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So happy for you that you have the things that make that easy. Good climate, no pests or deer or rabbits or crows, or robins or other birds, considerate neighbours, access to water for irrigation all year long, and apparently no issues with weeds eh? And lots of access to cheap, safe compost too huh? Oh and the tools (and storage!) to spread compost, aerate soil, weed (wait you dont get weeds!), and manage things like planter beds or poles or netting or trellises or tomatoes cages? And you grow enough that you meaningfully cut down on groceries huh? What a lucky duck.
Certainly some of the things you listed can present challenges, but I really think our society mythologises planting and farming and that was really my point, which I made poorly because I was being too flippant.
We act like producing food is an 80 hour a week job for only the smartest green thumbs when it doesn't even take a fraction of that time and takes an accessible amount of skill.
Provided you're privileged enough to have access to 1/4 - 1/2 acre of sunny land, you could grow a decent portion of your food for under 10 hrs a week. I know people who do.
Certainly expanding to that size takes some time prepping new beds, but maintaining existing beds and growing food in them is really not that much work. I maintain about 1500 sq/ft of food garden right now and outside of 5-15 hours of early spring prep I spend 1-2 hours a week in the garden through most of the actual growing season, and that's probably an over estimation. Each season I expand a manageable amount, and that's really the most time consuming because I am hand terracing a hill, 1 row each year. Certainly there is work, but acting like its super hard is just silly. I spend most of my time doing anything but gardening.
Honestly, maybe you're serious. And maybe you're a nice person and you just don't get how what you're saying comes off. But you just put "hand terracing a hill" in the same paragraph where you then said that acting like gardening is hard is silly.
Maybe for the person who has the knowledge, skills, abilities, and resources to successfully hand terrace a hill it isn't that hard? I'm sure LeBron James doesnt find layups that hard either.
Regardless of how you meant it, the comment comes off with strong Lucille Bluth vibes.
He specifically listed that activity as one of those rare time consuming parts.
Broadly there is a lot the common person assumes absolutely beyond their capability and never tries. People should at least be encouraged that DIY is with a shot to see if it can work. Big business loves a populace that views doing anything for themselves as a lost cause, good for people to have a least a little familiarity with things to keep that perspective balanced.
I'd probably start smaller, a handful of leafy plants on a patio or something. Very cheap, easy, and low stakes. You won't replace your diet with independent farming, but at least the general concept won't seem impossibly out of reach.
LOL, you make gardening seem like work when it is more of a lifestyle. I have a dog, gun flash tape and fence for critters, carry a few cans of water when it doesn't rain, and rarely weed much - never till or plow. My main garden equipment is a hoe, a round point shovel and a five-tine fork for spreading mulch the old discarded hay bales make great feertilized as they decompose into the sand. I still buy produce from the store in off-season but sell and give away a lot of produce. You should really read books by Ruth Stout and Masanobu Fukuoka.