From ‘Wakeup-World’
Growing your own food is exciting, not only because you get to see things grow from nothing into ready-to-eat fruits and veggies, but you also don’t have to worry about the pesticides they might contain, and you definitely cut down on the miles they—and you—have to travel.
As it turns out, with pretty minimal effort, anyone can be a gardener. My boyfriend and I are essentially first-timers this season and so far have the beginnings of strawberries peeking out, tomatoes are on their way, the basil’s about ready for a big batch of pesto, and once the last frost hits, the peppers, kale, spinach, chard, and mesclun(sic) will be on their way, too. All on a tiiiny(sic) little terrace (with the help of a little DIY carpentry).
If you’re up to the challenge—and it really isn’t much of one—growing your own food can be so rewarding. And so much cheaper! Just be sure to choose the right planter or container, learn how to maintain it properly, and go find yourself some seeds! (Or starter plants.)
Like this idea? Be sure to check out these 6 Crazy Concepts for Micro Gardens That Actually Work to get inspiration for designing your own garden in a small space.
Here’s a starter list of all the crazy things even urban gardeners, without space for a garden, can grow at home.
Tree fruits – including apples
1. Apples can be grown in a container; you can also grow them on the balcony or other small space using a technique called espaliering.
2. Kumquats
3. Avocados (plenty of extra tips online if you search)
4. Blackberries
5. Blueberries (sometimes helpful videos are available online)
6. Pomegranate
7. Cherries
8. Figs
9. Pears
Citrus fruits
Citrus trees in particular are said to be good for beginning gardeners and are easy to grow indoors, so don’t let inexperience or lack of outdoor space stop you from enjoying fresh-picked, hyper-local fruit.
10. Dwarf oranges
11. Grapefruit
12. Tangerines
13. Meyer lemons
14. Limes
Tropical fruits
Tropical fruits can also be surprisingly easy to grow indoors, even in non-tropical climates. Such as…
15. Bananas (look for container gardening tips online)
16. Pineapple
17. Papaya
18. Guavas (several varieties)
The real surprises
19. Hops—yes, as in the “spice” ingredient in beer. Turns out they’re easy to grow!
20. Aloe Vera
21. Strawberries
22. Tea (well, herbal tea)
23. Quinoa!
The non-surprises
24. Tomatoes
25. Summer squash
26. Other squashes, like acorn and pumpkin
27. Hot Peppers
28. Sweet peppers
29. Cucumbers
Melons
30. Small cantaloupe
31. Jenny Lind melon (an heirloom cantaloupe)
Herbs
Just about any herb grows well indoors—just be sure that if you’re going to do any container-sharing, you do your research first about which herbs co-habitate well together. (Some will hog water, for example, and leave the others dried out.)
33. Basil
34. Oregano
35. Parsley
36. Rosemary
37. Chives
38. Catnip
39. Thyme
40. Sage
41. Parsley
Leafy Greens
42. Kale
43. Mesclun greens
44. Spinach
45. Swiss chard
46. Lettuces (plenty of options there, from micro-greens to head or loose-leaf)
47. Mustard greens
48. Collard greens
49. Arugula
Root Vegetables
50. Carrots
51. Beets
52. Potatoes
Other healthy-sounding stuff
53. Sprouts
54. More sprouts: mung bean and lentil sprouts
55. Wheatgrass
56. Kohlrabi
57. Turnips
58. Rutabagas
59. Celeriac
60. Parsnips
62. Sugar snap peas
63. Rhubarb (not ideal in a container, but it can work)
64. Mushrooms (again, more tips online if you look)
65. Pole Beans
66. Aaaand… asparagus, although some disagree that it does well in a container. Try it if you’re ok with a risk!
Bonus 67: You can grow your own loofah, too, but you’d need a garden rather than a container for that.
The GOLDEN RULE 
Reblogged this on TheFlippinTruth.
Just two days ago, I was in the queue and the lady in front of me had purchased silver beet.. what the article calls Swiss chard. I couldn’t help but think that it was the easiest veg to grow and wondered why she didn’t grow it herself. I mention this to a friend who said that maybe she doesn’t have a garden and I said to my friend that you can grow it in a pot.
I can understand not wanting to grow some things – my broccoli is slow go again this winter (must be our globull not-warming) – but silver beet? I actually wanted to tell the woman she should be growing it herself, but it would have probably started an argument.
It seems a slow learning curve. There are few mainstream media sources offering and encouraging home growing food.
There might well be many places where a degree of self-sufficiency will be essential in the future.
And with councils stealing our properties through zones and overlays – thank you UN Vancouver Declaration – squeezing houses onto 300m blocks, or tree planting that not only increases the fire risk but robs your property of sunlight so your food won’t grow anyway…then governments making trade agreements with Monsatan who then limits what seeds can be brought into the country, or governments geo-engineering and spraying who-knows-what that comes down and destroys the health of the soil and water… I have a healthy list of what ails the blustered home owners and prevents them from growing their own food.
Having school veggie patches are great, but they should be given home-work – creating the same at their homes.
The biggest bait-and-switch was the UN turning everyone’s head around from self-sufficiency to ‘sustainable development’.
Self-sufficiency honors the individual, keeps one honest and responsible. Sustainability – codeword for communism – is concerned with the collective, aka Marxism, and doesn’t want free men, just slaves.
Lose your self and you lose it all.
LOL I think that’s enough ranting for the night.
Interesting suggestion about growing food at home for homework. Far better than common core maths and bad science.