Intro

Ok, so this is a working title. I will be posting a year in pics of my new organic, raised, deep bed garden. Located in Northeastern Ohio where yesterday it was 79 degrees and today it's snowing. I will also include the piles of Ohio grown goodness that I pick up at local farmers markets. My goal during our relatively short growing season, is to eat locally. I'd like to commit to 100%, but this is OH, not CA. I will, however, commit to 75%. Anything that is available, I will buy locally. My bananas will still come from where ever they come from.
I will also be posting recipes of some of my yummiest creations. And, being that I'm a new bread baking addict, I'm sure there will be plenty of "Crusts and Crumbs".
This year I plan to do a lot of picking!! There are local blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and green beans to be had. I'd love to fill my big freezer with veggies and berries to tide me over during the long winter. I will definitely be putting up jam this year!!
I'm hoping to beg(or bribe) my MIL to send me a bushel of peaches from SC this year. I realize it's not local, but they are so good. Two years ago we went down for a visit and I refused to leave the state without a bushel. No big deal, except that our car was literally packed to capacity with a weeks worth of clothes, snacks, beach stuff, and 2 kids!! So, when it came time to get them in the car, it just wasn't going to happen. (or so DH thought) I ended up riding the 12 hours home with stuff packed around me in order to accommodate my treasure. But it was worth it!! I made peach cobbler, peach jam, peach~cantaloupe jam, peach muffins, peach sauce and grilled peaches. It was a good week. We just recently finished off the last of the jam, so now I'm ready for more.
I forgot to introduce myself. I'm a 30ish SAHM of two great kids, 12 &9. My DH and I have moved around a bit in our nearly 13 years of marriage. In each home, my real joy was the garden. They have all had their own challenges and blessings.

We first lived in Parma in an apartment over a store. There it was a small container herb garden that got me started. Then, Parma Hts where I had my first real garden. I started with a manageable 4x4 and it grew a bit each year. It was very basic. Tomatoes, green beans, peppers and mint. Yep, I made the mistake of planting mint. By the time we moved, there was an entire bed of mint that I couldn't tame. ooopppss.

After that, we moved to southeastern Ohio, out in the boonies. Literally, miles from anyone else. That garden was my pride and joy. It was huge!! Bigger than my entire yard now. It was there that I first grew corn(much appreciated by the raccoons), potatoes, radishes, lettuces, cucumbers and tons of different kinds of tomatoes. We had an ample supply of veggies all summer despite my involuntary sharing with the local wildlife and my chickens. Then it was onto Gerry,NY near Lake Chautauqua. Here I had a nice sized, semi-raised bed. This garden was not in a good location, with poor soil, but it still gave us a nice selection. My best crop here was potatoes. I grew several varieties.

Now we are back in Ohio. Our first summer here I tore out the bushes behind the house and planted my tomatoes,broccoli and lettuce there. Not ideal, but they did ok. Last year, I joined a local CSA so I didn't need much. Still I planted yellow squash and tomatoes. The squash did great, as did the CSA's, and the tomatoes did nothing. Luckily, the CSA fared better than I did, so we had tomatoes aplenty.

This year I decided to go deep. I don't have much room. Even less of it has sun, thanks to my neighbors giant oak tree. After reading "The Vegetable Gardeners Bible", I decided this was the way to go. We will see. The bed is 4x12. I'll be having dirt delivered as soon as the temp is above freezing. Then I'll plant my peas and lettuce. I'm starting broccoli, leeks and squash indoors. I will purchase tomatoes, peppers and tomatilloes from the CSA.
To be continued...