Healthy Eating Roadmap

Do you garden?   No…. ooh man, bummer.  Well, I’d say this year you take the plunge.  This article will tell you why and how.  (reading time: ~2 minutes)

Time to get yourself a taste of the immense joy you’ll receive from growin’ your own.  There is no better feeling than planting seeds in the ground and watching them sprout into little happy plants (or massive, depending on the plant I guess).   You’ll also benefit from:

• eating the freshest food on the planet earth
• enjoying the healthiest foods in the world
• saving significant amounts of cash money $$$
• getting outside to breathe in fresh air and get some light exercise
• the stylish look of dirt under your fingernails (you hipster you)

And guess what?  You can live anywhere, in any type of housing situation, and grow at least a few plants.  If your an absolute newbie to vegetable gardening, be sure to start small.  The last thing you want is to get overwhelmed your first year and get a bad taste in your mouth for gardening.

Grow some vegetables you know you like and maybe one your less familiar with.  You never know, you could end up with a new favorite food.

Here are some ideas and resources to get you started:

Conventional Style -Bury your yard in a thick layer of compost and till it into the soil.  Test and tweak until you get the soil the way you like it.   Maybe build a couple raised beds while your at it.

The conventional gardener has some amazing resources available at their fingertips.  There’s really no need to even purchase a book, there are so many great resources available online.  Here are a couple awesome websites to check out :

• http://www.backyardgardener.com/
• http://www.garden.org/howtos/
• http://www.organicgardening.com/
• http://www.organicgardeningguru.com/

Containers -If you have a sunny porch that will fit some pots, we highly recommend the book Bountiful Container by Maggie Stuckey (weird side note: same exact name as my good friend).  For info on the web, check out here, here, and here.  If your porch isn’t sunny but some of your windows are, consider getting a window box.  You could probably build one easily, but here’s what Target’s got just in case.

Go Indoors  -If you don’t have a sunny porch, plant a few pots indoors by a window.   Most herbs grow really well indoors.  Or, you can ask your landlord if you can either place some pots on the stoop or plant a little garden in the yard or landscaping.   Don’t give up, find a way to do it.  At least one tomato plant, I beg you!

Community Style -Nate and I have always wanted to join a community garden but we’ve been moving too often (Bloomington, then Portland, now Michigan).   This looks like a great way to get into gardening on the cheap and with easy access to hands-on expert advice.  Community gardeners share tools, resources, and even crops.

And BONUS:  Get to know your neighbors!!  I can imagine it now, a potluck supper with unique amazing dishes from the garden everyone shares.   I honestly believe getting involved and connecting to your community is one of the most important things you can do to be happy.

Note:  Portland, OR’s got a website called yardsharing.org that connects people who have extra land with those that want to farm.  Search for or start a similar site in your area.

Sharecropping -This is coming back folks.   While living in Portland, I remember reading a newspaper article about two guys that will plant out your backyard and you get a share of the crops.  (maybe it was these guys?)  If you are an extremely busy person (with bare lawn space), you would at least get to watch a garden grow and enjoy the fruits of someones labor.  It might be hard to find out if someone in your city does it, but check around and see what you come up with.  Let me know what you find, try searching for:  urban farming, backyard farming, etc.

Here is a woman in NYC that’s doing it.   (side note:  visit this link!  Foodcurated.com is awesome!)

Going Rogue  -Take some seeds and plant them in that ugly empty lot you always walk by or in the back corner of your local park and let mother nature do the work.   Scatter seeds in nooks and crannies around your neighborhood, and go for “harvest walks” at sunrise when most people are still sleeping.  Get creative, the sky is the limit.  If you go rogue, please be careful about trespassing and other laws, etc.

Well, there you are folks- lots of good stuff to get you thinking and hopefully doing!  Growing vegetables is the best way to start eating and living healthy.

Remember, spring is quickly approaching.  If your planting outdoors, now is the time to be coming up with a little plan for your garden.

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Have you guys been hearing a lot more about rabbits lately?    For dinner that is….

It seems they are slowing gaining popularity (or revival) as a great urban farm animal.   Easy to raise in a small backyard and apparently not to hard to butcher at home.   The meat is lean and flavorful.

I am a HUGE proponent of the backyard urban farmer movement, so I think its great anytime it gets mentioned in a major publication.  This morning as I was reading one of my favorite blogs about Ghost Town Farm, I was notified of an (rather controversial) article she contributed to for the New York Times.   Read the article and participate in the Q&A if you get some time:

• Article – http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/dining/03rabbit.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1267790998-AuLh7ol16scE/7IjmWwq9w
• Q&A - http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/q-a-on-rabbits-and-backyard-farming/?ref=dining

If your already raising chickens, I think this is a great next step for urban farming omnivores.  What do you think?

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Quick Side Note:  I’ve got a piece coming early next week proposing one simple solution (a movement really) that could really help the nutrition problem amongst the homeless.  Its still got lots of kinks and I will really need your feedback on that piece, so please subscribe by e-mail or RSS so you don’t miss out.