Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Planning For Next Year

There was a time when just about everyone had a garden and big or small, harvest was a time when everyone helped to ensure that nothing went to waste and all that hard work meant plenty of food on the table throughout the winter months. During World War II, people were encouraged by the government to grow their own vegetables both because of rationing, and because commercially canned goods were sent to the soldiers, so it was a patriotic thing to grow your own garden and help support the war effort.
After the war was over and things returned to normal, convenience was on everyone's minds. Grocery stores had produce shipped in, making it more and more available to customers year round. Soon, folks began to realize that buying was much easier than growing it, making home gardening less and less of a necessity.
Well, we don't have rationing or victory gardens today but we can still have a garden and provide our families with good-tasting, pesticide-free produce. There's a certain pride that comes when you put food on the table that YOU planted, tended, and harvested and honestly it's a really good feeling! Not only that, but homegrown produce just TASTES better. I've always tried to have a garden no matter where we've lived, but there were a few years when I didn't have a garden because we were going to be moving in mid summer and I wasn't about to put a lot of work into a garden I was just going to leave behind before I got a chance to harvest it. But now that we're somewhere that we may be staying for a while, I've already started planning next year's garden and the ideas are flowing!
In today's busy, busy world we need to take time to get back to the basics and enjoy the simple things life has to offer and remember that gardening is a joy, not a job. To be outside in the fresh air and sunshine, listening to the birds singing and getting your hands in the dirt is fulfilling and I believe, makes the quality of life just that much better.

12 comments:

  1. Love this post! I live in an area where it is possible to garden year round, so I am planning and planting the fall garden now :) .
    Blessings,
    Catherine

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  2. Thanks so much!
    I'm not sure if we can garden here year round because this is our first year in Alabama, and folks around here say it doesn't snow much or stay cold long, so we'll see how this winter goes.
    Now that I'm changing the way we eat, gardening is much more important than ever and I hoping to visit our local farmer's market when I can to supplement what I grow. My husband's not much of a gardener (he will help though), but I'm going to get the kids involved because they love gardening and it'll be fun to have them helping.

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  3. I love this post too! Last night I told the family that everything aside from the butter to cook the zucchini was farm raised or grown. There is an incredible sense of accomplishment on being able to say that.

    I am a garden person too. No matter where we have lived I have put a garden in. Now I plot and plan as each year we are able to do something different or add on to.

    Have a great weekend.

    Jennifer

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  4. Now I've talked myself into being even more impatient than usual about wishing spring were here. LOL!
    Hope you have a great weekend, too.

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  5. I wouldn't know what else to do if I wasn't out in the garden! I think a lot more people are becoming aware of the benefits of growing your own veggies, I have noticed that most seed companies also produce seeds for growing on Balconies/Patios and small containers... :)

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  6. Sadly my home doesn't have a garden but I do have 2 huge patio windows with little juliette balconys. I'm planning to make as much use of them as I can. I want to try having beans and peas at the bottom so they can grow up the bars and then baskeets on top with salad leaves and possibly unside down tomatoes so make as much of the space as I can.
    x x x

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  7. I love to see little gardens on balconies and even though you might not be able to grow a lot like in a bigger garden, you can still end up with quite a bit of produce throughout the summer.
    I'd love to be able to turn most of our back yard into a garden but since we're renting, I don't think the homeowner would like that too much! But there's enough bare ground that I can use and I'll go from there. :)

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  8. How nice to meet you. I love your victory garden poster!
    Your family must have loved hunting season. I won't tell my son that you took a week off school. He would think it would be a great idea.
    We are fortunate that we can hunt very close to home. Last year, during rifle season, we got three whitetail does less than a mile from home. A friend was eager to have us hunt there since the deer were eating his haystack. They were fat and tasted great.
    Blessings from.............another Denise

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  9. Hello!
    Well, being gone from school back in the early 70's was much different than it is now and most schools wouldn't allow kids to be gone like we were. But I don't blame your son, because we enjoyed being away from school, too! :)
    Glad you did so well last year. Three does. That's a good amount of meat and I can imagine how good they were. Yum!
    Have a nice weekend!

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  10. Lovely to visit your blog and thanks for visiting mine. I just love coming across like-minded people - something special to brighten my day.

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  11. Thank you, Cath.
    I just like writing about things that are important and meaningful to me--- and I'm so inspired by other bloggers like you who enjoy the same things and teach in so many ways.
    It brightens my day, too.

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  12. hi
    great post. i have a very little garden, but zucchini,salad and cucumbers grows well.
    have a nice weekend,
    regina
    reginassimplelife.blogspot.com

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