This is our second year gardening as a family. The kids planted the flowers we grew this year – sunflowers, four o clocks, marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos and amaranth – that we have gifted to friends and neighbors. It also made for a great pollinator garden and we were even visited by some monarchs, hummingbirds and goldfinches.
It has felt really rewarding to be able to share our Sungold, Roma, Plum, Beefsteak, and Cherokee tomatoes with neighbors and friends. We had an abundance of fresh salads with our cucumbers. We continue to have delicious sautes with our kale and bok choy seasoned with our freshly crushed garlic from our garden. Garlic was our pride and joy because we were able to grow so much of it in our front yard, without any pesticides as opposed to having it come from far away and unknown quality control. Our children harvested their own strawberries for a whole month. This year we grew sweet potatoes again and it appears we are on our way to having another large harvest.
We can’t forget the herbs sage, parsley, cilantro, and thyme. We have used them to season, marinate our meats, heal our chickens and for our homemade pizza sauces.
Another highlight was how we had so much abundance that we were able to give our extra harvest to our chickens which they of course thoroughly enjoyed.
We weren’t as successful growing potatoes this year but we did get a a small batch. The kids joyfully cut them up to bake them as french fries. The boys felt so accomplished. Another challenge we had was with cabbage moths and harlequin beetles. They were a challenge last year as well but the difference this year was that we had many predatory insects patrolling the area thanks to the pollinator garden, which kept their numbers in check for a good portion of the dark leafy green season of Spring.
We continue to be inspired by how much abundance can be created in just the front yard of our house. Hopefully this will inspire others to create abundance and empower them to take control of their health and make a powerful statement right where they are in life.
