Eating Vegetarian and Gardening

It has been over a week and almost going on two weeks where I have not prepared a meal with meat in it. I am thrilled, as I have wanted to go vegetarian for years, although lack the follow up to it. I will miss BBQ burnt ends, but since I don't make them and only eat them a few times a year it's not really an issue. We are not going vegetarian for the obvious reasons but instead are tired of buying meat, and the impact that meat eating has on the environment. There is a lot of land that is dedicated to growing feed for cattle and other animals that could be used for actually growing real food. I know I have lived in farm country. I can tell you what winter wheat looks like, corn, wheat, and soybeans. I know when it's about ready to be harvested.

What pushed us over the edge of meat was actually the economy. We are making changes now, we don't have to but we can only see things getting worse. The more we are not dependent on stores, truckers and in turn oil the better. We are increasing our own food production from our little 4 x 8 garden to as much as my shady yard will provide. The prospective area in the yard is very limited to the south side of the house and is in partial shade later in the afternoon the closer you get to the front yard.
It would help in my urge to provide most of our foods if we would stay put long enough to see a garden be fruitful. We had the most beautiful strawberries in our last home. I wish I could have taken them with us. Here strawberries grow but they take up so much space that I need to find an alternative way to grow them in a small area that does not cost anything to plant them in. I have seen some really neat stackable containers but in order to get enough plants in them it would cost me well over $100. I just can not justify spending that much money to grow your own fruit.

It is also so hot here already. They are calling for us to hit the 100 mark weeks earlier then usual. We have already gotten to 102 heat index this last weekend, and with it that miserable out I don't feel motived to leave my airconditioned computer chair.

K is really having a hard summer so far. She loves to swim. We have not put up our pool because we found that you are supposed to have a special pool permit, fencing that goes up 6 ft and alarms on your doors. Now I don't feel that is all necessary for a blow up pool, but we do have little neighbors living next door and our pool is big enough that it does need to be hidden. So we are applying for a permit to put up a fence. Crazy. We built an interior of a house without a permit but here we need a permit for a fence and front doors.

In the meanwhile K has found a way to satisfy her thirst for water.


This is her and our neighbor taking part in the small K method of cooling off. Much more water saving then bugging mom to slip and slide. Now if only I can get her to use the water on the garden we'd be in business.