When we moved into this house in 2007, it came with a huge yard and included a space for a vegetable garden. My son took an immediate liking to this since he has always wanted to plant his own vegetables. I don’t why, as he does not eat any vegetables. Anyway.. that first year we had a lot of yummy tomatoes.
This year, my son planted Sweet 100’s. Now, I don’t know much about gardening so when he dug and planted four of these plants, I figured we would have a steady stream of tomatoes to take us through the year after freezing and canning (like I’ve ever done this).
Let me just say that the first year, he maintained the garden. The second year…not so much. It’s on the side of the house and I rarely go out there and it cannot be seen from inside the house so when my husband told me that he wanted to pull all the plants out I was appalled! What?!? So I wandered out there. Oh my goodness. The four plants that my son planted turned into a wild, untamed jungle of sorts. I spent the next two days picking tomatoes, trimming them back, and lecturing my son about the whole incident. They taste pretty good though.
So I found it highly amusing that I came across this review of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver this morning. Kingsolver and her family make a decision to eat home-grown or locally grown food for one year and this book chronicles their efforts. I find the idea fascinating but extremely time consuming. I just don’t have the time to cultivate food for my family to eat. Even with the tomatoes, the aphids were completely out of control and I would not want to use pesticides and I know the alternative methods require a consistent hand.
Has anyone read this book? Were you inspired by it? We have the space to do something and with the cost of produce it does sound appealing. Do any of you have vegetable gardens?
Book Chatter 
I haven’t read it, but it’s on my shelf calling to me. I saw the author (on tv) read a portion of it and she also did a slide show of what their house/garden/life looked it – it was fascinating!I don’t think it’s meant to be something that we’re all supposed to do – it is meant to make us look close are what we’re buying, where it comes from, the hidden costs, and the value of locally grown food. I’m hoping to read it in the Spring …
I read this book and was inspired by it. I’ve even learned to make mozzarella cheese.
Heather…thanks for the info. I can’t wait to read it but there is so much on my list right now.. it will probably be sometime in Spring by the time I read it too. Bermuda…you can make mozzarella cheese?? That’s pretty impressive!
My tomatoes are green, that’s what they look like! I really enjoyed this book, obviously most people don’t have space to grow all of their own food, this is just one family’s attempt to do that. This is a story, I think, to inspire all of us to think of alternative food sources to the grocery store. My vegetable garden is very tiny – just tomatoes, zucchini, basil and thyme. The growing season here is just too short to do much, it is much better for me to buy from farmers.
I haven’t read the book, but it’s on my “get this sometime” list 🙂I joined a CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture) program over last winter and again this summer. It’s amazing, you literally give the farm “seed money”, spend a nominal amount of time working (I’ve taken down old tomato trellises, mulched around strawberry plants, and thinned onion plantings), then enjoy a BOUNTY of fresh veggies throughout the season.I learned a lot about eating “in season”, but I was overwhelmed with the amount of food I got each week. Even with our family of 6 and sharing with the neighbors, I felt more than a little pressured to use all the produce before it went bad (I did par-boil and freeze some items, but it was still a lot!).A great learning experience, but I’m going to take this winter off and buy from the grocery store as needed!
Tara – I wish we had regular farmer’s markets around here. I would definitely take advantage of locally grown produce if we did. Dawn – What a great opportunity! I can see why you would feel obligated to use it all though.