“I Can’t”

The first year at our home. Even our current garden wasn't overnight. It took us 3 years of a lot of hard work and the help of a lot of friends and family.

Unless you’re talking about licking your own elbow  “I can’t” is one of those phrases that is such a downer. I like to help people. I like to help them solve problems or move out of their comfort zone. I like to help people get more power over their lives. Maybe that’s kind of obvious. After all I write about how people can be more self sufficient, better gardeners, how to raise landscape and how to live without the grocery store.

One of the comments I see the most in response to living this way is “I can’t.”

“I can’t grow food because my soil is so bad.”

“I can’t source local food because there aren’t any farms near me.”

“I can’t grow food because I don’t have the time.”

“I can’t do what you do because…”

Many times when I suggest solutions the excuse changes. This can become really frustrating.

I think one of the reasons people do this is because to them it’s all or nothing. They think they have to grow all of their food or none at all. They have to be successful out of the gate or it’s not worth it. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Even my biggest piece of advice is to start small and expect failure at first – but learn from it. Grow a pot of herbs on your windowsill or a tomato plant on your balcony. It doesn’t take much time when you start small and you might really enjoy it. You might enjoy it to the point where you’ll make the time to do more. Want to expand? Build a 4’x8′ raised bed in your backyard or join a community garden. There are opportunities everywhere. You just have to give up saying “I can’t” because you definitely can.

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