Growing up my parents always had a garden, sometimes smaller, sometimes pretty large (pushing an acre when I was in junior high and high school). It seemed to me as a kid that there was ALWAYS work to be done in the garden after school. Prepping the area, planting, weeding, harvesting, shelling beans, etc. To this day the idea of cutting okra on a hot Louisiana day still gives me the willies...and I didn't even LIKE okra!
But the trade-off for all the work was we had plenty of fresh veggies and some fruits during the growing season, and in general my mom canned plenty of the extra to get us through until the next harvest season.
Now if there's anything this pandemic has made clear to me, it's that our food supplies aren't as robust as we might like. While everyone may have been scrambling for toilet paper, that wasn't the only shortage on the shelves. Milk, bread, pasta, potatoes, eggs, meats and other common staples quickly became scarce. And even now weeks later, while MOST things are now readily available on the shelves, there are still limits for some purchases.
Now unless you're going to go full farmer mode, true food independence is unlikely. However, it is possible to be less dependent upon the "normal" food supply chain.
We've mentioned before, there are local farmers in our area that can supply you with produce (in season), eggs and meat.
When we get back to allowing gatherings again, there are a number of local farmers' markets and stands you can visit too.
There's even one local community, Aberlin Springs, that is integrated with a farm so the residents get a share of the food produced by "their" farm.
And of course, there's the opportunity for you to grow your own food. Obviously there are many factors to consider for this. First, you need to have the inclination. Second, your home & community will have a say in what you can and can't do. If you're in an HOA, you have to adhere to those rules, and in general you're not going to find many that okay having chickens in your backyard! But you may be able to have a garden plot, or maybe you'll have to settle for container gardening.
Bottom line, among the many factors to consider in your next home purchase, consider what you can and can't do with your property. Much of our local market is more rural, and if your home is in one of the townships vs. inside city limits, you'll generally find more opportunity to be free to garden and raise as you please.
Want to discuss further? Just call Bill at 513-520-5305 or email Liz@LizSpear.com.
Serving Greater Cincinnati home buyers and sellers,
Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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