Our refrigerator was looking a wee bit bare yesterday, so Odin and I made a trip out to our garden to "shop." There are few feelings that can compete with that sort of self reliance.
The tomatoes are looking magnificent and bearing more than we know what to do with! Our plants have grown quite a bit and just this week we harvested enough to give away to our upstairs neighbors, Aunt Linda, Zak's mum, and some for ourselves- in addition to canning seven quarts for the winter. And all of that was just from this last week. (A huge thank you to Kaity of Fare Isle for giving us such wonderful plants). The beets are all finishing up their growth and the squash are growing larger every day. I think we're nearing the end of the cucumber harvest, we'll be pickling some tonight! I'm thinking we should pickle some beets too. We pickled some of our beets from last year and Odin loved loved loved them. Pickled beets were one of Odin's first 10 foods, I'm fairly certain.
We have two large melons growing. Well, one now. I couldn't help but pick one to try! I've never successfully grown melon and it's a very exciting treat.
I'm so happy with our garden this year. We started later than we should have but everything seemed to come together in just the right amount of time. Having such a successful harvest and going through the process of pickling and canning to store for the winter has made me think a lot about living off the land and eating seasonally. Imagine not having the convenience of the grocery store where items are shipped from far away and having to wait until a fruit or vegetable was in season! I'm actually craving a lifestyle where we eat seasonally, I feel as though it would create a huge appreciation for the things we eat and where those foods come from. There are many issues with the way our country treats food (Monsanto is evil) and I think that we need to move into a more self reliant direction. I feel as though I am seeing more and more of my friends grow their own food every year and it's very exciting. More people are realizing the harms involved with processed food and the damage it does to our bodies. "Organic" is such a strange word to me.. Shouldn't it just be food? And anything other than food should be labeled otherwise? We have a few things backwards and like always, I think humans need to take a few steps back and rediscover their roots before it's too late.
We have two large melons growing. Well, one now. I couldn't help but pick one to try! I've never successfully grown melon and it's a very exciting treat.
I'm so happy with our garden this year. We started later than we should have but everything seemed to come together in just the right amount of time. Having such a successful harvest and going through the process of pickling and canning to store for the winter has made me think a lot about living off the land and eating seasonally. Imagine not having the convenience of the grocery store where items are shipped from far away and having to wait until a fruit or vegetable was in season! I'm actually craving a lifestyle where we eat seasonally, I feel as though it would create a huge appreciation for the things we eat and where those foods come from. There are many issues with the way our country treats food (Monsanto is evil) and I think that we need to move into a more self reliant direction. I feel as though I am seeing more and more of my friends grow their own food every year and it's very exciting. More people are realizing the harms involved with processed food and the damage it does to our bodies. "Organic" is such a strange word to me.. Shouldn't it just be food? And anything other than food should be labeled otherwise? We have a few things backwards and like always, I think humans need to take a few steps back and rediscover their roots before it's too late.
I love seeing your garden! How wonderful it is for Odin especially to be able to grow up and see, touch, taste exactly where his food comes from. I am pretty hopeless at gardening (although my herb patch is doing pretty OK) but I get more and more enthused about growing as much as we can. What are beets? Are they like beetroots?
ReplyDeleteI agree! What this country identifies as "food" is downright frightening! We just moved into our home, so we waited this summer out to see what was already growing. Turns out, we have a fig tree & a pear tree, & both are wonderful producers! We already made fig jam & pass out baggies of figs to friends. I can't believe Rue will grow up in a home where she can pick her own snacks in the summer. So wonderful. We plan to make a large garden in our "bonus field" & also landscape it for my photo business. We are going to decide what to plant based on what our family & friends are planting that year. We figure we plant something other than what everyone else is, & then we all "shop" in each other's gardens. THAT is how people are supposed to coexist!!!
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