4 Gardening Myths: Know Before You Grow

Producing your own food is a necessary skill for survival. In today’s world, we can have groceries delivered to your door by the touch of a button. This can cause us to feel overly secure about the availability of food. But, as we have seen from the Avian Flu Outbreak of 2025, where egg prices soared, we have little control over our food supplies and how much they cost from the stores. 

While I can’t teach you how to raise chickens, I can teach you a bit about gardening to produce an abundant harvest of fruits, vegetables, and legumes to help you sustain yourself and your family regardless of the economic climate. I am pleased to begin this partnership with Legacy Foods to bring you a gardening-related article once a month to help you become more self-reliant than ever. Let's start with some of the most common myths I hear when talking to people about gardening. 

1. All You Need is Seeds

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from people just starting to get into gardening is the supplies list. Especially those who buy seeds in a fit of hopefulness in the spring or a rush of anxiety after a natural disaster. Sure, if you plant some seeds in the ground during the right time of year, something might grow, but will it be a thriving garden for food production? Likely not. Seeds need good sources of water and nutrients for one thing. If droughts are a problem in your area, consider water conservation techniques such as rain barrels, drought-tolerant plant varieties, and drip irrigation systems. These are all topics I hope to cover in the future.

If you start a garden for the first time, you might get away without fertilizer once. But, without proper soil management techniques, you will quickly discover that the soil becomes depleted of nutrients and reduces crop yields significantly. The most self-reliant option is to start composting (another topic I will cover in a future article). Still, if you’re unable to do that for some reason, fertilizer will also help.

If you live in zone 7 or lower, you will undoubtedly need seed starting supplies. Many of our favorite garden plants must be germinated indoors 6-12 weeks before the last frost of spring. Things such as a warm, bright location to start seeds (I prefer using heat mats and grow lights for best results), seed starting growing medium (like coconut coir), and seeding trays or cells. There are many variations of how to accomplish this, but the goal remains the same. Without seed starting supplies, you can say goodbye to peppers, tomatoes, melons, and more.

Lastly, the most significant thing new gardeners lack is experience. You can read all the gardening books and watch all the YouTube videos, but nothing compares to a few failed harvests. And fail, you must! It is all part of the process. Learning how to garden in your specific area takes time and persistence. If you hope for self-reliance, having a garden, even a small one, is one of the best ways to start.

2. The Gardening Season Starts After the Frost Has Passed

This is simply not true. So many gardeners rush to the greenhouse the day before their frost date passes or whenever they think about it in late spring and pick up an array of whatever pre-started seedlings look the best. While I also love a good springtime greenhouse shopping spree, that may not always be possible. As I alluded to in the previous section, seed-starting supplies are critical if you want to have a self-sufficient garden in a cooler climate. Still, the skill of starting seeds properly is even more crucial. This is yet another topic I will cover in a future article.

The truth is that the gardening season never really ends. Even before it is time to start seeds indoors, gardening also takes planning and after-season care. In more climates than you think, you can garden year-round! Row covers and greenhouses can extend growing seasons, but beyond that, many winter crops can be outside in surprisingly cold weather. Other crops can be left in the ground all winter long to be harvested early in the spring. It is shocking how much there is to do in any growing zone in any given month of the year.

3. Gardening Takes a Lot of Physical Labor

One of the main complaints I hear from people who avoid gardening is physical limitations. While I won’t deny that there are situations where it is impossible to garden without help, I also believe many more people can garden than currently do. The traditional concept of gardening is very physically intense. Maintaining immaculately tended rows of perfectly straight vegetables is a pretty labor-intensive project, usually involving lots of weeding, pruning, and fertilizer applications each year to produce a good harvest. 

I’m pleased to reveal to you that there are tips and tricks we can employ to greatly reduce the physical labor needed to sow, tend, and harvest a vegetable garden. I will go into more detail in future articles, but here are a few of the basics: First of all, sowing a cover crop in early spring can significantly cut down (or even eliminate) the amount of weeding needed. Attending to the health of the soil through crop rotations, cover crops, and composting can completely cut out the need for fertilizer applications. You also might be surprised to note that pruning is completely optional for the majority of plants.  Lastly, if you have limited mobility or bad knees and can’t bend down to tend to a garden, a great option can be container gardens and raised beds, as they can be just as fruitful as traditional beds for food production!

4. Gardens Need Lots of Space

In short, if you have a sunny windowsill, you can grow your food. A lot of times, it all comes down to variety selection. You don’t need acres of land or even a proper backyard to garden. You just need sun, water, and as much soil space as you can manage. Sometimes, even those factors can be circumvented with the right tools like grow lights, drought-tolerant varieties, and soilless hydroponic systems. The point is, if you want to garden badly enough, nothing can stop you. I have seen some patio container gardens that were just as fruitful as traditional row gardens twice their size. 

Learning everything you can know about how plants grow and how to help them thrive is one of the most essential self-reliance skills we can master. Storing food and other supplies is all well and good, but what if you could produce more food out of nothing but a seed? Having quality seeds to grow and being able to grow them into food is an unmatched and often overlooked disaster preparation skill that you can start to master no matter your living situation.

Gardening is an invaluable skill for anyone aiming for self-reliance, but it’s essential to approach it with realistic expectations. I debunk these myths not to discourage you from gardening but to encourage you to start no matter what. There will always be reasons not to do something, but the decision to persevere is all you need to be successful. With the right strategies and mindset, you can build a thriving garden that supports your goals for preparedness and self-sufficiency. Embrace the process, learn as you go, and you’ll find that gardening can be as rewarding as it is practical. For my next article, I plan to talk all about the basics of starting a garden with information from trusted sources and lots of anecdotes from personal experience. Follow along as we explore this world together! Feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like a particular aspect of gardening covered in one of my articles.

By Lara Wadsworth

About The Author: 

Lara Wadsworth is a freelance horticulture writer with a Bachelor's degree in Horticulture and over three years of experience creating engaging content about gardening and plant care. As a wife, mom, and dog lover, Lara understands the importance of balancing a busy life with a thriving garden. She values practical advice and effective strategies that empower beginners and experienced gardeners alike to grow with confidence. Through her writing, she aims to inspire others to enjoy the rewards of gardening, no matter their skill level.