Photo by WoodleyWonderWorks

Growing things isn’t brain surgery. After all, squirrels do it everyday and without – I might add – opposable thumbs. They hide acorns away for literally a rainy day and half the time they forget about it. The next thing you know, there stands a mighty oak that ends up housing and feeding God-knows-how-many squirrels over its lifetime. If a squirrel can plant an oak that sustains generations of squirrels, you can grow lettuce and potatoes for your household. Trust me on this.

Suburban and urban yards can handle quite a bit of home ag. The list is endless. Produce growers saw the writing on the wall along time ago and have been busy as bees creating smaller varieties of trees, heavier producing vegetables, even smaller scale chickens. Small yards (even containers) can grow dwarf and columnar fruit trees, berries, grapes, every vegetable you can think of, and even collect your own farm fresh eggs.

Home agriculture means you get to feed your family real food. You remember real food, right? It’s the stuff without the extra helping of poison on it – the stuff that still has its own genes. Well, grow some of that. You’re going to be so pleased with yourself.

As I’ve mentioned before, Northern California isn’t known for it’s snowpack. That said, we did have winter snow this year (yes, you read that right – snow) and freakishly low temps even for Nor Cal. I was a negligent gardener this fall and got my broccoli in on the late side (to say the least), so I worried about how it would fare through this extra cold Bay Area winter.

He lives to tell the tale. My young broccoli is hanging in there – see for yourself. He might even be flourishing. True to my bad gardening character this season, I ended up having to grab whatever I could find on the shelves at the nearest nursery. These dudes were literally the last broccoli starts on the nursery shelves. Although, I’ve been focusing on growing only heirlooms in my garden, I was happy to get what I could; in this case Green Comet.

Next to the Green Comet broccoli, I have two varieties of heirloom garlic growing. One is a softneck braising garlic called Polish White, and the other is a purple-striped hardneck called Chesnok Red. I’m dying to taste these guys fresh from the garden.

I can’t help but notice that my affection for my plants falls on just this side of obsession. In fact, the other day I caught one of our chiweenies, Coraline, digging in this garden bed. I tripped myself and fell while reaching for her neck.

Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals no matter how it’s served; steamed, raw, in salad, or in a sauce. In fact, it has nearly the same about of vitamin C as oranges do and as much calcium as a glass of milk.

Anyway, if you haven’t grown broccoli, you need to do that.

Photo by Izafineday

You’ve probably figured out that there are tremendous advantages to growing your own food, or you probably wouldn’t be at this site. But I’d like to revisit the undeniable benefits so that there’s no doubt left in your mind, that farming in your own backyard is the right idea.

Remember the Victory Gardens of WW I and WW II? They were planted to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In 1943, over 20 million American Victory Gardens produced 8 million tons of food in this country – 41 % of all the produce consumed by this nation. That’s a lot of groceries. Modern homesteading in suburban and urban areas is an echo of those successful American gardens.

Today our social and economic climate is at a place where Americans can once again benefit from the bountiful of our historic past. There is a monstrous movement on the horizon that is just as appropriate as it is necessary. It’s time, once again, to take responsibility for not only what goes into our families’ bodies, but how it gets there.

Suburban farming is being accomplished successfully in backyards everywhere. And it’s being done with high yields on very little land. You can plan, plant, maintain, and gather your own food for pennies on the dollar for each meal harvested. You’ll not only receive the many health benefits of fresh food, but also enjoy working outdoors with the pride that comes from creating food with your own hands.

Plus, if the truth be told, I am a control freak. I got tired of relying entirely on external sources for our necessities and wanted to take back some control. Because I like healthy food and I like my family, I decided to start there.

Growing your own groceries is catching on all over the country and sales from seed catalogs are up; some say they’ve doubled. A weak economy and a global movement toward a healthier diet and sustainable planet make home produce farming not only timely, but appropriate.

A mere 20 years ago, farming was considered passé. What was once old fashioned has come back into its own. Could the timing be any better? The difference for this decade is that most of us don’t own what is traditionally considered “farm land” anymore. We live a suburban lifestyle.

Not to worry, since modern produce and fruit growers have created strategic ideas for getting high yields in compact spaces. These strategies let the average family, with average-sized yards; grow their own food throughout the seasons.

Food that is healthy, free of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers. Food from heirloom plants so rich with flavor, it’s proof-positive that grocery store quality has been missing the mark for years. This is food people feel good about feeding their families, because it’s fresh, safe, affordable, and because they grew it.

Phot by Noel Zia Lee

There’s nothing like learning gardening skills at the knee of the uber-fabulous Mrs. Greenthumbs. There will never be another one like her – I’m okay with that.

“Most people tend to assume that the bees have no knowledge of the plant’s use of them and are only after the nectar. In other words, they are a bunch of unwitting stooges, slavishly servicing the carnal appetites of the flowers and getting no fun out of the experience at all. I don’t think so.

I have observed bees going from flower to flower in the garden, and they seem to be enjoying themselves enormously. I wouldn’t presume to know the thoughts and feelings of bees, but if I saw a bunch of teenagers sipping nectar, rolling around with their feet up in the air, covered with fragrant pollen, and then racing off to do it again and again, I would assume they are having a wonderful time and would probably call the police.”

~ Cassandra Danz/Mrs. Greenthumbs

If you didn’t have the pleasure of knowing her or reading her profound, completely serious, and scientific gardening books come see my review on the late, seriously great – Mrs. Greenthumbs.