I have decided to focus on planting mostly our pantry staples after a season of growing a wide variety of produce while harvesting only very little of each and thus I had nothing to store for winter. I learned that by planting a vast variety of vegetables each needed its own space to occupy. My small garden provided very little space for each one and none of them had enough to yield a larger amount of food. Having nothing to store that year, I decided next growing season to only put my effort, space, and focus into a handful of our favorite plants thus providing them with enough space to yield much.
The main purpose of a pantry staple garden is to provide homegrown produce that your family enjoys eating while being able to store a larger portion of yield for winter or even a whole year. A pantry stocking garden is a growing space that contains most of your family’s favorite staples and produces a substantial amount of food easy to store or preserve.
Grow food to provide for your family
I grow a pantry stocking garden to be able to feed my family and preserve food for a later time to enjoy. Growing plants that yield a substantial amount of food gives me peace that I will have food on the table in winter and will have my pantry shelves, cupboards, or freezer filled with food we like to eat and I like to cook with. It also gives me peace of mind that I would be able to put homegrown food on the table in a time of crises, lack of food supplies, or lack of financial stability.
Concentrate focus and effort on what’s most important
By growing a garden focused on filling up your pantry shelves you will have a clearer vision when planning for the next growing season. You will be able to put all your focus on the most important produce you would harvest, eat and store. You will be able to better plan and prepare for storage because you will know the food and how you will store it at the end of the growing season.
Make your garden space the most efficient
Growing pantry’s musts, you will be able to make your growing space more efficient. You will know what you want to grow and how much space you will need for each plant. You will be better able to use your garden beds, pots, containers, and most sunny or shady spots in your yard. Each space will have a purpose. By reducing the number of varieties, you will make more space for each to grow healthy and produce.
Planning is easier and clearer
Pantry stocking garden will make your garden planning easier and faster. Your gardening will be suddenly more efficient. You will be able to invest your time, effort, and money into the most important plants for your family. Your focus will be contained and clearly controlled and thus most efficient.
Learn a life and survival skill of growing food
Another purpose of growing a pantry-focused garden is to learn a life skill or a survival skill. Knowing how to bring a tiny seed to a final harvested food is a life skill to me. It’s a process during which you learn to grow food. Nobody was born already knowing how to grow food. Everyone has to learn to grow food, flowers, and plants. As you garden, you will soon discover there is not one formula that you can follow and you will successfully bring the seed into a harvest. There are many gardening techniques and styles. It is a process in which you learn a complex of steps that need to be in harmony and properly executed in order for one to have a final product to enjoy.
Growing a garden provides a physical activity while being productive
Gardening will also provide you with plenty of physical activity. As you look at a smiling gardener, know that behind all the smiles is hard work. All the kneeling, bending, reaching, shoveling, pulling, and lifting will exercise and strengthen your body, stretch your muscles, lubricate joints and bring fresh air into your lungs.
A way to relax and clear your mind
Growing a garden is beneficial for your mental health too. As we work the ground, care for our plants, plan our gardens, plan the harvest and process of storing the food, our minds, and our brains get to work. Your memory will get quite an exercise! You will find yourself remembering things quicker and easier. Your thought process will be challenged and stretched for the good of your mental health. As you tend your garden you will be able to clear your mind and get those stress levels down. Just grow a garden, do not overthink it, and then walk through it all in the light of the morning sun, smelling the sweet scent of dirt and the fragrance of your plants. The purpose of growing a garden can be also therapeutical.
Many people do gardening as a hobby. It is a hobby for a reason. A hobby is doing something you genuinely enjoy. For those who grow a pantry-stocking garden, it is a joy on so many levels. By growing food that you will be able to store and provide for your family, you will also experience the joy of gardening. We, gardeners, do not rejoice only when we harvest. The seed itself and its powerful potential give us joy. When we see the seed sprout it gives us joy. When we see healthy plant growth, we are glad. The whole process of planning, planting, caring, harvesting, storing, and even giving a portion of the harvest away gives us joy. Gardening is a process to enjoy.
Learn about certain plants and how to grow them in larger depth
Focusing on the specific harvests that would fill your storage space, you will be able to learn more about how to grow certain plants better. As you pick specific plants for your growing space, you will learn in-depth about how to grow them. Because your focus will not be scattered but rather concentrated on growing those plants, over time you will be able to grow them better, larger, healthier, and even more prolific.
Feel empowered, not limited
If anyone however feels limited by growing pantry focused garden and wishes to grow more varieties, please do not feel restrained. Pantry stocking garden is not about putting limits on you, but rather it is sharpening our focus on growing plants that would make our effort and gardening space most efficient. If you want to grow something outside your pantry staples, please do so, while not losing your focus.
For example, I grow a couple of peas because we like to eat them fresh. I like to watch my little one walking in the garden and eating peas right off of the plants. However, since I do not have enough space to accommodate enough pea plants for them to become our staple, I grow only as many peas as I can. It is not my main staple plant. I do not dedicate a large amount of space in our garden to peas, because I know it will not produce the amount of peas for me to store. I rather buy peas in cans or frozen.
I hope, by now you were able to see the purpose of a panty-focused garden clearly. I hope this will inspire you to also plan better and be more competent in growing produce that will be best used in your home.
What is a pantry stocking garden?
