My Dream Garden

I have talked about wanting to move into the middle of no where before, but now I am going to talk about what I want to do when I get there.

I want a garden. And I don't mean a couple of tomatoes and maybe some peppers. I want to raise all of the food I can so that we are not having to rely upon the stores to eat. I want onions, garlic, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbages, lettuces, spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens, green beans, pinto beans, purple hull peas, black-eyed peas, green peas, crowder peas, wax beans, lima beans, corn, a couple of different kinds of tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, jalapeños, cucumbers, cantaloupes, water melons, and honeydews. That is just the stuff that has to be replanted every year.

I also want blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and grapes. And for the tree crops, I want a couple of cherry trees, a couple of peach trees, 2 red and 2 yellow apple trees, maybe an apricot tree, a nut tree of some kind (either pecan or almond) and a plum tree.

Granted, I know that I am not asking for much here, but for the most part, this was how I grew up. We had just about all of this stuff, plus chickens, a couple of cows, and a few pigs, all on 5 acres.

I want to grow enough food to be able to put up enough for my family for a year. And if you stop to think about it, that really does take a lot of food. I will still have to buy some things like sugar, coffee, flour, spices , cereal and such, but it will drop our spending to almost nothing. And the best part about it is that I KNOW what is on the food and how it was grown.

I also intend to supplement our household income by selling the stuff that we have too much of.
You know, the garden stand or the "back of the truck sales". I know that I won't be able to sell everything that I pick, but we have enough friends that we can give them to if they don't sell.

And since I will have at least a few chickens hanging around, I might have organic eggs to sell too. We eat a lot of chicken so that will be handy. I might even spring for a milk cow. We do use a lot of butter and cream. But I am not sure I am up for that task. We will see.

When I was growing up, I couldn't wait to get off the farm. Now that I am older, I can't wait to get back. I have done the club scene, the orchestra concerts, the fancy restaurants, and all of that stuff. It just seems that I am happiest when I am sitting on the couch snapping beans for dinner.