It’s that time of the year again, when the summer heat has been working its magic, and the tomato plants are absolutely overflowing with bright, colorful fruit. Whether you’ve got your hands full of tiny grape tomatoes, some ripe Romas, or big old beefsteaks, you might be wondering what to do with those buckets and buckets of tasty fruit.
Is your harvest basket overflowing? Here are some great recipes that will help you get the most out of your garden goodness.
Sure, you can get a starter kit for your seeds, or you can turn something you probably have lying around the house into a useful and compostable (even better), seed starter. These materials are basically free, and you can feel good about their simplicity and earth friendliness. All you have to do is fill with a potting medium, start your seeds and, when ready, plant them in your garden.
In the early pioneering days of America, most people grew their own food, learning how to cultivate and grow it, not for fun but because a home garden was necessary for survival. In the 17th century, those settlers farmed their own fruits and vegetables, often using small, enclosed gardens that sat just outside their front door. Typically these gardens were focused on essential edibles, culinary and medicinal herbs. While food gardening has waxed and waned since then, it will never stop.
For most people, gardens are going like gangbusters right about now. You have gotten plenty of rain and are happily harvesting and sharing fresh veggies with friends and neighbors. However, you also know that soon, all too soon, it will be time to clean out the garden as the season winds down for another year. If you want to continue to have fresh greens for your family all winter long, consider hydroponics, the art of growing plants without soil.
For over 6,000 years, gardeners have been growing grapes. Don’t let the idea of cultivating grapes scare you; it is easier than you might think. And, it is a good idea to stop buying grapes from the supermarket as they are one of the most heavily sprayed commercial crops. Do you even know what you are eating with your grapes?
If you only grow one thing in your home garden, it should be greens. There are several delicious and nutritious greens that are easy to grow and provide a valuable resource throughout the garden season and even beyond…More on that to come. Leafy greens are also known as salad greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or just greens. These plant leaves are eaten as a vegetable and contain important vitamins and nutrients. Likely, you don’t eat enough greens, and those that you do eat are not nearly as healthy as they could be.
I get asked about growing and caring for tomatoes more than any other fruit or vegetable. It seems that everyone is after that perfect, prize-winning tomato and will stop at nothing to achieve it! Well, the good news is that tomatoes are not too tricky once you learn the basics, and you can have a beautiful tomato crop year after year, once you have the basic knowledge down.
Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a perennial flowering plant whose young shoots are used as a delicious spring vegetable. If you love to roast tender spears tossed with olive oil and seasonings, perhaps it is time to grow some of your own. Although it takes a while for asparagus crops to take off, there is nothing like the taste of these homegrown, green spears.
You don’t have to be a gardening mastermind to grow your own edible plants; you don’t even have to have space outside for a garden! In fact, there are lots of health-promoting plants that can be grown indoors, even in a tiny apartment space. Just imagine, all you have to do is wake up in the morning and take a few steps to tend your crops.
Who doesn’t love an ice-cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day? What is even better than a glass of lemonade is a glass of homemade lemonade made with plants from your very own lemonade garden. You won’t believe how incredibly easy it is to create and care for your own lemonade garden. Here’s how to do it.
Susan has been nurturing her gardening tips and advice for over 00 years, it’s fair to say she knows her beans. She’ll be sharing her knowledge from tried and tested methods.
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