Gardening to Feed Your Family is a Process (Patience is a Virtue)

First Year Learning

About 14 months ago (May '08), I realized that I was seriously lacking in many of the skills necessary to provide for my family in the event that our personal economy or the economy as a whole would take a turn for the worse.  Though it was late in the season here in Texas, I built a raised bed garden on the side of our house and began to plant.  Needless to say, the garden produced very little aside from some lettuce and small carrots.  The lack of success was due to timing, but also due to my lack of commitment to the project (I put a timer on the sprinkler and waited for the plants to grow).  While the results from last year were disappointing, this step did however put us in a position for success this year!