If you have read our Gluten-Free Blog for the past couple years, you have discovered our love of gardening, and our desire to grow as many of the gluten-free foods that we consume, organically, in our current home garden. We use a no-till, organic, minimal-impact approach to gardening, and it has produced some great results.
We have featured all sorts of vegetables, herbs, and recipes using these home-grown delicious treats in various gluten-free recipes - if interested, see the prior blogs including:
Fresh Peppermint and Recipe Ideas
Miniature Watermelon - Tiny but Tasty
Wonderful White-Squash
Gluten-Free Breakfast the easy way
Gluten-Free Recipes : Pumpkin / Tomato Soup
Gluten-Free Recipes : Eggplant, Asian Style
- Gluten-Free Recipe: Italian Tomato Sauce Recipe
Gluten-Free Recipes : Squash, Eggplant, and more
With the planting season quickly approaching, we have finally decided to follow through with our desire to expand our gluten-free garden beyond what our current property can support.
Yes, we are (with luck) moving from "gardening" to "farming", as we have decided that there may be no better time to acquire arable farm / agricultural land than the present (while home and land prices are greatly depressed). And, food prices, especially gluten-free items, seem to have skyrocketed in price (if only I could grow Quinoa here!)
This decision to farm is the reason I have not been actively writing entries here on the Gluten-Free Blog for a few weeks, as we have been busy looking at properties, making offers, and finally having one accepted that will give us PLENTY of room to grow enough to not only consume ourselves, but hopefully offer for sale to others as well.
ACRES and ACRES of Gluten-Free Foods...
Perhaps I am jumping ahead a bit, since we need to now prepare the land, plant crops, tend them, and harvest them, but the end goal is to grow a few acres of gluten-free delights. We have plans for fruit trees, berry bushes, and all those garden favorites we have previously featured here.
Ohio still has plenty of farmland available for a reasonable price, and a price that the crops can potentially offset and pay back over time. And, barring any unforeseen complications, we should soon take possession of our new "farm" property (it is zoned agricultural, as compared to the city residential zone we currently live and grow our crops in). My wife and I are excited and hopeful that we can get the seeds and such in the ground in time to take full advantage of the growing season (which is somewhat limited in Ohio compared to more Southern locations).
I hope to sooner or later post pictures of this new "gluten-free farm" once it comes into being. But, this will certainly take some work yet. And, chances are, my gluten-free recipes backlog will only grow further. And, I have all sorts of product reviews to do, some book promotion ideas to try out (more charitable-funds-raising related stuff), and more. Busy, busy. Too busy!
Moving...
Oh, and did I mention we were moving!? That is the one part I was not fully prepared for, but the property we found has a nice home on it already, and it seemed to make sense to move to where the new "farm" would be to minimize the need to drive to and fro. The new location is not too terribly far from where we live now, and still in Ohio.
Needless to say, we are going to be VERY busy for a while... first there is all the boxing of everything... then, we have all sorts of painting to do to make our current home reflect an up-to-date color-scheme and such, as styles have changed a fair amount since we moved here nearly 20 years ago. Anybody want to wield a paintbrush? :)
And, before I forget, this physical move to a new location has me seriously considering some inventive promotions for our Gluten-Free Desserts Recipe Book, since we have, quite literally, over a TON of books in stock from the most recent printing that I will otherwise need to move (not fun!) So, if you have any great ideas for promoting a quick sale of this current inventory, beyond just our current donation of all proceeds to Food Banks, feel free to suggest. Thanks!
