There are times in life when something is revealed and creates instant change in the way we live. The turning point for me started back in 1991, when my son who was 6 months old, came down with an upper respiratory infection. After several visits to the pediatrician, as well as several attempts with different antibiotics, I had enough. I knew that what they were doing to him could not be in his best immune interest, so I took it upon myself to learn methods of natural healing. Not only was his body able to cure the infection, but he has maintained optimal health to this day. He has never missed a day of school... including college.
As the years have gone by, the road seems to have turned from progressing forward, to progressing backwards. Having spent the majority of my adult life in healthcare, I was now taking control of my family's health by looking back to the remedies of old. I was rethinking the way we looked at medicine, and soon I would take a good look at the foundation of our healthcare... our food.
In 2001, I came across a book titled "Genetically Engineered Food: Changing the Nature of Nature. I was mortified! We had already switched to organic dairy, but I was now aware of what was happening to our food supply and how unnatural it was becoming.
The next step in this progression became organic fruits and veg, and finding all our local resources. Being in Southern California, we are blessed with an abundance of farmers markets, CSAs, and markets with organic options.
Then, one day I was at the market and the price of heirloom tomatoes was $4.99 per lb, which can mean $5 per tomato. Thus our journey into home gardening began. We had already been growing herbs for a few years, but now we added heirloom tomatoes to the garden. By 2009, we had added beans, peppers, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, blackberries, and various citrus.
Every year we learn new methods and add to our little home farm.
This year we are expanding from the back, into the front and side yards. Since we all work outside the home, the process has taken some time. But the rewards are plenty!
For those that know me, know that the instability of the world is a motivator for food independence. The piece of mind that comes with knowing that come what may, we can provide for our family, is invaluable. I fully believe in living a "prepared" life, a gift instilled by my grandmother and her abundantly filled pantry.
Our goal is to ignite the love of home farming in as many people & families as we can. If we all started taking responsibility for growing food, imagine how many people we could feed!
And if you think it is not possible in your space, I offer up this video...
