Bear works super hard. Not knowing what a camera does he thinks he’s the one you are talking to and he is an active and attentive listener. He’s very proud of you for deciding to eat the treats when the treats are treating. He lubs his weird lady.
I think of this all the time. Like these animals have no clue thousands of people are watching them. They’re just thinking I’m always around them, talking animatedly
So many times I’ve attributed God to planting little thoughts in my head. Like a last minute “nudge” to go check the garden or animals, or even my kids just to come upon a situation that needed my attention immediately.
Jess, you make me SO hungry watching you eat TOMATOES right off the vine. I love em--but, my arthritis in my knee--not so much. ❤😊 I refuse to give them up completely...and peppers.
I grew up in this lifestyle and my mom always did both. She actually planted two gardens. One for fresh eating and one strictly for preserving. One thing that they did was she and her sisters would take turns helping each other preserve. We would go help them put up large batches of garden stuff and in turn they would come help us. This way we enjoyed the best of both worlds. It’s difficult to do on your own with all the other obligations we all have that’s for sure.
The Swallowtail chrysalis is new and just starting to become a butterfly. The other catapillars will kill it because they will eat the stalk and she will fall to the ground. If you want to save her, cut the stalk and attach it to the fence or other structure that won't be eaten, in the same position she is in. When she is finished becoming a adult butterfly she needs to climb out and hang without touching anything upside down. She needs the help of gravity to fill her empty wings with the fluids in her body and then wait for her wings to dry before she can fly.if she is on the ground or pressed against something she can't fill her wings and she will be eaten alive by ants or wasps.
There is also a Scottish > RU-vid Channel > 'The SHEEP GAME' > Cammy Wilson & Family > sheep farmer based in Ayrshire, Scotland. > Beautiful Green rolling hills! 🌄 Very informative and Humorous. (and friends with Sandi Brock) Cammy Wilson & Family > Very informative and *Humorous. > I believe I could now assist with the birth of a lamb, just by watching numerous of his videos. Haha. (He is friends with Sandi Brock) > Sandi's sheep birth indoors (Weather) > and Cam's mostly birth out in the pasture ~ Amazing. *Surprisingly, they do 'have to' Help with the birth....more than you would think.
I absolutely get what you are saying. I grow for both, but my main objective has always been for food storage. I am 68 years old. My grandparents taught me how to garden and can. My grandparents grew up in the depression era, when food supplies were limited, families were larger, and food storage was important, in order to make it through the winter and early spring. I very much look forward to my fresh tomatoes, peppers, corn and fruits, but it's always in my mind..."What if?" We live in some unsettling times. It was a sick feeling to walk in the grocery store during covid and see so many shelves bare! I believe we will see more times like that in the future, so I want to make sure we will have food to eat. I enjoy my fresh fruits and veggies, but food storage will always be a priority with me. 😊
Several years ago, my Mom challenged me to enjoy eating our broccoli fresh rather than trying to preserve it. That simple thought changed my whole perspective on gardening. I now grow more food like carrots, potatoes, winter squash, onions and garlic that require very little effort to preserve and store and a smaller area of my garden for tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas to enjoy fresh from the garden. It has really given me time to enjoy my garden instead of rushing around at harvest time.
Hi Jess, I grow for seasonal eating and preserve the gluts. This is especially true for tomatoes. Toward the end of the season we can’t keep up with eating them fresh, that’s when I roast them with onions, peppers, and lots of garlic and olive oil for sauce. Then out of the oven, into the blender, and into the freezer. No peeling, no fussing, just quick, easy, and delicious … especially in February! 😊
That sounds amazing and so easy! I’ve been intimidated thinking about all the work and time to preserve tomatoes. Do you put the sauce in ziplock freezer bags or in jars for freezer storage? Or are both good options? It will be nice to stop buying store bought tomato sauce. This year I started my tomatoes too late for my central FL garden and they did not produce. I’m starting my seeds now for a Fall garden and hope to try your method. This is my first garden in 10 years so I feel like I’m having to relearn everything.
Personally love watching you and miahs affectionate way of just being in each others presence. Getting to watch you guys listen to each other and talk is refreshing and lovely. Glad to hear he will be more of a presence.
