Comments on: Freedom Gardens – Grow Your Own Food

By: ozamerican

ozamerican — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:05:42 +0000

I think a lot of Americans are finally catching on to the fact that the reason a lot of other countries seemed “poorer than” is because they always did pay a large price for fuel/petrol/ Imagine how you’ve had to adjust of you’ve spend the past 20 years spending 4 times what americans paid for gasoline!

But we made do, and Americans always looked down on us as “having a lower standard of living.”

In Australia, you still hang your clothes out to dry on the ol’ Hills Hoist, you still take the train to work, you still unplug all your applicances when you’re not using them, you still grow your herbs and veg and fruit out back in the yard if you have one–just like you always have.

Do y’all Americans now understand why the rest of the world feels a little unsympathetic to your plight?

You should have had the pleasure (I mean that genuinely) of living in Australia for the past 10 years.

Cheerio!

By: JR

JR — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:05:04 +0000

Hey all, I have just started growing my own tomatoes, and I love it.. I only have a garden about two feet by four feet and it was like beach sand when I started.. after a few bags of composte and a few plants lost to a late snow storm I have all sorts of little buddies out there. I am going to try more companion gardening next season, with more tea plants. But one thing I have really discovered in the past few years is the huge garden that surrounds us all. Wild foods have become a staple in my fridge.. From black currant, choke cherry, or crabapple wine to nan king cherryjelly or pin cherry jam it is all just out your door. Last summer I wqas able to make enough Nan King jam to last me all winter and be super ready for x-mas gifts, and all the fruit came from within seven square blocks of my apartment in downtown Calgary. Nothing is better than taking a nice long summer walk, picking berries along the way, and then going home and whipping up a few cold drinks with your find. I do stay away from more “kept” looking gardens as to avoid an over zelous pesticide or fertilizer user.. So pick up a book to Safely find the food growing right in your (or your neighbor’s) back yard. Be warned though, living in a city i have found most people have bad associations with people in bushes.. so try and make alot of noise lol! Great post by the way I like the “Victory Garden” theme.. it could really help bring a sense of community to people with loved ones overseas right now..no matter how much we may Know they shouldnt be there..but thats another post all together. Have a great day all

By: Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings

Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:13:18 +0000

I am stopping by to invite you to participate in the first edition of the The Carnival of Home Preserving that will be posted at Laura Williams’ Musings on Monday July 14th.

http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/introducing-carnival-of-home-preserving.html

It is a Carnival to Share Recipes and How-To’s for Canning, Freezing, Dehydrating (drying), and Root Cellaring of Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs.

Deadline to Submit: every Sunday at 2pm EST

Carnival is to be posted by that Monday on the respective Host’s blog.

Link To Submit Post: Blog Carnival Submission
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_4663.html

Everyone is welcome to join in.

Laura

By: Patti

Patti — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:21:35 +0000

Awesome post. We also have a garden for the first time in years. Mostly it was because we are trying to eat organic and the prices were just crazy. Now that it is growing it is so much fun. DS loves to go and see what has grown since the previous day.

We have had raised beds for years – sitting empty for many years but this year they are full and I even have a few veggies growing in containers. I wish we had more but this is basically our first year of a real garden. I have pumpkins ready to go into the garden and hopefully we will have plenty for Halloween and fall. This truely is a learning experience. So far our beans and peppers aren’t doing much so I may have to rethink them for next year.

We also had to remove a tree (disease) and instead of replacing it with a tree I think we are going to extend our garden.

Personally I love the idea of not having to buy things from the grocery store and being self sufficient. We are a long ways away and will always need to buy some things – not cold enough here to grow apples or cherries but hope to add some citrus trees and anything else that will produce fruit and veggies.

By: A Keeper's Jackpot

A Keeper's Jackpot — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:44:15 +0000

Thanks for sharing, very relevant to our nation’s current state.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:56:20 +0000

I read about Victory gardens just yesterday. I have been thinking we need to bring this concept back into mainstream America in these times, but to continue this idea of self-sufficiency, not just during war or economic trouble. It’s good for the mind body and soul. “During the depression, we were just fine. We had our own food, we had everything we needed.”

By: Maria - Frugal Homesteading

Maria - Frugal Homesteading — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:23:55 +0000

My depression garden is going extremely well. It’s the best garden I’ve had in six years. Our land is very wooded so we are using our elderly neighbor’s garden plot. He very kindly extended the invitation, which I gladly accepted.
Our tomatoes, peppers, onions, cucumbers, summer squash, beans, melons, pumpkins and winter squash are coming along very well.

