GROW YOUR GARDEN

GR W YOUR GARDEN

WRITTEN BY: JEFFREY MILLER

Few things are more satisfying than being immersed in nature. Hiking, hunting, bird watching, skiing, the list is endless. Growing your own food ranks among the easiest ways to do so. an acre of land on a rural farmstead and nearly anything in between. Regardless of your living situation, you can grow some of your own food each year.

Container gardens are simplicity at its finest. A wooden or plastic container (don't use metal as it heats up too much in the sun) with holes drilled in the bottom to let water flow through and filled with potting soil can be used to grow such vegetables as tomatoes, peppers, herbs, or many other plants. The downside is there is limited space. While the amount of food that can be grown in a single pot is small in terms of weight, it's huge in terms of satisfaction!

Regardless of your living situation, you can grow some of your own food each year.

Larger gardens yield more food and more work. It's easy to get excited and plan a large garden in a backyard in the spring, with the warm sun in your face and your hands in the fertile soil. Reality hits in mid-summer, when the weeds seem to be growing by feet each day, the heat hangs in the damp air, and mosquitos try to drain the gardener of every drop of blood. Too often, the garden is abandoned to the weeds.

My significant other Melanie and I garden over a halfacre of land on our rural homestead, Cottonwood Bend Farm. As we both have full-time jobs, along with summer kid's activities that seem to consume a large portion of every week, we struggled to keep up with the garden. That is, until we started using woven landscape fabric.

The same fabric we use at the Soil Conservation District for newly planted tree rows, it allows water to filter through and smothers weeds. After laying the fabric down in the Spring, we simply cut holes and plant transplants into the soil. For crops that grow from seed, such as okra, green beans, carrots and many others, we cut rows a few inches wide by many feet. Using a triangle garden hoe, a furrow is dug for the seed bed and the seeds are introduced to their new home.

Moisture is the key to a lush garden. The fabric keeps the soil from drying out prematurely, especially on hot, windy days. While we still water when the skies remain clear for weeks at a time, it is better than watering every few days. When Mother Nature smiles and provides abundant moisture, our work is even less.

For the most part, people today are cut off from their food source. We simply go to the grocery store and buy what we consume, giving little thought to how difficult it is to grow fresh, healthy crops. By investing time and effort into growing our food, we go from being a bystander of the natural process to an active participant. Digging in the soil, planting a seed, nurturing the crop as it grows and finally harvesting the fruits of the labor not only nourishes the body but also the soul. It also reminds us of the work required to feed our country and our world. This spring, I encourage you to plant a garden and grow some food for your table. I can guarantee you will gain a new appreciation of the natural world!