I LOVE grocery shopping. It is so much fun, seeing all the different produce items and what’s fresh. I like talking to the butcher about all the different cuts. Looking through the bakery and spanning the aisles, crossing things off my list. It’s a culinary wonderland and I love it.
Recently, I was in a discussion with some friends about grocery stores. We’ve been blessed to live in several different regions of the country, so we’ve experienced several different grocery store chains. From Albertson’s to Publix, Meijer’s to Walmart, Super Stop & Shop to Kroger, we’ve seen them all. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Aldi’s.
A couple years ago, we joined a CSA – Community Share Agriculture. It was pretty cool. What I lost in traversing the beautiful aisles of a carefully arranged, beautiful produce, I gained in knowledge and freshness. This was stuff that was straight from the farmer. Not only did I get to talk with those who were actually growing the food, but the prices were pretty great, too (seriously, if you have access, you should check out CSA’s).
That’s one of the cool things about having a 5-acre farm, I get to grow my own stuff! There’s only one problem – I don’t really know how to grow anything. Have you ever tried to figure out how to garden? There are just about as many gardening books, theories, blogs, and youtube videos as there are for parenting.
I will say that we’re narrowing down. We’re in the planning phase, which from what I can tell is on track. Unfortunately, we’ve not moved much beyond that. The hubs spent a couple days preparing our garden area so that’s done. And I think I have a list of what we want to grow. We’re wanting to start small since I’m still trying to figure all this out.
Here’s what we’ve got going on our list right now:
I may add a few things to my herbs and I want to add a few flowers. But this is it right now. We still have to narrow down the kinds that we’re going to grow. I’m also reading Carrots Love Tomatoes which is all about companion gardening so that we can learn what to plant with what.
Also, on our agenda is our orchard, but that’s another post for another day. Are you a gardener? What tips of the trade can you share?
A Life Contrary 