"when the swallowtail caterpillars come I surrender all my dill and fennel to them" I love the reciprocity in that ❤ for me gardening also contains the responsibility to give back to the ecosystem that makes it possible for us to grow food. Instead of seeing a pest, sometimes we can see an opportunity to give back. Not to mention, so poetic as always 😊
I don’t have a homestead, just a backyard garden . We totally eat seasonally mainly because at my ripe old age i have yet to learn how to can. So we eat as much fresh as we can and when i have an abundance of anything it gets processed and frozen. I have limited freezer space so there is only so much of that that i can do. But i can’t express the joy it gives me to not only feed my family from my garden, but to share my extras with friends and family. I called this summer “Cucapalooza” because it was a really good year for cucumbers for me. I have harvested at least 70 from a 4 by 6 foot trellis. We’ve eaten them at least 3 or 4 times a week and share the abundance with others. When I apologize to my family for again serving them cucumbers they say i am crazy. That they are so delicious and fresh they don’t mind eating them often.
I dont have enough of a yard to grow for large scale preservation of anything (other than herbs) so I grow exclusively fresh eating and the enjoyment of gardening.
As a single senior lady, my garden is small, so much so that most of what I grow is eaten fresh out of the garden. i have put away some of my harvest (frozen green beans, and this year for the first time I canned some) But I grow food for mostly me, and share some with my family and a neighbor or two. Good video, Jess.
I think saving anything for later over enjoying it in the now can be a sad way of living. It applies to our fancy dishes our favorite outfits bring in our cut flowers. Sometime we protect and or save things to much for the later and we rob ourselves of enjoying the now. Thanks for sharing.
I switched to growing for eating now, this year. I realized 3 season in that I wasn't enjoying the fruits of my labour in season. But this year I am enjoying the fruits of my labour because I earned it. To eat it right now, while it's fresh off the vine. I'm preserving what is left and I feel really good about. So good that I planted a fall garden. I never plant a fall garden because summer wipes me out, but with the change I notice I had the energy to plant a fall garden and I am excited
Hearing the morning rooster is music to my ears! I grew up hearing the rooster every summer morning. There was a hatchery a short distance from our home. We had laying hens that I thought of as pets. I appreciate chickens!❤
Jessica I just want to tell you how much I enjoyed and found so much truth in your most recent podcast. I related to your story so much I found myself saying “she is telling my story”. What a true blessing you are to my life. I’m sure you hear this all the time. I truly mean it. As much as I love watching you, I enjoy your podcast the most. Thank you and God bless you.
Not about gardening per se, but I've been first understanding, and now slowly implementing a policy of using things up. Crafting, musicking, whatever, using up what I have as much as possible, sharing it, using it up because only when it's used up will more come to me. In my case, I realized I had so carefully stockpiled things there was no room for movement, for the flow in and out. So I'm also trying to focus on using and sharing what I have and seeing where that leads me... Thank you for your wonderful video and apropos thoughts, Jess, I bless you too.
Being in Canada, preserving is pretty important BUT, I agree with the gorging on the seasonal foods. Right now is the time to eat everything fresh and access all those nutrients. For example, when I get sweet corn, (purchased not grown myself), I buy double what we can possibly eat at the time and preserve the extra. Then, when that corn is gone I repeat the process - getting our fill of fresh AND preserving for the winter. Being conscious of what we like to eat, what we do eat, and what we will eat in the winter is key to what I grow in my garden and buy from local gardeners/farmers.
There is definitely something to be said for eating the season but also putting up the excess. My plan, although it never came to fruition, was always to grow more than we could eat so that my storage came from the need to keep things from going to waste. Thankfully you do not need to rely on your garden to keep your family from starving through the winter. Enjoy the fruits of your labor in whatever manner makes you happy in the present!
LOL!! When you said sorry to your pepper plant for taking some off with the pepper! I do that too and thought maybe I was the only one to do that! Glad I'm not alone!!❤
We grow to enjoy things in season and preserve the excess to enjoy as treats during their off season. Preserved Peaches and gingered pears are some of the favorite Christmas breakfast treats that our kids and now grandkids just love and look forward to every year.
As a mother going through the same thing right now, you can hear the heavy ness of wanting to be out and doing what you love, with the animals and the the garden. But there is teenagers and husband and things that pull you in a different direction, don’t want to miss time with them but still needing the lifestyle that completely grounds and fills your cup. Im there. It’s hard. Really the hardest
Fall gardens have been a real surprise for me over the past few years. Running around and harvesting a head of broccoli when it's snowing is actually pretty cool!
I seem to recall a video from about 4 yrs ago with the cutest little blond boy saying "tomatoes are better than dinner". True then and still true today. Keep eatin' those maters right there in the garden. You know they will never taste better.
