Gardening and Produce Rant

I checked the garden again this weekend and found lots of veggies hidden under the foliage. I'm really loving the gardening now. Before, it just seemed like a lot of work with no payoff. But now that I literally have fruits of my labor, I'm enjoying myself. I really think gardening is going to turn into a hobby for me. This was the first year that I've ever tried it and I've learned a lot so far. I'm already planning my garden for next year. I definitely need to invest in plant cages and trellises. I also have a better understanding of how to plot out a garden. You can't just plant anything, anywhere as I've found out.

We ate our first home grown tomato last night. It was delicious! Very sweet and juicy. Matt also pulled back some leaves and found about five jalapenos hiding. I'm sure those will get eaten this week. We put jalapenos in everything!



The cucumbers also exploded within the last week. The little one I photographed earlier is now huge.



I also found another large one hiding under some leaves in the back of the garden. There are maybe five other little cucumbers and about eight green tomatoes on their way.



At first it seemed a little weird to be eating things I pulled from the back yard, but now I don't understand why it ever seemed strange. The veggies taste so much better and farming is something that people have been doing for the last 10,000 years. It might just be mental, but I think it really does taste better. Everything we eat out of the backyard is grown without pesticides, fertilizers and other artificial means. I like to think that I'm doing something good for us.

We're also lessening our dependancy on supermarkets and commercially grown foods which I absolutely love. Do you think people had grocery stores 10,000 years ago? No! They grew everything they ate themselves. How unnecessary is it that the tomatoes on most people's plates were grown in Mexico, when you can grow them in a large pot in your backyard? It's just that easy! Plant, water, eat. The last tomato Matt and I bought at Baker's cost $1.35. The tomato plant I bought at Ace cost $2.99, and so far it's produced five tomatoes. You can't go anywhere and buy five large tomatoes for $2.99! The other tomato plant I have I grew from a seed pack, which cost $1. That one has produced four tomatoes so far. I read that for every $1 Americans spend on produce, it cost the farmer 10 cents to grow it. Can you imagine how much money everyone would save if they grew their own veggies? LOTS!

Ok, when I said that you can't go anywhere and buy five large tomatoes for $2.99 I was forgetting one place where you can definitely buy five tomatoes, maybe more, for an incredibly reasonable price. That place is the Boys Town farmers market. The stuff that the kids grow is unbelievable. Its also incredibly cheap. The best part of it all though, is that it's all grown naturally and its grown in Omaha. You can see the farm from Dodge street. Its awesome. You can see exactly where your food came from. In a time when e-coli outbreaks are popping up as a result of poor farming practices, growing my own food seems like such a safe thought to me.