As I write this, I'm pretty much tired and sore all over. Today represented an important milestone for the little red house: we planted the first part of what I'm calling our "victory garden." Why call it that?
During World War II, people were encouraged to plant their own vegetable gardens to supply food for themselves and help save valuable fuel and other resources in an effort to support the war. It was a patriotic way to show solidarity for the Allied cause and "do your part."
Well, that same spirit holds true today. In the battle of rising gas prices and food prices, it seems only logical to do our part to try and save resources where we can and plant a "victory garden."
With this spirit, we planned out what we wanted to grow and where we would grow it. As always, we used Principles as our guide--Consider the Cost was big on our list. The cost of going to the store to buy pesticide-laden produce trucked or flown from who-knows-where came with a heavy cost. For a fraction of the cost of one weekly grocery bill, we could plant a whole garden's worth of vegetables that will yield months of healthy, nutritious food--all just steps from our door.
With our plan set, we went to our local garden nursery and started picking out our plants: several different types of tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, melons, sweet corn, potatoes, peas, beans, herbs and pumpkins! It sounds like a lot (and it is), but we have a pretty decent sized garden plot and we wanted to experiment with some different things to see what would grow best.
Today, we prepped the garden boxes by turning the earth and getting all the errant weeds out of there. We then put a little plant food in with the turned soil and then started plotting out where everything will go. We were able to get the tomato plants in the ground before we lost all the day light. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get the rest of the seedlings in the ground and maybe if we're lucky, we can plant the seeds for some of the other crops.
It is a lot of work! But it already gives me a sense of satisfaction to have my hands in the earth and the promise of something green in our future. It's just one small way to try and make a difference: a few less trips to the store, a little more gas and food money in our pockets, some fresh air and exercise and hopefully lots of beautiful vegetables to share with our friends and family. This is my definition of a victory garden--the personal victory that comes in making a change for the better!
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