Backyard Grocery

Archive for the ‘Food Chain’ Category

One of the best locally grown and foraged foods is, without doubt, venison. It is a healthy, delicious protein source. And, in areas where the deer herds are dangerously overpopulated, hunting is a good way to help protect the environment (overpopulated herds damage the entire ecosystem by eating food that other woodland creatures need and by eating all new forest growth, thus disrupting the natural cycle).

Today I came across an article on Zester Daily about the blood trail of vegetarian and vegan foods, and I thought there is another reason to eat local meat! I had never considered what it takes to grow soybeans and other vegetarian staples, although I should have…deer and other animals eat crops. Farmers need to control the damage so they exterminate the animals. And none of that meat goes toward feeding people. It is simply a waste of life. I don’t feel good about that.

Jackson Landers wrote a book on hunting for beginners that looks great. I’m going to order it just to support Jackson, and to show to all my friends who have recently expressed an interest in learning to hunt. If nothing else, it is great food for thought.

I started this blog because we got a garden plot and, for the first time in my life, had a lot of home grown veggies. I thought it would be fun to write about what I cooked with them. It’s only been a few short months, but the mission is becoming bigger and, frankly, funner.

Last night, Rick and I sat down to start planning our garden…really planning it. We’re talking staggered plantings and rotating crops. I got to make a list of every vegetable I would want. We won’t plant them all, but we will have a more organized plan than “oh, those seeds look good.”

Rick being who he is, though, had to take it to the next step. He found a site where you can map out your garden and what you want to plant. It provides diagrams, planting dates…everything. How cool is that? It’s called GrowVeg.com. If you’re thinking of starting a garden, or you want to get more organized about how and what you grow, check it out!