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Entry bubble Grow Your Own Food

By: Joanne | July 22, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

wet, red tomatoLast week I stared in disbelief at the grocery store cash register. With the way prices are rising, I feel like all my disposable income goes to gas and groceries. I’m sick of the price of food going up, up, up and all the while it seems like there is constantly some sort of warning or recall about certain foods in the grocery stores. I know that the USDA and FDA are doing their best to keep things safe for us, but I think that this is the nature of industrialized food production in our country.

That’s why I’ve been making an effort lately to grow my own food and buy locally produced foods when I can. Even if you don’t have a big garden, there’s still a lot that you can do. We’re entering the height of summer produce season, when our farmers markets are full of beautiful, fresh fruits and veggies.

Preserving your own food gives you control over safety, quality and overall tastiness of your food.

I canned pickled beets from the garden this weekend, and we’ve got 30 jars of wild black raspberry jelly and 10-15 raspberry pies and cobblers in the freezer. Do you know how wonderful it is to have a fresh-baked berry cobbler in January? I do : ) Sweet corn’s just coming into season and soon I’ll have a giant pot of corn chowder on the stove that I’ll freeze and we’ll enjoy all winter long. When my garden is overflowing with tomatoes I’ll make tomato sauce and can whole tomatoes.

See? There’s really not much to it, but giving it a little effort pays a delicious return later. Give it a try. In the long run, you’ll save money on groceries and have wholesome, convenient food at hand, too.

| View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: can   food   fruit   grocery   joanne   preserve   vegetable  

Comments (6):

blue comment bubble Posted by I'm a farmer on July 22, 2008 at 09:50 AM EDT

We are also working in the garden this year. The smell of tomatoes will make your mouth water. Knowing that you don't have to worry about salmonella is great too! If you've got the space, plant a garden. Start small so you can keep it under control and it will totally be worth it!

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blue comment bubble Posted by clutter_buster on July 22, 2008 at 02:31 PM EDT

My parents are enjoying their retirement by planting a large vegetable garden. It's wonderful! It's also a good way to teach my son that vegetables come from plants; someone has to pick the vegetables from a field. They don't come neatly stacked at the grocery store.

I'm glad you wrote about this. I don't have a garden, but I started going to my local farmers market once a week. You can really taste and appreciate the difference between home grown and grocery veggies.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Hopeful Vegan on July 22, 2008 at 03:46 PM EDT

Oh, the prices in the grocery stores! It's as if I am holding dollar bills and lighting them with matches. Poof! They are gone.

I live in a mobile home park and don't have much space for an outside garden.

Can you please advise me on what is available for growing veggies and perhaps fruits IN MY HOME?

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blue comment bubble Posted by Joanne on July 22, 2008 at 04:17 PM EDT

Hi Hopeful Vegan,
Just because you don't have much space for a big garden doesn't mean you don't have options.
When I lived in a tiny apartment in the middle of a big city I was able to garden in a community garden plot. Maybe your town has one too?
You also might think about container gardening. My mom doesn't want to be bothered with a whole garden and grows just a few tomato plants in pots on the carport. It works great. Copy and paste the following url for a fact sheet on container gardening from the Ohio State University Extension Service - you'd be surprised how many vegetables do well in containers! http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/pdf/1647.pdf
If you live some place warm, I bet you could even grow fruit in containers too. You can check with your local USDA extension agent for advice on how to plant a container garden and what plants will do well in your area. If you don't know your extension agent, here's a url for a map to help you locate one close to you: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html
Lastly don't forget your local farmer's market. Where I live, the farmer's markets are always much much less expensive than the grocery store. Copy and paste this url to find farmers markets near you: http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

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blue comment bubble Posted by Mark on July 23, 2008 at 01:33 AM EDT

I totally agree that everyone should grow at least a little food at home. Like tomatoes? Grow them, they are easy to grow. Cucumbers are also easy to grow. Can't grow? Buy local. It helps the local economy and gets you very fresh vegetables.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Citizen Jmaximus on July 25, 2008 at 01:04 PM EDT

I planted a big garden this year, but because I have too many overgrown trees in my yard, it is not growing that great. So I have this dilemma, do I spend thousands to have these trees trimmed or cut down so I can save maybe hundreds in food costs? I have a bad back and don't have a chain saw, so I can't do it myself. Any ideas?

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