Jake enjoys a green smoothie
I recently came across this video about two women from my hometown of Portland, Oregon who have created a business to help people get started with growing their own food. Urban Farming. Now, I've been thinking for a while, even though we have 2 acres our current organic vegetable garden takes up a very small portion of our 2 acres and yet it supplies almost all our vegetable requirements. Which means that anyone with a bit of yard could be growing most or all of their own vegetables. Watching this video really confirmed that for me, and I think it's great these two women, Robyn and Donna have started up a business to help people grow their own food.
A lot of people complain that they can't afford to eat organic. I don't have a lot of money either, but there are ways to eat better, and eat more organic food without spending a fortune. It's such a great feeling to go grocery shopping and not get anything (except mushrooms) from the fruit and vegetable isle. And believe me, it's the best tasting food ever! Eaten within minutes of harvesting, it's so incredibly nutritious that I find I'm not eating as much but feeling more satisfied. Because I'm eating mostly raw foods, I'm also not losing as much nutritional value. So I've lost weight, without even trying and now I'm close to being back down to my ideal weight.
As a long time vegetarian who's eating a mostly raw, vegan diet these days, including green smoothies every day, I alone eat a hell of a lot of vegies. But I'm not the only one being sustained by our garden. Suzi, who's been doing most of the work on the garden, eats a wider range of food than I do, but she still eats copious amounts of vegetables. I make green smoothies and huge salads for both of us.
Flynn loves zucchini
The dogs (all 6 of them) often get green smoothies too. They love them! This summer we had an abundance of zucchini and I got my dehydrator just in time to dry lots. I cut the zucchini into slices (rounds) and dried them. I tried some on the dogs to see if they would eat them and they loved them! They would beg for them, these zucchini chips became a favorite treat. We had to make sure we locked them away because Flynn started stealing them off the shelf when we were out. Even Sam, the “ewww it's green” girl loved them. Pip steals tomatoes and mushrooms any chance she gets. They all love apples, avocados and figs. The puppies (Jake and Zoe), initiated into a mostly vegetarian lifestyle early on, steal just about everything they can reach – today they were happily munching away on the Jerusalem Artichokes while I was right there in the kitchen with them, thinking they were still munching on the stalks of kale I had given them. At least I managed to intercept Jake and grab the fennel bulb as he was making off with it.
Flynn eating zucchini
We've had parsley, wild mint, apple mint, oregano, sorrel and marjoram all through the year. The rocket and arugula just keep producing, and the flavor has gotten more delicious as the winter has gone on. We had one goldenberry bush (a.k.a. Cape Gooseberry) that grew so huge and fruited so heavily that we couldn't keep up. I used them in green smoothies through as it was fruiting and managed to freeze some. Recently I discovered that they are a superfood, also known as Golden Inca Berries. This summer I'll be prepared and dry all that we can't freeze or use fresh. All this and more from one relatively tiny patch of garden. And it beats mowing the lawn.
Your Backyard Farmer – Urban Farming At It's Best
Think about it, you save money because you are growing your own. You get better nutrition and better flavor because they are super fresh, and organically grown. You get more variety than you can find in the stores because you choose what you grow, and if you choose to grow non-hybrid heirlooms (and I recommend you do) then the tastes are incredible compared to what you buy in a supermarket. You are helping the environment because the food you eat doesn't have to be refridgerated and shipped 1500 miles to get to your plate (and that's not a random number, it's the average distance that the food on your plate had to travel to get to you). You're getting exercise and sunlight (essential for producing Vitamin D and also helps with calcium absorption).
Hi Sami! Well, I don’t know… if the weather is like it was when I was growing up it’s, rainy and overcast most of the time in Portland. There must have been about three weeks of sunny weather per year. So, Sunshine Coast sounds pretty nice to me! Maybe you should suggest it to them (plant the seed)? I do reckon it’s an awesome idea. I think a lot of people would do it if they just had a helping hand to get them started and to the point where they were a bit more confident. I think the other hurdle is that people take for granted that they can just go to a store and get food anytime they want, it’s a false security. I read a shocking statistic yesterday about how many people in the US as well as worldwide, don’t have food security. I’ll try to find it again and post it here.
I still laugh watching the dogs eating fruit and vegies. We had a beautiful crop of figs from our 2 fig trees this year too. But trying to knock the figs off with a stick and then grab them before the dogs was a real challenge. Many of the figs fell and partially dried on the ground. Every time we let Flynn out he would jump the fence in the yard and run up to ‘hunt’ for dried figs under the tree. I’ve added some photos of him eating zucchini in this article: Healthy Natural Diet For Dogs.
Yeah isn’t he cute? This is his best “oh please can I keep it?” look. It worked.