Victory Garden

This last weekend I started our very own victory garden. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Every year I plant some kind of flowers in the flower beds that run all along the front and sides of the house. This year, I decided to do some onions along the side of the house, near where the paper whites and rose bushes are, a bit hidden from the road. The rest I did end up doing some basic flower seeds, from some packets that I already had trying to be thrifty. I didn’t want our hoa knocking on our door wanting an explanation for what might look like weeds to them. I did, however, plant some herbs among the flowers. In the back, we had a tree die, and so I am going to take that space and convert it into a small vegetable garden. I was inspired by my parents, Martha Stewart, and Sandy at one of my favorite blogs: www.reluctantentertainer.com. Growing up we always had some kind of garden at our house and I always loved growing the vegetables, probably more than I liked eating them. Now in my life and our current economic situation, it seems like a good idea. Why not have something you can lean on that is also fresh and good for you. Of course, if my garden yields a lot, I will also have to look into how to can, but, we’ll get to that later. Something I’ve always wondered…why do they call it canning when it involves glass jars? Is there a way to actually ‘can’ from home? I have always worried about having the extra time that it takes to nurture the plants, especially when it often seems like I don’t have enough time to get things done now as it is. I just had this burning ‘need’ to create a garden, and I have come to really start listening to my inner guidance, so a small garden it is. If it goes well, then I will do more and more. I also can’t wait to get the kids involved, just as I was when I was younger. Joci already helped me to plant all the onions, tarragon, basil, parsley, sage, and some pink (pink of course!) petunias that she wanted to plant from Lowes. She’s a great little helper. In fact, our new little neighbor that is Jocelyn’s age came over and ‘helped’ too. This week I am going to till my little area in the backyard to get the majority of the garden done. I will post some pictures when I have it all planted.

Have you ever thought about planting a garden?

It’s a great way to supplement our grocery lists,

especially right now. Give it a try!

I want to compost so bad! But, I’m not sure how to do it on a small scale and cheap too. I’ve kind of already started a little pile, but that looks so tacky. I was definitely surprised by how much compost material we had always been throwing away. I am thinking a big black trash can with holes drilled into might work ok, but, let’s face it, it’s not exactly cheap. I have looked around the house, and just can’t find anything that would work. Any ideas? I liked that Sandy’s husband did a pallet compost pile, but I need something on a much, much smaller scale.