A few months Several months ago my friend Angela published and gave me her book called Backyard Farming on An Acre (More or Less). For a suburban-raised guy like me who’s now living in the country, it’s become my go to book on how we can lead a more sustainable, eco-friendly, healthier lifestyle.

How You Can Get Started

First, buy the book. It’s a quick but detailed read and helps you understand the basics of growing your own food regardless of the size of your property. With a quick trip to the home improvement store I was off an running with a bunch of 2×4, my circular saw, a cordless drill and some screws. For every three pieces of wood, we were able to cut one in half and make a nice raised bed for our 20′ x 20′ garden.

Once you get the hang of it you can literally have a raised bed put together within minutes. I saw kits recently at Home Depot for making raised beds, but it’s cheaper to buy the wood yourself and do it yourself. Plus, it’s not exactly an intimidating project as you’re not building a house or solid structure – you’re just screwing 4 pieces of wood together in a rectangular shape. Simple, right?

My wife and I then plotted out our garden based on the flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables we wanted to grow. A quick drop off of soil from the local nursery and we’re off and running. We’re even giving some vertical gardening a try with a trellis that we picked up for a few bucks from the garden center. It’s also crucial that you pick up heirloom seeds so that you’re getting non-GMO products. Unless, of course, you like those bland, apple-like tomatos.

They say the biggest barrier to getting started is just your will to do it. Hopefully this post shows you it’s a lot easier to get started than you think. And, in a short while, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of a weekend’s worth of work.

Food You Can Trust

As my pal Vincenzo says, if he can’t make it he typically won’t buy it. Growing our own food is just one way we’re teaching our kids about taking responsibility for their actions and specifically the food that they eat. It’s also going to be a treat when they go out back to the berry patch or tomato plans and snag a few out of the garden.

You can DO IT!

Will you give Backyard Farming a shot? If you are and are blogging/tweeting about it, please drop a link in the comments to share your progress!

At any rate, my neighboring town of Highland, NY passed a law banning the practice of hydrofracking in their town the other day. This joins several other towns in our county who’ve agreed that a quick, temporary fix for the local economy at the price of contaminating our water and air forever isn’t worth it.

“The concept of jeopardizing our surface waters and aquifers is entirely repugnant to me. I strongly believe that a community has the right of self-destiny, also known as ‘home rule’ and it is abundantly clear that this community overwhelmingly wants to ban fracking from our borders. On a personal level, for the past 50 years I have spent an enormous amount of time in the woods, on lakes, and in streams and in rivers. Fighting to make sure this legacy is insured is what a sportsman is about.”

Councilman Scully posed the question, “For those of you who think that we are taking away your rights to make money and have rights to your minerals… what makes that right more important than the rights of the people of the Town of Highland to have clean water and land to pass on to their children?”

And that’s exactly what it comes down to. I have a right to clean air and water. I have a right, as do my kids, to not be poisoned because you want to make a buck (drug dealers and pimps could make the same argument re: “let me use my land to make money!”, btw).

The fact is that the Catskills are beautiful, natural and pristine and that’s the way of life those of us who’ve chosen to move or vacation here want. We moved up here to give our kids the space they need to be kids, a way of life that doesn’t involve purchasing everything in order to survive, and one that will teach them about living a sustainable life. We moved here to be a part of a community. We moved here because, even if some opinions are different than ours on issues, the core of why we love the Catskills is the same. Why would anyone want to take the risk of ruining it for a quick buck?