Taking Part in Our Food Supply (with photos)
October 23, 2008 – 2:39 pmWe planted these raised beds ‘long about May 1:
They turned out to be an excellent intro to gardening. We never watered, we weeded once a week (while we were in town, that is) and we were able to replant some things once cooler weather came around. We are still getting lettuce, swiss chard, carrots, and broccoli.
Some things we tried didn’t work out. Like, the spinach I planted in late August never came up, but the lettuces did. The cabbages have never made actual heads, so I’m not sure what that means — do I have a non-heading variety? The potatoes did well, but didn’t have enough room, and shaded out the garlic. The shallots fizzled out early. We learned what not to do for next year. And we think we’ll even add another bed in the spring, for a total of four.
Overall, our little raised beds have been a most-fulfilling way to take part in our food supply. A few times we looked at a meal we had prepared, and realized that we grew it all, or most of it, and the rest came from the farmer’s market! We felt good about making this connection with the earth, and with our health, and hope the relationship can continue to grow.