Let's Talk Food and Land

tBOY and I hardly ever eat out and we choose only whole foods.  We buy local and organic.  Food is our highest monthly expense (exceeding rent!)  When we lived in the city, we shared planters with our neighbours, which were beautiful, but between 4 adults and a young child, we didn't get more than a handful of salads.  Moving to the country, we were hoping to offset some of the food costs by having a garden.  

With a bit of help, tBOY turned this...

into this!

Here is some of our harvest

Living where we do, means that we have direct access to:

Fresh milk and meat

Chickens and eggs (the best!)

Weekly veggies delivery (to our door) from neighbour grower (in the summer)

Yet despite that, we continue to depend a lot on the grocery store for most of our food. Yesterday, I went to the bog city with tBOY.  As with most trips to the city, it meant a stop at the grocery store for the goodies we don't find out in the country.  

I only had time to pop in and out quickly and came out with only these items: organic sprouted granola ($12 for 227g), smoked salmon ($12.60), Grassfed non-homogenized yoghurt ($7), fromage frais ($9) - all locally made - and a handful of European unpasteurized almonds ($3) for sprouting.  10 minutes and 5 items later meant almost $45!  Craziness!  We need to learn how to grow/make more of our foods!  Will be looking for inspiration from here:

I have decided that this season will be about planting, growing, weeding, sprouting, dehydrating, fermenting, canning etc!  Last year, tBOY was the designated gardener because I was writing my master's thesis.  But thesis is done and so soil and compost - here I come!

On the land we are renting, there is already an enclosed garden:

There is a lot of work ahead of me!  Luckily I have some friends who are amazing veggie growers, so I will tap in on their knowledge and wisdom.  What's growing in your garden?

Speaking of growing on land... here are some pics of the land where the bus (and us) will reside:

Enter from the top

Bus construction/conversion will happen in this clearing

The bricks will be cleared leaving only a low pad where the bus will sit.  

Come with us for a little ride...

through the Forest...

alongside the magnificent Trees...

to the River!