Since Covid times, I have ignited a passion for gardening. I started in my mum’s garden before getting married and continued it on in my new home. My mum has long been gardening and her green finger abilities has certainly passed on to me. There’s great joy in seeing the fruits of your labour and continuing the habits my ancestors in Africa did. I really believe that every household should to look into becoming more self-sustaining and building a community by growing your own food instead of relying on big corporations to feed us.
Why should I grow my own food?
Growing your own food is such a maturing activity. It teaches you to be patient, organised, thoughtful and resilient. Growing your own food is not always a walk in a park. For example I grew tomatoes for the first time this year, and despite reading all I could, I was wondering why it was taking my green tomatoes so long to turn red. In haste, I harvested some of them too early, even throwing a few in the bin! I left the tomato plant alone, still watering it, and was surprised one day to see it change to red! This was about a month later, and it really was a lesson to me to be patient and trust the process. Now I know what to expect next year.
Back to Basics
When God created the world, he made Adam and Eve and instructed them to work in the Garden of Eden and cultivate it. One could say that that was God’s original plan for mankind before they sinned. There’s beauty in being surrounded by nature, it draws you closer to God because he created it for our pleasure.
Growing your own food Is a necessity
I really feel that there may be a time when growing your own food is going to be so cherished – it’s a skills everyone should cultivate. The world is entering an interesting phase in history, where evil is ramping up and wars are all around us, so learn to be independant and not rely on the government and large corporations to feed you and your family.
Growing your own food shouldn’t be expensive. If you listen to every Tom, Dick and Harry then you’ll buy so many unnecessary items to make your garden space work. Sometimes it’s just best to lean on your own God given intuition, seek a handle of advice and that’s it.
What if I live in a city?
I’ve grown courgettes, tomatoes, strawberries and cucumbers, as well as herbs like rosemary, basil and coriander all within a small balcony garden. Don’t doubt what you can do within your environment. Even if you don’t have an outdoor space, you can plant many herbs indoors such as basil and coriander, or purchase a community plot (waiting times can be long however). However, I would encourage anyone who is living in an urban environment to consider moving to an environment where you will able to grow things more abundantly. We need to go back to nature, growing our own food, building up communities and serving God. More and more skyscrapers are being built in the cities and blocking out the sun! That’s not an environment I want to be in for much longer.
Black farmers in the UK
There is a growing trend in the United States for black farming, i.e black people of Afro-Caribbean descent getting into farming. Countless videos on YouTube showcase how well they are growing their own produce and how fulfilling it has been for them and their families. There is a great need for more black farmers here in the UK and unfortunately most black household are situated in urban spaces or concrete jungles. There are different foods that black people eat that is traced back to the motherland so there’s scope to learn how to grow the raw foods here in the UK. How great it will be to have a local black farmer who you can directly buy callaloo, ugu, okra and more! Our ancestors all grew their own food, it was imperative for survival – perhaps we are too privileged in the wrong sense to see the necessity of growing your own food and being independant.
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, the first black farmer in the UK is working hard to fight the farmer narrative in Britain. He hopes that more black people will get into farming and move away from the mindset that farming is a ‘white thing’.
You don’t have to be a farmer, but I would recommend you be a gardener and grow some things you can later eat!
Seed saving & Building Community
With the threat on independent farming mounting up, it is important for every household to grow their own food and save the seeds. It’s amazing how you can get hundreds of seeds from one plant to grow more in the next season. As more people are valuing organic produce, saving seeds from your harvest will give you the opportunity to pass them on to other households and communities.
Not only is growing food beneficial for your family but if you have surplus you’ll be able to give or sell to your local community! If every household in your area grew food, you’d be able to trade in food items that you aren’t able to grow yourself. Talk about your own neighbourhood farmers market!
Don’t Delay Growing Your Own Food
As I wrote before, growing your own food won’t be a walk in the park at first so start now so that you can gain the knowledge and build a healthy environment for your family.
Scripture for inspiration
And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Isaiah 1:8
And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Amon 9:14
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:12
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Jeremiah 29:5
