#highly recommend vegetable gardens specifically its a good meditation on the circle of life without having to kill an animal for meat

[anarcho-smarmyism]

so this is our third season doing a vegetable garden and we could have a more productive harvest than last year. we're growing several tomatoes and peppers, attempting a watermelon patch (apparently they're very difficult to grow but 🤞🤞🤞), some wheat that he intends to use go brew a braggot, possibly some potatoes, onions and chives, and some herbs (lavender, mint, lemon balm, chamomile) I stole from Walmart. we've got a lot of work to do to prepare our backyard for it but ultimately we've collected enough compost since last season to completely replace the soil where we need to plant with soil rich in nutrients and earthworms, so considering we usually just are adding vegetables to pasta, soups, or stir fry, our goal of replacing 10% of our diet is theoretically achievable (very unlikely since losing some of the plants is pretty much inevitable). it's also something we can and do barter or share with our social circle here; my partner just brought a small amount of freshly grown basil toy cousin, since she's been having trouble finding basil in any grocery stores lately. someone my aunt knows has already given us a couple dozen eggs from her chickens, so I bet we could trade our ghost peppers and bell peppers for even more. the more food and goods we produce that keeps us from driving to the store to buy it, or that keeps someone in our social group from it, the better for the planet and local economy; plus gardening does wonders for our mental health, we get delicious fresh veggies, and we can provide high-quality goods that are starting to be unavailable or prohibitively expensive (last year we got the equivalent of perhaps $15 worth of produce over several months. that stuff would b almost twice as expensive now!). I'm still struggling to get my shit together enough to pay bills and keep our house clean, but soon I'll have the spoons to volunteer locally as well. until then I have to be content making my little quarter acre of rented land prettier, more fertile and welcoming to more types of plants, bring more pollinators to the area. There's a short pecan tree back there too, i got only 6 pecans from ot thos season, sweeter than any ive had before. this garden will have such a small impact on anything but a small number still isn't zero, you know?