I'm SOLD!

I've been reading: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver.
I feel empowered by her story - the family lived in Arizona and decided to move back to a farming community in Virginia to live off the land.

"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew ... and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air." http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com

It has honestly opened my eyes. I'm realizing that it's critical for me to continue to maintain and live off of an organic garden. Interesting fact -- seeds that have been genetically modified (GM) are still labeled "organic". There are GM seeds that have this "terminator gene" that causes a crop to commit genetic suicide after one generation, so farmers can't save seeds and they would have to repurchase from the company. "Garden seed inventories show that while about 5,000 non-hybrid vegetable varieties were available from catalogs in 1981, the number in 1998 was down to 600." -- I'm certain that in no time, we'll be eating out of 10 food categories. Scares me, America has weight issues (yours truly included) it's a wonder we're not worse off, considering most of what we eat has been genetically altered or "enhanced". Not to mention it's so BORING! I don't know about you all - I need variety!

You all know I love to eat and cook. Now that I have a thriving garden - I can't explain how fresh, flavorful, and aromatic veggies are too me. I've found a new appreciation. I have decided to revamp and expand my garden. I've talked to Carlos and I've gotten his blessing to convert more of our valuable real estate into garden! I know my dogs won't LOVE the idea of fencing up another part of the yard, but I'm excited at the prospect of planting new veggies - beets, carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, more herbs!

I'll keep you posted on my progress!