A few things to share....Getting Back to the Land...Victory Gardening

I hope that you all have had a very nice week thus far.

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I have a few things I'd like to share with you all this evening..maybe steer a little bit away from my normal topics and address something that some of us take for granted or don't put a whole lot of thought into due to so many "modern conveniences" and fast paced life styles.

And that is...

taking the time to sllllooowwww down and think about just where our food comes from.

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In the American lifestyle(and no doubt in other countries as well now) it is now so very, very easy to find so many easy options for breakfast, lunch, dinner. So much of the foods we now consume come in paper, plastic, cartons, and bags and require very little preparation/thought if any on the part of the consumer.

But..in the long run what is all of this "super convenience" really doing to the health of all of us?

( and studies show that diseases like diabetes and more have nearly doubled in the last 10 yrs!)

Yikes!

So much for our fast, easy, convenient life style huh?

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Anyhow... so..I for one will begin growing a lot of my families fruits and veggies when I get located to a new home.I want to know where our food is coming from..and how it is grown.

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I have for quite a while been fascinated with things like growing heirloom varieties of fruit, vegetables, flowers.

Types of seed that are not genetically modified by big whig companies that think they have to control America's crops and use pesticides on seeds and hybridize everything.

But my interest is in saving the heirlooms..the true to strain varieties of seed that have been passed on from generation to generation of good old fashioned farmers and families whose aim was/is to preserve the proper ways of farming and growing food, and not tainted by who knows what kind of pesticide/chemical

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So with that goal in mind I have been collecting seed for several years now. Flower seed, vegetable seed and herb seeds.

I whole heartily believe in saving and growing these untainted seeds...and preserving a way of life former workers of the land strove to preserve and pass on to other generations that would come to understand just how important preserving these things really is..

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So..with that in mind..and if you too believe that providing food for your family..where you know where your food is coming from, and how it is grown/and knowing that it is not hybridized or tainted by who knows what type of new pesticide now... is important to the health and well being of your family and yourself...

I'd like to share with you a few websites/seed sources where you can obtain true to type open pollinated/heirloom seeds for gardening.

As well as information on getting started on growing a garden no matter where you live.

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Having a garden/growing your own vegetables does not mean you have to have a large area of land to do so.

You can grow plenty of food in a 10 by 10 square area or less, in pots, on a balcony, just because you do not have acreage should in no way be a deterrent.

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First up..I'd like to share with you a link to a War Times Victory Garden Manual(copyright 1919) Some of the information in it is still useful today:

http://www.earthlypursuits.com/WarGarV/WarGardTitle.htm

And a 1944 copy of a Victory Garden manual:

http://www.earthlypursuits.com/victorygardhandbook/VGHv.htm

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Seeds to begin a complete Victory Garden:

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/victory.html

Heirloom Seed Sources(where to buy heirloom seeds):

http://www.landrethseeds.com/

http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/seeds.html

http://www.heirloomseedshop.com/

http://www.grannysheirloomseeds.com/whatareheirloomseeds.htm

http://www.amishlandseeds.com/

http://www.seedstrust.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ST&Category_Code=1st

http://www.botanicalinterests.com/store/shop.php

http://www.selectseeds.com/cgi-bin/start.cgi/2008/catalog.htm

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/index.htm

http://www.fragrantpathseeds.com/

http://www.heirloomacresseeds.com/

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An excellent resource on "getting started with your Victory Garden"

http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/index.html

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Building a small greenhouse:

http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/postharv/green/small_greenhouse.pdf

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Book recommendation:

Gardening With Heirloom seeds

http://www.amazon.com/Gardening-Heirloom-Seeds-Tried-True/dp/0807856800

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No Ground? Use containers!

http://journeytoforever.org/garden_con.html

(container gardening guide)

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Freedom Gardens is an online social community of gardening enthusiasts who are fed up with foreign oil, frequent food miles and high food prices.

http://freedomgardens.org/

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And..a family that grows more than enough food to sustain their family on only about .25 of an acre..in the city!

Check out their website:

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/

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These websites will at least offer you some good information on getting you started in gardening/growing and saving heirloom varieties of seeds.

Thanks for stopping by!

~The Garden Goose~