Grow What You Can

Self-sufficiency has somehow become associated with disappearing into the wilderness with forty acres, a root cellar and enough canned beans to survive the collapse of civilization.

Bob thinks we’ve overcomplicated it.

You don’t need to live off-grid. You just need to start producing a little more of what you consume. Grow tomatoes and actually eat the damn things. Grow too many and make sauce. Plant rosemary instead of repeatedly buying those sad little plastic packets from the supermarket. Grow strawberries, potatoes, cucumbers or garlic. Plant an apple tree. If you have the room and local rules allow it, get some chickens. They’ll eat scraps, contribute to the compost and occasionally provide breakfast.

Hell, everybody wants Dubai chocolate now. If you live somewhere that’ll grow pistachios, Bob says grow the bloody pistachios.

That’s what self-sufficiency should really be about. Not preparing for the apocalypse, but looking at the things you normally buy and occasionally asking, could I grow this, make this or do this myself?

And as the seasons change, what you can grow changes with them. September in Vermont isn’t September in Florida. Your growing zone, first frost date, daylight and local weather matter considerably more than the month printed on the calendar.

So learn your patch of dirt. Grow what it’ll let you grow. Compost something. Propagate something. Plant something for next year. Preserve what you harvest. Keep a few hens. Try growing something completely ridiculous just to see if you can.

You don’t need to become completely self-sufficient.

Just become a little more capable every year.

Because self-sufficiency isn’t about escaping the modern world. It’s making damn sure you can still do a few things without it.

Bob went a little further down this particular garden path in the latest Book of Bob, including what the changing seasons mean for growing where you live.

Read the full “Grow What You Can” on Wildman Bob’s Substack →