I was working in the garden yesterday when I reminded myself that just one short year ago, I knew not one thing about gardening (apart from the fact that it ruined your nails). Because we are a vegetarian family we tend to go through fruit and vegetables fairly quickly, I even like to add half a bunch of spinach to my banana smoothies in the morning. And with the rising cost of vegetables and the introduction of more and more chemical spays I just knew there had to be a better (and more inexpensive way) to keep our vegetable intake up for a fraction of the cost.
I am again amazed that for a little work how much you can gain. At the supermarket spinach averages about $2.50 per bunch yet for the same price I brought a packet of 15o seeds. Even allowing for a ten percent non germination rate that is still a saving of about three hundred dollars per year for us. That is in one vegetable alone! I love the fact that I can (mostly) go and pick our dinner from our back garden and that I can dehydrate, freeze, can, puree and bottle most of the surplus for the winter months.
I still have a long way to go to be self sufficient, My in laws have a garden that would take your breath away! Full of nut and fruit trees, berries, olives and every vegetable you can think of, they even grow their own grain. I think the only things they do buy are coffee, sugar, toilet paper and the odd extra such as bleach or baking powder. It is my dream to be able to live like this, Anne (the Turkish word for mother) happily makes all her own olive oil, cheese and even soap. I could never explain how hard working this amazing woman is, I can only pray that one day I will be able to be a fraction as energetic and warm as she is.
In the midst of our economic recession it makes perfect sense to try and cut our grocery bills as much as we can and one of the easiest ways is to grow our own! In early march I planted out just four vegetables broccoli, silver beet, cabbages and broad beans. Now I couldn't jam more into my garden if I tried (and try I have). If you are interested in starting your own vegetable patch then I highly recommend this website as a very good place to start.
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