You’ve probably noticed, as I have, the steady rising of grocery prices for the past several months. Grocery prices always rise, but the prices have been going up quicker and higher lately.

The predictions that I have been reading for some weeks indicate that we can expect grocery prices to rise from 3-5% over the summer because of rising petroleum costs. Tried to buy a new tire lately? All petroleum products are higher and tires about about 50% higher now than they were last year.

One thing that the average person can do to off-set some of these rising costs is to grow a garden.  The really good news is that you don’t have to be a farmer or have a green thumb to grow your own vegetables.

Seen the price of a Red Bell Pepper lately? If you use peppers in your meals, those prices alone should motivate you to try growing them yourself. 

I’ve grown a garden for many years. I’ve always enjoyed growing interesting and unusual plants as well as all the stand-bys like corn and tomatoes. But this year I am taking a different stand on my garden.  I am only going to grow foods that I know my family and I will consume. And I won’t be growing any odd varieties of the stand-bys. This year, my budget is at stake.

I’ve started by preparing my planting beds. The electric department was the instrument of answered prayer this year in that they came and took out a huge old hackberry tree and a whole bunch of smaller trees that were shading my yard and garden into oblivion.  This year I will have approximately 150 square feet more garden space.

We’ve tested the soil and have added potassium and nitrogen since we didn’t grow a cover crop last fall to till into the soil this spring. After we added fertilizer we put down 4 mil thick black landscaping fabric and weighted down the edges with rocks and boards, pots and whatever we could find. As the weather heats up the soil under the plastic gets hotter and hotter. The heat kills not only the roots of weeds and grasses but the seeds as well, also kills a lot of grubs. The result is a practically weed-free garden and I am not tempted to use chemical weed killers all summer.

Next I made a list of the vegetables that we use regularly and that I would like to grow:

Tomato from sets
Spinach from seed
Lettuce from seed
Green beans from seed
October beans (for dried beans) from seed
Purple hull peas from seed
Corn from seed
Sweet potatoes from sets
Kale from seed
Swiss chard from seed
Herbs of all kinds from sets and that come up from last year.
Okra from seed
Squash from seed and sets
Pumpkins from seed

Just that number of vegetables for 5 or more people will take up a big garden space. So I will pull out my mad square foot gardening skills. You can read about Square Foot Gardening here.

So what are you doing this year about a garden? Do you use planters? Do you think growing some vegetables can cut down your grocery bill? If you’ve never grown a garden, are you willing to try this year?

Just a few pictures of my garden for you. I planted potatoes this year … in bags of garden soil!
I didn’t know if they would grow but just look at them …

I poked holes in the bottoms of the bags. I cut out the tops of the bags and them put my potatoes in them. I had to put sticks over them to keep the cats out! After the torrential rain we had last week, the potatoes took off.

They are LaRatte Fingerling potatoes. Fingerling potatoes are small and long so they shouldn’t need too much space to grow.

The rain beat down my garden something awful. The broccoli has finally stood back up. The beets are looking sad but they are coming back.  The lettuce is just coming up and the weeds are loving the rain.

I thinned the beets this morning. It was hard to decide which to pick and which to leave. I also picked some poke salad from the back of the yard. I will cook those up for lunch.

Fingerling potatoes in bags of garden soil…..

Lettuce seedlings …. and a nice crop of rocks

The broccoli stood back up finally after the hard rain …..

Early spring is the right time to collect the first batch of herbs from your garden. Today I collected mugwort, bee balm and peppermint. If you cut your herbs after the first flush of new growth, it encourages the plant to put out more shoots and to become bushier and bigger. I also start pulling rose petals in early spring. I have a rose that blooms all spring and summer. So I pull petals before they fall. It may seem like a small harvest now, but it will promote bigger yields later in the summer and fall.

I cut the stems of the plants as long as I can and then just bundle them up and tie them with yarn or string. Then I hang them in my kitchen to dry. They make the kitchen smell wonderfully! I hang herb bundles all over one side of my stainless steel baker’s rack. One day, maybe this summer, I’d like to find an old wooden ladder and mount it to hang from the ceiling and hang herbs from that.

Here’s my little disclaimer about herbs:
I do not recommend the use of any herbs medicinally though we do use them ourselves. You should research all uses for herbs and consult an herbalist before using them medicinally.

Mugwort
There have been numerous uses for mugwort. We use it mainly in our 19th century reenacting. It was used in the 1860′s as an Anthelmintic (expels worms) and for cardiac complaints.

Bee Balm
Also known as Bergamot, we use this herb in a tea to relieve headaches and fevers. Because of the thymol in the leaves, it has a taste that is a combination of peppermint, spearmint and oregano. Very nice, kind of like Earl Gray tea.

Peppermint
Who hasn’t smelled or tasted peppermint? We use it for flavoring tea, making peppermint tea and for stomach upsets.

Here are the herbs hanging in a row on my baker’s rack…

Later this spring I am planning to make some lotion using rose water, violet water, beeswax, almond oil and vitamin E oil.  Today I collected the first rose petals. I once made rose water  and violet water. I may get very industrious and make it again this year. If not, then I will buy them both at Caswell Massey. These rose petals may be destined for potpourri.

My skin is very sensitive and I am out in the sun a lot. The homemade lotion is easy to make, costs little and fits my skin perfectly. It soothes my skin after I’ve been outside in the wind and sun and it doesn’t break me out.

Another product I like to make from my herbs is furniture polish. I’ve made this polish for about 25 years. The first time I made it I used a recipe from an 1850′s cookbook.  I was given my Great-grandfather’s accounting desk which he made in about 1890. I wanted something that would clean and protect it.

The reviver is made of turpentine, beeswax and essential oils. I normally choose lemon oil and lavender oil but I have made it using more woodsy scents like sandalwood and cedarwood.  What I make is actually called a furniture “reviver”. It cuts through layers of polish and wax and brings out the beauty of the wood and then lays down a light coat of wax which you then buff to a shine.

Once I get my essential oils I will make it and show you how and give you the recipe to try. If you have any kind of unpainted wood furniture, you will love the results you get with this reviver.

I am so thankful for Spring!