Wednesday: Home Storage: Gardening

Well, this year I'm trying to grow more food and buy less, and I don't have space in my yard, so this year I'm doing most of my gardening in a plot behind our church. I've got a plot with my sister and we also have another family that is using the plot next to us, and we are all sort of planting together.

Last year was my first real year of gardening. I just used the small raised beds that I have here at my house, and I recommend this to people starting out. Just do small raised beds, and see how it goes. We were successful with almost everything we grew. The carrots didn't do very well.

With the bigger garden, it was initially tempting to just grow all different sort of things. But the more I though about it, I (and my sister) decided that we really needed to focus on a) what our families would eat and b) what would be best in terms of preserving. So that's what we are focusing on growing.

Last weekend, we planted peas (seed) and broccoli and cauliflower (starter plants). We are doing succession planting with the peas, so we need to go back over this weekend and plant more peas. We will also be planting green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and garlic. (There might be a couple of other things. My sister has the chart.) I'll be growing spaghetti spices at my house, as well as lettuce, and strawberries. Ideally, I'll have fruit trees here at the house, but realistically, I think that we continue to get apples from the church trees, and some from my friend hopefully, and then apples, peaches, and cherries from local orchards.

It was some work getting the planting done, but with three adults (me, my sister, and my BIL) and the kids helping on and off, it really didn't take too long. And it was, dare I say, enjoyable?? It was nice to get out in the Spring weather, and fresh air, and working with the soil and plants. Some kids were helping with the garden, some were watching my sister's baby, and others were playing - running, playing with sticks, doing make-believe. As I stood looking us, it made me smile. I'm sure not every day at the garden will make me smile, but it sure did that day.