How much can one suburban family grow or Resolution No. 5

Not sure if it's actually number 5, but it is one of our families personal goals ... let's plant a full garden!

Did you know that in the US (and I'm going to do a big stretch and say North America) there is not ONE single county that is totally self sufficient for their residents food supply. Scary, huh? Can you imagine that ... the richest, most powerful country in the world and not one county in the US can sustain itself.

No, we're not going to try and feed a county or even just our own families food, but we are going to grow. A lot. And hopefully enough for a few dozen families.

There's nothing I love more than pulling a can of green beans out of the pantry in April knowing that we grew it. We used our own compost, watered and loved our gardens and the gardens gave back to us.

We know we have more land than most, but take a look around your yard. Do you have a small patch that you could kill the grass off (you know, that corner that is hard to mow anyways), bring in some great compost (give us a call), and plant something?

Love coleslaw in the summer? How about cabbage, lettuce, carrots and some chives then. How about you talk with one of your neighbors and do some cooperative growing. You grow the cabbage and goods and they grow potatoes, onions and tomatoes. And you share. And share with your local food bank or family in need. There's no shortage of those right now unfortunately.

Now, I've always been told that goals must have specific, measurable and time oriented objectives. You've heard that, right? We've done it with every part of our business and have had great success. Well, let's get down to business then.

This is the first part of a series that we'll be working on in which we make a very clear plan for this season, how to get an area ready for planting as well as what to grow and why we are growing them. That is actually probably the easiest. Our family loves salads with romaine, buttercrunch, coleslaw and iceberg lettuces. We love carrots, onions, green beans, snow peas and this year, possibly shelling peas and celery. Don't forget zucchini and sugar pumpkins and of course one of our staples, tomatoes. Yum!

Can you keep a secret? I think I may sneak in some chioggia beets. They are pretty, red and white striped and not nearly as sweet as common beets. I want Scott (and the kids) to try something from his past that he totally hates. Or at least thinks he does...

Aren't they pretty?

Possibly some feeder corn as well - as much as we love a good corn on the cob, we're not big corn eaters. We will get ours from Bob and Sarah instead. See?

Then onto the herbs. Love those herbs! They bring so much flavor and another layer to the palate. Chives, basil, oregano - ahhh.  Lavender and mints make a lovely iced tea and what garden would be complete without parsley? Funny reading all this. The big farms would laugh at the thought of even 3 different crops. No mono-cropping here though. We work with nature to help take care of pests, not pesticides.

So this is the plan so far this year. We'll have more details in the coming weeks, including a list of what we are going to plant, time table and re-planting schedule.

We're buying heirloom seeds this year and will have more than we need of some varieties. Drop us a note and let us know what you are interested in and we can co-op some seeds.

See - another great sharing opportunity!


Gardening this year? What are you planting?