The Self-Sufficient Garden Blog

A Call to Science-Based Policymaking

A Call to Science-Based Policymaking

You never can tell when opportunity will strike. Around mid-July (2021), the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) asked scientists and experts for advice on strengthening scientific integrity policies across federal agencies. Great chance to...

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Self-Sufficient Garden Project

Self-Sufficient Garden Project

In Just Grow It Yourself  I related my experience of living for a month only on vegetables produced from my garden. Based on my meticulous records of every ounce I consumed over those 30 days, and exactly how much area it took to grow it, I calculated that with a...

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Food Supply Safety for Policymakers

Food Supply Safety for Policymakers

For Policymakers Only Everyday home gardeners should skip this As I’ve mentioned many times, both on this site and in the book, it’s imperative that gardeners be inspired by joy. If they don’t enjoy gardening, it’s simply not worth the effort, and they won’t do it...

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Home Gardens Compared to Local Food Systems

Home Gardens Compared to Local Food Systems

One of the biggest surprises I’ve encountered in my promotion of home food gardens is not only how different they are from industrial food, but also local food systems. I think that’s why local, small farmers—the ones who produce food just a few miles from where you...

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How I Do It Part 1

How I Do It Part 1

People often find it hard to believe that at age 72, using only hand tools, and “working” only an average of a half hour a day (not counting the winter months), in heavy clay soil, I can grow enough food to feed myself for a year on a plot measuring only 35’ x 40’....

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Garden Returns for Your Effort

Garden Returns for Your Effort

High for Basil and Low for Corn? I just read a great article on ROE by Jocelyn Engman in the May issue of The Iowa Source. What is ROE? It’s her acronym, standing for Return on Effort. She’s the very busy “Pickle Creek Girl” (as she calls herself) who, along with her...

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