Gardening is a great way to eat green without spending a fortune.  It doesn’t have to take up an entire field or all your free time to be successful.  Like many things, a good garden is one that works smart not hard. 

1.      Be a square.  Square-foot gardening gives you more bang for your buck, allows you to work your garden with less time, and rotates your crops without having to plan in advance. 

2.      Grow what you eat.  I know gardeners who grow onions because it is “time” and they end of giving away or trashing all of them.  Don’t waste your time on crops you won’t use.  Plant what you need and what you want and you will enjoy your garden much more.

3.      Extend your seasons.  By using some garden cloth and some plastic you can extend your growing seasons to almost a year round garden (depending on your region). 

4.      Add a few herbs and perennials.  Not only do they increase the attractiveness of your garden to people, but to beneficial insects as well.  Another great benefit is that many of the perennial flowers can be used for cooking – they add zing and color to your meal.

Planting your own, smaller garden, gives you control over what is grown and how it is grown.  You don’t have to wonder about just how organic the products may be.  You know exactly where the seeds came from and how they were grown.  Gardens don’t have to take up a lot of space or a lot of time, but they will save you a lot of money in the end.

It seems that every time I turn around there is a warning about one food or another.  For while I thought I was safe staying with fresh foods, but now even those are showing up as contaminated.  I’ve decided that the only way I can make sure the food my family eats is safe is to grow it myself.

Growing organic food in small amounts (just enough for my own family) is not as difficult as people might think.  It involves some planning, some manual labor, and lots of attention. 

The first things you find out when you are determined to avoid poisons is that not all bugs are bad.  Even ants can have their place in a garden (native ants actually help aerate the soil).  Many beneficial insects (like the lady bug or the praying mantis) actually prey on the bad bugs.  Unfortunately, commercial insecticides can’t tell the good from the bad – one more reason to stay natural.

The next thing to know is that the very best fertilizer is a tea – compost tea that is.  This magic substance is made by “brewing” a liquid fertilizer from organic compost.  There are systems that you can purchase, or you can make your own.  The tea is then sprayed on the vegetables (or flowers) and has the added bonus of forming a film on the plants that will reduce the bad insects.

The most important thing about growing your own food is that it will be the best you have ever tasted.  Not only will it be the product of your own hand, but it will be picked at the very peak of freshness.  Who knows, the adventure of digging, planting, growing, and picking the vegetables and fruits may actually get your children excited about eating things that are good for them.

My husband and I have always wanted to be self sustaining and just a bit green in our home.  Not because we are afraid of the government or because we are hiding from society, but mostly because we thought it would save us money in the long run. 

The other day, I saw a story on one of the home improvement channels (just can’t remember which one right now) and it ran again today so my husband had a chance to see it.  They showed “earthship” homes and I immediately fell in love with the concept.  My husband was more focused on the possible costs involved, but that’s the pessimist in him coming though.

Living green doesn’t have to mean giving up modern conveniences.  These homes had microwaves, refrigerators, and running water.  The great thing about them is that they are self sustaining.  Y2K wouldn’t have even caused these homeowners to break a sweat.  Inside the homes, they can grow food.  Outside the home, the house itself gathers water and energy for the daily tasks inside.

My only hold up is the look.  If they can figure out a way to get the self sustaining elements into an 1800’s Victorian then I will be the first to sign up.  Fortunately for me (and others who aren’t too keen on living in a house that will definitely draw stares) there are alternatives available. 

Living green doesn’t have to be obvious or ugly anymore.  Green architecture is developing a flare for style AND conservation.  My day may not be as far away as it once seemed.

Our family took a tour of an organic dairy.  They had some chicks there that were the same age as those that are processed in the chicken plants all around us.  These “normal” chicks were about the size of a softball - not exactly ready for the dinner plate.  Taking this tour really got me thinking about going organic with my family’s menu.

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as you would think.  We don’t live in a large city and my father-in-law will treat anything growing around the property (I’ve tried to reason with him, but he’s old school).  Because of the recent drought, even the local farmer’s market is bare.

So I thought I’d buy “organic” at the local grocery store.  I did some research online, and thought I was prepared.  I was wrong.  There are so many labels that say as little as possible or nothing at all that it was a nightmare.  I ended up getting a couple of apples and some chicken breasts, but I know these weren’t “natural chickens.”  I’m not even completely sure what natural is.

Now, I flip flop back and forth between the value of organic compared to the importance of variety.  If the industry would make the labels easier and more uniform AND would make the costs a bit less then I might reconsider my organic lifestyle.

Going green has its appeal, but there are some things that I refuse to give up.  There has been a time when my family has gone without running water or an electric oven or air conditioning.  It was never all at the same time, and it was never for more than a couple of weeks.  It was also something I would never CHOOSE to do.

Over the last few months I’ve been reading about “carbon offsetting” that is suppose to mitigate my greenhouse gas emissions.  Al Gore is the best example of this new fad.  He has been praised and condemned for choosing to have his luxurious estate in Tennessee, but to pay for carbon offsetting to justify his own indulgences. 

Carbon offsetting companies charge “environment conscious” individuals a fee to allow them to go on with their lifestyle without having to worry about the effect that lifestyle is having.  These companies are best known for the tree planting they do on behalf of their clients.  My only question is, “Are you kidding me?”  If someone is serious about cutting the effect they have on the environment, does it really count to pay someone else to plant a few trees?

I’m teaching my kids to be good stewards over the land.  We live in the woods and we protect and maintain the trees that we have.  We turn off the lights when we don’t need them, and we turn the air conditioning up when we aren’t home.  If we ever feel that we are causing too much carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases in the world, then we will just eat fewer beans and plant a couple of trees ourselves.