Grow More by Setting Vegetable Gardening Goals

Have you ever stopped to think about your vegetable gardening goals? If you are like many gardeners, you may find your main motivation is simply to get outside and reconnect with nature by digging in the dirt. You may also enjoy gardening as a way to squeeze more physical activity into an otherwise hectic schedule. Without question, growing a vegetable garden is a very relaxing way to accomplish these goals.

A sense of personal satisfaction and better overall health are admirable and worthwhile objectives on their own. However, if you dig a little deeper you may find you have a number of other goals for your vegetable garden. If you find you are short on gardening space, clearly defining these goals before you begin growing will make it a lot easier to achieve them.

For example, if you want to reduce your monthly grocery bill throughout the year by preserving part of your harvest, you’ll need to figure out how much you can actually grow in the space you have available. Even if you just want to grow enough so your family can enjoy fresh produce during the warmer months, you’ll still need to figure out what you want to grow and how to make it work within your personal space and time constraints.

Take Stock of Your Personal Resources 

Time and space may prevent you having a garden this big. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In most cases, the amount your garden can produce will be defined by the amount of resources you can devote to it. Therefore, you’ll want to ask yourself the following questions:

1. How much time do you have to work in your garden?
2. How much space do you have available to plant?
3. If you plan to preserve part of your harvest, where will you store it?
4. What is your budget?

This last question is often overlooked, but it is very important because financial considerations will determine how much you can invest in seeds, transplants or other supplies. Honest answers to all of these questions will ensure you don’t get in over your head or become discouraged before you’ve had a chance to see results. Defining the amount of resources you have available upfront will allow you to set more achievable vegetable gardening goals.

Plus, it’s always easier to overcome a challenge once you clearly define it. Taking stock of your current situation can help you find creative solutions to potential challenges. For example, perhaps you can overcome a small budget by swapping seeds with neighboring gardeners or online communities. If you are short on growing space, maybe you can take advantage of unused vertical space along a sunny wall.

Define the End Results You’d Like to Achieve

Once you’ve developed a clear picture of what you have to work with, you can set realistic gardening goals. Make a list of the fruits, vegetables and herbs you use most in your cooking and highlight your most important “must-have” items. This will help you focus your resources on what matters most to you and will make it much easier if you decide to scale back your plans later.

As you can see, there are many benefits to setting vegetable gardening goals. Once you have a clear picture of what you’d like to get out of your vegetable garden, you’ll have a better idea of what you need, and what you can reasonably accomplish.

Seed Diversity In The News

The importance of seed diversity to our food supply is quickly losing ground to the political clout of large corporations (the Monsantos of the world), which in some countries forbid even home gardeners to collect, share, or swap seeds. Under the guise of trademark/patent protection, we are slowly losing the genetic diversity in our food supply, meaning plant disease could cause devastating widespread famine, or at the very least, a necessary reliance on chemical pesticides just to keep plants alive. Our planet was designed to house a HUGE diversity of species of plants - messing with this natural design may have consequences we can't even imagine.

As Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture for the Soil Association in Brussels says, “For both amateur growers and commercial producers, the resilience of our farming systems depend on a wide range of genetics within the food chain. It is vital that these varieties are maintained as a living collection amongst growers. Every variety lost weakens our ability to create an effective food system that can cope with the increasing challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.”

 Check out some of these recent articles to learn more about this pressing issue, and why you should care, as well as what you can do about it.

Diversity in dry common beans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vandana says “Occupy the Seed” - Permaculture Research Institute
The seeds of this diversity are at the heart of an agriculture of permanence. This is why you have an extremely important role to play in the Global Campaign for Seed Freedom both to save the diversity of seeds as well as our ...
Publish Date: 08/20/2012 9:44
http://permaculturenews.org/2012/08/20/vandana-says-occupy-the-seed-join-the-seed-freedom-fortnight-of-action-2-16-october-2012/

Reclaiming the seed: How the Seed Satyagraha movement is ...
The last twenty years have seen a very rapid erosion of seed diversity and seed sovereignty, and an intense concentration of the control over seed by a very small number of giant corporations. In 1995, when the United ...
Publish Date: 08/20/2012 8:56
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1547185/reclaiming_the_seed.html
 
Brussels rules against seed diversity – News story from Garden ...
Seeds of edible plants must be kept free of restrictive EU rule which favours the corporates at the expense of small farmers, gardeners and our food security. Brussels rules against seed diversity – News story from Garden ...
Publish Date: 08/13/2012 5:08
http://kitchengardennotebook.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/brussels-rules-against-seed-diversity-news-story-from-garden-organic/

Preserving Seed Diversity | Food Security
Without a strong base of diverse seeds, food production is threatened by disease and climate change. Promoting the use of diverse seed types enhances food security and promotes the preservation of traditional cultural practices and values.
Publish Date: 07/14/2012 23:00
http://foodsecurity.uchicago.edu/research/preserving-seed-diversity/

Defending seed sovereignty - The Ecologist
Declaration on Seed Freedom • Seed is the source of life. It is the self-urge of life to express itself, to renew itself, to multiply, to evolve in perpetuity in freedom. • Seed is the embodiment of biocultural diversity. It contains ...
Publish Date: 08/20/2012 10:55
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1547385/defending_seed_sovereignty.html

Video - Hybrid vs. Open-Pollinated Seeds

If you're interested in sustainable gardening (which you probably are if you're reading this blog!), you've probably heard of non-hybrid or open-pollinated seeds. Gardening sustainably means being able to sustain your gardening in a natural way, and for many people, that means saving your own seeds to plant the next year.

With hybrid seeds, this really won't work that well. Some hybrid seeds are sterile (meaning that the fruit they produce contains seeds that won't grow), and others simply may not produce fruit at all the second year, or they may give you a fruit you weren't expecting, which though interesting, doesn't really meet your needs as a sustainable gardener. So if you want to save seeds, you will need to choose a non-hybrid or heirloom variety.

If you're wondering what all the different seed types mean, this quick video gives a great overview of hybrid versus open-pollinated versus heirloom seeds - what they are, when to use them, and how to choose what is best for you and your garden.

On The Green Farms Organic Gardening Series - Part 2 (Hybrid, Open Pollinated, & Heirloom Seeds)
www.OnTheGreenFarms.com - What is a hybrid seed? Is it an evil word? Can I grow a 100% heirloom garden? In this video Jenny explains what each of the 3 types of seeds are and provides important information to help you choose the right type for your o...


You can find more information on non-hybrid seeds here: www.non-hybrid-seeds.com