52% of America Is in Drought. Here's How to Grow Food Anyway.

Yeah. That Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So do Codie Sanchez, Scott Galloway, Colin & Samir, Shaan Puri, and Jay Shetty. And none of them are doing it for fun. They're doing it because a list you own compounds in ways that social media never will.

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I had a neighbor that grew tomatoes on their apartment balcony three years ago. Four plants in five-gallon buckets. They produced about 30 pounds of tomatoes over the summer. That's not self-sufficiency. But it's fresh food they grew themselves using nothing but sun, water, and $15 worth of supplies. Turns out you don't need a farm. You need a container and some patience.

Here's what I've got this week.

Container Gardening: Growing Food Without a Yard

Growing your own food isn't just a homesteading fantasy. It's a practical skill that works on balconies, patios, windowsills, and even indoors with the right setup. For preparedness, it adds a renewable food source that doesn't depend on supply chains.

Container gardening is the entry point. Almost any food plant can grow in a pot or bucket if the container is big enough and gets enough light. Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, lettuce, kale, green onions, and strawberries all thrive in containers. The key variable is sunlight: most vegetables need 6 to 8 hours of direct sun per day.

Five-gallon buckets are the workhorse. Drill drainage holes in the bottom, fill with potting mix (not garden soil), and plant. They're cheap (often free from bakeries and restaurants), lightweight, and moveable. One bucket supports a tomato plant, a pepper plant, or several herb plants.

For minimal space, start with herbs. A windowsill herb garden (basil, cilantro, parsley, chives) provides fresh seasoning year-round, requires almost no space, and teaches you the basics of watering, light, and plant care. From there, scale up to a balcony tomato or a patio pepper.

Vertical gardening maximizes small spaces. Stacking planters, hanging baskets, and wall-mounted pockets let you grow upward instead of outward. A 3-foot-wide wall space can support a dozen herb and lettuce plants using fabric pocket planters.

Indoor growing extends your season. A basic grow light ($25 to $50) lets you grow greens and herbs year-round regardless of window orientation. Microgreens are the fastest path from seed to food, ready to harvest in 7 to 14 days, nutritionally dense, and they grow on a countertop with no special equipment beyond seeds, a tray, and light.

The preparedness value isn't about replacing your grocery store. It's about maintaining a skill that produces food from seeds, which store for years in a cool, dry location. If supply chains falter for months (not just days), the ability to grow even a small percentage of your own food is a meaningful advantage.

Plant one herb in a pot on your windowsill.

Basil, cilantro, or parsley. A small pot, potting soil, and seeds cost under $5 at any garden center. You'll have fresh herbs in three to four weeks and the beginning of a food-growing skill.

43% of Americans Are Now Growing Some Food at Home — Up from 35% Five Years Ago

More than 43 million US households are now growing some food at home, according to 2026 gardening surveys, with tomatoes appearing in 86% of food gardens. The average home garden produces $600 worth of food per year, and 57% of growers say gardening saves them money. With USDA projecting food-at-home prices up 3.1% in 2026 and seed prices rising 10 to 18% due to tariffs, the economics of growing your own continue to improve. One five-gallon bucket of tomatoes — a $15 investment — can produce 15 to 20 pounds of fruit over a season.

Sources: Ruby Home Gardening Statistics, Today's Homeowner, USDA ERS

Cody Lundin's When All Hell Breaks Loose includes a section on supplemental food production in urban and suburban settings. His perspective is shaped by decades in the high desert of Arizona, where he's grown food in harsh conditions with minimal resources.

Lundin's key principle: start growing food before you need to. The learning curve for gardening is real. Soil health, watering schedules, pest management, and plant spacing all take practice. If your first garden attempt happens during a food crisis, you'll lose the crop to beginner mistakes. Grow something now, even if it's just herbs, so the skills are there when they matter.

When All Hell Breaks Loose

Worst Spring Drought on Record Grips More Than Half the US — Wildfires Nearly Double the 10-Year Average

As of April 21, 52.46% of the US and 62.78% of the Lower 48 are in drought — the largest spring drought in the 25-year history of the US Drought Monitor, which notes that precipitation from January through March was the lowest on record since 1895. The Southeast, Plains, and West are worst hit; soil moisture across Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina is at record-low levels for this time of year. Wildfires have already burned 1.7 million acres nationwide as of mid-April, nearly twice the 10-year average for that date.

The direct preparedness angle: drought conditions make in-ground gardening difficult or impossible without irrigation — exactly the problem container gardening solves. Containers use roughly 50% less water than ground beds, and a portable container setup can be moved out of fire evacuation zones. If you’re waiting for the right time to start a container garden, the data says that time is now.

Sources: US Drought Monitor, National Interagency Fire Center

Gardenuity Container Garden Kit

I tested this pre-assembled container garden kit on my patio. It comes with a self-watering planter, organic soil, seeds matched to your growing zone, and plant food. I grew cherry tomatoes and basil from the kit over one growing season.

The self-watering feature is legitimately useful. A reservoir at the bottom reduces watering to once or twice a week instead of daily. The soil mix was high quality and the seeds germinated well.

Is it overpriced compared to DIY? Yes. A five-gallon bucket and a bag of potting mix achieve the same result for a fraction of the cost. But as a beginner-friendly introduction that removes all the decision-making, it works. About $80.

Budget alternative: Five-gallon bucket from a bakery (free or $3), bag of potting mix ($5), and a seed packet ($2). Total: under $10. Everything you need to start growing food today.

Gardenuity Container Garden Kit

Overrated: Indoor hydroponic systems. The countertop herb gardens that cost $100 to $200 are fine products, but they grow the same herbs you can grow in a $3 pot with soil. The technology is impressive. The output is identical.

Underrated: Seed saving. Learning to save seeds from your best plants means you never have to buy seeds again. One tomato plant produces enough seeds for dozens of future plants. It's the renewable part of renewable food production.

Extension.org: Container Gardening — University Extension guides for your specific climate zone.

All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew — The classic guide to efficient food growing in small spaces.

Seed Savers Exchange — Non-profit seed exchange with heirloom varieties.

Grokipedia: Container Gardening — Background on methods and plant selection.

MIGardener (YouTube) — Excellent channel for practical, budget-friendly gardening guidance.

Austere first aid. What to do when help isn't coming soon and you're managing injuries beyond what a basic kit handles.

PS: Those 30 pounds of balcony tomatoes? You can get at least 12 jars of sauce from them. Issue 43 skills, meet Issue 52 skills. Everything connects.