We Garden

I started the weekend off by experiencing the wisdom and inspiration of Joel Salatin. I had learned of Joel after watching Food Inc. and became really intrigued (or you might say obsessed) with him. When I heard he was coming to speak in my area I was very excited and ready to hear his inspiring and motivating words. I came away from the event completely dedicated to growing as much of my own food as possible, supporting local farms, and buying local whenever possible.

So, I have to admit, I am not the one with the green thumb in my family. 9 years ago I couldn't keep a house plant alive and never dreamed I would ever try to grow my food. In fact our first veggie garden came about quite by accident....

A few years ago Andy built a large 8x8 sand box for Magnolia. She enjoyed her sand box, but after a while we started to notice little presents being left for us by the neighborhood cats. The thought of my kids playing in a box of sand that the cats used as a potty grossed me out. So we dug out the sand and filled it with soil, planted some seeds, and our very first veggie garden was born.

Over the next few years we added another raised bed and experimented with new veggies. This year we have decided to add 2 more raised beds (and yes I know our house is on the market, but when you get the gardening bug, there is no holding back).

We woke up on Sunday to our gardens covered with snow. By 3:00 the snow had melted and we enjoyed sitting on the porch plotting out our new gardening adventure, while fighting over who got to read our newly purchased book, "The Backyard Homestead".

I am so excited for this growing season and for learning more about this natural, age old, and perfectly harmonious activity of growing what I eat! Even though I don't have the "green thumb" in the family my desire to eat healthy, local, and nutritious food far outweighs any doubts I have that I can eventually turn my thumb green!

We Garden