Did you know food stamps can pay for seeds for your food garden? For those of us that are on food stamps but still want to grow our own food, this can be a godsend. Consider that a packet of lettuce seed from Ed Hume (Mixed bowl variety) runs around $1.69 and can grow up to about 4-8 lbs of lettuce if it is all planted. Lettuce runs (for the organic cup up baby kind that most people buy) around 4.99 for 3/4 of a pound. So, assuming you got a container and soil from our Patio Green Thumb Project or could procure free pots/soil from Freecycle you get a savings there of around $26+ of your foodstamps over a summer! It may not seem like a lot, but when you consider more expensive items such as strawberries or blueberries, the savings become astronomical.
Here in Washington, there are all kinds of things you can grow. Personally, I would suggest selecting things that you/your family eat a lot that can get rather pricey, even when in-season. I grow zucchini, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, rosemary, oregano, basil, mint, lemon balm, primrose (yes it is edible!) and chammomile yearly. Last year I experimented with broccoli with mild success.
Like I said, your options are limitless. Check out The Bountiful Container by Mcgee and Stuckey - it is essentially your all purpose guide to container gardening. We will have our free materials out soon, with ideas for premade rotating container gardens for your convenience. We hope that we can reach more of all of you soon. If you are interested in supporting the Patio Green Thumb Project, click the link on supporting. It would be wonderful to see more container gardens cropping up on patios and windowsills everywhere!
Ali S. Hartwell
ESCA President
