Family Garden Coop

It is 35 and rainy out today, so of course I have gardening on my brain. Soon it will be time to plant. I am planning on Mothers Day, 25 days, but who's counting?

I have been rolling this idea for a Family Garden Coop around in my head for a few weeks now, trying to form a vision of how I would like it to go, and I came up with a brilliant idea! It stems partly from the rise in food costs, partly from my desire to avoid chemical additives in my families food, and partly from the book I read that prompted my Tech free week, Better Off

I am looking for 4 or 5 families, that live locally, who are willing to plant a garden and share their surplus harvest with the group, in a weekly produce exchange. You know, all those tomatoes and cucumbers that you have no idea what to do with, that just go bad because you can't eat them all. I would like to meet on Friday evenings this summer, to do a produce swap. If you bring some produce, you can take some different produce back home with you. Fridays are the day before the farmers market, so we can swap for free, and then buy what we still need the next day at the market. We can meet at different parks around town so the children can all play together.

In order for this to work, we would each have to plant a few extra one or two items with the intent of having a surplus. Something you are especially good at growing. I can keep a list of who would like to plant what.

In addition to a produce swap, I would like to offer up my kitchen for mass canning production. I think it would be great to all get together and put up our produce for winter. If you have a clue on how to do that, I would like to be mentored on how! Ideally I think it would be fun to do a Jelly making session, a vegetable canning session, and apple sauce/butter/pie filling session.

  So, if you are interested in my experiment of FREE local organic foods, and increased sustainability, please let me know!