The book that got me interested

I wanted to share today a book I read,
 "animal, vegetable, miracle - a year of food life" by Barbara Kingsolver.

Amazon link to book

I used to have an obsession with books, so when we moved, I purged a large part of my library and really have tried over the past 7 years not to accumulate as many books.  We have no book shelves here, which I am truly in need of now.  But I think this is one of the things that has helped me to not acquire as many books.

Anyway, I read this book in the winter and just loved it.  It helped me to see how truly important it is that each one of us, in our own way, try to support nature, to care for it, so that it will care for us.

Food does travel too far to get to us.

Buying local is important.  It helps the local economy.  It helps the local farmer. 

Does it have to be organic?  No, I don't necessarily think so.  The government places too many rules for small, family farmers to become organic, but if you know your farmer, they don't mind answering the questions you have about their growing practices.  I have noticed that when I ask at the market if they are organic, they will say, "we grow organic but are not certified".  If I really have a specific question, they answer it. 

Now, do I believe everything everyone tells me. "sure it's true, it's on the Internet."

Most times I would say I like to give the benefit of the doubt that they are telling me the truth, and I observe.  You can usually tell when someone is telling you a story just by their actions.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I would encourage you to take a look at it.  Amazon has plenty of used copies and it is even on kindle.  Which, by the way, I do own one.  Thinking that I could have all the books I wanted and no one would have to know.  But, I am sad to say, I've had it three years now and besides a few free books, I think I have three paid books on it.  I like a book!  I like the feel of the binding, the pages, the smell.......  I told you it was an obsession!

Now, where was I going with all this?

This is the book that truly got me interested in having a garden to provide fresh food for our family.  I wanted to see how hard it would be to grow what we like here, with our hilly back yard.  It also made me try our farmers market.  Which, after living here for 7 years, I kept saying I needed to go and never did.  I finally went when I started wanting to make pickles this year and haven't missed a week since.

Read a book on gardening.  Support your local farmer for the things you can't or don't grow. And share your knowledge with someone along the way.

Until next time,
Grow where you are planted!