The many benefits of gardening for food.

In early 2008 I was watching the news on television. The economy had started its decline and the story concerned a woman in Pennsylvania who had been laid off from her job. She was filmed pushing a shopping cart out of a grocery store and was asked what she had purchased with her final paycheck. She proceeded to show the reporter all forms of processed foods in cans, boxes and plastic containers. Not a single fresh or nutritious food was purchased that day.Here was someone who had just lost her source of income but had also gained something she may not have had before: time. Now she could prepare more time consuming but less expensive, more nutritious food for her family. Yet she had chosen to purchase food that required minimal preparation time, was costly and for the most part low in nutrition. It struck me that this person now might have the time to devote to gardening for food to feed her family. I don't know if this woman had a yard with room for a garden, had access to a community garden or had a friend or relative with room for a garden, but if she did then gardening for food would be a good option for her. She could feed her family fresh veggies and also preserve some of the bounty of the garden for later consumption. She might also even give some away. Eating more nutritious food at a lower cost is a win-win. I've been gardening for food for many years—not because I can't afford to buy processed foods but because I want the freshest, most nutritious organic and non-genetically engineered food possible. I want to know where my food comes from and how it was grown and I want it year-round. I started with several four- by eight-food raised beds and every year I added a couple more until I had 26 raised beds. No one needs 26 raised beds for a family of two, so a lot of what I grow is given away. I take great pleasure in being able to do this. Gardening for food includes growing vegetables such as tomatoes, summer squash and eggplant that you plant in the spring to eat in the summer. I'm now also eating crops I planted in winter such as garlic, onions and potatoes that can be stored and enjoyed long after harvest. The garlic I harvest in summer usually lasts for almost a year. The onions last for months and we never have to buy potatoes between June and December.  I love growing storage beans, like cannellini and cranberry beans. Once dried, they last forever, but when you grow your own and get used to eating beans that are less than a year old you realize how much more flavorful, they are. A few years ago, my wife and I started growing Floriani red flint corn. This variety is widely planted in Italy's Po Valley for polenta. You will never have polenta as delicious as the polenta you make with your own Floriani red flint corn. Last but not least are the veggies that are planted in late summer to early fall. These include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, chard and lettuces. It's rewarding to watch them grow and think about the meals you will make with them.Gardening for food also typically includes canning, freezing or drying so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor months later. In our house there is no such thing as too many tomatoes. What we don't eat fresh gets peeled, seeded and transformed into tomato sauce. Some of that tomato sauce then becomes catsup, chili sauce, barbecue sauce, arinara sauce or, after reduction, tomato paste. We also put up whole peeled tomatoes, and we chop some tomatoes and preserve them as salsa. We roast chiles and then freeze them for use later in many southwestern dishes. And we dry chiles, tomatoes and herbs for seasonings year-round. It has been more than 15 years since I saw this story on the news but I haven't been able to get this woman out of my mind. My hope is that even just one person will read this article and start gardening for food and then will tell another person until everyone is eating more affordable and more nutritious food day in and day out. Workshop: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for a workshop on “A Succulent/Dry Garden is Dry, Not Drab, and Totally Fab!” on Saturday, July 29, from 10 am to noon, at Las Flores Learning Garden, 4300 Linda Vista Avenue, Napa. Learn how to put amazing water-saving succulent plants to work in your home landscape. Register at:  https://ucanr.edu/2023lflg-julsucculents. Library Talk: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa for “Smart Landscaping with Ornamental Vines” on Thursday, August 3, from 7 pm to 8 pm via Zoom. Learn more about vine behavior, cultivation and control and suggested species for Napa Valley. Register to receive the Zoom link: https://ucanr.edu/2023aug3librarytalk.