This dinner we enjoyed a few nights ago may not be fancy, certainly not gourmet, but it is very satisfying, and tasty!. With the garden in full swing and harvests coming in everyday now, we have opportunity to have meals like this that are entirely from our mini-farm. This is one of our favorite dinners because everything on the plate--meat, herbs and veggies--is home grown: the roast Muscovy duck, (with celery, onions, thyme, parsley, and rosemary), sauteed garden peas (with mint), green beans, and sweet pepper.Of course, we'd like all of our meals to be like this one: home grown. Currently, the meat, milk, fish, eggs, veggies and fruits we're harvesting account for more than 50% of the calories we need. By emphasizing variety and focusing in recent years on growing nutrient dense crops, we can provide for almost all of our nutrition needs. However, because we don't have the space to grow more calorie-rich foods--grains, potatoes, etc.--we "import" them. Ideally, we will be able in the future to have enough surplus of what we can grow, to trade for the staples we cannot grow. With each passing season we come a little closer to that goal.
For example, increasing the number of our laying hens by 25% allows for 25% more eggs than we need. These we can sell or trade. By dedicating just 10% of our growing space in the garden to "cash" crops, we have been able to raise a little money to help pay for our "imports."
You can become more self-sufficient, too. If we can do it, so can you! Start small. Grow a few vegetables. Herbs are pretty easy. Get a couple of chickens--you give them table scraps, they give you eggs! Not only will the food you grow be more nutritious, but it will be more tasty than anything you can buy at the supermarket--because you grew it!