First Day

I grew up in a small town in Illinois.  We had dairy goats, chickens, ducks, and a very large garden. You could say we lived on a farm, but we really never sold anything.  There was a well on the property and plenty of wooded ravines.  We were almost self sufficient.  My mother was ahead of the organic and sustainable trend by about twenty years.

My brother and I helped mom to can tomatoes and make butter from fresh goat milk.  When it was time to collect the eggs, we'd turn it into a game of Easter Egg Hunt.  I even taught one of the chickens to sit on my head.  We ate so much duck, we started giving dressed ducks away at Christmas time.  The garden was healthy.  The black rich soil made everything seem to grow out of control!


Well, time has gone by and I have a family of my own.  We live in Los Angeles, on the border of Santa Monica, and there's no farm land in site. We live in an apartment and we don't even have a yard.  My wife and I have talked for years about getting some land and raising our children with a sustainable lifestyle, but it just hasn't happened.


Then one day I read this article (click here) and it hit me.  Do I really need to be way out in the country to grow food?  Isn't Southern California perfect for growing almost anything?  Yes & yes.  All I needed to do was get creative.

There's an Auto Repair Shop across the street from where I live and for the past seven years, I haven't seen a soul take care of their grass.  I'm talking about that little strip of land between the sidewalk and the street.  It's only 4ft wide, but it's approximately 150ft long.  That's 600 square feet of potential garden!


This morning, my son and I, walked over and asked if we could take care of this small piece of future paradise.  The nice gentleman behind the counter went for a walk with us around the property and said, "Go for it!".


My goal is to be self sufficient in 3 years or less.  I will barter and trade to get the things I can't grow.  Is it possible?  We'll see.  I'll try to post everyday, but there might be times when nothing is happening.