Had the tomato ripening conversation with my local produce farmer. She knew it was fine to pick bbefore tomatoes are ripe but didn't know what causes them to ripen or that you can place them in a paper bag or next to a ripening banana and they will ripen quicker because of the gasses! I love sharing Jess's wisdom with my friends and neighbors 😊
I just had the opportunity to watch this video and wanted to throw my two cents in on eating fresh, seasonally or growing for preserving. We grow to eat seasonally for the most part for the simple reason that we both have full time, off homestead jobs and, quite simply, don’t have enough hours in the day to devote to large scale preservation. There are some times that we put some things in the freezer but it’s mostly fresh eating and we love 💕 it!!!!
I have a small space to garden in, so to me, growing to eat in season is really the only option for me. Some things I can save for fall, but not much. I prefer eating in season, to me, it makes the most sense, and if I had more space I think I would still do that, and then preserve the surplus.
Crazy that I've had the same thinking about truly eating seasonally. I've tried so many new dishes and free style cooking dishes this summer due to trying to truly eat in season rather than preservation. It feels so good. The flavors excite you and keep you going during the hard summer days when the enjoyment is more immediate and fresh. And it relieves you of the burden of long-term preservation when you're spread over many things as you are. I've moved more toward season extension, storage varieties, eating fresh, and easy preservation like fermenting, dehydrating, and freeezing. Love love love your channel and family!!
My husband I grow in roughly 3700 square feet. We grow mostly for preservation. Of course, there is fresh eating along the way, but I preserve the carrots, green beans, beets, sweet corn, ect, because there is just so much of it. I enjoy my pantry all year long, and when I crack open a can of pickled beets in January, I savor it. Or when we're having Christmas dinner, and the corn being served tastes like it was just picked off the stalk, it never fails to bring a smile to my face, and peace to my heart. I bless you Jess, and can't wait to listen to you in Sept in NH.
Of course eating in season is the thing. I'm so happy that it dawned on you! There are some things that you simply cannot preserve, such as the fizzy lemonade-like drink made with elderberry flowers, or eating black locust flowers, raw or cooked... For millennia, we only dried herbs, to make practically *anything* taste delicious. One simply does not need to eat fresh tomatoes year round - this is the grocery store concept - you might as well live in a city, in a high rise. There's nothing, nothing better than fresh produce from your garden. There's plenty of produce that store naturally over winter. That's why the root cellar concept was invented, at least in the temperate climates. The only requirement is to not run out of vitamin C, which we don't produce (like cats do), but need to take it from food. The best way to grow sunchokes is to plant them in the ground, and then harvest them as if you life depends on it. They are delish air fried or fermented. Boiled, they will produce a sort of aquafaba, which will gel when cold. I clean them in a bowl of water. When the curve doesn't let me reach, I cut on the curve, so I end up with very clean tuber pieces. Pigs will probably eat them with dirt on them, which will only increase their vitamin B12 content. The flowers will attract deer, if you have them nearby. Next year, they will come back with a vengeance. If you don't harvest, they will be stunted, because they are overcrowded. In a temperate climate, animals will only be sacrificed when eaten. Bigger animals will be butchered when the cold comes, so the meat could be preserved by the natural temperature. I guess that meat jerky was invented in warmer climates, such as yours. I guess, my point is, the concept of a freezer was only recently invented, and we survived very well without it, for a long time. Adapt to your climate. If you live in the tropics, where, everywhere you turn, there's some fruit to eat, then vegan raw diet makes sense. If you live above the Polar Circle, for generations, where nothing grows, then you must be adapted to eat whale and seal blubbery meat. If you live in-between, store roots and dry beans and cabbage and winter squash and dry grains whatever else grows and stores in your climate, for you, and also for your animals. Don't make your animals eat "feed" that may be full of glyphosate. Grow their food, too, if you want to know what you eat.
Fun fact, Jess! When the Bible refers to being “cast down”, it’s frequently a reference to sheep, which would have been a common knowledge analogy at the time! 😊
As someone who lives in an area that only has about 95 growing days I don't get to eat much seasonally from my own place. Even brassicas are frozen dead by mid October if not earlier. It is definitely best eaten in season and I know my body craves the in season produce but I have to plant to preserve most of it or buy it at the store. In your area where you can grow 9-10 months out the year it would be a lot easier and make way more sense to eat seasonally.
I'm glad you are enjoying you harvest at peak! One way I have "put up" in smaller amounts for winter is by cooking an extra meal of what ever I'm cooking and freezing it for winter enjoyment.
