Growing plants for yourself, for your family, for the birds and the pollinators is a fuck you to the oligarchs. Grow some basil, grow some flowers, grow your skill set and your self-confidence.

If you think you have a black thumb, you don’t. Most gardeners learn through trial and error. Even if you can grow some basil this year it is a start; it will save you money and set you on the path to understanding the ways in which our food systems are broken.

Winter sowing is another reliable way to start produce for the summer; poke holes in the bottom of a gallon ziplock bag, fill it 1/3 of the way with soil, scatter your seeds, close it until there is a 1” gap and leave it outside. The seeds will start to grow when temps even out.

Many libraries have seed libraries free to the community. Dollarseeds.com is one of the most reliable sources for affordable, good quality seeds. Look at Seed Savers Exchange and Experimental Farm Network for community seed swaps.

I use plastic garage shelves from Walmart to hold my seed trays w/ 4K lumen garage lights zip tied to them. The biggest investment each year is the soil but even that is a luxury. Seeds want to grow; you can germinate in wet paper towels and transplant to a growing medium.

It is glorious for 3.5 months!

The texture of these baddies was also great. They were intermittently sown in a sweet potato bed and provided visual interest from May-October.

This video is a great example of what no till/deep mulch can do for a garden. Laying down layers of straw in my rows and free wood chips from ChipDrop in my paths made a huge space manageable.