Day 100: Greener Pastures

I’ve written before about how one of the best ways to buy veggies without packaging is to get them locally.  And nothing is more local than growing them yourself.

Not all of us have the luxury of garden space, so I try to make the most of the backyard that I have.   Yup, that’s my little garden to the left in spring and then in summer (the wire mesh is to keep the cats out).  I’m down to kale, tomatoes and zucchini at this point, but the herbs are still going strong, and hopefully lots of them will make it through the winter.  This is about the time when I pack it in, lay out some mulch and wait for next spring to plant again.  But not everyone.

Our friends Alisha and Delany are busy hand plowing their farm and planting masses of garlic.

You see, they have just become the proud tenants of a 4 acre piece of land up in Pemberton that has never been sprayed with pesticides and is waiting to become a small-scale organic farm!  So for them, fall means some seriously hard work.  They’re plowing their land with a brand new push plow (think really large lawn mower with fancy attachments) and putting in a bunch of garlic and large cover crop.  With any luck, next summer they will have their first harvest as farm owners!

So, here’s the interactive part dear blog readers, because Alisha and Delany are writing a blog chronicling their experiences as rookie farmers (yes, I know Alisha is getting a degree in Agroecology, but this is the first time they have run their own farm show, so I think it’s fair to call them rookies).  You can read about their experiences at http://www.icecapgrowers.blogspot.com/.

If you live in Vancouver, it’s possible that you could buy your package-free veggies from them sometime soon, so get to know your local farmers, and check them out!

PS – Wahoo, we made it to day 100 with (moderately) clean bins!