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When my daughters were little back in the 1970's, their father and I were young and money was tight. He worked as a truck driver in the construction industry and I was a stay-at-home mom. Fortunately for us I was raised by my grand-mother who managed a household with six children during the Great Depression and WWII. She new how to make ends meet and continued to live frugally the remainder of her life. It was from her that I learned how to keep my girls in new clothes and keep enough food on the table despite having a small income. When our youngest daughter was six years of age we we able to purchase our first home situated on 2 1/2 rural acres at the edge of town. Until this time I would plant a small garden in my grandmother's yard in the next town, so it was wonderful to be able to have a larger garden that I could see from my kitchen window. That first gaden measured approximately 40 x 60 feet and had a well dug in the center. The entire garden was fenced in using wooden posts and chicken wire to keep the wildlife out; or, at least making it more difficult for them to forage in my garden. The soil was beautiful for growing food, dark, rich and moist. For good measure I added a layer of manure about 6 inches deep and roto-tilled it in, raking the soil smooth and creating walking paths between the planting beds. I have always planted seeds in patches rather than long rows. It is easier to manage and also produces more food. Kentucky Wonder green beans were planted in a large area of the garden. I built several trellis's that measured about 8' tall by 10' long, and they thrived. That was about the time one of the wildlife critters figured out a way to get passed the fence. Somehow a huge groundhog managed to climb the chicken wire perimeter fence and balance atop it in order to feast on the green beans. Although I didn't mind sharing the crops growing on the lower bits of the vines, I didn't appreciate the creature take one bite out of each tomato and leaving it unusable for me. From this garden I would put up a few hundred canning jars of veggies, relishes, and pickles which lasted us through the winter. Bushels of fruit would be purchased at a whole-sale rate from a local farmer and turned into preserved fruit, jams, jellies and pie fillings.
We lived in that home for eight years, and although the garden remained year after year, that first year was the most memorable for me. There would be more gardens in the coming years, but none provided as many fond memories.
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It's been many years since I have done any gardening on that scale. The children are grown and married with children of their own and I met and married a wonderful man, Nick. Nick has always been a "city" person, but two years ago he helped me to plant a garden using bags of potting soil into which I planted several veggie plants directly into each of the six bags. It was exciting to watch the plants thrive and produce so much in such small amounts of space. Last spring he dug out four planting beds in the backyard for me. It was lovely, four beds with a small path between each, and in the center where the four beds "meet" he put in a circular bed with a fountain he made out of large planting urns. I planted the circular area with flowers. In the corner beds I planted bush green and yellow beans, several tomato plants and a few bell pepper plants. The garden produced too much for the table, but not enough to preserve, so I shared the bounty with family and neighbors.
garden 2012
Spring is coming quickly and this years garden will be much larger. Nick has been looking at building plans for chicken coops and garden sheds. We will soon be ordering a few chickens for eggs, and planting a few fruit trees and bushes. We both want the chickens, but he wants rabbits too. I don't think I can eat the rabbits. I am not much of a meat eater to begin with.
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The time has come at last when we needed to make some serious changes in our way of life. With interest rates on savings nearly non-existant, cost of living continuing to rise, and with it all our household expenses have reached ridiculous levels. In a few years time we have gone from being financially comfortable, to living week to week and barely making ends meet.
We have been cutting corners, reducing expenses, and planning to live as much as possible off the grid. The credit cards are being cut up, and the money we used for those payments is going into a savings account to be used as available cash as needed for the things we cannot make ourselves.
This weekend we will be working in the yard, getting it ready for more raised beds and a small hen-house, we are planning to get 4 chickens: 2 RI Reds and 2 Buff Opingtons. At then end of this month I will begin planting seeds indoors for an early start.
I will post photos and information weekly.
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