Grow Your Own Food

I live in Tucson, Arizona - it was 104 degrees on October 1st! We are down to around 90 now, but typically don't get below 65-70 as a daytime temperature during the winter. It gets too hot for most things during the summer except root veggies.
For our family of 3 (me, hubby, 8 year old son), we just have a small garden (16 sq ft, and the tomatoes separately - they just about took over an entire corner of my yard last winter, so they'll get plenty of space this year) and we ended up giving away tons of our salad greens (beet greens are my favorite and we also grew romaine last year) because it was way more than we could eat on our own.

I'm going to sound a little bit like a commercial, but here I go :laugh:

Last year, my hubby and I build the garden box I had been wanting. Hauling 40+ bags of dirt in the back of a sedan is love and dedication on my hubby's part, lemme tell you.... :smooched:

I planted "starts" from the local nursery - bugs ate them, they died. Didn't get more than a gallon bucket of produce off the thing the entire time it was alive.

This year, turned the dirt, added more, tossed in fertilizer, composted ahead of time.... turned that in too...... and planted my own seeds. WONDER OF WONDERS, they did soooo much better than the expensive, "organic" seedlings and starts I spent $3-5 EACH on the year before...... used miracle grow in my watering can every couple of weeks..... picked up every lady bug I could find out on our lawn and carefully showed it where to find the aphid colony that threatened my garden a few times..... lo and behold, it's been a delight and a joy to have our own fresh tomatoes, yellow crookneck squash, and zucchini, and one of the best surprises was a spaghetti squash abundance that came from the composted seeds I had tossed into the garden in early spring.... :noway: :laugh: :bigsmile: I've gotten about 16 or 18 beeeeautiful spaghetti squashes, with more growing and overtaking the outside of my garden box. They store nicely in the cool dark of our pantry. Everything else freezes well, and will keep us in fresh, pesticide-free produce long into the winter months.

I've learned to "grill" my squash and zucchini along with hamburgers/hotdogs/steak/chicken/etc..... so incredibly sweet and delicious! We've had the most delicious tomato-cheese sandwiches, delightful salads (store-bought tomatoes now officially taste like water - nothing like a homegrown tomato!) I've enjoyed my spaghetti squash in place of pasta/noodles (hundreds less calories per plate), we've had zucchini in casseroles, breads, heck, even snuck it into meatloaf with no one the wiser, even the two in our house who usually don't "choose" to eat most veggies other than corn or peas.... :devil: I have enjoyed my little garden box sooooo much, and have taken a lot of pride in it.

We also planted fruit trees two years ago - got 8 cups of peaches off our little baby tree (just enough for the perfect fresh cobbler), lemons, limes, oranges, apples.... it has been ABSOLUTE HEAVEN having our own fresh foods. I can't wait to take over more of our back yard next year - muhahahahaaa!!!!! :drinker: :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou:

EDIT: Oh, we have a bread machine too...... with a timer :devil: which means I can set it up in the morning, and have a fresh, warm loaf of bread ready exactly when the crockpot or oven is done....... $16.88 at Target, on clearance..... it's on it's 5th year. :drinker:

This thread is awesome! I have been thinking about growing some stuff. I live in Tucson AZ as well and last weekend I bought a basil plant to see if I could take care of it without killing it ;-) I would love to try growing other things but we don't really have a yard, just rock, so I would have to buy some pots and plant things that would do well in pots. Thanks for all the info everyone!

We have a tiny garden and have grown various tomatoes, peppers and strawberries this year. We are in the process of building a 1/4 acre garden (all raised beds) and planting fruit trees and berries.

We currently also have chickens for meat and eggs and rabbits for meat and buy all of our meat and 90% of veggies from farms within 100 miles of our house.

In the next five years we plan to expand to turkey, quail, milk goats, honey bees and nut trees.

We noticed an immediate difference in how we felt after switching to a diet of mostly fresh foods. It certainly helps us appreciate and respect it. I remember the feeling of picking our first tomato and eating our first meat that was born and raised in our yard that I knew was treated with love, good food, tons of room to run and sunshine. If you can do it I say go for it!

Utahbeth- This was my first year with a garden and it was all containers. We did have some success but alot of casualties too. I LOVE our farmers market. Great thing to support. Chiptole Peach Salsa looks amazing.

I also have to take back what I said about ALL of our meat being local. Justin made me SPAM for an after workout meal. I'm pretty sure it's meat enough to count.... :ohwell:

We follow a paleolithic way of eating - if you can pick it or kill it you eat it! My father in law has an amazing allotment and they grow all our veggies! xxx

Loved hearing about what sounds like an amazing project. You are taking control of your life and are getting closer to the real things in life. Love to be kept informed of your highs and lows as you expand your production, oh to have that space to play with.
Makes me hopeful about Americans. I sometimes wobble on that one, just don't tell me that you are a member of the NRA!
From an old fashioned wooly liberal.

Thank You!!! No I am not a member of the NRA and never will be but we do own guns and plan on hunting this Fall.

I will be starting a blog soon for my friends, family and people of similar interest to hear about our trials and successes. I'll be sure to post a link when that happens. :flowerforyou: