We got our Garden Tower!

We have really gotten into gardening this year.  I have always wanted a garden and love the idea of fresh organic produce right from my backyard.  So far this year we have harvested broccoli and some strawberries.  We are growing lots of blueberries which are not quite ready yet.  However, that has not stopped Blue Rock from picking them from time to time.  He would honestly sit there all day and eat them if we let him.  He's been very good about not picking the green tomatoes until this past week.  He picked a green tomato and then ate it.  We still have to remind him that our crops are not ready yet.  He's dying to pick a tiny peach from our peach tree. 

 

We have really gotten into gardening.  I have always wanted a garden and love fresh organic produce right from my backyard.  So far this year we have harvested broccoli and some strawberries.  We are growing lots of blueberries which are not quite ready yet.  However, that has not stopped Caden from picking them from time to time.  He would honestly sit there all day and eat them if we let him.  He's been very good about not picking the green tomatoes but I still have to watch him.

 

In March we ordered a Garden Tower from Kick Starter.  It finally arrived yesterday.  I'm so excited!  We can garden organically vertically.  With the garden tower we can basically grow up to 50 different plants that would take up land of about 25 sq. ft. in a 4x4 space.  Since I've only done container gardening so far this year (except for our lovely peach tree we planted), I felt that this was something I could do.  I considered buying a Tower Garden from Juice Plus but this was more economical and seemed easier to me.

 

This weekend we hope to put it together.  I'll write some posts to share with you as we try this out.  I'm also planning on prepping some soil for a garden in the ground but have not decided where to put it yet.  The method I'm going to use is called Back to Eden. There's a great film about organic gardening on this website with some wonderful tips on how to do it. 

 

Right now we are growing: aloe vera, corn, okra, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, kale, and peaches which we should be able to eat pretty soon.  We also have blackberries, raspberries, and grapes growing but I'm doubting they will be ready this year.  They are still sticks.

 

In my tower I'm planning to grow all my greens: a variety of lettuce, kale, and spinach.  Also some beans and what ever else is in season and can grow up and out.  In the ground I hope to grow onions, peppers, garlic, carrots, and potatoes.  A friend just shared with me how to grow potatoes in reusable grocery bags, so I may try that as a learning experience for Caden.

 

Some of my garden

I did not grow up gardening so this is all new to me.  After living overseas and living around farms where local food was grow I became inspired to grow my own food as well.  Also I do not like GMOs and have found that organic foods in the U.S. are extremely expensive.  Growing food the way God intended I don't think has to be this high.  Our soil is depleted of all the minerals we need to be healthy which is why they started injected our crops with bacteria so they would survive poor soil conditions and pesticides.  I don't want to give that to my family.  I also want Caden to grow up learning how to garden.  When you know where your food comes from and you see how long it can take to grow I think we have more of an appreciation for it.  Also eating fresh organic food that is freshly harvested locally is a lot more healthy.  Might as well get as many nutrients as we can when we can. 

 

Wish me luck with my new Garden Tower!  I'm so excited!!  Meanwhile, check out the rest of my garden.

 

Watch my corn pop up in rows...or a pot!

 

Planting 1 of 4 trees that are all now in the ground