Have you ever paid $10 for a couple of lousy tomatoes? Plenty of gardeners have and out of their own garden!

Gardening isn't farming

One of the great American misconceptions about home gardening is that it is scaled down farming. That might have been mostly true 100 years ago, but today's agri-business isn't anything like gardening.

Modern farming generally means monoculture, extensive reliance on chemicals and commercial seed, carefully planned planting patterns optimized for production and ease of planting and harvesting. It means production over taste and economy over sustainability.

It also means an enormous investment in tools and technology in order to minimize labor and human involvement.

Gardening profitably

There is no standard for home gardens. It is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Remember what I said about not being commercial ag?

A garden in Arizona with limited water availability will look different from a garden on the Oregon coast and those will look different from the New England garden. Even gardens on adjoining land might have very different properties and characteristics.

Interdependence

What you are looking for as you choose a garden plot, decide how to work and plant is interdependence. Some would call it synergy. You want to make what you have work for you.

Things you will have to work with and around might include thin topsoil, dry summers, sandy soil, swampland, particular pest problems, cool days, short seasons, dry summers and so forth.

Some people will have certain advantages such as large quantities of certain types of waste available, rich soil, easy access to water, and so forth.

To make your garden fun and profitable, you need to learn to work with the situation you have.

Contemplate

Before you plant this spring, spend some time in your garden and think about how the trees, sun, soil, terrain, rocks, rain, animals, and resources you have can work together to make your garden more productive with less effort in a way that builds the soil for later harvests.

Suggestions

If you are a new gardener, I would strongly suggest checking out bio-intensive planting methods. As time goes on, you can think about working in some permaculture concepts.

—Luke

Here is a video on desert permaculture in the Holy Land.