Growing Things In Small Shady Places

I like to have things growing even though I do not have ideal growing conditions here I am very grateful that I can grow anything at all. I have some container growing going on and I have my niece who sells fresh vegetables in the fall. I am affirming daily that I have clean fresh food to eat. I have solved some of this problem by having food delivered right from the farm.  I have gone into partnership with raising 100 pasture run chickens to eat, then later in the year to get all the fresh free run eggs. I get lots of vegetables in the Fall from Patty my niece and can and freeze lots of food. I save all year to be able to buy this extra food. I am on a list for a community garden. I may be moving soon to Seattle and then I will have a community garden at my apartment. I am grateful that my food supply and water supply are healthier all the time.

HUD Housing is not very accommodating even though they should be the first to recognize  the need for low income people to grow their own food. The money spent on training welfare recipients how to cook from scratch was very successful and cut down on the need for food stamps. Now in a time when everyone wants to save on Food Stamps and other benefits given it seems that they would go out of their way to find ways for people to connect with people who have bare land or house for sale that have garden spaces. Give people who have garden space a tax break. It would pay off in the end in saving in benefits.  Here in Portland and the surrounding areas there are lots of community gardens but long waiting lists to use on and high fees. Up to $50. a plot with three year waiting lists. This is not good land use planning.  It does not offer the person an alternative to benefits and dignity by growing some of their own food. I found a friend who is in a nursing home for the summer and she gave me her garden just for this year. Before I found her I advertised on Craig's list. However, the people who answered wanted to much to use their land. I understand that they have insurance issues and watering costs. However, a lot of farms here have watering ponds, wells, and cisterns. Having people buy their own insurance would make sense.

I have written this before but supporting the local farmer is everything. You can buy a lot cheaper if you go directly to the farmer and make an offer on him raising you a pig, a beef cow, 100 chickens. Ducks, Geese, pheasant, other wild game can be raise on a farm. I buy rabbit on a regular basis from a farmer who has his rabbits on a field they are not in hutches. I own the rabbits, buy the food and he feeds my rabbits until they are raised.  This works well with the rabbits as they dress out  at about 6 or 7 pounds at 6 weeks.  "Technically Flemish giants aren't really meat rabbits. I believe they are considered fancy rabbits. I had a litter of flemish once, and I would say, at 8 weeks they are around 6 or 7 lbs. ( I never did butcher them due to me being a softie.) They have big frames and heavy bone. Big ol' bunnies, but they eat a ton and I don't think the amount of meat on them is worth it. 
NZW are supposed to be fine boned, nice and meaty and are good for converting feed to meat." from the meat rabbit forum.

I bought Flemish last year and am trying New Zealand's this year.  Try some of this information and leave the rest. 

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