As I ramp up more and more for the start of the gardening season, it is exciting to think about the potential of my little, backyard garden (likely not more than 8 ft by 18 ft, though I haven't measured it yet). But not in my wildest dreams have I thought that this was possible:
Click here to watch a video called "Homegrown Revolution"
The potential is there! We could be growing so much of our own food! Now, my husband adamantly puts his foot down when I start mentioning chickens and goats (or sheep...hmmm, wonder if he'd go for that? I'm sure he'd love to wake up every morning to "baaaa baaaa"). He insists that I married a business man, not a farmer!
Nonetheless, even the amount that I can produce in my backyard garden, fresh in the summer, preserved for the winter... to be that much more self-sustaining, producing our own high-quality (not to mention, extremely cheap) food.
Did I mention I'm excited to get gardening this year?
Make sure to also visit this family's site, Path to Freedom. I found some great gardening articles in their Resources, as well as more inspiration!
Hat tip to Mrs. M for this fantastic video!
Andrea, Squarefoot Gardening is an awesome beginner's book! I've really enjoyed it and it taught me a lot (although I have an earlier version, so I bet the newer one is even better). I wasn't taught anything about gardening either, and I'm still such a newbie at it (this is only my second year).
To encourage you, I found all of the veggies you mentioned easy to grow. Lettuce was especially easy and I had oodles of it most of the summer!
Ooops - I see the All New Squarefoot Gardening book on your sidebar. Perhaps I'll check that out since our yard is small. Thanks!
I sooooo want to garden! Even pulling weeds in the spring and summer is enjoyable to me - I love the smell of the earth. I wish that I could save money, especially since we eat more produce than anything else. But I am so oeverwhelmed and my mom taught me NOTHING about gardening (not to mention any of the other things I needed to know to be a wife and mother - she was a 'doer' not a 'trainer'). I'm not sure where to start? I've heard that green beans are easy and I LOVE tomatoes (although I still struggle to get those items into the kids in large amounts). We eat a ton of salad but I don't have a clue about that either. Could you recommend a good 'beginner gardener' book or website? I am DETERMINED to learn how to garden! We live in farm area so we are hoping to have a goat or two when the kids get older, too!
Andrea
Thank you for posting this! I'm all about the urban sustainability movement, and I really loved that video.
I am so thankful James enjoys gardening (it is a chore for me)- it really is a great feeling to walk out to your backyard and pick fresh produce for dinner. And it tastes so good!
THE BEST is when we've been fishing and bring home fresh trout to eat along with the produce from our garden and enjoy the labour of our own hands.
AH the goats and chickens - James dreams of having a bunch some day, along with a cow. I say as long as I don't have to feed them or go near them it's ok. lol.
giggle... I did marry a man that grew up on a farm and he still said no to chickens and goats. ;) We did some square foot gardening last year and had pretty good success. We have started the seeds for some tomato plants in the kitchen already. I'm really looking forward to getting the garden going this year. :)