Grow your own groceries: Home gardens gaining popularity to fight higher food costs

A delicious way to counter economic anxiety for potential green thumbs is to grow your own groceries.

It demands a time commitment, but from potential cost savings to unbeatable flavors, the concept bears plenty of appeal, according to Nancy Kuhajda, the University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator serving Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties.

“I want you to grow success first,” she said, citing the myriad ways to access the expertise shared by Illinois Extension, including phoning the office for one-on-one advice. “People still are yearning for that person-to-person contact.”

During the COVID-19 lockdown, many flocked to gardening, she said, noting that more recent concerns over rising food prices and food security have sparked a strong reinterest in gardening, which has taken off like crazy.

“The ability to grow your own food is a super power,” she likes to say.

Some vegetables are easier to raise than others.

“You need the right information … a simple technique change [can make] all the difference," Kuhajda said, adding that homegrown vegetables, even potatoes, taste so much better, and long-term-producing plants over the summer can cut back on your food bill. “Garden to table is the freshest product, [preserving] quality and texture and vitamins. We’re here to provide the educational key.”

One requisite for success is six to eight hours of sun on vegetables. And to keep critters from helping themselves to the produce, she calls fencing necessary, cautioning that “You can’t apply things that are taste repellent” on edibles.

Use the space you have

For those without a sunny patch of land, vegetable gardening can be done successfully in containers on a patio or balcony. Popular favorites are tomatoes, peppers, green beans and cucumbers.

“It’s not instantaneous – they are mid- to late-season crops," she said. “Those are the crops that are going to provide a large amount of harvest for the amount of input. You can preserve all of those – the easiest thing is freezing – for year-round use and that garden-fresh taste.”

A freezing exception is cucumbers. Turning them into refrigerator or traditionally preserved pickles is a good option, Kuhajda said, adding, “The dill pickle is a hot commodity these days.”

To enjoy fresh cucumbers in an extended harvest, she suggests planting two seeds, waiting two weeks and repeat planting.

Container tomato tips

For tomato lovers spurned in past attempts to grow the prized plant in containers, Kuhajda has a multitude of tips, including some vital basics.

“The ability to grow your own food is a super power.’

—  Nancy Kuhajda, the University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator

Use potting mix – never potting soil – in a container with a hole for drainage. If transplanting, unfurl the roots, aiming them outward and downward [yes, you can touch them safely]. Once it’s planted and thoroughly watered, add a single layer of wood chips to decrease watering by 40 to 60 percent.

“Every living plant in northern Illinois [needs] 1 inch of water a week between rain and water,” she said, suggesting you measure the rainfall in your garden [a tin can will do], and provide a half inch four days apart, until water flows out the bottom. If you insert your index finger up to the second knuckle and it’s dry, you need to water.

Community gardens gaining popularity

Opportunities to rent a community garden plot are scattered across Grundy and Will counties, but the spaces are booked in a heartbeat by early spring, according to staff at the Plainfield Township, which operates one program.

Another is the Cooperative Community Gardens Program, launched in 2017, that’s a joint effort between the Village of Romeoville Parks & Recreation Department and the Lockport Township Park District.

When asked about residents’ interest this year, Village of Romeoville staff said, “The garden rentals the past few years have been filling up within the first few months of registration. This year, registration was full within the first month of availability.”

Lending their expertise to community gardens are Master Gardener volunteers who are paired with them to provide participants with hands-on training, such as identifying which tiny plant is the weed.

The generosity of gardens even extends to food pantries when organizations like churches set aside land on which volunteers grow fresh produce to donate.

Get the kids involved

Kuhajda believes in introducing very young children to gardening.

When they are encouraged to touch plants or help with planting in the garden, they are more likely to try eating that food, said Kuhajda, who has assisted many school and children’s gardens.

“Gardening teaches so much more to children besides horticulture – patience, perseverance, independent thinking and learning," she said, noting that children’s exposure to nature is beneficial to their physical, dietary, emotional and social health.

Presentations

The health-related theme is reflected in one of the upcoming third-Wednesday presentations offered by the Morris Area Garden Club.

“Just being outside in your garden – spending time close to the earth in the natural world – is extremely healthy for our general well-being and our mood," club President Deb Favero said.

For November’s educational program, a member who’s a retired health care professional will focus on gardening’s health benefits. It begins at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Morris Area Public Library.

Earlier in the year, the club’s interest in herb gardening will take an interesting twist when a guest speaker explores “Crafting Herbal Mocktails,” co-sponsored by the MAGC, library and That Perennial Place. It starts at 6 p.m. Aug. 20 at the library, and Favero invites newcomers to attend and check out the club anytime. Learn more at Facebook at tinyurl.com/83ahjfe9.

One of the many pleasures is the opportunity to learn from each other, Favero said.

50 years of helping local gardeners

This marks the 50th anniversary of the Illinois Extension’s statewide Master Gardener program, first launched by Professor Floyd Giles in Will County, inspired by the land-grant university’s commitment to extend practical college-based research into the community for its benefit.

The Extension is celebrating the program’s volunteers with special events across the state.

A wealth of Illinois Extension information is available, with Master Gardener webinars offered live as well as archived on the Extension’s YouTube channels. The organization’s website is brimming with easily searchable information, and a duo’s wonderfully conversational gardening podcast is called “Great Growing,” Kuhajda said.

Additionally, the Extension has the privilege of being able to draw on University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts to answer the toughest questions, she said.

Discover the Extension’s podcasts, horticulture webinars and hundreds of topics on its YouTube channels at tinyurl.com/9y4w7ynf. Find out when to plant different vegetables at tinyurl.com/3ka87prp. Learn to preserve a bountiful harvest through the easiest method – freezing – at tinyurl.com/5hf436am.