Fresh Food and Gardening

[Muse]

The recent photo contest at SeedsNow (http://www.seedsnow.com/) got me thinking about our garden project. We put a serious amount of time and effort in to this because it fits very importantly into the foundation of our long-term goals. We want to be as self-sufficient as possible because we know that no charity can be wholly dependent on the gifts from others for their support. We don't want to have to skimp on our meals because we feel feeding healthy, chemical-free fresh foods is vital to healthy birds - both in body and mind. Fresh food is one of the biggest costs here - right up there with vet bills. The more we can grow - the less we have to buy at super-high organic produce prices that they charge in the stores. And really ... can you be entirely sure that their produce is truly 'organic'? Does organic mean 'without chemicals'? And can commercial organic produce be contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals? The only way we can be 100% sure of the origins of the produce fed to the birds here is to raise it ourselves.

 

We started small. This year, we built and planted 4 raised bed gardens. Next year, the gardens will be rotated and the herb garden will be moved closer to the house and will be replaced with more vegetables. We also plan to add a plowed and soil-amended (with organic soil/compost mix) area for a three-sisters garden Three sisters, if you aren't familiar with the method, is a way of planting that arises from Native American legend, however it is firmly rooted (pardon the pun) in good agriculture practice! You plant corn, beans and squash together. The corn towers and is a trellis for the climbing beans, the squash functions as a natural ground cover/mulch - protecting the soil around your plants from losing moisture and shading pesky weeds so that they don't grow (or don't grow as fast).

 

Each of our current beds is approximate 2 feet deep below ground and 8 inches above ground. The beds are cedar wood to repel pests (except stinkbugs and Japanese beetles, apparently ) and are lined with wire cloth to prevent the huge mole population from tunneling in the beds. The beds were back-filled below grade with a 50/50 mix of native soil and the organic soil/compost (#3) mix which we ordered from a local organic nursery - Norwood Road Gardens. Above grade they are topped with the pure organic #3.

 

Our watering system is on timers but needs serious work -as in a complete re-design- and an upgrade is on the "to do" list as soon as the garden lies fallow.

 

Beds are planted with things our birds love - celery, melons, peppers (hot and sweet), beets, radishes, turnips, kale, snow peas, arugula, and spinach along with several lettuce varieties that were planted but did not germinate (Please note that NONE of these 0% germination seeds came from SeedsNow but were mostly Burpee and Ferry-Morse from Lowes and Wal-Mart). We also have cucumbers, zucchini and yellow straight-neck summer squash. Hopefully soon we will have pumpkins and okra. These are not only a fresh favorite but dehydrate nicely into chips with a consistency that is very papery that the birds go crazy for.

 

Next year, we hope to add a greenhouse to the mix, so that we can produce food all year long for the birds here.

 

Here is how all the backbreaking hard work has paid off:

 

We used to go to a local grocery store once and sometimes twice a week for organic produce for the birds. The bill was always pretty high. We paid between 3-4 dollars A PIECE for things like small zucchini, 2-3 dollars for small cucumbers, 4-5 dollars for a small bunch of beets, etc. Berries were unreal. I did find two sources locally for organic berries - one farm that has several types (black, blue and I believe even raspberries) and one that has blueberries only. However, next year we hope that the bushes we planted this year (2 x blackberry, 2 x raspberry, 3 x blueberry) will provide berries. Being able to step out the back door with a basket and come in with a huge pile of fresh produce instead of running to the store has already saved me literally HUNDREDS of dollars. The dehydrator runs non-stop to preserve what we can't immediately use and that goes in their dry mix food.

 

I have always loved to garden, but it was a hobby. Now it's become a cause and my dedication is being richly rewarded. And it gives me peace of mind in addition because I *know* for sure that nothing harmful has been poured or sprayed on the foods the birds are eating. It's a great feeling to know they are getting absolutely without a doubt the most healthy food I can give them.

 

Once we get an established garden with heirloom varieties I would be happy to dry and send seeds to others here who are interested in growing their own bird-food-garden!

[Dave007]

Good girl:cool:. Keep up the good work. Yeh, organic is expensive but our farmers market is preety honest. They even tell me when they've had a certain crop that didn't grow well. This year has been bad for them so they steer me away from the poor things and point me towards the good things.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Dave007