Gardening

Just wanted to take a moment and brag on myself. :) I feel really good right now. The last few years our diet has been changing from just eating "healthy", to "natural," then organic, scratch, local....mostly whole foods. In our house the way we eat is important. It can improve your quality of life tremendously. I can't describe the changes in health we have had just over the last few years. To name a few, we dropped some of the unhealthy weight. We don't feel sluggish or have stomach aches as often as we used to. People comment on how shiny our hair is. How smooth our skin feels. How healthy we look in general. If you choose carefully, food can stop allergies, take the edge off menstral cramps, or even heal diseases. Food is essentially medicine. And I want my daughter to know that and also know how to self sustain. Gardening can save more money than clipping coupons, and you have enough left over to give away! What better way to teach my daughter the importance of eating healthy and sustaining ourselves than to learn how to garden? I ordered seeds last Fall and spent all Summer planning how to execute my new organic garden! As soon as the calendar said I could, I began planting. Nothing....So I tried again. Nothing. I eventually ended up with a tiny, itty bitty sprout on a few things, but it quickly withered away. I was ready to give up. A friend of my Husband's took pity on me and sent him home with organic some plants he had already started. Sweet guy. But they mostly died aside from the peppers. *Sighs* I went ahead and transplanted the peppers into my upside down containers and planted my seed potatoes in burlap sacks, but didn't expect anything. While I was at it, I wrapped she seeds in paper towels and waited for them to sprout. Low and behold, THEY DID! I was patient and waited a few days to plant them in pots. And before I knew it, they had grown 3". Alongside my potatoes who had grown a whole foot! So not only do I have Peppers. I have potatoes. I have green bean bushes, bean bushes, and basil! Not bad for my first time!!!! (Parsley and tomatoes were the only thing I couldn't get to grow. They kept withering away. We are saving things like pumpkins and watermelons and fruit trees for when I get better at gardening.) Each morning we go out and care for them, water them if it hasn't rained. We pinch off the yellow leaves and any early flowering. We make sure it is all growing well and healthy, and so far, so good. I'm very proud of myself for sticking to it and making it so far! Can't wait to see what we will have to eat. Hubby and I have worked on storage in the attic this winter. And S and I began a compost so I can do a raised bed next Spring. That way we can grow onions, lettuce, and carrots. We have both learned so much just from the few things we have grown. One of these days we'll be experts.

Potato Plants and Bean Bushes

Flowering Potatoes

Bean and Green Bean Bushes

Pepper Plant