My Organic Garden

I started gardening this summer. Gas prices were high and were going higher every week which caused food prices to shoot up too. Cucumbers were priced at 3 for $1.99 for most of the summer. I remember when you could buy cucumbers 4 for $1.00 at the height of the summer. I am so happy I started my garden. I don't think I broke even this summer but next summer I won't have the expense of buying soil and fencing the garden to try to thwart the hungry woodchuck that raids the lettuce and beans. I have saved many seeds so I won't even have the expense of buying seeds. I read a fantastic book by Mel Bartholomew, "The Square Foot Garden", Mel tells you just how to save seeds. The seed companies want you to buy their seeds fresh every year and they tell you seeds don't last from season to season. Mel says, put the seeds in a jar or into ziploc bags with a label and keep them in the refrigerator. Do not let them be exposed to heat or light because that is their signal to start germinating. Keep them dark and cold. You can keep many seeds for years.

I can't say I was able to feed my husband and I from the garden exclusively this summer, but I sure made a dent. I did not have to buy much salad. The beans the woodchuck didn't get were delicious. I had a bumper crop of tomatoes. I'm still eating the last of the tomatoes I picked before the first hard frost. We had plenty of cucumbers that were sweeter than the ones in the grocery store. I still have carrots, beets, chard, mesclun, leeks, kale, lolla rosa lettuce and mustard greens growing in the garden as of November 11th.

Next spring I will get an early start and plan to have peas, spinach, lettuces and other greens before I put the summer veggies in. It is a bit of work to garden, but it is so satisfying that it doesn't seem like work at all.

I started composting kitchen scraps. Anyone who has not made compost will have a hard time understanding how I can get so excited about the process. Trust me, you start with a pile of coffee grounds, cucumber peels, onion peels etcetera. I keep a bowl next to my sink that I put anything that started out green into. No meat or oil. In a few weeks, you have a legion of earthworms and other critters breaking this all down to make wonderful material for your plants! Imagine, I am keeping things out of our landfills and making my garden a better place. It is just amazing. Another neat thing about composting is that if I can believe the books I've read, I don't every have to use fertilizer to get my plants to grow. The compost supplies the nutrients for the plants. Save money, save the planet. Win, win! Most importantly, home grown vegetables are way ahead of store bought in taste and freshness.