Becoming Self-Reliant

A few weeks ago I went to the library to find me some books on how to garden. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about what grows well here and figuring out what kinds of food we're gonna want to eat. I've never grown an actual garden on my own, so this will be a first for me. But I think I'm going to love it. My parents grew a garden almost every year and I don't think I ever fully appreciated the work that went into it. I mean, I had to help maintain it and weed it. But I didn't have to till the soil, plant it, figure out what plants liked more shade, more sunshine, more water, less water, etc. I also had to help my granny pick raspberries from her enormous raspberry patch. Not always fun, but I did enjoy eating the benefits of other people's labor. :) My mom even canned a little bit when I was younger and I regret not paying more attention to that. Maybe I could've learned a thing or two.
But now here I am. I'm just going to learn as I go. And if this year's garden isn't so great, it will be okay. I think I'm actually going to enjoy just being out in the sunshine breathing the fresh Montana air and getting my hands in the soil.
I'm also excited to be a little more self-reliant, even if it only means I didn't have to buy my carrots from the grocery store.