I’ve been gardening now since the first year of the pandemic, and I will absolutely never grow enough to sustain myself. Perhaps on an acreage, if that was my full time job? If I was lucky? But it’s a LOT of work to grow food at a sustainable level, and that’s not even counting how one goes about processing and preserving it, saving seeds for next year, ensuring there’s enough to last till the first harvest next year.

Garden for the pleasure of it, and enjoy those small pleasures. I successfully over-wintered all my strawberries (in Canada! In a raised bed!) and they’re producing like mad this spring. I certainly couldn’t live off them, and perhaps they won’t make it to next year, but I’m enjoying eating the berries right now.

(And you may already know this, but I found that hand-fertilizing the silks was really successful when I grew a small plot of corn!)

Did you ever read John Seymour’s books (e.g. New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency)? He has various scenarios for different lot sizes, and how to divide the lot to smaller plots, what plants to have in each plot, and what to plant next year, etc.

If grass grows well, that is good. Let it grow and let sheep eat it, so they poop while they consume it (or fertilize the earth yourself otherwise). After some years of this grass cycle and loading the earth with nutrients, you would plant potatoes. Then pea/beans next year, etc.

After the sequence of plants you go back to grass for many years for that plot.

I don’t have my own garden but I read up as much as I can and plant indoors and on the balcony. I also learn to conserve. This way when I do have a chance of getting a garden, I roughly know what to do. Of course, like you say, it is not fast, and won’t be a cakewalk.

Thank you for your post. Have you tried making biochar onsite from surplus biomass and infuse it with compost tea? Your plot is also probably going to need any external biomass you could bring in. Would starting hugelkultur be suitable for your location?

Climate grief can be incredibly draining and I have suffered it as well (I still feel it sometimes but I am mostly over it). I always suggest talking about these things with someone who is close to you like family or a friend. However, I am also aware that many people are either unaware or outright in denial so it can be hard to find someone IRL. As an online resource, I can recommend the Collapse Support Discord. They have chats for venting, weekly collapse support group calls and many other resources for people who suffer from climate grief or distress.

Here’s the invite: https://discord.gg/MQzqebGW