~ Home Made Dreams ~

I've always dreamed a dream of simple country living. Putting food up from our own garden. Sewing all of our curtains, quilts for the beds and windows, table cloths, crocheting borders on shelves and towels, afghans and pillows to match all through the house. Really having a home made home through and through.
While I'm not done dreaming of living in the country - I am done putting the rest of the dream on hold until we get there. Maybe we can't exactly keep chickens and goats, both due to city ordinances, and lack of space...but I can have a garden. Granted, it will be a small garden. Well, small gardens. In the front, we will have 2 dwarf fruit trees, surrounded with flowering herbs. I'm thinking maybe apples. In the back, we'll espiral a couple of dwarf pear trees. We already have the remnants of a grape arbour out back, and we plan to rebuild and plant with grapes again. In the main garden out back for the summer, we will have peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, spaghetti squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and beans. Along the side yard, we'll have melons going up the fence. Cantaloupe, and small watermelons - nothing too large. Spring and Fall, we'll have radishes, carrots, collard greens, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, and lettuces growing. That's as far as I've gotten with my list. It's difficult - because while I could easily think of more to grow - I want to be sure what I grow makes the most sense for us because our space is limited. Corn is still relatively cheap at the market, and while it is we can stock up on that some. It takes up too much space for too small a yield to make it practical for our little postage stamp garden.
We live in zone 5 - so cold frames could be used to extend our growing season for some vegetables. Because we've only lived here since this past July, I'm not really confident where the best placement for that would be. This year - since we won't be busy repainting, replacing hot water heaters, carpets, floors, and light fixtures - I'm hoping to get a better idea of where one could be placed. We're fortunate that we can see grapes, apple, and pear trees in neighboring properties - so we are pretty sure they should grow well here too. Plus, there had been a garden out back before, and from what I am told - it did very nicely.
While I'm waiting for Spring, and planning the garden on paper and in my minds eye - I'll be working on some other projects. Slowly turning our new house into a home that suits us. I'll also be collecting patterns and recipes, trying to put things together to live my dream as best as I can from right where I am.