Sew your own, grow your own

Making my own clothes is one challenge, but it's only a part of a bigger plan. As you can read here, I'm trying to be more self-sustainable in all kinds of ways. This week we got news, meaning we can take the next step. We were on a waiting list for a small plot to grow our own food, and now it's our turn! We went to check it out this morning. Beautiful in winter, hopefully even more beautiful in summer!


It's 50 m2, too small to be completely independent, but big enough to start with. I bought some books in New York this summer, The Backyard Homestead and Organic Kitchen Garden. The first one lays out plans for different sizes of gardens: what to grow and when to grow it, supported with all kinds of helpful drawings. It states that you need only a quarter of an acre (1 ha) to provide for a small family. Well we'll see how far we get with our one hundredth part of an acre :). What I like about this book is that it's very elaborate on every kind of vegetable and fruit, from all kinds of growing tips to storing and recipes. It even gives methods on how to grow and make your own beer and wine.


I bought Organic Kitchen Garden along with it because it's an English book, and is thus more suited for our climate. It's very different from the American book; more stylish, a more serious tone in writing, and with lots of beautiful pictures. It's also very helpful, with a year round calender with inside and outside tasks on what to sow or harvest, and how to treat your soil. And, also very helpful, organic ways to prevent or treat diseases and pests.


It's still a few months 'till the actual growing season, but according to the calendar we can start as early as January, tending our soil with some fresh manure and planting garlic! Can't wait :)