Homegrown goodness.

Growing your own produce at home is not only nutritious, but it tastes far better than produce found in grocery stores.

When produce is grown commercially and shipped to grocery stores, it is generally picked while still unripe and artificially ripened or shipped green. This leads to produce that is technically ripe, but lacking most of the good taste and consistency of vine ripened fruit. Hence the radically different taste between a homegrown tomato and a store bought one.

Growing produce at home is easy, fun, and almost anyone can do it, even if you don't have a single outdoor spot of land to call your own! I have grown vegetables in an apartment, in the lawn of a duplex we were renting and of course, now in my own garden at home. All you need is to know which seeds do well in what circumstances.

If you don't have any spot in the ground to put plants, you'll need to tailor your circumstances to container gardening. Most importantly, you need to make sure you purchase seeds meant to be grown in containers. Most bush varieties of plants can be grown in containers. Tomatoes do particularly well in less than ideal conditions, and nothing beats the taste of a homegrown tomato. Bush beans are another plant that does well in a container, along with most varieties of medicinal and cooking herbs. If you're really ambitious and you have a big enough pot, you can try growing plants like pumpkins (bush varieties) in containers. Make sure to keep your plants well watered and make sure they have good drainage! A layer of sandy loam underneath the potting soil can help the plants drain better while not letting out too much water like gravel. If you don't have a patio or porch to put your pots on, find the sunniest southern facing window in your house and stick the pots there.

If you are unable to keep plants in your apartment or condo for whatever reason, check out the American Community Garden Association's website. There you can find information on community gardens near you, or if you're particularly ambitious, you can start a community garden of your own! Community gardens are not only a great way to make your own food, they are an opportunity to meet new people and a chance to add greenery and plant life to a community.

If you're lucky enough to have your own land to garden, consider heirloom varieties. Many companies such as Seeds of Change and Johnny's have all or some heirloom varieties of plants. Heirlooms preserve natural diversity and often have unique flavors or looks. Most importantly, they save money for the home gardener by allowing you to collect the seeds at the end of the year to save for next years garden!

Tip of the day: If you're a yogurt eater, save the cups! Yogurt cups can be easily recycled into tiny plant pots for seedlings, and are large enough to hold the seedlings until they get big enough to go in the garden. The cups can be reused year after year. It's a great way to hold healthy food in that yogurt cup two times!