Inspiration

Have you read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?" It is a true story about the author and her family who move to rural Virginia and vow for a year to eat food that they either grow or raise themselves or that has been produced locally. Members of my book club who read it found it to be unrealistic, but to my mind it was pure inspiration. It is well written by Kingsolver, (she wrote another one of my favorite books, the Poisonwood Bible) her husband, who includes facts about the industrial food chain, and their college aged daughter who adds insight and recipes. By bringing us right into her garden and kitchen, Kingsolver gently encourages us to start thinking about the food that we eat every day. I'm not raising all of the food I eat, but after reading the book, I believe that I could. As a country we are so disconnected from the food that we eat. In fact, many of us are no longer able to recognize real food much less know how to grow it ourselves. We have given the responsibility of feeding ourselves to giant corporations. And they haven't done a very good job. Look at all the obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in this country. Is it realistic for us to grow our own food? Probably not, but we should at least take responsibility for what we eat. Eating good food is a choice that we make every day.  And there is nothing better for you food that is picked fresh out of the garden. And, you can't beat the fresh taste.
When I'm not waxing political, I am out working in the garden. This morning I seeded another round of tomatoes. I will have more tomatoes than I have room for in the garden, but maybe I will pot up the extras to sell. There are some good heirloom varieties that are not available in the local nurseries. I also seeded the first of the zucchini, yellow squash and the vegetable everyone loves to hate, pattypan squash. This round squash grows upright and therefore is a lot less suseptible to fungal disease. It is a prolific grower which I suspect is why my friends are not overly fond of it. I think they just get sick of it after a while, but I'm growing it anyway. I will have to come up with some inventive recipes to keep people interested.
I seeded watermellon and Dill's Atlantic Giant pumpkins. This is the variety that produces pumpkins that can grow to over 1000 pounds. I have no illusions about growing a pumpkin that big, but it will be fun trying!
Judy and Nancy transplanted the leeks to the garden and I began moving the dahlias out to the cold frame to harden off. They will be ready to plant by the weekend, but first I have to buy and paint the stakes that will support them.
My little garage enterprise is up and running. Friends are buying the soup and eggs that are for sale and soon there will be vegetables too! It will be nice to add a few dollars to the plus column!
Costs:
Azomite and compost- 29.00
poultry fencing: $62.00