Inspiration

Someone asked me today why I want to have a backyard homestead. Before that I had never really thought I would need to defend this decision. It just seemed obvious to me.
So here are a few reasons to grow your own food:


1)Money
Food costs at the grocery store are still going up. Coupon clipping and budgeting have practically become sports. One bad thing about having all foods available year round is that they cost more to be shipped in. Added transportation costs aren't helping my wallet any.


2)Health
I read an article recently that mentioned that tomatoes in the store have less nutrients than fresh, ripe tomatoes off the vine. They are picked before they are ripe so that they get their color just in time to get put in your cart. And even then some of them are pink or orange.
And there are so many processed junk foods out there, some of them hiding under the guise of being health food. 


3) Love
This is what I feel I am meant to do. To depend on my family and the land for my food. To cook meals made with love and eat them with people I love. To know that something I nurtured and grew is going to feed someone I love is an idea I just can't let go of. 


So maybe this isn't something everyone can do. Maybe it's not something I will do forever. But it's what I want to do right now.

Planning the garden

So after weeks of talking about it, I am putting pen to paper and fingertips to keys. I'm getting all the information together that I need in order to get this homesteadery going. (And yes, that is a word. Or it is now.)
Researching which plants need direct sunlight and which ones prefer shade is disheartening. There are a lot of trees on this property and I hate the idea of cutting any of them down. But most plants do better in direct sunlight. Partial shade is occasionally acceptable but they won't yield as much when we harvest.
So, we need to trim several of them down severely. We're talking an arboreal high and tight.

Another issue is that we are growing in sand. So we are going to have to add a lot to the soil in order to grow pretty much anything. Composting is a foreign concept to me. Heck, all of this is foreign.

But I am so excited to get started. Growing my own produce is only step one. And at least I am not alone in this. My mom is as ready as I am.