Declare Victory With A Garden
June 3, 2011 24 Comments
Last week, Snack Girl complained about the high price of organic produce (see: How Important Is It To Buy Organic?). This week she did something about it.

A bonus of living in the middle of nowhere is that you have a lot of SPACE. My, new to me, yard has a small garden plot (seen above) that needed some lovin'.
I will be victorious over high produce prices and my struggle of the expanding waistline with my new garden!
Since I have an ENORMOUS green thumb (not not not), I decided to plant a garden to save money and grow organic produce.
Yes, the plants in this garden will not be treated with pesticide and I bought a little organic fertilizer to help them grow. Before I started my garden, I did a soil test because I was concerned about lead-arsenic in my soil. My house was built on former orchard land - and, guess what? They used lead-arsenic in the 1950's to kill pests.
Since it also kills humans (in high doses), that was a stupid move.
I exhaled when I read that there was very little lead in my garden soil. Hurray! Then, I got digging, hoeing, and weed pulling.
Here are my assistants:

As you can see, they are very helpful.
Now, you are probably wondering when I had time to work on this garden. I didn't actually have the time - but I made gardening a priority because I have two little kids. Just as it is my responsibility to ensure they get a decent education, I also feel it is my responsibility for them to learn about healthy eating.
My dream is that they will go out to the garden and grab a couple fresh beans for a snack. Wouldn't that be cool? Less work for me, and they feel empowered by harvesting their own food.
We will see if that dream becomes a reality. Here is my planted garden:

We planted zucchini, tomatoes, beans, peppers, arugula (because I am an elitist), basil, and kale. It cost about 40 dollars in plants and fertilizer and I am hoping to get many more dollars out of it.
For those of you without huge yards and no preexisting garden plot for planting, I have found this amazing YouTube video (see here:http://youtu.be/xwjR6bIy45A) where a University of Maryland researcher uses newspaper and compost to make a small garden plot.
My pal Laura told me about a "No Till" gardening concept which is really cool. You just make layers of compost to create a garden and you don't have to dig. Maybe I will try it next year :)
Are you growing a garden this year? Please share how you manage it.
Want to read about snacks?
Eat Less Meat And Dairy With These Vegan Snacks
Wow Your Friends This Memorial Day With Salad Sticks
A New Meaning For The Word "Grass"
Vegan Cupcakes Have Taken Over The World
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Dawn K. on June 3, 2011
Cristina @ An Organic Wife on June 3, 2011
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