The Insanity Behind the Madness

It all started out as a way to eat fresh organic foods throughout the fall and winter. I was a long-time member of a CSA and really loved the fresh vegetables - the variety, the flavor, the healthy benefits of eating more veggies. But I was also interested in preserving the harvest for the fall and winter, so in 2009 I decided to try my hand at gardening again. Not to replace the CSA (which I still wanted to support), but to have more fall harvest. More about that process here.

Long story short, we ended up not getting a share in the CSA that year and ended up with a ton of great vegetables. We had such a great experience in 2009 and organic vegetables have become so expensive, that we decided to go whole hog in 2010. It's now become a huge part of our lives and I really love it. It's a great hobby - we're outdoors, active, connecting with the small little ecosystem behind our house. Not to mention feeding ourselves great food ... all while using less fossil fuel in the process.

So that brings me to WHY we are doing this big expansion. We certainly had enough harvest to enjoy fresh vegetables all summer long last year, and some crops even lasted well into the fall and winter.

With the addition of the hoop house, it is finally possible for me to realize a dream of mine: to grow food year-round here in Zone 4, without heat (in the traditional sense... e.g. no heater in the greenhouse). As if the year-round food challenge wasn't enough, my husband and I decided to issue another challenge to ourselves:

Grow ALL our own vegetables and herbs for an entire year, starting June 1, 2011.

That means we'll not be heading to the grocery store for a head of lettuce, a sprig of rosemary, or a bag of potatoes for a full year. Well, that's the idea anyway. Hence, the big expansion. We'll be freezing, canning, drying and root cellaring. We'll also be using the techniques (modified) laid out in Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman. The author lives in Zone 5 and harvests year-round. I'm a zone colder and not as experienced, so I'm excited and intrigued to see if this little experiment will work.

Although not vegetarian, my husband and I eat a lot of vegetables and definitely don't want to go without. It certainly won't do anyone any favors if we abstain from eating veggies just to make a point. I will do my best to eat what is in season, but if an entire season of crops fail and I'll be without lettuce or anything fresh for more than a month... I think I will give in. One can only live on frozen broccoli for so long. :)

However, I'm hoping it won't get to that point. After the massive amounts of reading and research I've done, I feel pretty confident in my ability to produce some kind of fresh crop year-round - using a cold frame, hoop house, floating row covers, and some other tricks of the trade.

I'll keep you posted :)