The Fall Garden is In!

This fall we've planted winter squash, spinach, sugar snap peas, carrots, and several varieties of greens.

About a month ago I planted the seeds for my first ever cool season garden. Yesterday, I decided it was time to get them in the ground. It felt great to take some time to kneel in the dirt and wrap the soil around these growing vegetables. I'm hopeful for some decent crops, but after checking on the little guys this morning, I did see that something has had been nibbling on the leaves of my squash plants. I'll need to lay down some sort of mesh for the time being.

The Slow Home movement is similar in concept to the Slow Food movement where quality, healthy food is celebrated and enjoyed in a mindful manner, not scarfing down a greasy cheeseburger while sitting in your car at a traffic light. Planting a garden somewhere in the outdoor living space of your home not only helps you and your family to get back in touch with nature, but also gives you complete control from growth to plate. If you choose to grow organic produce (which I highly recommend), then you also know exactly what your eating-there's nothing extra.

Shannon Honeybloom, author of Making a Family Home, addresses the issue of an entire generation of Americans-mostly teenagers-who know nothing about the origin of a vast majority of our food. She says, "The problem is, the school children experience the product, the french fry, but have no connection to the process — from farm, to factory, to plate." To read more of her thoughts on this topic, go HERE.

This week as my slow home challenge tackles the outdoor living space, I'll be encouraging my children to help water our newly planted vegetable plants, and we'll begin a more dedicated effort to watch their growth each week.

I'd love to hear about your experiences with planting cool weather gardens!