I grow for both but you are wise that at this time to do what feels right. Those babies grow SO fast and enjoying them and teaching them while you can is more important that preserving more food. There were times I didn't even garden because life was just too busy. You don't get those years back and when they have grown and are making their own lives you will have time to do both again. I have enjoyed preserving the last few years because I loved sending good food with my college student. Now I am loving preserving because I am doing it with my daughters, sending some with my baby at college and making sure my grandbabies have good clean food. It is all good as long as you are being mindful of your current situation. ❤
Just made a huge bell pepper harvest, stuffed them with meat and cheese, wrapped and froze them. Still a huge amount of peppers left on the plants for fresh eating, so best of both worlds
That swallowtail was just going into the cocoon, the cocoon will be see through and you’ll be able to see the wing pattern when it’s ready to come out in about 1-2 weeks.
It's funny that you talked about eating & enjoying your harvest rather than preserving because that's what I had decided to do this year. My reasoning is that I don't know enough nor have the time right now to learn so I stopped stressing about getting everything "right" & decided to enjoy what I have, when it's ready. 😊
Awe.. Jess, you are my Perfect companion while I am So glad I decided to head out early while it is still cool to clean up wild rose bushes in my pasture that we are cutting for hay again.. It's getting over 100* yesterday and today again.. Grateful we don't have the humidity here in North Central Washington.. Please send some rain our direction. Non for over a month! Good you found your cast Sheep.. It can be fatal for sure! I unfortunately lost my best mare, 25 yrs ago, with a gorgeous 5 month old colt at her side, finding her cast in a tiny old cross pasture flood irrigation ditch, with her wither and back, as she had layed down to role, and could not get up.. I/we did everything that could be reasonably done to save her, unfortunately it was my biggest heartbreak in my life long horse family! It is always wonderland to see you and sweet Miah together on R&R videos! Your garden is really exploding with beauty & goodness! Love you all ❤️ 🙌 🌻
We’re only 3 years in but our focus is growing seasonally. The nutritional value of fresh produce is a big plus but ultimately it comes down to how our land is set up and best use of the time we do have towards growing food.
Where we live we have so much cold and only a few hours of light a day in the fall/winter so can’t grow anything without a heated greenhouse with lights which isn’t economical, so our summer garden is what we get…we need to preserve as much as we can in the summer. We only have 1 growing season. You all are lucky. If we don’t preserve summer produce then we have to buy grocery store food in the winter. It’s crucial. It’s gets to -30, -40 here and winter can last from October to April. Zone 2 and 3 gardening is very quick and intense….
At the moment I don't have the room for an actual garden, but when I did share a garden with my Mom we grew for both. To eat as much seasonally as we could(till we were sick of it) and then freeze/can the rest so we'd have some in the winter.
Plant more of what you love to enjoy as much as you want fresh and still have an abundance to preserve for your family and possible others. Seasonal fruits do not last long so, it’s always eat until you can’t and preserve the rest. Abundance is a really nice problem to have😊
Jess, I wonder if the shift in how you are thinking about the food from your garden could be related to the idea that has been popping in front of me repeatedly as of late. The idea is, "Be content with what you have." That's not to say you shouldn't have things stored for later. The Bible tells us to be wise and that during the time of plenty we are to set up storage for the time of famine. That's just smart management/stewardship. But I have this feeling that we are in for a season of learning to be content even during adversity because we can trust Him to supply our needs. He knows what we need before we do, as you know. :) Anyway, just a thought I felt like sharing. I bless *you* until next time. hehe
"I suppose I planted it." That sounds familiar! Thanks for being so awesome and real, says the woman who currently has 6 zucchini plants to feed two people. I suppose I did that. . .
I plant 6-9 zucchini for 1 - because the vine borers, squash bugs and powder mildew take them out after any 2 weeks of producing. I have not been successful with any successful planting either because of the same problems here in NE AL. :+) We experience buckets full of zucchini for 2-3 weeks and I dehydrate or pickle them and those have to last me all year.
Thank you for sharing the other channel on sheep! We just rescued 3 on our farm (29 actually but kept 3) and we are trying to learn as much as we can to be prepared. 🐑
Patty pan squash are so cute! We eat as much as we want when produce is fresh, then preserve (or sell) the rest. I’m focusing on seasonal, garden-to-table eating. We are preserving fruit for winter because it will be so lovely to taste summer during the winter. Our peaches were delicious this year, too.
For my family, it's a mix. I try to prioritize eating fresh. But having options stored gives us healthier meals in our busy fall/winter season work-wise.
We grow for fresh eating, preservation, and market, but we are always short a bit. So, this year, I've ramped it up and planted over 100 tomato plants, doubled my corn, pretty much doubled and tripled everything. I'm working on making a kitchen garden right now and then I have a market garden. I'm focusing on teaching others to grow and educating others that the government and science doesn't always know what's best for you.
