The more I get identified as ‘that local food guy’, the more I entice objections, or rather, rationalizations to defend why folks choose not to eat ‘local’. First of all, it’s worth noting that the term ‘local’ is rather bad terminology. I am not seeking a 100 mile diet. I’m seeking food that’s good for my health, the planet, and the community that grows it. If I lived next door to Monsanto, they would be local, but I wouldn’t support them. Fair? And because I’m a finance an operations management guy, I like to optimize stuff. When it comes to veg and herbs, we generally eat a 20m diet. I digress.
One of the top 2 reasons I hear folks telling me they don’t eat ‘local’ is because it takes too much time. The other one is cost – which I can argue with numbers and win the day – but time, time is a tougher one to explain, to illustrate. So I came up with the 1Hr Garden concept. I’ll allow the video to explain further.
This edit will grow as the season progresses, ie. I’ll be adding to it, rather than creating multiple parts in a series about it. Enjoy.
18 Comments on “Episode 43 – 1Hr Garden”
Very nice!
I spend a lot more time enjoying the winter months looking over seed catalogs and picking out what I want to order than I do in the garden working, and that’s saying a lot for me because I have a small hobby greenhouse and sell plants and extra produce at the farmers market!
As far as the money you spend on seed, I would bet that the cost of $100 year is really much less than that. Look how much seed you actually use out of a packet and what you have left at the end of a season to carry over to next year.
Andrea
That was such a beautiful video- I’d never heard that song by Colleen Brown before! Can’t wait to see the splendor this 1hr garden will give you!
Interesting experiment–I look forward to the results. I’d bet $100 in seed is pretty close to bang one for me. I have a fair amount of garden under cultivation and $100 sounds about right. That includes a few bedding plants where my indoor seeding was a bust (celery, leeks and a few tomatoes). Nice to see that someone else has a messy seed box as well!
Sorry, “bang on”, not “bang one”. Duh.
Very nice stuff ! I had no idear you could plant leathery sprouting carrots, although in hindsight it sure makes sense ! Tearing up 1/3rd or my back lawn for spuds n onions this year, feels GRRREAT !
Now this is a BRILLIANT idea. If anything can change minds, my money is on this experiment. We need to get more publicity for this. A monthly update? Pitch this to Leanne or the Journal?
It gives me great pleasure to know that we sow our seed in the exact same super precise way. :) Can’t wait to see how this experiment turns out. Beautiful video, as always.
What a fantastic idea! I hear the time objection from nearly everyone, too. It all depends on HOW you spend your time in the garden. I COULD spend 8 hours neatly prepping and precisely seeding my VERY large food garden, but I choose not to. I’d rather spend my time more profitably :) Crooked rows won’t affect my yield one bit, so I eyeball them. Hoeing weeds (preferably in the early thread stages) WILL affect my yield, so I invest my time doing that. I honestly think that TV has sucked the life out of most of the population. Reality show for an hour or plant a garden for an hour? Hmmmnnnn….
Love the way you think. Excellent way to demystify the “i don’t have enough time or money” plaints. Loved the music! Do you have local people writing this for you? That would not surprise me!
I did not get any garlic in last year and am crying! Did my leeks and they are now in – and bought tomatoes – need lights to start my own properly. They just don’t make it with my exposures in the house. Am getting some of my front lawn up SOON, I hope. Amy will do it with me! I cannot do it myself. Have no clue how…. OK, I can read. I need help. She is helping. Vanja is not interested, but has finally given in. Not really. But, I am doing it. I want to do potatoes and tomatoes there. The front is full of hot sun all day! I can never get enough tomatoes.
I loved to see you seed and sow like I do. Your soil is gorgeous. Ours is, too. This is the first year I have not added compost, but it is still lovely and we don’t produce enough compost between the two of us to do much.
I am getting this out to Liane. Love the concept. Hope she follows it up – or if not her – their gardening people.
:)
V
Gardening is quick and easy, with the right tools. Since I just levelled out 3 cubic yards of soil/mulch/compost into my newly expanded garden with a 6″ hoe, I am jealous of how easy your gardening fork made everything look.
That said, I find that the gardening part of things is super simple and relaxing; trimming my seed wishlist down to what I can actually accommodate in my little garden. My compromise this year is obvious, break more ground = more interesting plants.
Great post! Like the commenter above, I also get a kick out of seeing a messy seed box like ours. We’re in the process of converting most of our outdoor space into edible gardens and food for our bees and we hear a lot of comments about how much time and effort that must be. Not only is it a fraction of the time everyone assumes it must take, but it’s very enjoyable time working outdoors and in the earth!
Love seeing that you spend as much time as I do digging thru your seed packets…
Pretty cool. One of the best part of that video for me is looking at the coarse organics you are rocking. That soil is going to be intensely productive in very short order. Nice vid. do you know the linear feet planted? And ya, time is what you choose to make of it. Bowling alone? Better to be gardening alone.
Hey, Kevin,
Maybe you just posted your blog on the back yard bees and that is why I can’t make a comment there but if not you have a glitch
.
I tried to comment on the bees as well and couldn’t do it.
Hi Judy and Becky – thanks for letting me know. Problem solved. Turns out simply renaming the permalink solves that strange issue. Hope wordpress can iron that one out on a future release…
Love this video Kevin. I got into vegetable gardening 5 yrs ago and haven’t looked back. Absolutely refuse to eat store bought tomatoes EVER. I’ve had great luck with scarlet runner beans as well – they are beautiful, will grow anywhere, attract hummingbirds and you also get magnificent beans until October. (And it ends the battle with the slugs)
Has anyone had success growing potatoes out of a stack of tires? I saw it recently and it looked super-cool!
!!!!!!! Need a replacement speaker for Discovery Ridge community event in SW Calgary Thursday evening. Donna Balzer Veggie Gardening talk and garden mini-trade show has been well advertised but Donna had to withdraw due to her mother’s heart attack.
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