We are officially in the home stretch of spring (May 20th), and summer is on the way. Culinarilly speaking, this is one of my favorite times of the year. The new bounty is beginning to present itself.
And it's not just about the flora, but also the Fauna. Mother earth is genius in her integration of the two. It's amazing how much contrast there is between the two. So for today I'd like to look at the parallels. Firstly, let's look at seasonality. At this point most of us, depending on geographic location...are starting our gardens. See the map above? This is were we start, by looking at the forecast. It's still kind of a crapshoot, however the farmers almanac is usually pretty accurate. We then start planning the event. What are we going to plant, were, how much, etc. If you are new to this, you may want to do a little reading first. As a rule of thumb, you can loosely based your plans on a seasonality chart, of which I have provided below.
Next up, gathering materials, tools and of course seeds and starter plants. Depending on how much time you want to invest, will determine if you start from seed or starter plants. If it's your first go at this, I recommend starter plants and maybe a few "easy to propogate" seeds. Wild flowers, beans and tomatoes are fairly easy to start from seed. Most farmers and experienced growers are more than happy to help beginners.
Now that we have our stuff, we can plan the space. Anybody can have a garden, period! And planning properly will provide you with a bounty year round. Here is an example, thanks Jamie Oliver!
This is a fairly easy plan that yields a lot with little space, and a lot of love. The economy of scale is a big thing these days. A few forward thinking experts have taken gardening to a higher level, literally. Raised beds, micro greenhouses, indoor growing, balcony plots, etc...are just a few of the examples of new age gardening. Every home, and dare I say restaurant should have some form of garden. Watch this video on urban gardening.
Conclusion
If you are telling yourself you don't have time for this, your basically lying. The only one your hurting is yourself. By that I mean on three levels. Economy, spiritual and physical. Let me explain before I start sounding like a religious zealot...lol. By economy I mean your pocketbook. Growing a few fruits and vegetables will save you at least several hundreds of dollars. One head of cabbage costs about $5. With $5 bucks you can buy a package of high quality heirloom seeds... likely less. And you will never buy them again! A little time and love will produce enough cabbage and gas to keep you going all year 😉. Spiritually speaking, this kind of work will reconnect you to nature and nurture. A sense of well being, independence and accomplishment will also manifest. Physically speaking, yes it's hard work. Nothing good comes from laziness. Feeding yourself and your family is just good sense. Anyway, enjoy your Sunday. Cheers, and happy gardening!