Home Grown

Home Grown.  Grow something from a garden?  I can barely thread a needle.  But when you live on forty acres you gotta do something...other than raise chickens, care for horses, chase pigs and doctor up sheep.  Besides there is a movement that calls us to come back to our roots, to get our hands dirty and work until our muscles ache.  There is a new appreciation for what good soil has to offer and it doesn't come in the grocery store (the experience that is).  
We started out by sectioning off a garden that ended up being too far away from our house so this last spring we built garden boxes and got to seeding.  Then we got to waiting.  And waiting and waiting.  A flood came and all but destroyed our efforts.  I was sure nothing would come of our hard work.  Oh me of little faith!  

Look!  It's little Pete and Jack the Giant!

There is something so gratifyingly satisfying about pulling potatoes from the dirt.  They come up in clumps, in groups, each as different as they are the same.  And if you keep digging you will likely find more.  I could mine for potatoes all day!  Hi, my name is Carol and I'm a potato digger.  

Gardening is much like life.  It has it's ups and downs, surprises, dry spells, and "Ah Ha Moments".  There is so much to learn from dirt (who'da thunk?).  After reading a bit on "How to Garden"  I was intimidated.  There is a lot of science to it.  Chemistry (which I failed in high school), moon cycles, do's and don'ts, and zones had me longing for grocery store produce isles.  But friends, if I can do it, you can do it!  I challenge you to start small.  If at first nothing grows, plant something else.  Start with something easy, like green beans or cucumbers.  Even easier that that is a little known herb called, Mint.  Warning:  Mint will grow like wild fire.  Either contain it or let it go and serve as ground cover.  

Stay tuned for a tutorial on canning...by Big Dog

I am not an expert in gardening by any salt water taffy stretch of the imagination.  I throw seeds out, watch and wait.  The best part is how much you learn, on your own, along the way.  There are lessons in patience and appreciation at the price of getting your nails dirty and it's right outside your door.  You don't have to have land.  You can grow almost anything in just a pot with a little soil and TLC.  You don't have to rely on the perfectly modified fruits and veggies your local grocer has to offer.  Have you ever seen a truly home grown cucumber (insert photo of cactus here)?  Adding fresh mint to a "grown-up drink" is ever so rewarding.   Got dirt?  Plant something! Take advantage of the opportunity to having something Home Grown.