Ready, Set...

Many people share ideals of only consuming food that is natural and organic…grown or raised locally.  They’d like to eat as much as possible off of their own little plot of land, and when they need to eat from the labor of others, know that those others are being treated well and in turn treating their food well.  These same idealists tend to want to eliminate their homes of chemicals as much as possible and reduce the size of their carbon footprint in general.  I am one of these people.  I read the books, magazines, and blogs about urban homesteading and self-sufficient living in the city.  I plant a small garden and a few fruit bearing plants, and I compost (well, I throw all my compostable materials in a big pile and hope that they will someday turn into golden earth on their own as the naturalists promise will happen).  I’ve even gone a bit further and installed rain barrels, which gains me great favor among the local crowd of idealists.

But I’m ready to take the plunge.  I’m going to do all in my power to transition my family to an organic, sustainable lifestyle on my little corner lot in a small mid-American city, and I invite you to follow my journey.  I have found myself too many times gloating over beautiful edible landscaping only to find out that, once again, the people live in Southern California and have spent oodles of money on the endeavor.  I hope to show that this is possible in a less ideal climate for year-round growing and gardening and that it is possible on a very low budget. 

I am a dreamer with lots of great ideas.  The problem with me is that, unlike many dreamers, I tend to try really hard to make all my conflicting dreams become a reality…all at once.  So, in the interest of not doing everything I dream of all at once (from the cycle-powered washer, to the goats and chickens that can’t possibly fit in the backyard with my gardens), I am simply going to transform my entire lot into edible landscaping.  Better yet, in the interest of being completely reasonable, I will begin with transforming only my back lot into an edible oasis and transform the front after the back has been transformed.  Ready, Set…