summer, are you out there?

Call it deja vu, but haven't I already written about being excited to get out and garden only to find more winter snow at my door and on my soil? Ugh, old man winter just won't give it a rest this year. Thankfully the whole family embraced the one good weather day of the week (Monday) and we spent it out back prepping for our new vegetable garden and future home of the chicken coop.

I feel so lucky to have a great yard with plenty of space, but I also have a yard with quite a few limitations, if your interest is in growing things. It has very little sun, thanks to the many full grown trees. The soil goes from pure sand to pure clay in every direction with no discernible pattern. The sprinkler system is pretty outdated and some areas--such as the home of the future veggie garden- are skipped altogether. There is a lot to improve to make it workable but I plan to put my shoulder to the wheel and push along, if you know what I mean. We've got big plans! Check out our before and after shots on Monday...including what was left of the VERY massive pile of wood we had from cutting down 3 huge pine trees so we'd have more sun. we're getting there. If I never see another patch of vinca ground cover, it will be too soon!

Since mother nature isn't cooperating on the actual planting front, I've had my nose in Square Foot Gardening all week getting psyched up and planning what we'll plant. I like the old adage that you should only grow what you like to eat so I'm focusing on the obvious veggies (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beets, carrots, cucumbers) but I'd also like to throw in a few things I'm just curious about trying like eggplant, nasturtium for the edible flowers, gourds, some kind of melon, and maybe cauliflower since I just discovered Cleo will eat it by the bowlful. I will also be planting a hefty amount of basil and arugula since I like both so very much and have my reputation as salad master to maintain.

In my dream world I'd like to skip right to the heirloom varieties and the quirky stuff like white asparagus and purple carrots but something tells me that I should embrace my novice status and grow the tried and true until I get the hang of it. I am excited to have fun with it and get all old time-y and start talking about the snails eating my cabbage and worrying about the wilt in my tomatoes. Maybe I'll even be one of those people who go out with a flashlight in the middle of the night, sure they hear the slugs munching away on their hard won harvest. My dream, and this is top secret folks, has always been to enter something into the State Fair. I love every inch of the fair, I do, and every year Jaren and I vow that this will be the year for our perfect rose or bunch of basil. I am hopeful that with a bounty in my backyard this just may turn out to be my year.

Another thing that has gotten me through a snowstorm on April 15 is Roots Shoots Buckets and Boots, a book dedicated to gardening with children. The book is full of great ideas for creating specific child themed gardens such as a pizza garden, a moon garden, and a sunflower house. But my favorite things are the little factoids and tips about making gardening accesible and fun for kids. Things like telling the temperature by cricket chirps or making a moth broth to attract beneficial moths to your yard captivated me so I know my kids will eat up this kind of knowledge. The idea to create an explorer kit was one of my favorites and I'll be doing this for Cleo this weekend so more on that later. But what I love most, and the book really capitalizes on, is that the potential for kids to love to garden is there, I mean, what could be more like magic than planting a hard, dry thing in dirt and seeing it sprout green within days? Plus the thought of Cleo knowing at 5 what it really takes to grow the food she eats is one of those parenting and life lessons I really want to impart. I desperately hope both Cleo and Flynn will enjoy being out there all summer since like it or not, that is probably where they will be!

I wanted to share this amazing video my sister Amy sent me about a California family's decision to turn their very small residentail lot into a working farm. It is inspiring to see what they were able to grow in a tiny space and I also loved their comment that one of the most radical things we can do these days is to grow our on food. In doing this we are taking back a piece of what has been taken away from us and our culture. Let me know what you think...and start day dreaming about summer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q&feature=PlayList&p=148CE58485586E9E&index=6&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

Combatting Shelf Reliance

Yesterday was an exciting news day for me. I loved hearing that First Lady Michelle Obama is starting an organic vegetable garden at the White House! I cannot think of something that better signifies popular acceptance of the importance of growing your own food, and organically at that! It is a great sign of leadership and I also liked Michelle's focus on the way a garden can help people (especially children) to learn about better nutrition, and perhaps most importantly, where the food they eat comes from and what it takes to produce it.

I think this is such a vital subject to consider because it speaks to how divorced we have become from the basics. Since humans have to eat for survival, it seems logical that not knowing how to produce your own food would be a pretty cavalier--maybe even dumb?- attitude to have. It assumes 100% reliance on store bought "shelf" items. It assumes that one will always have money to buy said items. It assumes that there will always be available food produced by "someone else" . It assumes that one is comfortable with the quality of the food this "someone" produced and the means by which it came to be at your table.

I have started to question a lot of these assumptions. I don't know if I should be comfortable eating something grown 5000 miles away from me or eating meat fed grain that most of the earth's people would gladly eat or ever wondering whether the thing I am feeding my children is going to end up giving them cancer. I don't want unknowns going into mouth or the mouths of my babes! I am no expert about the state of our industrialized food system, but some of what I've heard and read discourages me and makes me want to seek out better options that are more in my control.

The most obvious and inexpensive way I can think of doing that is to grow more of my own food, pesticide free. I already know that my backyard cucumber isn't going to look anything like that perfect green waxy long boy in the produce section, but what I trade out in looks maybe I'll trade in for taste and the satisfaction of self-reliance? I've grown a few herbs and veggies in my time and it is hard not to smile and say "I grew that!" when you bite into it. It is deeply satisfying to eat something personally tended to and watched. Like so much we've lost in modern times, it is a tribute to the sweetness that comes from delayed gratification. In the garden, good things really do come to those who wait. So for me, I think if you have the time, the space, and especially if you have little kids around that can benefit from the firsthand experience of learning about nature and where their food comes from, having a backyard garden seems like such an easy way to reconnect with what you eat.

