First Round of Canning

Our first harvest of Early girls (red) and Lemon boys (yellow).Sanitizing the jars and lids.Blanching then icing tomatoes to remove their skins. 

A secret sauce preparation, then the resulting marinara sauces are ladled into the mason jars and boiled to create a seal.

Seven Jars of mouthwatering spaghetti sauce for my family to enjoy the tastes of summer into the fall and hopefully the winter, too.
For canning tips and recipes see the USDA guidlines -- canning is not difficult, but must be followed precisely to avoid foodbourne illness.

Living off the Land

Our plan for the summer was to sustain ourselves on just the land for our fresh produce. We planted blueberries,  raspberries, and strawberries and were pleasantly surprised to find mulberries and wild blackberries already growing. Our blueberries didn't do as well as we expected. There is a large Japanese beetle population in our neighborhood and despite our efforts (beetle bags and homemade organic insecticide) they all but completely devoured the plants. The good news is that the blueberries are a perennial and will be back next year. I think I've also found an organic solution to these pests. There is a bacteria called milky spore, that when applied to the ground in August infects the beetle larvae as soon as they hatch disrupting the life cycle. It's completely harmless to all other plants, animals, and people and I believe it stays around for a couple of years.

Our raspberries did survive, perhaps because the produce a bit later and are thriving. We wake up each morning, walk Nana (our puppy), then head straight to the raspberry patch to pick our breakfast. If I had my drothers I'd have enough to make jam for jarring, but my little one can't get enough. They don't even make it in the house. No complaints though, she prefers them without any sugar added. We always have next year to plant more.

Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow...

Every morning, and several times a day, I check my garden to see what's ready for harvesting. This is our first official garden since we now have the space in our new home. I loved being in my grandfather's garden as a child. He grew tomatoes, green beans, wax beans, asparagus, and I think some squash...It's been a long time. He also had a few apple trees that I played hide-and-seek underneath and snacked while hiding. I attribute my love of fruit and vegetables to the time spent at my grandparents' house. I knew whenever I was there, there was always something fresh to picked and transformed into the family meals. I remember being hungry late one night (after the Merv Griffin show) and asking my grandmother for something to eat, expecting some cheese and crackers or some other convenient snack. Instead she went to the stove and prepared warm homemade applesauce from the apples in the backyard she had picked earlier that day. I had to be no more than 4, definitely before grade school, but I remember how special it was and that memory sticks with me today. I think it's important to teach our children the process from seed, to fruit, to table and the self reliance of being able to grow it yourself.

My scaredy cat, Mabel, carefully watches me garden and makes sure the plants don't get more attention than her.

Mulberries

I fall more and more in love with my new house each day. The folks that lived here before me took a lot of pride in this place and landscaped so that there is something new and interesting blooming from early spring all the way into fall. Nick and I have been adding perennial fruits to that landscape (we planted blueberry and raspberry bushes along the east side of the house) , so that we can harvest our own fruit each summer and "live off the land" so to speak.
We moved in right after the last big winter storm this past winter. When we got here this tree looked like it had seen better days and Nick wanted to take it down for safety purposes. I'm glad we decided to give it a chance because it is covered with mulberries.
We spent a good portion of the morning picking the berries. Its hard to collect a large amount while we're all stuffing them into our faces, but that's part of the fun.

If you've never tried a mulberry before, they resemble a blackberry in looks but are much juicier with a melon-like flavor. They contain all the antioxidants your average berry contains, just a little less common.







I've been throwing a handful in my morning smoothie.
I make one serving in the large magic bullet for my breakfast.
1/2 cup Stonyfield organic vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1 handfull mulberries
1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 Tablespoon probiotic powder
1-3 ice cubes (quantity is your preference)
Fill the rest of large magic bullet container to the top with milk (approx. 2/3 cup) and pulse until blended.

Keep on spreading the good word!

SunChips has created a compostable bag. How wonderful?!?

Let's hope that this starts a trend, not only in the food industry.

Although my 3 person family is down to 1 bag of garbage a week, our recycling bin is still overflowing.

We need better packaging solutions and I think this is just perfect.

Preparing the Land for Our New Garden

A rewarding lunch menu for all our hard work...
Fresh Squeezed Strawberry Lemonade

Ravioli and sweet potatoes on top of mixed greens with organic chives from a friend's local farm drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
And homemade pizza made on the grill topped with tomato sauce, red peppers, leftover roasted chicken and fresh basil from our herb garden.

Spring is here at last...I think

MJ and I are trying to break our winter doldrums and get started on veggie and flower garden, so on Sunday we planted our little seeds landing more dirt on my patio than in the little trays. In the end we succeeded and I schlepped them in to the beautiful little greenhouse at NRHS. Grow little babies, grow!
Here are some fabulous links for the amateur gardener that teach the best organic and frugal ways to do things:
-5 tips for beginner vegetable gardeners


-Learn About Organic Garden Design on a Budget and Reap The Benefits of Cheap Healthy Food