I'm really working on being self-sufficient. I have my garden, I have my chickens(which have yet to start laying) and now I'm finally getting fruit. I have three types of tomatoes, bell peppers, red bell peppers, pasilla peppers(some of my favorite), jalapenos, Fresno chiles, potatoes, sunflowers that I'm not convinced will mature, tons of Thai basil, some sweet basil, coriander(never again), onions, garlic... I think that's it. Can you tell I like peppers?
OK, with the jam and jelly I must confess, I cheated a little this time... I went to a fruit stand and bought my berries and my jalapenos :) This stand is run by a local family that does virtually everything by hand. I believe that the only thing they use equipment for is plowing.
The fact is: I don't have enough fruit to exclusively use my own. This is my first year with my garden, strawberries don't give enough fruit the first year for one to be truly self sufficient. I had several jalapeno plants at the beginning of the season but they were... removed(refer to previous post about the natural disaster that hit my garden.) I have already pulled one crop of potatoes. It was enough for two meals so that made me pretty happy.
My goal for this year is to get enough jam, jelly, and tomatoes that I don't have to buy any all Winter. Aside from the expense of paying $1.00 a can(if you can find it on sale) I am also concerned about all of the chemicals, be it fertilizer or pesticide, that is used to grow my food. I am also concerned about the fuel that is used in plowing, planting, harvesting, and transporting the food that I eat as well as the packaging, most of with is non-renewable. So, the logical course of action is to plant my own garden and here we are!
No comments:
Post a Comment