I once heard it said that rain is a form of God's grace. It comes down to the earth purely clean to provide life and renew the earth (kinda like his blood washes away our impurities). Unfortunately, we as humans have polluted the atmosphere which is how the rain ends up contaminated. But the Lord has also provided for us a natural filtering system in the ground. As water trickles its way through soil, rocks, sand, etc. the contaminates are filtered out! What a neat system our God has created!!
Today our garden is being graced by the rains!!
March 24, 2010
March 22, 2010
First Steps Include:
1) Build a Plot
The first thing we did to start our garden was to build a small garden bed. The bed in our backyard is about 10 feet long by 2 feet wide. This will give me a great place to start, as I'm new to the gardening game. We gathered the lumbar and hardware and completed the box frame in a short time. Next, we traveled to a piece of land south of Kansas City to retrieve the dirt. When we arrived to the location on the map, the only thing in sight was a huge tractor and mounds of dirt. We asked the man driving the tractor if he could fill our truck bed with dirt. He certainly did. We could fill the truck bed sink as each load of dirt was dropped.
Once we got back to the house, we transferred the dirt into the garden plot! It was so exciting to see our box transform to a garden plot!! (Although it was still just dirt, I did get really excited)
2) Buy the Seeds
I was ready to buy the seeds and get started, but I had a few things to learn. I had decided I wanted to grow Heirloom Seeds as I appreciate the value of the rich heritage and non-commercialized aspect of them. I began by searching Rareseeds.com (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds), but there were so many options. I asked for Brett's opinion and we came to some conclusions.
Earlier today, I purchased the following Heirloom Seeds for our "Joyful Garden"
-Amish Paste Tomato
-Zucchini Black Beauty Squash
-Quadrato D'asti Rosso Pepper
-Yellow of Parma Onion
-Merlo Nero Spinach
3) Up Next
Planting the seeds indoors. I still need to do some research on this, but I'm excited about what's to come!
The first thing we did to start our garden was to build a small garden bed. The bed in our backyard is about 10 feet long by 2 feet wide. This will give me a great place to start, as I'm new to the gardening game. We gathered the lumbar and hardware and completed the box frame in a short time. Next, we traveled to a piece of land south of Kansas City to retrieve the dirt. When we arrived to the location on the map, the only thing in sight was a huge tractor and mounds of dirt. We asked the man driving the tractor if he could fill our truck bed with dirt. He certainly did. We could fill the truck bed sink as each load of dirt was dropped.
Once we got back to the house, we transferred the dirt into the garden plot! It was so exciting to see our box transform to a garden plot!! (Although it was still just dirt, I did get really excited)
2) Buy the Seeds
I was ready to buy the seeds and get started, but I had a few things to learn. I had decided I wanted to grow Heirloom Seeds as I appreciate the value of the rich heritage and non-commercialized aspect of them. I began by searching Rareseeds.com (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds), but there were so many options. I asked for Brett's opinion and we came to some conclusions.
Earlier today, I purchased the following Heirloom Seeds for our "Joyful Garden"
-Amish Paste Tomato
-Zucchini Black Beauty Squash
-Quadrato D'asti Rosso Pepper
-Yellow of Parma Onion
-Merlo Nero Spinach
3) Up Next
Planting the seeds indoors. I still need to do some research on this, but I'm excited about what's to come!
Learning New Things...
As I sit here to write a few words, Brett and I are discussing the criteria for a farm to be considered organic. I'm not sure how we arrived at this place, but it's a neat place to be.
Well I suppose it started with Brett's interest in Longhorn Cattle and my interest in the Farmer's Market. From there we've ventured on to read about Community Supported Agriculture,wind energy, composting, gardening, and now criteria farms must meet in order to be considered organic. We've spent some time discussing how this might affect our future! We're not sure where the Lord would have us in the future, but we do know that we're in this journey together.
Now most of this blog will be about gardening, but I'm sure other tidbits will come into discussion. I just wanted to share about the beginning!
As for Learning New Things...
I've been reading a book titled "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and it has changed my perspective on a lot of things. She speaks very poignantly about the lack of knowledge of where our food comes from in America. She, along with Wendell Berry, suggest that consumers MUST know where there food comes from. I'm beginning to see the many benefits of knowing the land, the farmers, and the work that goes into our daily nutrients. The Lord has given us this earth through which he provides for us everything we need to sustain a healthy life. Our food comes from the earth, yet often times we never see food with any dirt on it. I'm excited to begin to understand the importance of working to grow food and really seeing with my own eyes on a regular basis that it does come from the earth!
Other websites of interest include:
Composting 101
Ohio Heirloom Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Organic Gardening Guru
Vegetable Gardening Guru
Savvy Gardener
Local Harvest
Well I suppose it started with Brett's interest in Longhorn Cattle and my interest in the Farmer's Market. From there we've ventured on to read about Community Supported Agriculture,wind energy, composting, gardening, and now criteria farms must meet in order to be considered organic. We've spent some time discussing how this might affect our future! We're not sure where the Lord would have us in the future, but we do know that we're in this journey together.
Now most of this blog will be about gardening, but I'm sure other tidbits will come into discussion. I just wanted to share about the beginning!
As for Learning New Things...
I've been reading a book titled "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and it has changed my perspective on a lot of things. She speaks very poignantly about the lack of knowledge of where our food comes from in America. She, along with Wendell Berry, suggest that consumers MUST know where there food comes from. I'm beginning to see the many benefits of knowing the land, the farmers, and the work that goes into our daily nutrients. The Lord has given us this earth through which he provides for us everything we need to sustain a healthy life. Our food comes from the earth, yet often times we never see food with any dirt on it. I'm excited to begin to understand the importance of working to grow food and really seeing with my own eyes on a regular basis that it does come from the earth!
Other websites of interest include:
Composting 101
Ohio Heirloom Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Organic Gardening Guru
Vegetable Gardening Guru
Savvy Gardener
Local Harvest
March 21, 2010
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