Sometime in March this year I was strolling through the vegetable aisle at the local grocery store looking for some bell peppers and thinking about how poor the vegetable and fruit selections appear after travelling from all across the world. When I finally found what I was after the price floored me, almost $4 a pound and looked, well, artificial. At that point I made a commitment to myself to again grow my own food for health reasons and maybe save some money along the way.
Fast forward to June, and I have fruits and vegetables planted willy-nilly all over the yard at my home. Tomatoes, blue berries, bell peppers, banana peppers, squash, and egg plant are growing in strategically planted spots with the right combination of sunlight and sprinkler system coverage. Basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and fennel grow all over and in pots. I have a dozen fruit trees planted, including mandarins, satsumas, lemons, lymes, and oranges. I am very glad I went ahead and started growing my own food for several reasons, and there are a few things that will be done differently next time around. First, the positives…
- The fresh fruits and vegetables taste a thousand times better than store bought. I can’t explain it, except to say that store bought produce is poisoned heavily in the beginning, treated like a stuffed animal, shipped all over the world in hot and cold conditions, and handled by over a hundred hands before making it into yours. Go figure.
- Having such an abundance of fresh veggies and fruit is forcing me to eat very healthy. I actually enjoy meals sometimes without any meat. (no I’m not getting soft on you but some of the vegetarian recipes are darn good with fresh ingredients!)
- My 3 and 4 year old boys love to get up in the morning and run out to see what is ready to pick
Now here is what has been troubling and what I’ll do differently…
- Around September I’ll put raised beds in a dedicated gardening area of my 3/4 acre compound. It is difficult to care for your plants when they are spread out all over the place, hard to make sure they all have the right amount of water and fertilizer, and harder to mow and weedeat around stuff planted in multiple spots.
- I’ll protect everything with netting, it is amazing how much damage a few birds and rabbits can inflict. In season, the rabbits might need to become part of the menu, we’ll see.
- I will make a compost bin or pile. Why waste all the rinds, skins, etc., plus fish and game carcasses? Turn it to fertilizer that works better than commercial brands and is far cheaper or free.
I’ll be putting a spaghetti sauce recipe on our forum that I made the other night, without even making meatballs, veggies only, that will knock your socks off! Please comment directly to this article with any of your home gardening tips, suggestions, or input, I could use it!
