It All Begins With Dirt

When I first contemplated the name for this blog, I was trying to come up with something clever that would hopefully catch the attention of many while trying to indicate what one might find behind the title.  It All Begins With Dirt stems from my desire to get back to the basics.  From growing our own food to cooking with it.  So much good in life starts in dirt. Take for example....us!

In the beginning God created man......from dirt  Gen 2:7

God planted in the dirt - Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. Gen 2:7

And from the dirt all kinds of things grew both pretty and functional  -The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Gen 2:9

And all those things that grew, he intended for us to eat. - "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Gen 1:29

My personal belief is that he gave us the desire to garden - The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Gen 2:15

With spring approaching, albeit not too fast this year, I am getting anxious to start sowing seeds to plant outside.  Spring peas, lettuce, kale and spinach, as well as radishes will be the first to make it into the dirt. And before long, we'll be able to eat those things we planted making way for the summer crop to be planted after that.

We don't have a large garden...yet.  Where we are at there are no fences to keep deer away. So every year I plan to figure out a way to plant more in the patio containers we currently grow in. These are large 12 inch deep planter boxes that range from 26 inch square to 72 " long and for what they are, we get strawberries, onions, green beans and plenty of herbs. We  grow tomatoes and peppers with so-so results and I've given up on growing zucchini or any other vine growing plant.  

I still am hoping for a fenced in garden area where I can let the ground be the container but where I can have a fighting chance at being the first one to harvest the produce it grows and not the deer, or the chipmunks, or squirrels or birds.  Wishful thinking I know.

With the produce that we grow, I will make meals and sides knowing where the produce came from, that there are no pesticides in them and the satisfaction paying a few cents for seeds which will more than pay itself back to us with less to buy at the grocer.

Our lettuce from June 2009

Stick around to see what will be coming good out of the ground and the good stuff I'll make with it.  I think it's time to start some seeds now.... this picture of our lettuce is making me want some more!  And to think, it all begins with dirt.