In case some of you don't know a CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. Hubby and I joined one this year for the first time and are so excited. Starting next month we will be getting fresh locally grown produce every week from a farm here in our area. I don't know exactly what we will be getting each week right now, but we do have the option of customizing it each week to suit our tastes. (sorry no beets coming into this house - yuck)
I will keep you posted as to what we get and I do recommend that you look into CSA's in your own areas. Many go to local farmers markets and the one we joined actually delivers to our house. Many of the smaller farms are disappearing fast, being pushed out of business by the large conglomerate farms. By supporting farms in your area, you also will get the freshest and best food for your family.
That is so true about buying local. I didn't know they had something one could join. I haven't taken the time to shop at the local outlets nearly enough the last while, used to do it all the time. I am planning on doing more this year and definitely agree they need our support and the food tastes so much better and is way more healthy because it's fresh. I'm sick and tired of going to the grocery store only to find half rotten produce to purchase. I can't see paying for something I'm going to have to throw away within the week. It's just ridiculous. Of course, then there's the stuff that is just plain tasteless. . .
Homegrown is so much nicer than the half rotted stuff you can find in supermarkets, I definitely agree. We have a lot of roadside stands out here in the country, based on the honesty system. A farmer will leave sacks of potatoes for example, out by the side of the road with a donation tin next to it, asking that people drop a few dollars into it if they take a sack of veggies.
I am fed up with our market here ( even though its only a small town ) providing horrible produce. The fellow who runs it is a money hungry jackass, and freezes a lot of the veggies, only to thaw them when stock needs refilling, and having the fruit or vegetables go soft and rotten within one or two days. I went to buy some avocado's a couple of weeks ago, and passed by the oranges, stopped and looked because a blue-green ball caught my eye. It was once an orange that had become nothing more than a ball of mold. My son poked at it with a carrot and it just disintegrated in a shower of spores, I was utterly disgusted.
My youngest son grows vegetables for us. He's only just turned thirteen but he adores gardening. This summer he grew us his own tomatoes and silver beet ( which is all we gave him to plant - I wasn't sure if it was something he would keep up with ) and they were delicious. He's proven really dedicated, he weeds his garden every week, waters it every day, and if I can't find him in the house, I know he'll be out in the yard fiddling around with his garden. Its really nice to see him enjoy it so much, and it benefits our family too, with fresh produce that also has no pesticides or chemicals sprayed all over it either.
It sounds very disgusting the way the fellow runs that market with the produce, Pary. It is great that your son likes to garden so much; what a wonderful way to start his life. I used to grow a huge garden and I miss it terribly. Maybe someday, it will be possible to start a new one; I just need to be able to afford to buy some fencing that keeps deer and elk from eating it where I now live. I've tried planting a few things only to have them gobbled up before they were very big at all. :bounce:
(04-30-2012 10:41 AM)tontrin Wrote: [ -> ][...] I just need to be able to afford to buy some fencing that keeps deer and elk from eating it where I now live. I've tried planting a few things only to have them gobbled up before they were very big at all. :bounce:
Consider container gardening? You can start small, protect plants by bringing them in overnight or, I dunno, covering a small area or covering them individually? Or at least put them on a porch or deck (assuming you have one) that you can close with a baby gate if it's the sort that deer would otherwise reach? Just a few thoughts
Deer will jump over a baby gate. I'm not sure about elk, but they probably jump rather well also. You need tall fencing to keep them out if they think there is something tasty on the other side. I've seen deer raiding orchards that had waist-high stone walls around them.
Oh, Pary, you have a gem of a son there! Since he enjoys it so much he might also be able to turn it into a money-making endeavor by growing extra and selling it. For some reason none of my kids have a true love for gardening. Of course I hated gardening for my mom but loved doing it for myself. Then hubby decided a few years ago to start playing around with it and now it's one of his favorite hobbies because it's so relaxing. I told him when he started it that he ought to try no-till gardening with it (it was something I always wanted to try but never got to it). Tillers are really hard on soil and the stuff that lives in the soil plus eventually create a hard-pan below where the tines reach, so basically you just pile a bunch of organic matter on the garden area, plant in it, water then watch it grow. He doesn't have time for pesky chores like weeding, so the weeds are generally two feet tall around and through the whole thing and often when bugs come through they eat the weeds instead of the garden. Every evening he meanders around out there and checks for dry spots and waters accordingly. Last year he planted all the wrong varieties of tomatoes so they were just barely even ripening by the time we had to pick them so they didn't get frosted (most tomatoes can't take our dry climate so drop most of their blossoms until sometime in August when they finally start setting fruit), and we pulled more tomatoes off his one row of tomato plants that I'd ever seen come out of my garden at one time. We filled ten five-gallon buckets plus a wheel barrow with them. He likes growing the Fordhook Giant chard (silver beet) but I told him if he grows chard this year to go with a smaller variety. I love chard but the giant variety has way too large of stems for my taste. We had more than enough butternut squash to last all winter and I put a lot of summer squash in the freezer as well. I am hoping he'll grow some green beans this year even if I have to help him get them planted. I was hoping last year I'd be able to get back into the garden this spring but that's not looking real good so far but maybe by the time harvest is ready I'll have enough stuff done it won't be a problem taking care of it. :D
I wrote a long e-mail to one of our oldest grocery stores a week or so ago letting them know just how far downhill the stuff they're selling has gone. Aside from a couple of things I can't get anywhere else I've quit shopping there because of the garbage they're selling. The meat is tough and tastes bad, the produce spoils within a few days, and many of the things they sell in bulk are rancid before they reach the store, then they switched to a cheap brand of dairy products that has horrid quality. I can buy some things cheaper at Costco and I don't care if I have to pay more for better stuff at other places because in the end it's more economical because I'm not throwing stuff away all the time. I bought cheap bacon there a while back and it was so salty we could barely even eat it. What was left in the package went stale after about three days in the fridge. Someone replied saying they'd let their buyers know but I really doubt anything will change.