By: Miss Rachel

Miss Rachel — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:19:22 +0000

Thank you for your submission for the Homesteading Carnival.
Here is the link for the Carnival.
http://homesteadblogger.com/RachelsReasoning/102220/
Come take a look!
Love,
Rachel

By: Robin

Robin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:53:30 +0000

Hopefully this information has inspired more people to grow their own food or at least buy local. I have my own garden of zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, 3 types of peppers, romaine lettuce and another garden of herbs. It is very satisfying to be able to pick and eat something that I grew. I just hope the cute little bunny leaves me with something to harvest this year!

By: Cindi Overfield

Cindi Overfield — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:28:19 +0000

This is a great idea. We had community gardens in Denver. Everyone helped plant, water and weed. It was good because the community shared the food and people got to know each other. I grew up a country girl and never understood why more people didn’t grow their own food.

Wonderful post!
Cindi

By: Diana Walker

Diana Walker — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:48:10 +0000

Hi Tiffany,
This is great information and very motivating. There is nothing like fresh-picked home-grown fruit and vegetables. Not that I’m a gardener… but we had 70 acres and our own garden when I was very young, and I have never tasted peas and carrots like I remember those tasing – although organic, locally-grown ones do come close.
Diana

By: Lucy Edwards

Lucy Edwards — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:44:16 +0000

Enjoyed reading this article, it’s great that people are finally realising that buying and eating local food does reduce the distance that the food has to travel.
I’ve also read about this on http://ffermio.tv/en/blog/rural-life/buying-local

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:17:31 +0000

Great post, I’m so glad you’re doing this. We started a garden for the first time in YEARS. It’s my 5 year old daughters very first and she had a blast helping out. It’s so true..what happened to the simple things in life, I mean growing up, we lived off of our garden and got eggs & milk from a farm, meat from a butcher, made our own bread and apple pies were filled w/ apples from the apple tree out back. We need to get back into living off of our land. Next year I can see my garden being twice as big.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:36:19 +0000

I love this post Tiffany! Great information.

We don’t currently have a garden as my parents grow one every year and we share the vegetables with them. I have been thinking about starting a small one to give my boys the experience and to help reduce our grocery bill.

By: Melody

Melody — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:20:18 +0000

Wonderful article Tiffany! I don’t grow as much of our food as I used to but I still have my lovely orchard and a big pot filled with tomato and pepper plants. I pick up produce at the farmer’s market and our grocery store carries produce from local growers.

I like to preserve produce in season by dehydrating, freezing or canning. It tastes so much better than the commercial versions and I know exactly what’s in it.

By: grrrl

grrrl — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:19:23 +0000

I like the idea of finding a secret spot at your local park, then at least you know it will get watered!! But, seriously, my sister does this in her Tampa neighborhood. She and some friends secretly plant seeds all over the neighborhood. Then reap the harvest!

We have our own garden and love not having to buy produce during the summer months, have not expanded into preserving, but hope to soon. It’s a great lesson for the kids to see where food really comes from!

By: Jennifer Knox

Jennifer Knox — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:20:23 +0000

Thanks for all of the great tips! I currently don’t have a garden, unless you count my three hosta plants! But once we move, I have dreams of several raised beds with ingredients for my favorite Italian and Mexican cooking and also pumpkins and squash for the Fall season. I really should get something going, even if its just herbs, in my containers on the patio. Thanks for the push!

By: Best Garden Websites Guide

Best Garden Websites Guide — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:39:43 +0000

Gathered the news on Visitthebest.it was interesting and shared the contents to my teacher too.

By: Nature Deva

Nature Deva — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:58:51 +0000

We have grown much of our own produce (greens and veggies mostly) for sev’l years and this year we added many fruit bushes and grape vines. I signed up to do the “100 foot diet challenge” a few mos. ago over on the Path to Freedom blog (the Derveas family). It really inspires me to keep adding new and different food to see how much edible landscaping I can incorporate out my back door. Out front, we just added another large flower bed (3 now) and have very little lawn left yay! Next year we are considering growing veggies in that new bed but we are on a semi-busy street in a school zone so it may not go over too well – or people might help themselves, too!

We are going to try to extend our growing season by building more cold frames and putting a hoop house over our garden beds to see how long they will keep producing.

I have that book you mentioned and like it because I became a raw vegan at the beginning of the year and won’t really can much unless it’s not heated (I do have a few recipes) so we will just do more root cellar storage in our basement closet and we store seeds for sprouting and have been doing lots of dehydrating both in the sun and in my temp. controlled dehydrator. I have failed at making sauerkraut before but we are determined to try again and also to make kim chee, too this year. Fermented foods are so good for you.

Good post – I’m so glad to see so many more people empowering themselves by growing their own food!

By: phyllis

phyllis — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:15:38 +0000

i love this post, partly because i also made the same connection when i posted about my first garden! i definitely see my little container garden as “doing my part” for making the world a better place.
http://imabima.blogspot.com/2008/05/arent-they-cute.html