Get Growing with FoodPrint’s Gardening Resources

Ready to grow your own food this year? There are plenty of reasons to get started. Growing your own food is a wonderful way to shrink your foodprint, feed yourself with ingredients you can trust and learn about the labor involved in producing food.

Are you concerned about pesticides in your food, farm labor issues, or food waste in the production process? When you grow food yourself, you can control every step of the process, from seed and soil selection to pest management to harvesting and compost.

Do you love kale? When you take growing into your own hands, you can explore unique varieties of vegetables that you love (like the ‘Dazzling Blue’ kale variety); always have fresh herbs on hand; and be ready to whip up a salad or roast veggies at a moment’s notice.

While it’s true that the idea of gardening can seem intimidating — you need space, time, and expertise, right? — there are ways to start gardening no matter how small the space, or how limited your resources. Maybe you start with some windowsill scallions or regrow a head of romaine lettuce. Then, inch up to windowsill herbs. And you don’t need a backyard to get growing: even a windowsill hanging planter or an alleyway plot can be a place to start growing your own food. 

In order to get gardening, it’s best to come up with a plan. Start early, ideally in winter, to gather your tools, seeds and supplies. But if it’s spring and you are just getting started, don’t fret. Our site is full of tips and resources including a list of sustainable seed companies, the most useful websites and books, tips from gardening teachers, and ideas and inspirations.

To get anyone ready to grow their own food, we’ve gathered together all of our gardening resources in this two page “Get Growing” visual guide. With beautiful illustrations and handy links, this all-in-one guide takes you all the way from planning to harvest — and the compost pile, of course. Ready to get growing? Follow us on social media @FoodPrintOrg, ask questions and share pictures of your success. We can’t wait to see what you grow.