Punishment for growing your own vegetables?

I haven't blogged in a while and I dare say it was due to a lack of inspiration.
That all changed when I read the story of Julie Bass vs. Oak Park.

In case you haven't heard about it yet, Julie faces 93 days in jail for planting a vegetable garden on her front lawn.

Yes, you read that right: she planted vegetables in her front yard and now she may go to jail for it.

Here I am encouraging people to try a sustainable lifestyle and plant their own vegetables while Oak Park is punishing a family for doing just that. Oak Park officials and I clearly disagree. To me this issue seems absolutely ridiculous and it reminds me of the people who were brought to court by their neighbors for having solar panels on their roof. These people are actively working towards reducing the negative impact they have on our planet. They people should be rewarded, not punished!

Not to mention that Julie's garden boxes are on her private property. While I understand that she should avoid having anything on it that can harm her neighbors, I really don't see a vegetable garden doing any harm. On the contrary, I would hope that her garden boxes would inspire others to plant their own vegetables and as Julie says, "They're fine. They're pretty. They're well maintained."

It really causes me great despair that the positive actions of individuals are being punished. Is it really worth all the attorney and court costs (which are paid for with taxpayer dollars) to take this woman to court? I can think of many better ways to spend that money. For one, consider giving schools their own vegetable gardens. Or consider using empty plots to plant community gardens.

Maybe Oak Park officials should stop by New Haven where people plant vegetables literally everywhere. Pots, plant hangers, raised beds, front yard, back yard, next to their driveway, on the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street, vegetables are everywhere and people are very proud of their gardens.

Which brings me to Victory Gardens.
One of the comments on the various blogs discussing Julie's case mentioned Victory Gardens. With some research I learned that Victory Gardens were planted during World War II in yards, on rooftops, on vacant lots, in schoolyards, in parks and in many other places, as a way to reduce food shortages.

How ironic that Oak Park is taking Julie to court over a vegetable garden that the US government actually encouraged people to plant during World War II. Back then it wasn't a crime to plant your own vegetables, it was patriotic!

So here's to Julie and to being a patriot. Whether it's in a pot, in a raised bed, in your back yard or in your front yard, plant some vegetables!

Growing your own food

I'm in my 2nd year as a vegetable gardener and I don't know why everyone else isn't doing it. Not only is it a wonderful way to reduce your impact on the world, but it's also easy, fun and cheaper than buying in the store.

I guess for me, the excuse was often that I didn't own my own house and so could not plant a garden. Last year my boyfriend solved that problem (another awesome Valentine's day present). I still don't own my own house, but we now do square foot gardening in raised 4X4 beds that can be put anywhere and moved as needed. And if you live in a townhouse or apartment, why not try container gardening? Most of my herbs are in containers and this Spring I'm trying some veggies too.

Another excuse that I used was that I didn't know what I was doing, but that excuse goes out the window with all the information available on the Internet. Some of my favorites are Gardening Patch, Gardener's Supply Company and Arzeena Hamir. Not to mention that local gardening stores, like my favorite Stone Brothers & Byrd, provide very useful gardening advice. Last year, they recommended VermaPlex for use on our plants and it worked wonderfully. I've also gone there to ask for basic planting advice and they have this awesome, what to plant when guide, which I've sworn by each planting season.

There really aren't any words to describe how it feels to grow your own garden. To know that your labor and your efforts are providing you with your own food. To bite into a piece of lettuce and know that you grew it in your own back yard. To eat freshly picked sugar snap peas or freshly grown broccoli, no chemicals or pesticides added.

It feels even better this year, because in the past my boyfriend helped plant all the crops, but this year he's away on a work trip, so it was totally up to me to plant a successful garden. I guess we'll have to wait to judge my success, but I do know it feels extremely satisfying to sit on the couch after a day in the garden and know that soon I will be able to eat home-grown veggies.

I even ventured past the typical lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas, kale and swiss chard routine we did last Spring. In my adventurous mode, I added broccoli, cabbage, turnip and radishes. I've also been growing mint, stevia, spring onions (organic store-bought, that just decided to grow even after being refrigerated for 3 days!) and rosemary and hope to grow parsley, basil, cilantro and strawberry from seed. I even started some onions from seed (which sprouted today!) and recently purchased a mushroom growing kit to try my luck with that.

Don't think you have time for all of that? Start slow. Pick a few plants using a seasonal planting guide, prep the soil, plant the seeds and water. Don't have time to start from seed? Or don't trust you can grow something from seed? No problem! Buy the seedlings at a gardening store. Growing your our food is really much easier than you think!

So what are you waiting for? The last frost has passed and we are heading into Spring, so get to gardening and start enjoying the benefits of growing your own herbs and vegetables!