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Last spring, I stood in my kitchen holding a jar of home-canned green beans, remembering the tiny seeds I’d planted months before. That moment hit me—this wasn’t just about gardening anymore. This was about true food security.
If you’re like me, grocery trips can feel overwhelming when every dollar counts. But what if I told you that a small garden plot could feed your family well beyond harvest season?
Start Small, Think Big
You don’t need acres to create food security. A 4×8 raised bed can produce enough vegetables to make a real difference in your grocery budget. Focus on crops that preserve well and provide the most nutrition per square foot:
- Green beans – Easy to grow, perfect for canning
- Tomatoes – Sauce, paste, and whole tomatoes for winter meals
- Carrots and beets – Store fresh in root cellars or freeze beautifully
- Herbs – Dry them for year-round seasoning
The Preservation Game-Changer
Growing is just half the story. Preserving is where the magic happens for true food security.
Canning is your friend for tomatoes and soups. Green beans need to be pressure canned or frozen for safety. One Saturday of canning can fill your pantry with meals that last years. Start with water bath canning for tomatoes—it’s simpler than you think.
Freezing works perfectly for corn, peas, carrots, and chopped herbs. Flash-freeze vegetables on cookie sheets before bagging them up. They’ll taste garden-fresh all winter.
Dehydrating transforms surplus into compact nutrition. Dried tomatoes, herbs, and even vegetable powders take up minimal storage space but pack maximum flavor.
Your Year-Round Security Plan
Plan your garden with preservation in mind. Plant succession crops of beans every two weeks for continuous harvests. Grow storage varieties of onions and potatoes that keep for months in cool, dark spaces.
The peace that comes from opening your pantry and seeing rows of home-preserved food? That’s worth more than the money saved—though you’ll save plenty of that too.
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about taking small steps toward the security and peace your family deserves.
Start with one crop. Learn one preservation method. Before you know it, you’ll be feeding your family from your own land, no matter what season it is.
What’s one vegetable you’d love to grow and preserve this year? I’d love to hear about your food security journey.
Starting a garden doesn’t have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I’ve learned over my gardening seasons and made them into a simple course to jump-start your gardening life. Grab the Gardening Basics Course
As I’ve grown as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So, I MADE MY OWN. You can look at it on the link below and buy it on Amazon.
Don’t want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
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