Monday, May 21, 2012

When does the garden year begin?

I was reading a quilting blog the other day that suggested that it is beneficial to go away from blogs, pinterest, facebook and other diversions from time to time to get your mojo back. So I guess after being away for awhile, you could say the mojo is moving.

I spent some of my time away reading and being with my family. My favorite read over the winter was a wonderful book, " Animal, Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. This was the most informative book that gave me new energy for my endeavor to feed my family healthier food and increase the amount of food I produce in my garden.

We are all aware of the effects of chemical sprays on our food and the additives placed there as a way of preserving the food. How can that be good for us or our children and grandchildren. Each Sunday I have two beautiful daughters and their five boys and husbands and my sister come for dinner. I want to feed them not only good food, but nourishing food as well. It helps to think of the meaning of that word before I plan dinner.

I come from a long line of women who grew and canned their own food. Last year we preserved a significant amount of our vegetables, fruits, pickles and jams for the year. This year I want to do even more. The favorite thing for the boys is to run to the garden to pick a fresh carrot, a snow pea or an ear of corn. Even in July they are looking for a stray strawberry. They are learning to identify plants and where their food comes from. I plan to post the progress of this endeavor and try to keep the posts timely.

Sarah's raised beds
Our youngest daughter built raised beds last year.

Sarah's Cilantro

She is growing some fabulous cilantro and her tomatoes and cucumbers look great!  



We just completed some raised garden beds for our oldest daughter to begin her vegetable venture. I can't wait to see what delicious vegetables come from the girls' gardens.
Jessica's raised beds
My plan is to put down on paper (as in blogging) some of the gardening information I have accumulated from a lot of gardening/farming DNA. It should be fun to do this as a family. And maybe we will even have a little State Fair Competition.

It makes sense to begin at the beginning of the garden year right? But when is that? If you think about it, something is always going on in the garden, and like the Cauliflower Spring post shows, gardening begins when you are ready to begin. It is never too late to begin. Even in the dead of winter when the only thing to eat in the garden are the wintering carrots and leeks you can plan and dream of the tasty things to come.

Hope to see you here again soon.