Finding a Way

You know that saying, "life will find a way"? It's a true story, and no, I'm not pregnant. I am desperate for a vegetable garden.  Last year, I joined a CSA and enjoyed a half share of vegetables, several pounds of local and humanely raised meat and a gallon of farm fresh milk each week.  In addition, my mother-in-law put in a huge garden and brought me loads of fresh veggies each week.

The thing is, I only learned to can at the end of the summer and I didn't have a deep freezer...this year, I'm planning ahead for summer's bounty so that I can preserve as much of it as possible.

My hope is if I double the amount of meat I get each week and freeze it and the overage of vegetables in my new-to-me deep freezer, I can drastically cut down on what I spend on groceries next winter.

But here's the thing, my yard--as my husband helpfully pointed out--is more ornamental than practical.  Basically he meant that since we only have a front yard and not a backyard, it's meant to be pretty, not functional.  This is very annoying to me as I've spent a fair amount of time looking up "front yard vegetable gardens." (I think I'm going to sneak a few herbs into the front garden anyway, they're pretty enough to pass muster.)

So the solution is that I'm working on my sister's garden with her.  It's going to be "our" garden in that we'll share the workload and share the harvest.  So this past weekend, I went over and helped stake the fencing, start the potato patch and push rocks out of the way to reframe the border.  She has tons of space and the biggest problem is fencing the garden space off from the chickens and children so that the first group doesn't eat everything before we get to and the second doesn't trample everything before it has a chance to sprout.

As the days get warmer and my semester at work winds down, I'm hoping to get over there more and more to pitch in and get my hands dirty.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about using the one back corner of our yard that could grow something and perhaps planting in containers on our deck. 

If you are desperate to grow your own food but you lack space, there are options.  First check out your town or city's webpage for community garden options.  Some areas allow you to share space at community centers, community colleges or other shared spaces.  Or check out books on small plot or urban gardening from the library.  There are a lot of options for container gardening if you have a sunny window or balcony.  Even if you start small with some herbs on a windowsill, it can feel truly rewarding to reap the benefits of homegrown food!