Anyone else want to grow your own food?

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I feel nature is the best thing for me in feeling better.

I'd like to learn to grow my own food because it's a useful way to spend time, it's a form of exercise that doesn't involve as much human interaction as the gym or going out running, it's healthy eating organic local food that is fresh and I think it's also a great way to relax and escape from the constant worrying news in the media and anxieties about life in general.

I'm looking to network with other people with Autism, Asperger's, ADD/ADHD or just anyone here who is sympathetic to people on the Autistic spectrum and would like to explore the possibilities with me.

So if you're interested, let's talk.

Well I raise small amounts of rats and rabbits in my apartment for my dog and two cats. They save money, but getting rid of the fur and cleaning the meat for human consumption is just way too troublesome and not worth it IMO.

I don't have the space to grow larger crops, but I've considered growing smaller potter herbs I can place on the balcony. It would be fun to grow Puerto Rican wild oregano, Culantro and Ajís Dulces for the purposes of making sofrito for Puerto Rican cooking. I also love basil.

I like doing the same but because I love my plants, I have a 10 foot cactus I grew from a 6 inch cutting and a scorpion pepper plant that I grew from the seed of the last one I had. Been trying to grow blackberries to make wine but rabbits keep eating them although the little bunny babies in the the yard are adorable. Last year one got cornered long enough for me to cover it so the family could take a look. I touched it's downy fur once and away it ran, also last year while sitting down in front of my house a skunk came up to me sniffed my knee and went on its merry way. Once at my parents house I got a squirrel to come up to me by making squirrel noises and it put it's little on my palm. I like animals and nature but despise bees or wasps, I want to torch their hives. Bumble bees are okay but anything else will make this fat man run faster than you ever thought possible.

How old are the rats and rabbits when you slaughter them?

I wouldn't be interested in rearing animals myself. It would be strictly vegan food I'd be interested in growing.

My parents do it, and I help them when I'm at their home... at my place I have space only for a few vases so I'm only growing herbs and I also get a lot of veggies at the university garden which I help to take care.

But my parents have a few cows for milk (and they make cheeses and sweet), chicken for eggs and meat, a lot of fruits and vegetables, and also coffee and occasionally beans and corn. Also, they had a tank with fishes. They live in a very nice area of small farms so they also get other stuff that grows locally with neighbors.

I wish I could live in somewhere like this someday!!

That's amazing how your parents live.

Can you share any tips for growing herbs in vases?

Do you meet people through the university garden?

I wish I had land (particularly in Kansas), I wish I owned land (particularly in Kansas), I would like to have access to being able to grow food on my own farm with excellent soil (particularly in Kansas), perhaps even have it be in a green-house (particularly in Kansas), but most of all I need to allocate resources to be able to move to Kansas...

I suggest starting small and starting right away, as the season is upon us. Easy plants are tomatoes, potatoes, and herbs. Do a little reading then get started. It's a pretty simple concept and you will learn as you go. Good luck! It is a very rewarding hobby.

Why Kansas? Is that a Wizard of Oz reference?



I don't know where to start but your go getting attitude has inspired me. I'm either going to store a few potatoes in my house until they start to sprout, then plant them in the garden, or buy some seeds from a garden centre.

Nature helps depression tons, I find animals helped me a lot as well when I was younger. I'm planning on getting a dog at some point, or a couple of them. Definitely start growing veg it makes you feel really good, I have tons of plants now and I take cuttings of them and plant them in other areas around the city that could use some plants to stop looking so grey and dead. Since it rains so much here in the UK I have it quite easy. I went vegetarian a long time ago and I feel way better for being healthy, I'm quite a veg foodie as well as the OP so definitely check out all these pop up vegan places over here.

A lot of people in the UK have really crappy gardens or they're too small but a lot of communities usually have allotments you can rent for £50 a month or something, essentially a plot of land that someone watches over. Maybe you could do this if you needed the space, for anyone in here struggling with space. It may be an idea.

I prefer an allotment anyway because it opens up this small community of people who are also into growing veg and such with their allotments being right next door to yours.

Rats before 8 weeks, rabbits before 4 months. Fair enough, though humans need a variety of veggies to get all nutrients. Growing so many different veggies on your own might be really hard?

I meet the people who also volunteer there but I didn't made any contact further than the garden itself, but they are friendly and helpful.

I don't have a lot of knowledge, and I live in somewhere with a different climate (Brazil) so maybe the things doesn't apply. For example, I can grow things basically all year around So I don't care much about season when planting herbs, for example. You just need a spot where they are going to get at least 2 hours of sun a day (some, like rosemary, needs more but they can adapt). When I plant them (I do from seedlings) I often move them a bit (letting a day or two at each place) to see where they feel better, but after you decide it's better to let them at the same place. You must use vases with drainage holes, so the excess water can go away, if you can't, you maybe can use a cachepot or a closed vase but make a layer of sand to drain (and be very cautious with watering and rain!!). I prefer to plant them in individual vases but you actually can combine them together.

My favorites are rosemary and basil!

I love gardening. I have a big front flower garden in the summertime but also a side garden with tomatoes, peppers, beans, kale, and herbs. It's wonderful being able to grow and eat some of your own produce.

I've found a planter pot you can buy in the UK from John Lewis that is made out of stone and resin and reviewers say it drains really well so I'm probably going to buy one of them. Then start just growing a potato plant in that. If I get passionate about it I might buy more pots.

I'd like to look into getting an allotment too. It would be great to grow a load of food to sell at a market stall once a month. Even if it wasn't profitable I'd feel like I was doing something interesting and getting people to eat proper food would make me feel proud of myself.

I'd watched friends garden for decades but never planted a seed until I had a garden space of my own. I've given up now because I'm getting shaded out, and it just isn't a good use of my time. The exercise is too intermittent, and the need to watch the weather too demanding. Now I put my effort into preserving the seasonal bounty fresh from the farmer's market. However, growing food is like chess - easy to get started, but impossible to perfect. There are myriads of teaching aids, and I don't see how they would be improved by being Aspie-specific. My neighbors are all retired farmers, and I made the mistake of asking a group of them for advice. They are all great gardeners, but would have started to argue if anyone had answered me about the best way. People who started gardening as children tend to be poor teachers. At first, my biggest challenge was figuring out which were the weeds, but the crop was the similar-looking sprouts in a straight line, which are never illustrated.