Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Victory Gardens for All
Darling girl and I played amateur farmers this weekend and will be tending our own little plot of ground in the coming months. Hopefully we’ll have lots of fresh corn, tomatoes, onions, and some other stuff that she’ll eat and I won’t. We’re doing it (aside from the “she wants to” argument so important to many of my activities) because it’s fun, it’s together, and it’s a whole lot cheaper than buying the stuff at the grocery store. It’s, at least partially, a way of compensating in a small way for the higher costs that we are paying for energy, for food, and for travel.
So, imagine my surprise to run across Hazel talking about their Victory Garden. Notably, they sound far better at this stuff than I am; my skill extends to how well I can follow instructions from darling girl.
If you’re interested in starting your own garden, she’s also made a generous offer that you might want to ask about.
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This is the kind of stuff I’d like to do, if I ever escape the city! Instead, like the good people in The Stand off to Colorado with Mother Abigail, I would like to rsvp to visit your off the grid Nearing garden when the inevitable societal breakdown comes. I don’t have a garden, so I’ll just have to bring butter and pugs (for entertainment).
Z, thanks for the shoutout. DO YOU NEED FRICKIN’ SEEDS??????? (Can you tell I’ve bought waaaaay too many?)
It might be advantageous to learn to can those extra vegetables. Its a low energy way to have them during the winter.
You don’t know how important it is to have someone turn the soil and lug the fertilizer.
Shawn, when it all falls apart, you’re more than welcome to take up residence with us and our dog. Butter and pugs are going to be valuable commodities. Especially the pugs.
Hazel, thanks for the offer, but we bought more than we ended up using, too.
Virginia, my mom loved canning, but I’ve been way too lazy to partake up until now. I’ll let you know if we decide to take that step next.
Dive right into the canning, it is supposed to be quite easy for veg/fruit. I just bought a basic canning set, and a book, “how to can for dummies” (or something like that). It’s sheer self defense, I tell you...SEVEN TOMATO PLANTS!
I always plant some tomatoes and onions, as well as peppers, carrots, corn, and beans. I’ve got various perennial herbs growing around the house (lavender, oregano, sage, rosemary, and tarragon). I’ve got plums, leeks I can’t kill, a strawberry and asparagus bed, raspberries, and boysenberries. I *wish* I could get brussels sprouts to the end of the season without the aphids finding them.
And I’m not doing it this year, because I’m making preparations to move into a townhome with a small patio. Time to dig out my copy of “Square Foot Gardening.”
You can also track you garden online now. In other news, “Web 2.0” has officially gotten ridiculous.