FREEDOM GARDENER OF THE MONTH: JANUARY 2009
Featured Freedom Gardener of January 2009
Vintage Flapper's Garden
Freedom Gardens: Hi VintageFlapper congratulations! You have been selected to be the Freedom Gardener of January 2009!
Tell us a little more about your garden.
VintageFlapper: Thank you so VERY much for this honor. I am seriously excited about this, and it totally made my day.
In 2008 I had gardens in two locations, in 2009 it will expand to three locations. First, my small main garden is at my home. I live in a housing co-operative and we are allowed a small front and small back garden area for our use. The past four years I have gardened in large and small containers on the 100 square foot backyard deck and also on the 100 square foot of land surrounding my deck. In 2009 I will continue gardening in the back area and am planning to try to extend my edibles into the front garden area (roughly 150 square feet).
My second garden is at my rural parcel nearby. I have a 1.5 acre parcel with a pole barn and a large fenced area for my rescue dogs to run around and play in when we visit (there is no fenced yard at the co-op). In 2008 I also had a 1000 square foot fenced garden at the land. In 2009 we will be adding a second 1000 square foot fenced garden area. The parcel is also edged with grape vines on 3 sides and provides us with a number of small grapes for fresh eating, jams, jellies, etc. We also have a number of black raspberry plants growing in the rear of the parcel.
In 2008 we found that, while having the garden at the parcel was nice, we probably should've planted less time and water intensive plants there. We also found out, the hard way, that our parcel is actually in a "cold pocket" in the area. We lost the majority of our tomato harvest and summer squash to an early extreme dip in temperatures, far colder than had been forecast. As we try to live as car-free as possible, we were only able to take trips out to the parcel once or twice a week, and that just wasn't often enough for optimal watering and weeding of the garden's "prima donna" summer vegetable plants. We decided that in 2009 we will focus on growing more easy root veggies & pumpkins out at the parcel, and will move the tomatoes, summer squash, and other more labor intensive crops to a plot in the community garden within walking distance, pretty near my bus stop. This will be our third garden.
We generally grow tons of heirloom tomatoes (my favorite!), herbs, greens, peas, beans, potatoes, spaghetti squash, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and summer squash. I like to try my hand at growing new-to-me and unusual things, like rice beans, or long keeping storage tomatoes, so I always have a number of "experimental" plants in my garden at any time. In 2009 we will be adding beets, radishes, turnips, pumpkins and possibly more. Our big 2009 experiment will be growing a small crop of sugar beets at our rural parcel & making a smal batch of sugar out of them. I am very unhappy about the decision to allow GMO sugar beets to be planted and am attempting to, as a long term plan, incorporate more honey and homemade sugars into my diet.
Freedom Gardens: Behind every garden, there must have been blood, sweat and tears. What have you felt was (is) the hardest thing you’ve faced (or are facing) in your gardening? Would you care to share a story?
VintageFlapper: The biggest difficulties are witnessing plant dying and crop failure (like our big freeze out this year, or the powdery mildew problems of 2006). It's also difficult to schedule enough garden time while not neglecting the rest of my life. My friends now know that if you want to hang out with Meg in the spring/summer, you need to go to the garden, or if you want to hang out in the fall, you'll probably have to do so while working in the kitchen helping to preserve the harvest! I commute via a combination of walking and bus riding, and this eats up a lot of my time as bus schedules often conflict with work schedules. I feel that it is important that I support and promote the idea of commuting without a personal auto (I've been doing it for a decade now), and it is also key for me that I have the "down time" in my commute to read, listen to audiobooks or music, work on to do lists, etc. It is also a challenge to garden productively at my home while still meeting the co-op's requirements that the garden be "aesthetically pleasing" as I am one of very few gardeners here who incorporate any fruits/veg into their gardens. In fact, I believe I may be the only one in the co-op who gardens exclusively with edibles! It is a challenge, for sure, to keep the garden both pretty and productive at the same time.
Freedom Gardens: What do you feel is the most important thing in gardening?
VintageFlapper: To me, the most important things in gardening would be a) delicious organically grown produce, of whatever varieties I want, for very little cost and b) the fact that through gardening I can further my goals of living a more self sufficient and sustainable lifestyle.
Freedom Gardens: Have You Changed – emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually – since you’ve gardened?
VintageFlapper: I've always gardened (mostly helping out my stepdad or his parents in California as a kid and teen, and at least a little bit of container gardening on decks, if not full out gardening in my adult years), but I've been taking it more seriously and trying to be more self sustaining with my gardening choices. Since I've been focusing on learning more and growing more intensively I've developed a big sense of accomplishment and pride in what I do. It's also helped train my brain towards a more seasonal eating cycle.
