garden herbs simple life sprout

Three simple ideas: Grow your own food

by Farmer Liz
Even though we call it a "simple life", getting started can appear anything by simple.  Especially if you watch too much Gardening Australia or other DIY programs, everything they do seems to involve lots of expensive inputs, like bags and bags of palletised manures and bales of lucerne hay instead of trying to find simple, cheap and local solutions.  And cooking shows are just as bad!

There are lots of ways to start living a simple life and the path you chose will depend on your priorities and abilities.  I've been thinking about some good (easy and cheap) places to start, based on my own experiences.  I'm going to start with - Growing your own food.





Simple: A backyard vegetable garden
If you have some space in your backyard, you can start to dig up a bit of a garden area.  You can start small, just a 1m square space will produce a little food for you.  Just make sure you will have enough water, sunlight and organic matter (compost and mulch) to feed the soil.  There are lots of options, see here for a wonderful example of what can be done on a budget in a rental property.  More suggestions here.  I do recommend that you also start with either a compost or worm farm, so that you will have lots of nutrients to feed to your garden.  


dwarf lemon tree in a pot

strawberries in a pot

Simpler: A container herb garden
If you don't have the space or money (or you're renting) to start a garden, its amazing what you can grow in a few containers.  The cheapest option is to visit your local dump shop and pick up some pots, or see if your local supermarket or fruit and vege gives away used polystyrene boxes.  I currently grow most of my herbs in pots so that I can move them around the garden in different seasons.  All you need is some potting mix and either herb seedlings or seeds.  You can do the same with various vegetables.  Some good examples of a balcony gardens here.




Simplest: Sprouting
You can start sprouting using some sprouting seeds and a glass jar with a hanky secured over the top with a rubber band, or you can spend $20 on a "sprouting kit".  Either way, its a very cheap way to start growing something green to eat.  See more about my sprouting here.

What do you think?  What are some other ideas to get started with a simple life?  I will have more next week....


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