If you live in the great white north, chances are you are in full on hibernation mode. It can get kind of depressing but there are ways out of it. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and I’ve been learning about what I can do in my own backyard to improve the earth. This has lead me to one of my favorite projects – I am planning my garden – and planning a larger project at the same time.

Sure, it’s January, but what better time is there?

I’ve started my own brand of activism by suggesting and now planning and orchestrating a community garden project.

We have a group of families in my town that are good friends. Some we’ve met through our children, others we’ve met through circumstance. A few of us are avid gardeners. This year, rather than each manning our own beds, we’re going to try something a little different. We’re going to share the labor and the literal fruits of those labors.

We’ll each choose a group of crops and then as they come into season, we’ll have our own miniature farm share. We’ll also experiment with some canning and preserving as we go so we have some for the fall, winter and spring. For my community gardeners, I’m going to make a list of the common crops that are easy for all of use to grow, the right season and then we’ll all get together and divvy up the goodies.

I am taking my own planning and vegetable beds to the next level, planning my soil preparation and crop growth and swapping for the whole season.

How do I know how to do this? Well, for my own garden, I know where my bed was last year and I think I know how to expand it this year for maximum yield. I’m getting some great guidance from a great book: How to Grow More Vegetables (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains, and other crops) *Then You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine by John Jeavons.

This book is basically a manual for stretching your small piece of land into a vegetable producing powerhouse. We’re talking 100 square feet packed with everything from cherries to chard to potatoes! I can’t wait!

I’m also planning according to the local crops where I live. For instance I am surrounded by orchards in central Massachusetts and by small farms that produce fabulous corn crops. So I won’t be buying and planting an apple tree and I also won’t be working with corn. Instead, I’m going to choose hardy options that will withstand my beginner clumsiness!

The winter is a great time to plan out what you want to do because you can budget, layout and maximize your growing season. Also, its fun to look forward to warming weather and getting my hands back in the dirt. I grew a nice variety of veggies last summer and I look forward to experimenting with even more this year.

After all, one of the best ways to create a more sustainable society is to sustain yourself!