But I also recognize that gardening is not for everyone and definitely not a requirement of modern life. There are so many other ways to take better ownership of what you put in your mouth. Supporting local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) is another great way. These programs have sprouted up all over the country and it is genius. Basically you sign up with a local farmer and pay them a fee for a season's worth of fruits and vegetables...this way they get money upfront before the harvest and you get fresh, locally grown stuff all summer! It is such a cool thing. We did it through Borski Farms here in Salt Lake for a couple years and enjoyed it so much. It definitely made us cook differently because you get a different selection each week and we certainly ate better quality food. Here is a list of local Utah CSA farms if you want to check it out. And if CSAs are too much of a commitment, don't forget to support local farmers at local Farmer's Markets!

I just heard about a cool program called Farm to School that basically does the CSA thing for the food served in school cafeterias. They connect local farmers with local schools so the kids are given healthier, fresh food and the farmers are supported by a big client. Since Cleo will start kindergarten next year (gulp) this is an idea that really appeals to me. I think it is brilliant! It doesn't look like there are programs here in Utah yet but I contacted them today and I'll find out the details. Keep you posted.

dirty mind

i've got dirt on the mind.  well, actually i've got spring on the mind.  the weather here in slc has taken a lovely turn towards blustery, lovely spring. and though i know more snow will fall, this is the point in winter we all anticipate--the first thaw.  from here on in, winter is just so much more manageable. 

with the sunshine and mild temperatures, we've been out in the yard a lot this week.  all my garden beds were in need of some massive attention and it felt so good to rake and dig and tidy.  signs of spring were everywhere.  we had a nice little grouping of crocus pop up and i discovered lots of daffodil pips creeping up to find the sun. cleo and i even found an errant bird egg nestled deep in a plant.  cleo cradled it and wrapped it in a warm scarf hoping it would hatch, but so far nothing.   i like to think that i have a green thumb, but really what i have is the enjoyment of sitting in the dirt and watching nature on that tiny scale.  i get over-stimulated out hiking and camping. i still love it, but i find it hard to take that much nature in. i always get a sensation that the incredible vista i'm seeing or the glistening lake in the distance is fake.  it looks like "scenery" to me on that grand a scale and that has always been bewildering and a bit frustrating to me.  but sitting on my own little 2x2 square, i can really appreciate the action before me...the tiny ants going about their work, the worms happily digging in and out, the drops of dew on the fringe of my lady's mantle leaves, the mottled dusty trunks of the tall, straight aspens,  flecks in the granite pebbles....so much beauty and it is in my very own yard!  

in fact i think one of the biggest boons of moving away from new york was coming back to a place where i could claim my own land. i missed having a garden so much when i lived the big city life and it still thrills me to be able to walk out my door and grow stuff.   and this year i'm even more pumped than normal about my garden because i am really committed to creating a better food producing garden than i've ever had. flowers, and a couple tomato plants, have always been my primary interest, so this will be a shift to dedicate energy to growing my own food.    i hope to share my garden plan once i formulate it!

i think one of the best things i can do to ensure my garden's success is to make sure my soil is healthy.  every spring i buy big bags of compost and add them to my soil but this year we have taken matters into our own hands and started a compost pile!  we are able to do it pretty painlessly thanks to this nifty little machine we got for christmas (thanks mom!)  made by a company called naturemill.

it is basically an automatic composter that we keep in our kitchen. you just add food scraps and it automatically turns it, creates the correct conditions (heat, cultures, etc.) to break down the waste, and every two weeks we get a new batch of rich looking compost.  it is relatively odorless, though whenever i open it up to throw something in, cleo says "eww, earth muffins!" so to say there isn't a smell would be lying. you can buy the naturemill online or i just learned williams sonoma is now selling them.  this little device is pretty spendy, but i've seen links about how to make your own composter with just a plastic garbage can, or you can always do the old pile in the corner of the yard trick as long as you turn it occasionally.  check out different composting options here: http://www.recycle.slco.org/html/compost.html

not only will composting make my garden more productive and beautiful, it is also a major way to help meet my goal to go more green this year.  composting is a big step towards taking ownership of the waste my family creates.  it helps turn it into something productive and useful (why was i paying for compost again?), and by keeping it out of the landfill, i am doing my part to help stop global warming.   i read some pretty compelling facts on this subject: 

the average american generates about 4 lbs of garbage each day. 60% of household waste consists of biodegradeable food, garden and paper waste. 

composting organic waste saves 30% of our trash from going to the landfill 

in 1998,  the us generated 22 millions tons of food residuals and composted only 2% of that waste

in the landfill, organic waste decomposes without oxygen which causes it to give off methane, a greenhouse gas with 21 times the impact of carbon dioxide. composting averts this problem and creates a natural soil fertilizer and conditioner.

(all factoids courtesy of how to reduce your carbon footprint by joanna yarrow.)

SHOCKING aren't they?  and definitely as shocking was realizing that our garbage can is literally half as full each week.  we were throwing that much useable garbage away.   i love thinking that from this point forward, my yard will be the beneficiary of all that lovely, lovely waste.