Gabriola amaranthDo you garden, or are you tempted to give gardening a try? (I hear that garden plots at the Gabriola Commons are only 20.00 per year.) If so, you might be interested in the Zero Mile Diet Seed kit, which sounds just perfect for Gabriola residents. I ordered mine the other day.

Here’s what’s in the kit:

This kit is for gardeners or groups of gardeners eager to become more self-reliant in food. The 13 seed packets contained in it are Red Fife Wheat, Purple Barley, Hulless Oats, Wren’s Abruzzi Rye, Golden Flax, Quinoa, Amaranth, Heritage Bean Mix, Carlin Soup Pea, Winnifred’s Garbanzo, Russian Kale, 20 Lettuce Blend, Ardwyna Paste Tomato. Included in the box, apart from the seeds, is a 20-page comprehensive growing and recipe guide. A treasure trove of possibilities for the ardent grower!

The guide that comes along with the kit has a suggestion for those of us who don’t have tons of space:

One family might have a shady spot for growing greens or peas while someone else could have a hot spot for growing beans and soybeans. City blocks could garden together whereby many households could create a shared food harvest and thereby lessen reliance on food coming from elsewhere.

Are you tempted? I saw quinoa (or was it amaranth? Or both?) growing at the Gabriola Commons this last summer, and was fascinated by it. If they can do it there, maybe I can find a place to do it here.