My Boreal Homestead Life

For years I  only planted tomatoes I could get in the local stores or  nurseries.   But I got tired of the same varieties and when I found something I  liked, they were not always available year to year.  So I started  starting my own using seeds I could find in the stores.  Then about three years ago, after tiring of the paste tomatoes I could get my hands on and trialing a few different paste type tomatoes, I dove into the world of tomatoes.  And what a world it is!  In 2023 I grew a number of new varieties as trials and in 2024 the world of tomatoes is getting bigger for me.  There was certainly some surprises in the trial, the amount of harvest being just one of the surprises.

Whether a person grows a garden, visits a farmers market or receives produce from other gardeners, a person can often be faced with more produce than they know what to do with.  There are many preservation methods, but ranking up there for me is canning as my main preservation tool.  Gifting the extra produce to friends, family and neighbors is certainly something that I do on occasion to deal with the abundance but ultimately the main thing I do is to can it up so that I do not need to buy it from the grocery store. Granted, there is work to put it up and there is some expense.  But inevitably, the question arises if it is really worth it.  Do I save money by canning? And so, I decided to do a deep dive, gather some data and do some analysis to find out!

Developing an orchard or even planting a couple trees takes time as we wait for them to produce.  But if one is developing a food forest, the planning, implementing and then waiting for the ecosystem to develop can seem like an eternity.  I came to the conclusion that by incorporating high production annuals and perennials into a food forest layout I could see production whilst ensuring that the ecosystem is still being developed.  From this, my thinking of a food forest orchard garden was born.  It has been a struggle at times and I have asked myself occasionally if it is really worth it. 

Although I have been gardening for decades, it has always been viewed by folks as a lot of work that does nothing to save money. “You can buy it cheaper in the store” and “Once you include your labor and seeds it is expensive” were just a couple things that were said.  I told myself that they just don't understand and I continued to grow my gardens despite the comments.  Fast forward to 2023 and I decided that I would try to answer this question and explore if my gardens are actually saving me money.

With the first slight warming of the soil, things like this underutilized perennial vegetable spring to life to come forth and produce the first spring flush of mineral and vitamin rich deliciousness. The epitome of eating seasonally. 

Although there are a few perennial vegetables that a person can establish to accompany the spring foraging around my yard such as Good King Henry, Sorrel or Winter onions, none will come on or produce like this perennial vegetable. A must have in every landscape and garden.

The calendar flips to the new year and my thoughts turn to planting the garden and looking into things to grow for the upcoming season.  And as winter turns to spring, the gardening itch gets a little more serious and I order the seeds I need based on what I have decided to grow.  But deciding what I want to grow means that I have to do some sort of garden planning to make it happen.  And then, before I know it, it is seed starting time for the upcoming garden.  But how do I decide what and how much to plant or seed start?