garden

Abundance in Disguise

/ Heidi Barr / 1 Comment

This season’s garden has been a little disappointing.  The asparagus didn’t produce much and now the patch is completely choked with weeds that I can’t quite bring myself to tackle.  Every time I walk by I think, “man, I hope it doesn’t completely die.”  The tomatoes, for the second year in a row, are being affected by late blight (and getting eaten by something) and fade away to nothing before they turn red.  The zucchini, so prolific a month ago has succumbed to bugs, and the cucumbers just never took off.   The vole got the beets once again, the brussels spouts are not sprouting, and the carrots are a sorry lot of thin and stubby. There is a lot of failure if failure’s what I’m looking for.

But when I look again, I realize that there are literally thousands of pounds of purple viking and German butterball potatoes in the ground, just waiting to be harvested.  Despite the sad state of the heirlooms, the sungold tomatoes are falling from the vines like offerings.  The pole bean teepee, after a rocky start thanks to some very friendly rabbits, has gotten a second wind and the vines are dripping with slender green goodness.   Continue reading →

How To Start Growing Healthy, Sustainable Food In Your Garden

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This is a guest post, contributed by Tim Sparke.

When it comes to eating healthily, vegetables are vital. With the right variety, they can provide you with nutrients, potassium and other vital supplements the body needs. Of course, they’re at the very best, as well as being at their most delicious, when they’re fresh.  And what’s more fresh than from your own garden?

Growing your own vegetables is relatively easy with a little know-how. Not only will this provide you with the freshest natural ingredients possible, you will also save money by relying on the supermarket less. Furthermore, this is a very green and sustainable method of providing your own food, while enjoying a family activity that promotes bonding.

These quick tips offer some information to help you get started! Continue reading →

Farm Memories

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When I was writing Prairie Grown, I asked Melissa and Hanna,  my brothers’ girlfriends [at the time — Hanna is now my sister- in- law, and Melissa will be as of September!), about some of their favorite memories from spending time at Hillside Prairie Gardens.  We weren’t able to include their stories in the book, but they had some beautiful things to say that are worthy of sharing here, and reading again and again. Continue reading →

Beauty by Way of Carrots

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Heidi Barr

I want to grow carrots not because agribusiness is a filthy, greedy, heartless beast, but because rooting in the dirt is fun, worms are groovy creatures, and you can’t buy the sweet satisfaction of a fresh carrot at any price.  I want to live a simple, rooted life not because a place of privilege feeds on other people’s poverty, but because meals of venison, potatoes, and berry pie fill our kitchen with gratitude-crazed grins.  I want to leave the car in the driveway not because the carbon spilling from the exhaust will tip the planet into an inferno, but because a bike ride puts wind in your face and birdsong in your ears.  It pumps blood through your veins and reminds us that life is a dizzyingly splendid idea. 

Hank Lentfer

I heard activist Cynthia Jurs say the words be in the conversation, not the fight earlier in the spring…

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Eat Your Vegetables

/ Heidi Barr / Leave a comment

I talked to a grown man last week who, when asked how he felt about his nutritional habits, responded with, “Well, I don’t eat vegetables. They make me gag and throw up.”

Huh.

There is a lot of brokenness in the way first world countries interact with food today. At this point, that pretty much goes without saying. But being able to say you don’t eat vegetables? (a staple of the human diet since the beginning of the human experience on earth) Ever? Because you don’t care for them? It’s like saying you don’t brush your teeth – ever – because you just haven’t found the perfect shade of turquoise toothbrush. It doesn’t make sense. How did we get to this place where a human being can be say, “I don’t eat vegetables” and still be alive to tell about it? Continue reading →