Returning to the Garden | Raising a Family on a Budget

WW II poster promoting gardening (from the National Agricultural Library)

I grew up in a family that always had a huge garden.? I would come home from school and pick strawberries and then all summer there were tomatoes, peppers, beets, squash, beans?you name it!? So when my husband & I bought our house I wanted a garden.? The down side, I had a new baby, poor soil, and bit off way more than I could chew. ?Now here I am 5 years later, another baby on the way and trying to keep this year?s garden (the first attempt since the disaster 5 years ago) practical.

The garden that we plant, needs to produce enough for our family, with a little extra for sharing or canning, but not so much that we become overwhelmed. ?Even more so, it needs to remain small enough so that I do not lose my mind trying to maintain a garden while I?m 9 months pregnant and with a newborn at home.

We decided last August, when the big oak tree in our yard fell during a storm, that now that we have light in the yard, it would be ideal to put in a few fruit trees, so that is our big time/money investment for the garden this year. ?Following that, it is replacing a blueberry bush (or possibly 2) that were decimated during the same tree incident.

I am trying to be realistic and only plan 1 small vegetable garden, but it is really tough when I want to be able to grow all of the beautiful produce for making baby food, but the more I think about it, the more I come to terms with just how impractical that would be this year.

I like the concept of the Victory Gardens from the WWII era.

Encouraged by the federal government to supplement scarce fruit and vegetable supplies, Americans planted more than 20 million victory gardens. Those gardens produced an estimated 40% of all vegetables eaten nationally during the later war years.

The practice of growing a garden to supply most of one?s own fruit and vegetables is regaining popularity today. Reasons vary from wanting to eat more locally produced food, to environmental concerns, as well as wanting to save money in a difficult economy.

If I keep that as our focus, producing only what our family will consume, with a little extra to preserve, then that should help to keep me on track with the planning and implementation of this year?s garden.

I think I?ll return to the garden planner for a little longer, and will share my progress tomorrow.

Source: http://www.raisingafamilyonabudget.com/?p=8732

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