Simple Ways to Grow Your Own Food in Your Backyard

1. Plant a Backyard Garden

A backyard garden is the ultimate way to produce your own food. The top benefits of starting your own garden and benefits of growing your own food include, enjoying clean and healthy produce (you control the entire lifecycle) which ensures toxin and chemical free vegetables. It is also a wise financial investment which saves not only on your grocery bills, but on future doctor’s visits (thanks to the preventative health benefits provided by freshly grown and consumed vegetables).

What You Can Grow in Your Garden

• Vegetables
• Herbs
• Nuts
• Fruit and fruit trees
• Wheat and Grains

Depending on your location, whether you are in a rural, suburban, or urban setting, you will have to be more or less creative in order to use your allotted ground to the fullest.

Small Space Tips for Efficient Backyard Gardening

• Utilize planters and pots for growing your own food in small suburban or urban backyards.
• Purchase a garden shed to keep your seeds, potted seedlings, and tools organized and protected.
• Think VERTICAL and utilize garden fences and potting holders.
• Purchase a small greenhouse with big benefits.

Check out these videos for extra tips on growing your own food in your backyard!

How to Grow a lot of Food in a Small Garden – 9 EZ tips

and…

How to “cram” more into your city garden!

2.  Raise Your Own Chickens (or Ducks)

Whether you are a plant-based eater or full-fledged meat lover, raising chickens is for you!

If you solo plants, chickens offer a natural and chemical free bug repellant (or digestant) and boosts the quality of your compost for your backyard garden. Plus, they are friendly, feathered outdoor companions.

If you eat the “whole food pyramid”, then chickens offer you two sources of real-time backyard food, fresh eggs and meat.

Eggs –  If you are looking primarily to harvest eggs from your feathery ladies, read, The Top 13 Best Egg Laying Chicken Breeds, to get started on acquiring your preferred chickens. Then enjoy reading “The Complete Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens“.

Meat – If you are picky about the taste of your chicken, take a moment to view from Morning Chores, Ten Best Chicken Breeds for Meat (and Dual Purpose) to Raise in Your Backyard.

Important Note: If you are considering a dual-purpose chicken breed, consider that while certain meat chickens can produce eggs, it is a longer, more drawn out, and inconsistent process. You might not want to “try to kill two birds with one stone” if you are hoping for an abundant and constant supply of fresh eggs.

Not fond of chicken? Ducks can also be raised for meat and eggs.

Find out what this urban farmer and family man decided…

Backyard chickens, is it really worth it?

3. Start a Beehive

Fresh honey is an ideal natural sweetener which can be used in pretty much all baking and cooking scenarios. Not only will you benefit from the enjoyment of fresh, raw honey, but you can also use the beeswax to make homemade soap. Plus, you can sell surplus honey to neighbors or friends for additional side income. Literally, this is the sweetest way to grow your own food!

Are Beehives Even Legal in My Backyard?

Residential beehives are a possibility, although it varies from township to city. Check out this article on Modern Farmer: How Do I Legally Start an Urban Beehive?  and Bee Keeping 101: How to Start an Urban Beehive.  Also, regardless of whether you are from an urban or rural setting, read Backyard Beekeeping  for tips on the types of bees and other necessary items for successful beekeeping.

Bee inspired by this video of an innovative way of harvesting honey!

Flow Hive Honey Harvesting

1. Purchase a Small Shed

Use a shed for garden and bee supplies or for your chickens’ living quarters (you can add nesting boxes). Even if you decide to purchase a simple storage shed for your garden equipment and tools, in the future, your small shed can also be converted to a simple chicken house. Check out this interesting blog about one couple’s experience in converting a shed into a chicken coop!

2. Purchase a Chicken Coop

Build or purchase a pre-built chicken coop for your chickens or ducks. If DIY is not your thing, then consider a prebuilt chicken coop for your backyard space. With all the extra amenities, a chicken coop will be the perfect home for your birds as well as provide a unique splash to your backyard. Raising chickens has become easier and more popular with these simple, efficient chicken coops!

3. Purchase a Beehive (bee house).

If you are looking for the perfect project do with your kids, maybe you should start a small beehive. Although many people have a fear of these buzzing insects, with a new bee hive design like the “Flow Hive“, harvesting your honey is a very simple process. Simply tap your honey into your own jar and revel in the fact that you are a “real bee keeper”!

Help, Where Should I Start?!

If you are new to the idea of homesteading, there is no pressure to jump into complete self-sufficiency all at once. Depending on your interests you may be drawn to starting one way of growing food in your backyard over the other. But as an overall good starting point, raising vegetables is the way to go because it is a bit easier process to get off the ground than raising poultry or bees.

A highly recommended source to grow your own food and begin your homesteading journey is, How to Grow Food in Your Backyard: a Beginners Guide to Homesteading. There is a lot of good and helpful advice and tips out there on the web. We offer the top 3 ways to grow food as a catalyst to springboard further ideas and inspirations for your future garden, chickens, and/or beehives.

You are the HERO!

Go for it, don’t look back, feed your inborn aptitudes, and enjoy a more self-sufficient life!