Plant It To Eat It

A few years ago, my husband signed us up for a weekly CSA basket.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  We bought from an inspiring little store called, "Road Less Traveled." So, each week I picked up this basket full of vegetables and fruits and we tried our best to eat them all or preserve them.  We were introduced to many new vegetables and fruits.  Check out Delilah's blog:  projectsmall.blogspot.com/ for CSA basket information and recipes.  I admire her outlook on life.

After tasting these new vegetables each week, I decided to make a goal to do my own backyard personal "CSA."  Why not?  I have room in my backyard, my kids love being back in the garden with me and I live in the best place for growing food year round!  With that, I began paying attention to what we received in our basket throughout the year.  I began researching what to plant in each month in Orange County.  I am embarking on my first real year of growing what we will eat, cooking it up, preserving it for use in other seasons, saving money, eating healthier and living better.

I love how easy it is to plant onion bulbs.  They just grow so effortlessly!

It seems that "what to plant" varies depending on who you ask.  So, for now, I am just going to experiment.  However, I checked out a book at our Orange Public Library written many years ago by a guy who grew everything.  The book is called, "Year Around Gardening in Southern California."  No joke.  This guy lived in Orange and typed up this book (on a typewriter) and published it himself.  He was born in 1903 and published it in 1975.  I trust his research based on the fact that he grew everything he could.  I often wonder what he was like and if he was married, what his wife was like.  Did they preserve their bounty?  How did they use it all?  Did they have a big family?  Fun to think about as I use his passed on wisdom to benefit my family.  I feel it has been tested, tried, and successful.  I use his guide plus pamphlets from Flower Dale and OC Farm Supply to know what to plant and harvest each month.

My gardening motto is:  Plant it to eat it!

Here's what I'm /planting in October:

broccoli, kale, beets, carrots, celery, lettuces, swiss chard, garlic, onions, leek, peas, potatoes, parsley, and if I can find an artichoke start, I'll plant that too... at the request of my daughter.

Other vegetables that you can plant in Orange County in October are:

cabbages, cauliflower, kohlrabi, collards, endive, turnips, rutabaga, salsify, spinach, curly cress, parsnip, asparagus, rhubarb, horseradish.  I'm not ready for these yet... but someday I will be.