The part everyone wants to ignore, but taking the time will make gardening so much easier and more successful!

In January, in cozy clothes we are seduced by fancy colors and great marketing in seed catalogs, dreaming of warmer days. But it is super easy to skip straight to the 20 pages of tomatoes and forget a really important step that will make your life much easier in August. What do you actually eat, and how much? In August, what are you going to do with 45 pounds of tomatoes? Will you genuinely have time to learn to process it every week? Does your kitchen have space for 45 lbs of tomatoes? Many crops mature at the same time, such as zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, corn and peppers. So there will need to be room and time for them too. An alternative is to focus on things that you eat regularly, that store with minimal processing and spread out the harvest season. Onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, lettuce (with staggered planting), cabbage, chard, peas, snow peas, kale, spinach, winter squash, berries, broccoli, sweet potatoes and herbs. All take minimal work for storage, and mainly harvest either before or after August. Trying to learn how to garden AND preservation skills like canning at the same time is a recipe for overload and rotten fruit disaster. This is a huge reason why I regularly say that the concept of "bugging out" is a myth. The learning curve is too steep to be realistic. For your first few years, take a look in your fridge, take inventory, and only look at those sections in the catalog on your first pass through. Then add a few plants of the things that you enjoy fresh during summer. Think, melons, corn on the cob, caprese salad, or pesto (basil). A staple summer treat for our house is sliced spicy radishes (Zlata or Spanish radish). I also love tabbouleh (slicer tomato, cucumber, parsley, and mint). 1 flavorful early slicer tomato like Brandywine, one mid season tomato (I like Mr Stripy), and 2 cherry tomatoes are great for a family of 3 or 4 for fresh eating. Beyond that, start with a reasonable mix of some foods you eat often. Don't worry about fancy colors or rare heirlooms. Focus on flavor and compatibility with your growing area and you will be headed for success.

Yesterday I went to help a friend who was widowed 2 years ago. I always schedule 2+ hours for visits to her house, because once we start talking about gardening, the time flys by. She has been sustenance gardening for over 20 years, and there are things she and my other very experienced friends do each year. 1. They stick to tried and true varieties. They don't order 200 varieties from Baker Creek. They have 2-3 varieties of each type of veggie that they plant every year, and when possible, save seeds for next year. I regularly buy nasturtium seeds because our season isn't long enough for them to self seed, but I buy VERY few seeds per year, and it is usually planned in advance. 2. Perennials and plants that self-seed are your time hack. Things that don't need babysitting (like seedlings) seedlings save you insane amounts of time and mental energy. Spinach and lettuce can self seed. I have been experimenting with direct fall planting as much as possible to save time in the spring. 3. They have killed more plants than you will grow in your lifetime. That is how you figure out what works for your space. Having 2-3 varieties of each, means that when the weather does weird things, at least one will work. There will be losses each year. The smoke from fire season can affect our crops, as can heat or moisture. Hedge your bets with 2 different varieties. 4. They will only add one or two new type of veggies per year to test out. They go into it knowing it may not work, and limit their learning curve. They also start small in testing. My new test this year is two types of Millet. Last year I was focused on medicinal herbs. 5. They ask a lot of questions from other gardeners. They ask locally from people who have tested things in their specific climate. I have a few friends who have been market gardening for decades. Also, on slow days, ask the farmers at the farmers market for info. 6. They accept that they can't grow it all. With insane amounts of resources and time you theoretically could grow anything anywhere, BUT is it really a level of investment you want to make? I am growing coffee and vanilla inside, but not big stuff like cinnamon, papaya or black pepper (as much as I want to).

1. The easiest place to start is sprouts. You can sprout many food plant seeds (even chia) in a clean jar on your counter (no light required). The trick with sprouts is to just rinse the seeds daily and drain. If they get too wet, they can get moldy. Then eat them once they get the first two leaves. Depending on the seed you are sprouting, they can be VERY nutritious. 2. Baby greens can be grown in any flat container. They don't need much soil, and only need light once the leaves develop. If you use a deeper tray (like the plastic container that baby greens come in), you can cover it with clear plastic to protect it from bugs or cats. 3. Herbs are a great start for bigger plants. It is easier to start with small plant starts from the garden center. With basil or mint you can take a cutting from a friends plant and keep it in water in a windowsill until roots form, and then plant it. 4. There are a lot of inexpensive grow lights available. The hanging strip grow light from harbor freight has worked really well for me. Make sure you adjust the height for the type of plant you want to grow.