After many years of talking about it, we are actually going to put in a food garden. This is a big step for us. I’m originally from Queens, NY, and my husband is from Joisey (new Jersey). There isn’t a lot of gardening going on there (although New Jersey is the self-proclaimed garden state).
It is time, though, with food prices going higher, and our desire to eat organic produce, we can’t put it off any longer. The initial investment of putting in a garden should pay off for our family for years.
We are going to start out small in our gardening, just a few easy-to-grow crops, such as lettuce, tomatoes and zucchini. Depending on how things go, we may add more crops mid-summer, but being conservative right now is best.
In our area, we have to go to great lengths to product any food from little forest creatures Thumper and Bambi aren’t so cute when they have munched through the salad or side dish that you were going to serve for dinner. In some families, that might be enough to maker Thumper and Bambi the actual dinner themselves.
Protecting our produce means that we will have to build a fence that is deep enough in the ground to prevent the bunnies, but high enough to keep out the deer. Oh, and the squirrels shouldn’t be able to climb it either. Sigh.
Once the fence and the garden are prepared, it will be a learning experience for the whole family, but I am really looking forward to being able to wander out to the backyard for some picking. If all goes well, we plan to expand the garden and add in more of a variety.
Because we are realists, we are also joining a CSA farm this year, to make sure that we are supplied with adequate fresh things to eat.