New Greener Family

photo credit: mckaysavage

Food has a life, a story. The environment it grew in, the people who produce it. And usually it’s traveled an awefully long way to get to our plates. I’d like to know these things.

There’s a moment, when you realize that the apple you are biting into was probably picked several days ago in a foreign country, that hits you. The moment is a collision, a crash of this new fact and the memory of picking an apple off the tree in your own yard and taking a bite.

I don’t remember when I realized that the food I was eating wasn’t from some nearby farmer. I do remember a bit of a panic, of fear, and horror. Why was my food being shipped to me when there was perfectly good land right here to grow food on? Of course I hadn’t yet heard of the locavore movement, or even considered such a movement might exist. It seemed natural to me, that food would come from nearby. Read more…

Related Books:

The Secret Garden: Centennial Edition

The Curious Garden

Dairy's battle reflects conflicting views on organic: 'Locavore' movement gains ground.([PLANET-PROFIT REPORT] ORGANICS VS. LOCAL): An article from: ColoradoBiz

At my local library I found a copy of The Urban Homestead and have most of the weekend reading it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I have to give it back next week. There may be a few tears in my eyes.

Though winter is almost here I’m getting my gardening plans ready, and my gardening areas. I want to try a few ideas from the book, like raised beds. Especially since we are renting and I don’t know if my landlady would be pleased with big areas of the yard dug up. The former flower bed (picture above) in front has bee dug up, covered with newspaper, and mulched with leaves. I’m going to try to keep it mulched down and hopefully kill any remaining flower seeds. There were also some decorative bushes planted in there with roots too deep and long to dig out. Hopefully by spring they’ll be dead, or at leask weak enough I can get them out. Read more…

Related Books:

Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work

Mittleider grow-box gardens

Home Vegetable Gardening: A Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing for Home Use (Forgotten Books)

With my garden plans this spring I’m making an effort to compost our food scraps as much as possible. I keep a little ceramic bowl in the kitchen that I fill up and dump back out in our big barrel outside.

Composting has several benefits, all of which I’m enjoying.

• less garbage to toss out
• happy plants in my garden
• sweet hippie cred

Read more…

Related Books:

The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real

The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown: 40 Fabulous Projects to Make in the Months, Weeks & Hours before Your Special Day

Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas

photo credit: Nessa Land

Yesterday I bought a shovel.

There’s something empowering about walking through a huge Lowe’s, carrying a shovel that’s nearly as big as I am. Slung over my shoulder, the shovel started whispering in my ear that I needed power tools and one of the big wheelbarrows outside. Somehow I managed to escape with only the shovel.

In my front yard, next to the porch, there is an old garden plot marked off with bricks. Weeds have taken over, along with some sort of small tree grouping. I spent the afternoon digging out roots and tiny tree stumps, which is not quite as easy as it seems. Those roots can travel down for what feels like miles and are tough as leather. At one point I had to get my garden sheers and try cutting through roots so that I could get the rest of the stump out. Slowly I cleared it, making it ready for my coming vegetable garden. Read more…

Related Books:

On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries

Growing Food In Solar Greenhouses a Mont

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)