Garden More, Grocery Less

1. Garden More, Grocery Less Nothing beats a homegrown tomato. Pair that with some delicious romaine or kale and I can go without the B and go straight for the LT. A meal that requires nothing but a short walk to the backyard is the best kind. In fact, I might bring a nicely sharpened knife from Honed In and just eat in the garden. Below are some of the benefits of a home garden. I love the thought of growing food in my backyard and sharing it with neighbors rather than going to the neighborhood market to get food grown in another state. Nothing beats using a long peaceful summer evening when the sun refuses to go down to cultivate the backyard garden. If I can avoid a cold grocery store while the sun is shining, I will. While the grocery store stresses me out, my backyard a place of peace. It is a place of peas and lots of them In just a few hundred feet (or less) my wife and I can grow enough food to give us fresh veggies throughout the summer. Not to mention the canned salsas and frozen fruits through the winter. While a grocery store throws out imperfect produce, we use every good part of a vegetable or fruit. And what we don’t use, goes to the compost to feed the garden on another day. In Arkansas, we can grow from Spring through the end of Fall. Someday we will invest in a greenhouse so we could grow all through the winter. Locally we can grow, tomatoes, lettuces, root vegetables, flowers, squashes, onions, broccoli, asparagus, okra, peppers, beans, and the list goes on and on. For a list of what to grow and when to plant, see the Arkansas Extension Office Planting Guide. This winter my wife and I invested in our orchard; we planted native trees: a Paw Paw, Zombie Fruit, Juneberry, Sassafras, and 3 Mulberries. In the spring we will add blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries. In 2-3 years, this should be plenty of fruit for us and the deer. To help with the added insects the fruit will bring, we also have a bat house; did you know bats are a natural way to help keep the insects away? Bats eat up to 1,000 mosquitos an hour and they love other pesky plant loving insects too. Plus, bats don’t eat our honey bees. Our garden is our grocery store It is a grocery store that feeds us, pollinators, friends, family, and neighbors. It has rows and aisles and can be fun to get lost in. Gardens are great places to take a child on an

2. adventure or to take a break from the mundane. Or, it can be an escape from the busy life and a step into the mundane. Plus, you get to choose your garden. You put veggies and fruits where you want them. There is a certain fascination as sprouts shoot up from the ground and veggies spring from a plant. This winter is the perfect time to prep for your garden in the spring! Start by deciding where to put it and how you’d like to garden. Do you want to do raised garden beds? No till? Where should you get your seeds? How about your compost Gardens come in all sizes and shapes. Start small & make it manageable. Save yourself some trips to the grocery this summer, make a garden. Source URL: https://foodloops.net/2019/01/18/garden-more-grocery-less/ ?