It is time to plan your garden for this year. Time to think about what your family eats, what you want to plant, and what you want to can.

We plant a HUGE garden. Even if it ends up being overwhelming we can let it go to seed in the end and have more seeds for next year. The reason that we are able to do that, is that we buy heirloom, non-genetically modified seeds that do not have a terminator gene.

The garden is SO important for my family. THIS  is how I am truly able to save money AND feed my family healthy, organic foods. We do try and eat very healthy foods, the majority of which are organic. There is NO way that I would be able to stay on my budget if I only bought my fresh produce.

However, through fresh produce in my garden 9 months out of the year and canned foods throughout the rest of the year, I am able to feed my family delicious, healthy, organic food.

It is not difficult to have a garden. Even if you can only have a small one, it can still help. At my house, I have 5 small gardens that I use square foot gardening with. We don’t have a lot of land that is not wooded. However, from those small boxes I am able to feed my family at least dinner each day. Since we also can food, we have a huge garden that we share with other families. This allows us to eat fresh vegetables and fruits at every meal during the harvest season and can our food.

I LOVE fresh fruits and vegetables. We have smoothies every night from fruit we have picked. We have delicious stir-fries and more with the veggies. I can’t encourage you enough to start your own little organic garden. You can save SO much money. By using square foot gardening, I am literally able to spend 5-10 minutes a day on my garden. That’s it. I use raised beds which mean little to no weeds, and I just quickly pick my fruit and veggies each day. It is wonderful to be able to provide healthy food for your family. It gives you great exercise as well. Plus, it is a HUGE budget saver.

The big garden is a different story. That is a huge time commitment, and I literally spend at least 12 hours 5-6 days a week for about six weeks. It works for my family, and allows me to stay home with my children. I know that a lot of people don’t have that time to spend on a harvest.

During the summer, I can literally feed my family for less than $10 a week. This is because we have chickens, eggs, and fresh produce. Plus, I have beef from the organic cow that we bought and split among several families.

If you haven’t ever grown a garden. Give it a try. Plan it out, and order your seeds today! You really do want to go ahead and order seeds. There is a major shortage of seeds this year, and even now you may have trouble getting seeds. (Good seeds that is, that aren’t genetically modified or have terminator genes so they can’t be reused.)

Get your kids involved, and have fun. It is amazing how many veggies my kids are willing to eat because they helped plant or pick them. All of a sudden, they are delicious. Gardening also really makes you appreciate your food. You realize just how much work goes into each bite of food that you put in your mouth. It makes you feel so grateful for your food!