Today, I went over to our vegetable garden at a plot that we rented from the village to pick some of our tomatoes and beans. Many towns offer plots for rent for the year that you can use for anything that you would like to grow or you can just pick a spot in your yard to grow some vegetables and herbs. This is the first year that Dawn and I did this and it was a great experience. We really knew nothing about planting vegetables before this year, so we kind of just winged it. There are 80 plots for rent and we randomly chose one that just so happened to have a gigantic oak tree on the side of it. I guess that's why it was still available. So, it definitely wasn't the best location as far as sun goes.
We planted lettuce, tomatoes, beans, carrots, broccoli, and cucumbers. We went to a farmer's market in Madison, WI at the beginning of the year and got 4 types of small starter organic lettuce plants and 4 types of small starter organic tomato plants and a starter organic broccoli plant. We used organic seeds for the other vegetables. We didn't use any pesticides and we probably didn't get over to the plot as much as we should, but the garden still did pretty well. I think the plots around us probably thought we were just growing weeds because they sure do grow fast, but it was nice not using chemicals. Our lettuce, tomatoes, and beans all grew great and we were able to eat a lot of them. The broccoli and cucumbers didn't grow and our carrots are still growing. So, although we had a shady plot, hardly weeded, didn't water as much as we should have, and didn't use pesticides or chemicals, we were still able to eat a lot of great veggies. The point of the story is that a vegetable garden is a great way to have your own fresh, inexpensive vegetables and you can put in as little or as much time and effort as you would like. If you don't have the space or availability to grow a vegetable garden, you can grow herbs in a pot or visit your local farmer's market!
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4 comments:
Nate,
nice job on the blog so far. i like the information posted. What are the most important Organic fruits and veggies to buy? With the economy the way that it is, it's tough to buy everything organic, but I'm sure there are some fruits and veggies that are better to buy organic than others.
Chris Otto
Hi Nate,
Great idea on the blog! We went organic a few years ago and it's nice that more and more items are available. We started a garden this year too and Joe did a great job. We had several cantaloupes, watermelon, tons of cucumbers and a couple heads of broccoli. We're looking forward to expanding it next year. BTW, we added your link to our blog: www.clevelandboyds.blogspot.com Good luck!
Thanks for the comments Chris and Norma!!
Chris, as far as what fruits and veggies to buy organic on a tighter budget, just choose a couple fruits and/or veggies that you most often eat to buy organic. All fruits and veggies have great phytonutrients which help fight free radicals in your body. Free radicals attack healthy cells in your body and can lead to disease, aging, and even cancer. So the more fruits and veggies you eat, the less free radicals and the healthier you will be. Hope this helps!
Hi Nate!
Garlic and onions are really easy to grow organically, too. You can't have too much garlic! The kind you buy in the grocery store can't really be planted though. I odered mine from Johnny's Seed Catalog the first time I planted it. Now I save some bulbs each year for replanting in the fall around Halloween and never have to buy bulbs to plant. I like the hard neck garlic. It matures around the end of July. It's not prone to diseases or bothered by insects either.
Cris
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