I am not the gardener in this household. I’ll admit it – my husband is. He loves being outside digging in the dirt, walking in the woods and all that. But nothing is done here that is not a family project with everyone involved at some stage of the process from planning to completion. In this house, it takes a family to get it all done.
With the very real problem of unemployment, salary cut-backs and tough times falling on millions of households around the world, not just in the United States; talk of ‘Victory Gardens’ and home gardening in general is on the rise, especially among my homeschooling friends. It only makes sense that if we can grow our own food, we are able to sustain ourselves for only the cost of our labor and we won’t have to rely on buying absolutely every scrap of food that is on our tables. However, one of the real benefits to gardening, is the ability to also help others – again, for no more cost out of your pocket than the labor you are already putting in to produce a crop for yourself – just share some of your abundance to help feed someone else.
Gardening is great, but if you have to buy chemical fertilizers – it becomes cost prohibitive, not to mention questionably safe. If you use organic gardening methods, using only organic fertilizers, then you be be assured that the food you produce is safe and you are not harming the environment. If you use heirloom seeds that can be replanted year after year, and not genetically modified seed, you will also save money there – and again, not have to worry about health or safety issues of altered food sources.
Think of how much more we could can and put away for our own families, but also how much more we could share with those in need, if we could actually produce more – and do so organically and on less land! I have found some gardening books that will help you do just that.
For the first time ever the Mittleider Method gardening books and manuals are available for digital download.
* Six Steps to Successful Gardening * Mittleider Gardening Course
* Mittleider Gardening Manuals * Let’s Grow Tomatoes
* Gardening by the Foot * Grow-Bed Gardening
