are lessons you need to learn even if you’ll be managing acres of land someday. By watching your herbs you’ll start to notice how the leaves sag when the plant needs water, or how the leaves pale when they needs more sun. If you put on too much fertilizer you’ll see the leaves turn yellow. What you learn from these little guys will be true for the plants in your large garden, or huge calorie crop plantings.
Another advantage of starting small is your failures will be small. Oh yes, there will be a time when you accidentally kill your plants. Don’t worry about it – it happens to everyone. Just toss the dead plants in the compost pile, start over with new ones, and remember what you learned.
Here are some other quick tips to help you succeed:
– Buy plants with as big a pot as you can comfortably fit on the windowsill a bigger pot contains more soil and is less susceptible to watering irregularities).
– Select robust plants that can withstand the abuse of a beginner such as basil, rosemary, and oregano.
– Get in the habit of talking to your plants; they love it and are totally non-judgmental.
One of the joys of growing your own food is developing the lifetime relationship with living beings – the plants and animals you eat. As you sow and reap, saving seeds and breeding animals, you get to know a species well. You enter the life-spiral dance of tending and nourishing, and in exchange, you are tended and nourished.
There is another big and surprising reason to grow herbs. Stay tuned, I’ll cover that in a follow-up newsletter article.
Re-published with permission from GrowYourOwnGroceries.com
