I used to have all these reasons why I couldn't grow any of my own food. The sunlight conditions weren't right on my porch, I can't use my yard... I imagined cumbersome tomato plants that needed support and vining plants like cucumbers, and the huge tubs that would be necessary for potatoes.
But one day I thought well hell I can at least re-grow these green onions in my kitchen windowsill. When it got warm enough I moved them outside and put some natural fertilizer on the soil and they exploded like crazy.
Then I thought, well that was so easy, and I love just being able to cut off exactly the amount of green onions that I want for various purposes. It would be awesome to do that with parsley, cilantro, and basil, too. So I got some seeds and let them do their thing. Cilantro is struggling, but the curly parsley is healthy as can be, and soon, I'll have free fresh parsley available for the taking!
I bought bok choy to add to my ramen. I thought I'll have to throw most of this out, and I only use less than one stalk at a time. And then I looked at the bottom and saw tiny little roots sprouting, and new leaves too. 🤔 So I stuck it in some soil and set it in the sun on my porch. Fresh new little happy green leaves started popping out immediately like they were just waiting for the opportunity to. Soon I'll be able to cut off a bit of bok choy for my ramen, and try some bok choy salads too. Would've been kind of a waste to purchase an entire bunch for the little that I really use.
Turns out cilantro can tolerate temperatures as low as 10 degrees and parsley as low as 20. So all these years I could've had these delicious herbs growing right on my porch rather than buying bunches from the store, rinsing, drying, trying to extend their freshness in the refrigerator and use them before they go bad.
Lesson: things are usually possible, and our own minds block us from doing them. Why didn't I find out the low temperatures for herbs that I use regularly or stick some roots into pots before? But I think this about many things after I've actually done them. When you're not there, you're just not there. Turns out as with everything... just start somewhere at the easiest step.
I also have a nettles plant that I bought from a woman at a yard sale last year. It died back in the fall, and this spring it's bursting into life. It will be a fun adventure to step out my door and pick leaves and experiment with adding them to my different recipes.
I picked up a baby elderberry bush some kind person had put on their curb with a free sign on my way home from the park last spring. It quickly grew through the pot and spread like wildfire.
I can't wait to own my own land (we rent a very small plot on which we aren't privileged to garden) and experiment with more things to eat. I'm no avid gardener, but I like sticking things in soil and getting a wealth of food for free without going to a grocery store!