Truly inspiring...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of food life
By Barbara Kingsolver

One step closer to sustainability.

So a few years ago, I started an organic garden in my small backyard (the photo on the left). I live just outside of what is considered the "downtown" area of my city. The area is mostly old homes with smaller yards. After a couple of years of learning, experimenting, failures, and successes, I now have a very productive and healthy organic garden. In my small backyard I grow lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, leeks, green beans, peas, artichokes, carrots, squash, spinach, broccoli, strawberries, and blueberries. I grow a variety of herbs as well including basil, mint, oregano, thyme, tarragon, savory, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, lavender, chives, cilantro, calendula, and parsley. I also grow a variety of flowers.

Every summer when the harvest is plentiful, I am always surprised by how much comes from such a little space. Urban organic gardening is possible. I look around my neighborhood and see potential garden spaces in every yard I pass that is covered with grass. Every household in my neighborhood could have a summer of local vegetables. It's one less head of lettuce that had to travel from California. One less pepper from Mexico. The earth around our homes has so much potential.

I know people feel there isn't enough time to garden. Well, to be honest, turn off the TV and spend an hour outside tilling the earth, nourishing it with compost you've made, and plant some seedlings. We are selfish with our time, our resources, our planet, and ultimately we will all pay for it.

This may sound naive, but I think a backyard, front yard, side yard, or patio/deck garden takes us one step closer to gaining more time on this earth. It's one easy step closer to sustainability.

Here we go...

A new blog. I'm not totally sure what this blog will contain, but I wanted one for my thoughts about sustainability on this earth, organic agriculture/gardening, permaculture, and human nutrition. A bit of a mix, I know. I'm looking forward to seeing how this will evolve.