Entry bubble Grow Your Own Food

By: Joanne | July 22, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

wet, red tomatoLast week I stared in disbelief at the grocery store cash register. With the way prices are rising, I feel like all my disposable income goes to gas and groceries. I’m sick of the price of food going up, up, up and all the while it seems like there is constantly some sort of warning or recall about certain foods in the grocery stores. I know that the USDA and FDA are doing their best to keep things safe for us, but I think that this is the nature of industrialized food production in our country.

That’s why I’ve been making an effort lately to grow my own food and buy locally produced foods when I can. Even if you don’t have a big garden, there’s still a lot that you can do. We’re entering the height of summer produce season, when our farmers markets are full of beautiful, fresh fruits and veggies.

Preserving your own food gives you control over safety, quality and overall tastiness of your food.

I canned pickled beets from the garden this weekend, and we’ve got 30 jars of wild black raspberry jelly and 10-15 raspberry pies and cobblers in the freezer. Do you know how wonderful it is to have a fresh-baked berry cobbler in January? I do : ) Sweet corn’s just coming into season and soon I’ll have a giant pot of corn chowder on the stove that I’ll freeze and we’ll enjoy all winter long. When my garden is overflowing with tomatoes I’ll make tomato sauce and can whole tomatoes.

See? There’s really not much to it, but giving it a little effort pays a delicious return later. Give it a try. In the long run, you’ll save money on groceries and have wholesome, convenient food at hand, too.

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Entry bubble Tomato Planting Time!

By: Joanne | June 03, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

tomato tepees in the gardenHow’s your garden coming along? I’m going to be really devoted to my garden this year and hopefully it will help me save some money. I almost went into shock in the checkout aisle of the grocery store this weekend. The price of food is so crazy that I feel like it’s worth my while more than ever to grow my own food and become a thrifty meal planner. One of my favorite foods to grow is tomatoes. They’re not only one of my fresh summer favorites, but they’re pretty easy to can and use all year long.

This weekend I planted two varieties of heirloom tomato plants. There’s nothing like a home-grown tomato still warm from the sun, and this year I’ll grow my tomatoes on tepees. Yes, tomato tepees. In the past I’ve tried to support my tomatoes with stakes, cages, cages and stakes and every year it’s the same thing—the plants get big and heavy and fall over. I hope the tepees will help keep the plants under control, and I think they’ll also be a great use of vertical growing space.

In concept, it seems quite simple: take three 1 inch stakes that are 10 feet long, lash them together with some twine and form a triangle with the posts, so each post is about 3 feet apart. Instead of buying posts, I saved a few bucks and cut some bamboo from a friend’s yard.

What’s the worst that could happen? If the plants fall over, I’ll be no worse off than if I used the cages. I think of this as an experiment and if it doesn’t work I’ll try something different next year. What works for you?

| Comments [9] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: garden   heirloom   joanne   teepee   tomato   vegetable  

 

Entry bubble Organic Gardening – Do It for Your Kids

By: Joanne | March 18, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Bailey shows off the strawberry harvestAs you’re planning your garden this year, consider going organic. It’s easier than you think. It’s as easy as NOT applying chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on your food.

Why have organic gardens? There are many reasons; the one that is dearest to me is for my kids. Nobody needs to ingest pesticide residues, and that is especially true for children who are going through critical stages of development. We hear so many claims that kids don’t want to eat fruits and vegetables, but when you give them a chance to wander through the strawberry patch and pick their own berries and then eat them – perfectly ripe and still warm from the sun – yum! The fact is, they beg for more. Many times we’ve picked up our baskets, picked peas and then moved under a shady tree to shell and eat sweet, raw peas straight from the garden. As a mom I know that I can hardly give my children a more nutritious (and easy to prepare!) lunch than that.

The people that owned the property before us had horses, so let’s just say that I’ve been blessed with an ample supply of organic fertilizer, and we augment that with our compost. I bet I’ve had an organic garden for over 10 years now, and I have to tell you that I never felt like I needed the chemicals. Give it a try, for your health, the health of your kids and for the good of the soil and water.

| Comments [6] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: compost   fruit   garden   joanne   organic   vegetable