"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." -
Nelson Mandela
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| Zombies... :-) |
Canning.
I think I am in love. There is just something about taking food
that you grow and putting it in a jar. Not sure what it is, but it
makes you feel pretty dang cool.
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| Helping can green beans. |
Not sure why I even wanted to start. I helped mom and grandma in the kitchen when I could. I can remember picking every berry known to man (and probably some not identified yet) and watching it get made into jelly, jams, and whatever else you can do with it. Or maybe it was when I started researching all of the processed junk that goes in our food today. I have had stomach problems forever. I have had every test known to man, and some I think that they just made up, to see if they could find out what was wrong with me. After going to an allergy clinic, they put me on an elimination diet of preservatives and dyes.
Now, that is almost IMPOSSIBLE. Everything we eat has one of those
things in it. So this sent me on a journey that I have not even hardly
begun. It is probably a combination of everything. It is incredibly empowering to grow, make, and eat your own food. What a journey...
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| Finished Walkway. |
It all started when I told my husband that I wanted to plant a garden this year. I had no
idea what I was doing, I just knew that I wanted fresh food for free in
my backyard. I had NO idea how much work it would take. I had no idea how
much heartache would come. I had no idea how much my family could be blessed
by such a little plot of tilled up dirt. I drew out what I wanted the
garden to look like (I am a VERY type A personality.). I asked for my Lovely Husband to make it purdy. I
wanted edging around the garden that way it would keep the dirt off the
side walk. I wanted a walkway to my newly created compost bin. I
also wanted a walkway from the gate to the garden. He surpassed my
expectations. The garden started to look like a garden! Next, we
needed seeds, plants, etc. and the ground tilled some how. When we
asked for help, we had a tiller waiting for us. Hubby tilled the ground several
times (It was grass before garden.). Then we sewed some seeds I bought in the big city
(beans, carrots, lettuce, pumpkins), some potatoes I let sit in the
pantry too long, and some onions. After that we added straw berries,
tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, squash, watermelon, and okra to name a
few from the local greenhouse. Then we sat back and waited...and watered, and waited some more.
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| Crazy garden |
Soon plants started sprouting. It was CRAZY. Two kids that have never
planted a garden had a living, breathing garden in their backyard that
actually stayed alive! So far we have gotten pounds and pounds of
tomatoes, jalapenos, banana peppers, green and purple bell peppers,
okra, spaghetti squash, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelon, onions,
strawberries, lettuce, and beets. It's absolutely amazing.
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| Picking on one day. |
Our hard work paid off. Even though or tomato plants got spider mites and the bean plants leaves were nubbed by grasshoppers, it has been an experience for the whole family. The kids have enjoyed picking with us and love going out and seeing what we can pick today. They also like helping in the kitchen when it comes time to put it all up.
I will link a few of the recipes that I used today when canning so that you can try them too!
(I had lots of bananas that were too ripe to eat and they worked perfectly in this.)
(I did whole, diced, and crushed.)
(I water bathed these instead. Its safer.)
