Plant Something, Anything!

In the past they were called victory gardens, grown during WW1 and WW2 to help stretch the food supply and help keep the troops overseas fed. Some say it was called a victory garden because it was victory over hunger but call it what you will there has never been a better time to plant a garden. Whether you have always wanted a garden or never even considered trying to grow one, if ever there was a time to grow food, it’s now! Regardless of your situation try to grow something; from a huge garden if you have room to tomatoes in a bucket on the balcony of your apartment and everything in between. Every little bit can help and might just become your only source of fresh food.

Last year we tried to grow our biggest garden ever, unfortunately only the deer got to enjoy the fruits of our labor. New people moving into the area forced the deer out and right on to our property. Ugh. This year we fenced in a 3000 sq foot area for our new garden. We have been nose to the grindstone improving the soil, planting, weeding, and watering when needed. We have planted varieties of tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, kale, spinach, corn, peas, okra, watermelon, cantaloupe, and more along with our strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and grapes.

Grocery prices are through the roof and many items are simply not available at all. As grocery prices rise, fresh fruits and vegetables have become unaffordable for many families. I can’t speak for others, but lately the quality of fresh food seems to be way down with even packaged salad going bad long before the expiration date.

Rice and beans will keep you alive but living on that alone is neither appealing nor healthy, not to mention those ‘survival buckets.’ Your body needs fresh food and growing something, anything could be what fills that gap. Hard work aside, growing a garden can be very rewarding. We are already harvesting strawberries, lettuce and kale while the blueberries are just starting to turn ripe. We have now started experimenting with hydroponics so we can continue to grow greens even during the winter, but that’s for a future post.

Growing a garden can be a lot of work, but it’s not rocket science. Hey, if I can do it….

Time is short, prepare now.