Hello
New Food Garden's Mission
To feed people with fresh food they grow themselves. To help people successfully garden in tough climates. To help others make a connection with the living world.
About NFG
I began my gardening journey as a child, but took a long break going through college and moving around. When I became a stay-at-home mom, I rediscovered the joy of raising plants, digging in the dirt and feeling sunshine on my face. Since then I have built a career in grocery and food systems, but the best food is still harvested fresh in the home garden. I believe we can improve our diet right out our back door.
New food garden focus areas
Growing Food
Our mission is to empower you to successfully grow your own food, even in tough climates & small spaces. We assume you have some gardening familiarity, and this site will target information and resources to enhance your success at growing food. Even modest gardens can deliver healthy, fresh food to your table.
Minimal Expense
Biointensive gardening makes growing food both accessible and affordable. This self-sustaining system creates its own fertility and efficiency, eliminating the need for costly fertilizers, and chemicals. A few hand tools and a little effort is all it takes to start the process.
While I occasionally invest in tools that simplify the work, I've discovered that when I nurture the soil, the productivity is there without lots of equipment or inputs. The beauty of this approach is its simplicity: I care for the soil and it grows everything I plant in it.
Ecological Principles
Gardening in harmony with nature instead of against is a core focus of New Food Garden. This makes every garden unique and place-based. Here in the desert Southwest United States, most gardening advice would be unusable because it's usually centered on wet, acidic soils. I focus on this desert region, but the fundamental skills of observation and adaptation needed here should be helpful to gardeners in any environment or climate.
Healthy Food Systems
The food systems in place today largely lack the nutrients we need to be healthy. Whenever you eat more vegetables, your nutrition improves. What better way to get those vegetables than growing them? Picked at peak ripeness and eaten fresh on site ensures the highest nutrient density. What's more, gardening has many aspects that are linked to improved mental health, such as physical activity, care for living things and contact with sunlight, fresh air and soil.