"You can solve all the world's problems in a garden." Geoff Lawton

Do you remember my 'Obsessions-I Have Many' post from a while back? Well, I have a new obsession. As of the last six months or so, I am obsessed with learning about how to become more self reliant-It really started when I was little-maybe seven- and tried to grow my own garden in the 'river system' (for those not original members of the Michaelson clan-this was a dirt patch at the Reno house that got the name river system because we created little rivers and ponds using our hose and played with our GI Joes all the day long there). Anyway, I would regularly save up my quarters and dimes and trade them in for seeds at the store. I talked many times with my Uncle Jim who had a beautiful thriving vegetable garden in Alpine about how to grow things. I would plant the seeds in egg cartons and watch the little seedlings shoot up. Once they were big enough, I would transplant these seeds to the river system. I remember feeling such satisfaction at watching something grow from such a tiny seed. And although my garden never amounted to much, it taught me a few things:

1. Gardening gives me peace

2. It IS possible to grow vegetables in Vegas

3. Anything worth while takes time and needs to be nourished in order to grow-and many other things.

This remembrance and my new obsession with being self reliant has galvanized me into creating another garden here in dry, hot Las Vegas. Morgan found a little vacant patch of ground, about 450 square feet that he received permission from the owner to use for a garden. And so the process of staring seeds indoors in small containers has started all over again. I anticipate with my previous resume of gardening experience, his fourth generation farming genes and a little book learnin' that we've been doing, that we will be able to eat vegetables from our garden in the next three months. Stay tuned for updates on our gorilla gardening effort.

What new obsessions do you have?