Also, I tend to be a very busy, constantly on the go sort of person and two things have really helped me slow down and enjoy life more...one is gardening and the other is working with special needs rescue dogs. Both have taught me to focus more on the moment and enjoying my life as I have it now. In 2007 I was diagnosed with a major heart defect and a major lung problem caused by the heart problem for which there are no cures. I found that my lifespan will be greatly reduced as a result of these illnesses. Thank goodness for the life lessons I learned from my dogs and my garden, or this terrible time would've been much worse for me. I was already so much more focused on living in the now and enjoying what I had at the moment that it's been an easier transition for me. As far as physically...the garden really helps me keep in good shape. I am limited to what I can do, exercise-wise, but most gardening work and walking are still open to me, so I do them happily. My doctors say this is basically the exercise plan they would prescribe for someone in my situation, if I weren't doing it already!
Freedom Gardens: Has the website (freedomgardens.org) helped you with your garden?
VintageFlapper: Both the Freedom Gardeners site and the Path To Freedom site have been a major help. The Freedom Gardeners is great because I have learned so much just browsing the boards, gotten great ideas from listening to other peoples' plans or looking at their garden photos, and from the information and idea exchanges constantly going on. I also love sharing info I have with others. I've met some really great, likeminded people here, which is awesome, and I must say that the Homesteading Newbies group is GREAT! Where I live (southeast Michigan) most people I meet can understand the concept of gardening for fun and a little extra produce, but think I am really wacky because I do not store buy bread, but make it....because I can and freeze food and am excited about the idea of drying/dehyrating food. They think I'm odd because I believe strongly in supporting the local farmers and local food economy and, thus, refuse to buy sugar grown out of state, refuse to buy potatoes, apples or berries/cherries grown out of state (all of the above are big Michigan crops), and generally try to make most of my non-homegrown produce, wine, and food purchases from in-state growers/producers. No one I have talked with locally is as interested in food security issues or self sufficiency/sustainability issues as I, yet here on the Freedom Gardeners there are a lot of us for whom these things are of key importance. I think this is great!
The Path to Freedom site made me realize it *is* possible to be more self sufficient and live more sustainably while living in a city. They also made me realize that, yes, I can live as frugally as I do and am not really weird because I don't believe in spending tons of money. The inspiration I got from that site helped me formulate my long term plans to move to Alaska to garden and work with rescue dogs in the Mat-Su Valley (the agricultural capital of Alaska). It also helped me feel that, yes, I can quit my higher paying, but stressful job and do something I like more that pays less. I really needed a wakeup call on that one, and the Path To Freedom ideal of working at something you love and enjoy helped me to quit my stressful job this summer and make a career change to a field I enjoy more. It's less prestigious and the pay is less than 2/3 what I had previously, but I am much happier *and* the key rush/busy seasons are in the winter, versus my former job where I busy time was at harvest time, so I am much less stressed during the busiest garden/harvest seasons now!
Freedom Gardens: Anything else you’d like to share with other freedom gardeners?
VintageFlapper: : I seriously want to tell people who aren't familiar with it that solar cooking is not as weird, scary, or hard as it may sound. Like PTF I've been solar cooking for years (right around two decades now, plus or minus a couple of years) and I found it much simpler and easier than cooking on the stovetop or regular oven. In the summer, when my mom and stepdad were busy with garden harvest and preserving, it was not uncommon for me to be the person in charge of dinner....back when I was a pre-teen and teenager. It's that easy. It is pretty simple, basic, and fun method of cooking and the food tastes fabulous.
I've posted a bunch of general info and some recipes over in the Homesteading Newbies group, and anyone/everyone is welcome to stop by and gather info. My current solar cooker is the Sport Solar Oven I bought from PTF's Peddlar's Wagon store, and I am extremely happy with it. I hope to add one of their fancier versions in the shop now once I've relocated to Alaska and will have even more summer sun to work with, as I know I will probably be wanting to cook more than 2 dishes at a time and would need more than one oven to achieve this. For now this one works great for our basic household needs. You can even cook with it in the winter when the sun decides to pop out for a day or two, which is great!
Thanks again to all of you for selecting me for the Freedom Gardener for the month, I am so very pleased and excited. 
Freedom Garden: Thanks, VintageFlapper for sharing your growing experiences with us. It's always fascinating to read about other's gardening journey and especially how gardening has had a positive effect in both your life and health. Even more exciting was to read about your low impact cooking methods and long term plans - a move to Alaska!
If you haven't had a chance check out Vintage Flappers photo gallery it's full of wonderful snapshots from her urban homestead.
All of us at Freedom Gardens wish you a productive, bountiful and healthful new year.
Be sure to visit VintageFlapper's profile to make a connection with this homegrown revoluntionary.
Freedom Gardeners of the Month receive a gift from the online store Peddler's Wagon - Green Goods for the Good of the Planet. (Please support Freedom Gardens and help us grow by purchasing from our store)
