Let the Liberating Begin: Plant Freedom Seeds!
Howdy! Happy Saturday Sunday!
Gotta luv the weekends, right? So much to look forward to and so much to accomplish. With Spring just around the corner it’s hard not to think about this year’s summer garden and greenhouse plans. All the daydreaming we do of having a xeriscaped front yard (no lawn, hopefully!) with wild edibles planted and where nourishing foods grow is quickly approaching it’s season. We couldn’t be more excited to make this our reality.
You know, become an urban gardener. A freedom gardener, if you will. Liberating yourself from all the corporate muck and dirty chemicals. Why not get down right dirty in your own backyard and produce the foods you need to live on with untainted seeds. The idea of growing your own food to feed your family and possibly community may sound like a lot of work but it also sounds so enticing. Especially, after learning about the true freedom gardeners; the Little Homestead in the City, the Dervaes family in Pasadena, Ca aka “The Urban Gardener’s”. Their little homestead yields almost 6,000 lbs. of food yearly. It takes a lot of serious motivation and determination to get to where the Dervaes family is but the possibility of getting an urban garden started is far greater.
The hub and I have always had a passion for gardening it’s something that we naturally felt compelled to do since we bought our home almost 10 yrs. ago. Our house sits on a little less than a quarter of an acre and to us that instantly meant we would have room for a garden. It’s funny, because as we live in an area where a good majority of the people sit on more than acre of land – this town is also known for agriculture and farming, yet, not many people, take advantage of their land by growing their own fruits and vegetables. I know gardening isn’t for everyone but for us it just seems like common sense to have a garden and reap whatever benefits you can on your own property. It was just our observation this morning over breakfast. We all have the opportunity basically. Not to mention, it allows us tobe in control of what’s going into our bodies. With all the chemical use within the food and agriculture industry it’s hard to say whether our food is really safe anymore.
So, to say the least… this year we’re committed to green up our yard in more ways in than one.
We’ve been talking about digging up the front lawn to make it more drought tolerant for quite some time now. We believe, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be taking advantage of the local conservation nursery in our town which sells native and drought tolerant plants. Since we live in the desert having drought tolerant landscape seems more appropriate than lilies and orchids which would require lot’s of watering. Were looking forward to creating a sanctuary with native plants, shrubs and trees etc. that will bring in natural wildlife to enjoy also.
The nursery is having their open house in April and has announced a sale on plants, shrubs, wildflower seeds etc. I’m pretty excited about it. Were pumped to learn more about the native plants and wildlife in our area and start being smart gardener’s. We recently resurrected the wriggley wranch worm bin and replenished it with some mighty fine earthworms (stay tuned for an upcoming post)
Raised Beds
This is our first year attempting the raised beds, square inch gardening theory. Well, we kinda took a stab at it last year but this is our first “real” attempt. The hubby built a raised bed about a month ago using reclaimed materials as a tester and so far so good. It appears all of the seeds we planted have sprouted. Yahoo! For the past five years we always turned over the soil and planted directly in ground. It will be neat to see the differences.
I’m happy to say, that we’re ditching the plastic soil bags this year! I did some research and found a quarry in town that carries local ORGANIC humus soil. Score! I was so thrilled to bring home a truckload home the day Ty built the box. Tyler’s parents used the quarry’s soil last year and had such a glorious garden yield. Their garden had a different glow to it then ours that’s for sure. As far as plastic goes we did use some for wrapping around the box to trap the heat inside which creates a greenhouse effect. I know there’s gotta be an alternative and it’s definitely on the green up the garden list.
After building a bed from wood he built a raised bed from bricks (given to us by a customer who no longer had use for them). He lined the brick bed with cardboard and viola’ it became a new home for some lettuce! My husband REALLY enjoys doing this so I have to admit he does get carried away. It’s his passion so I try not to step in the way. He bought the lettuce from Lowe’s so it could be Monsanto laden… but hopefully living in organic humus it will balance out the negative. Nevertheless, it too is doing well and will hopefully has fresh lettuce in just a couple weeks maybe even sooner.
He also planted some old veggie seeds just for kicks and on a whim one sunny afternoon alongside our driveway (next to a Raspberry bush he bought the same day). Honestly, I don’t know how great the Raspberry bush will do (let’s hope for the best). As of right now, it’s doing surprisingly well ( all of the rain has been a major benefit). Some of the seeds in the patch alongside the drive away are also beginning to sprout. Yippee!
Speaking of seeds, we planted our first batch of freedom seeds this afternoon! Yes, that’s right, you can get heirloom and organic seeds directly from the Dervaes family…
“Seeds for the people!”
and to save on shipping costs and carbonemissions the hub was able to pick them up. Sweeeet!
What we planted
- Red Russian Kale
- Cayenne Peppers
- Anaheim Peppers
- Red Bell Peppers
- Peace Vine Red Cherry Tomato
- Valencia Tomato
- Brandywine Tomato
- Cherokee Purple Tomato
- Aunt Ruby’s German Green (real green tomato’s *squee*)
We still have more tomato seeds to plant and a few other varietys of seeds that don’t need to be started indoors. I’m really, really, excited about 2010’s gardening adventure. Planting pure seeds, free of chemicals; makes me grin from ear to ear.
“The seeds from the Little Homestead in the City are carefully screened for genetic manipulation.…they possess the nutritive properties of old and locally developed strains, based on eatability instead of portability.”
If you have not yet seen the Dervaes family documentary Homegrown Revolution-you can view it here! Their honest commitment to live sustainably makes me realize how important it is to support their cause and continue to fight the good fight.
I encourage you to “break new ground” and start your own victory garden.
Liberate your yard & get down and dirty doing it. 
Have you started planning your garden?
