Watch This If You Want To Grow Your Own Food This Year

With everything going on in the world, more people are asking how they can become more self-sufficient. Growing your own food is one of the best ways to support yourself and your loved ones. I’ll share the lessons I’ve learned (and the mistakes you can avoid) so you can get growing faster and smarter.

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[bwagner]

i really like the context of this video. not panic and the lie of total self-reliance but framing gardening as more of a part of making sense of a messed-up world. growing food will become more and more necessary, surely, but using gardening as a positive influence to bring communities together is even more necessary, i think.

[BigBlackSam]

A few years ago, I started watching videos like this one because I decided that I will never starve again, I will grow as my gardens grow.

[MonicaLea]

Y'all should do something on growing in community gardens. You could cover what to grow when you don't have year round access, how to make the best use of limited space and time, etc.

[kristinanoall]

There’s definitely a feeling in the air. You and Luke from MIgardener released videos with the same theme (instability in the world) within hours of each other. Thanks for the super helpful, well-explained, non-judgmental content!

[myurbangarden]

This conversation is needed. Building this skill set will be essential

[allancrocket]

Really nice opening Kevin. Im 66 and I can tell you that these times are not ordinary. Over the past few years you and your group have really influenced me. My wife and I have a B&B by Sequoia National Park on a few acres and we are drifting towards Farm to Table for the morning breakfasts. Our 75% EU guests absolutely love having real food for breakfast. I love that on the 1st raised bed garden I removed grass that was getting watered by (4) 5 gal per minute Sprinklers, for 10 minutes a day about 250 days a year. That cut about 40, 000 gal!! (50, 000 less grass - 4 large beds with drip systems). We also have a set of your raised beds on another garden area near the outdoor courtyard where guests have breakfast. Keep up the good fight! Gardening lessens the anxiety of all the drama Washington is bombing us with.

[timmieBob]

The ending conversation about this being a microwave society and how we all just need to take a break and touch some dirt, is so spot on. That’s why I got into gardening (2nd year gardener) and it’s having so many benefits already. Thanks Epic Gardening!!! 💕

[LizThompson-dsfl]

Been a long time viewer. I was trying to wind down my community garden in prep for a move to be closer to my senior mom. Then I got DOGE’d (I’m a government contractor) so those plans are off.

Gardening has been my stress outlet. And watching your videos when I can’t garden.

[saal]

Gardening really has the potential to connect people. Giving away food, talking when out in the yard, engaging in seed sharing, sharing knowledge, etc etc. And of course the resilience it brings if food does become scarce.

[anne-mariestevenson]

Gardening has long been known to help with mental and physical health. I have chronic anxiety and depression. Everyone has been commenting how much stronger I am mentally at the moment. My secret? I've ordered two GreenStalks. I've created enough different plans in my head on how to fill them that I could probably fill 20.

It's about watching nature, short and long term planning, about your brain focusing on seedlings growing and not everything that is worrying you.

[honeyv]

Thank you Kevin for this video. I moved to a new place end of last year and my landlord said I can use one of the garden beds. The first few months of of the year I had insomnia, nightmares, teeth grinding and bc of that chronic headaches and neck pain. All of that was from the stress of current events and work stress. Fast forward now, I've been having a great time gardening with my landlord. It's been very therapeutic for us. I grew up helping my mom with her urban garden and always wanted to garden. In my old apartment, I had a small tomato, pepper, basil and mint plant. Now we are growing native wildflowers, passionfruit, nectarines, figs, herbs and looking forward to putting lots of tomatoes and peppers in the ground soon.

[natebedwell]

Not a "homesteader" but ive turned my 2 acres in a literal food forest! 2 gardens. One almost 1/4 acre and an 1/8 melon patch. Over 50 fruit trees. Some of which go inside during winter (im in indiana) so finding this channel of yours gets me pumped 🤣

[GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

Most of my waking moments are focused on growing, cooking, and preserving my own food. I am so passionate about it.

[StoneyOaksHomestead]

I started gardening in 2020 on 2 small in town lots... I threw seeds in the ground and walked away expecting results. Fast forward to 2025 and we've become full on homesteaders with a 4000 Sq ft garden and other smaller gardens, chickens, turkeys and pigs on 20 acres. THIS is the way forward! Become producers instead of consumers has been our motto the past 5 years.

[tierlilly]

Something I learned recently that can help people like me who live in dryer regions is making water batteries in your pathways. Water batteries are when you dig a trench where your pathway is, line the bottom with compost (I used chicken manure because I have chickens) then fill the trench to the top with mulch. What this does is when it rains or snows, the water sinks into the mulch and stays there, even during the dry months. It also helps prevent flooding.

[SouthernHerbary]

Now is definitely the time. Most vegetables we buy, can be grown at home, for a lot of us.

[kg]

TX here, my veggies face the east. That afternoon sun cooks everything!

[Powerfamilygarden]

Yes! Gardening is calming. It’s exhausting and productive. I need all of those things to break free from the stress and worry. I grow fruits, vegetables, flowers and have animals. I change my garden often to freshen it up. I spend my fall/winter, when I can’t plant, planning my projects for the next year. It’s more than a hobby. I feed my family and my spirit in the garden.

[patriciahill]

It is so refreshing - and good for our healthy perception of the world - to have an influencer speak honestly about what is going wrong, and how to preserve our mental, emotional and physical health. And consider what you CAN influence in the world.

[tealkerberus]

I would also encourage novice gardeners to talk to their local nursery shops. The big chain stores that have a garden department have no investment in your gardening interest, but if you find a good local nursery shop they have a strong financial motivation to teach you to garden and encourage your passion for growing food plants. By the time you have progressed from buying seedlings to saving seed and growing your own seedlings to plant out, and you're no longer really buying a lot of stuff from the shop, you will have inspired several of your friends to take up food gardening as well. By the time they are skilled up to the point they're not buying a lot of stuff from the shop, they will have inspired others in turn. This is a powerful business model for a small local retailer, so turning to them for advice and suggestions and locally-tailored climate and variety information whenever you can't find what you need online is well worth your time. Just try not to be a nuisance when they're busy, or to get more support than your shopping habits are paying for, and you'll probably end up with a new friend as well.