This is a tip to help you change your mindset, rather than a new gardening technique to try. Overall, it will bring a more satisfying gardening experience and less wasted food.
Grow what you eat and eat what you grow.
Remember this little mantra next spring when you’re getting your seeds ready.
The point is that you should only grow what your family will actually eat, and once you do harvest it, it gets used up. Don’t keep growing things out of habit or convention if they’re not really needed (or wanted).
Growing tomatoes is a common tradition for most people in North America. It’s just one of those vegetables that “everybody” has in their gardens. But what if you never use tomatoes? Then don’t bother growing them. The opposite applies, too. If you get an enormous bumper crop of snap peas this year, that’s what you eat—even if it’s for weeks on end.
It will likely take a few years to really work out what your family needs and wants, particularly when it comes to the amount of food you produce. If one long row of black beans isn’t enough, go for 2 next year. This is all part of your annual note-taking chore. Eventually, you can fine-tune your garden space to suit your family’s personal palate.