We're planning on pulling out half of our current "garden" to make room for more fruits and vegetables. I loathe gardening, I really hate it, and I'm hopeless at it. I can't honestly tell the difference between a plant and a weed. Most of the garden around our house is a cottage type garden ( really a term for overgrown gardens like mine LOL ) and I just can't do anything with it. Not that I really want to. All the bushes need trimming, the ivy's gone mad over the old decorative stone bbq, and my roses all look terribly shabby, but the place is so big, to have someone do it would cost a fortune.
We have some terrific lime trees, kiwi fruit bushes ( so we were told when we bought the place - though in nearly three years of living here, I've not been able to find the kiwi bush anywhere on the property though I wouldn't even know what it looks like ) lemon, apple and pear trees. We got some lovely apples this year, really huge, tart crispy green ones ,they were lovely. My son recently had a birthday, so we gave him vouchers to the local nursery / hardware which is what he asked for, and he took himself off and bought a whole load of gardening tools and some seedlings. I think he's planted cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes and pumpkin this time. He also does love to make money LOL. His school recently had enterprise day, and he won an award for young entrepreneur; he earned the most money and was the most dedicated to his product, so I expect I'll see him out selling veggies sooner or later ;)
(05-01-2012 07:16 AM)Jaguwar Wrote: [ -> ]Consider container gardening? You can start small, protect plants by bringing them in overnight or, I dunno, covering a small area or covering them individually? Or at least put them on a porch or deck (assuming you have one) that you can close with a baby gate if it's the sort that deer would otherwise reach? Just a few thoughts
You know, a few things in containers actually sounds like a good idea; it's certainly something I'd like to try. Even a few things that aren't from the grocery store would be worth the time.
Oh, Pary, it sounds like your son is just a peach! Good for him.
It is beginning to sound like I won't be the only person with fresh veggies this summer. Containers would be great, there are so many veggies that do well in them. Pary, your son is so cool! I am looking forward to hearing about his success.
Local Harvest is a web site that you can use to find not only CSA'a in your area, but Farms, Farmer's Markets, Restaurants, Grocery/Co-Op's and other places. This was the site we found while still living in Georgia when we wanted to find a Farmer's Market that sold local produce.
I highly recommend you check the site out just to fins out what gem might be in your own back yard. Man This post must look like a spammer made it.
:bag:
Burppe's seeds now have a little pot on their seed for items that do well in pots. There are varieties of most every veggie commonly grown in the garden, from tomatoes to carrots to beets.
Sookie, thanks for the link, I'll go look it up!
I am so wanting to do several herbs, but can never seem to find the time to go to the nursery to pick some nice ones up and get pots or something to grow them in. Like they say "one of these days, one of these days"
Thanks for the information. Boy, do I know that "one of these days" thing!
There are a number of plants that have been developed to do well in containers, especially peppers and tomatoes. Then a lot of herbs will grow in them anyway. If a person has the place to do it, it's much more economical to buy the seeds and start them, although if you only want a plant or two it's much easier not to have to mess around with that.
I like to buy from small, locally owned seed companies (even if they're not owned where I live) rather than the big ones like Gurneys and Burpees because I try not to support corporate nonsense as much as possible, and smaller companies often have a better selection of organically-grown and open-pollinated support rather than hybrids and chemicals. When all of a sudden Gurneys, Henry Fields and Gardens Alive catalogs all started appearing in my mail with the exact same 50% off sale through the end of February I stopped buying from them. I still get the Gurney's catalog and I was looking through it this year and it looked to me like everything cost normal prices up until the end of February, then after that were twice the price they should have cost.
My top choices for mail order are:
(in no particular order)
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange
Territorial Seed Company
Nichols Garden Nursery
Nichols and Pinetree have awesome herb selections and all of these companies have a lot of fun varieties of veggies you don't often see. Plus, gardening where we live can be a huge pain because of the aridity and heat and it just is not easy finding varieties that will thrive here (we often can't even grow varieties that thrive ten miles away) so any time I can find a company that sells non-mainstream veggies I try a lot of what they have to offer. A good amount of it is still going to fail but I'll end up with several favorites almost every time. Besides that, who wouldn't want to grow carrots big enough that all you need is one or two for a whole meal? :D
Totally Tomatoes
Vermont Bean Seed Co.
(Those two are owned by the same company. TT has a nice selection of tomatoes and peppers and I actually found seeds for green beans from Vermont Bean Seed Co. that were developed in my home state in a very similar climate which produce way better than any of the seeds I can find in the local stores.)
I don't know if this company is still in business since they don't have a website but I did find a phone number for them, but it's called Le Jardin Du Gourmet. They were my absolute TOP favorite for herb seeds.
When I know exactly what I'm after I sometimes I buy seeds from sellers on eBay. They often have extremely low or free shipping.
I love open-pollinated so we can save our own seeds. Saving seed from things like peppers, tomatoes, chard, beets, carrots and onions is super easy to do. Saving seeds from herbs is even easier than those are.