I recently realized I havent been clicking Like on the videos to support the farm. GUYS lets all remember. Out of 42k views on this video theres only 4k likes... maybe we can all work together to go back and click through and like the videos and remember to click lLike after watching in the future. Jess never asks, which is admirable.. but its important :)
I loved this one! You know, I too, never thought of the garden that way. I however, am a seasonal eater. I love "fresh right out of the garden" and you are 100% right, it will never taste better. We do need to know how to "put up" food also for food security. But I believe fresh is best!
I guess I focus on preserving more than fresh eating. I haven't eaten fresh green beans yet. Not sure why. I just want to make sure I have what we need for winter. I guess I need to rethink my gardening plans. Thank you for always making me get out of my comfort zone. I have been so blessed finding your channel. Thank you
I grow for both and while I have enjoyed preserving there’s definitely something to be said about enjoying your garden seasonally. I am also in a very busy season in my life with kids, new state, no extended family, with a very hard working husband. And the idea of not having the extra check off on my list of preserving does sound freeing to not have one more thing to do, but just being present with the garden in the moment. ❤
Jess, you need to install a mini split A/C unit with heat in your greenhouse. It is really easy to install. They even have them that can be powered by solar.
We don't have the weather to be able to eat thru out the winter months! Usually the garden is buried in the snow or the ground is so solid. So we have to preserve.
I completely agree with and understand eating your fill of seasonal produce from your farm, but I will say that pulling fresh-frozen peaches from the freezer for a mid-winter pie or cobbler is amazing.
We have always eaten what is good now. What is left gets preserved. But the best of the season gets eaten in season. And there is always enough. It may not be ‘exactly’ what you want but it is always delicious and plentiful. And especially with things like fruit, the slightly over ripe fruits, the left over, ‘a little bruised’ fruits make the best preserves 😊
yep ur right Jess, iv been taking my tomatos off the vine after it blushes & it ripes on my counter & tastes great!! When people ask me if something i planted will grow, i remember ur words, "Plants want to grow"
We grow for putting up, but usually end up eating most of it. We always freeze baby corn, greens, berries, fruit, peas and green beans for the winter. We have too much shade to get huge harvests so small freezer bags work great for a speedy preservation.
I am a new canner so I think this year I have focused on preserving. However, you make a great point. This year I noticed we ate less from the garden because I wanted to preserve it. I think I will work on having a better balance because I definitely want the reward after all that hard work.
Hi Jess, not sure you will see this, but we froze more of our crops than canned it. And, even though we, along the Florida/Alabama line, occasionally had hurricanes come through, it wasn’t enough of a problem to lose foods stored. I think freezing is not only faster in the busy summer, but it preserves more nutrients, flavor, and gives more options. We did can some things like pickles, preserves, jams, etc. but most things were frozen. Just had to wash, shell/prepare, and blanch, and then bag it and freeze it. Anyway, what I really wanted to say is that, if you still have more peaches than you can eat fresh, my favorite thing is what my Grandmother used to do. Peel them (easiest is cut an x and dip in boiling water very short time, and then into ice bath) , then slice, making sure to catch the juice. Then mix sugar into the peach slices/juice, with just a little squeeze of lemon juice to preserve the color . Pack all the yumminess, including the juice, into freezer bags. Then, later, in the winter or whenever, eat the peach slices still half frozen. Oh my god, is it ever good. It also makes delicious Bellinis if you are into that, which I am, lol. Sure wish I had some delicious South Carolina peaches to freeze right now. 🍑❤️🍑❤️🍑
hey jess i usually do both..eat all the peaches we can and any excess as they start to over ripen I will make jams. The same with the rest of the garden. Eat as much as we can but as the abundance gets ahead of us I will can or freeze etc. I think it takes the pressure off and allows you to stay in the moment. Loving the wildness of the garden we are still in winter and today i started seeds in the glasshouse looking forward to seeing what volunteers and what decides to push the boundaries into spring
That is how my parents garden, they eat the fresh stuff until they get tired of it or it starts to go bad. Then they can what's left over. I like to eat things like lettuce, tomatoes and peppers fresh. I freeze things like kale and pole beans for winter soups. I freeze my wild black berries until I have enough to make jelly or pie filling and can that. Herbs I eat fresh what I can, but most of it ends up dried.
Our wild artichoke patch has been in our woods edge forever, and it really has not spread more than we have let it. And by forever at least 30+ yrs. That when I first came to this farm and they were already here.
How interesting that you would talk about enjoying the moment. I took the long way home from town yesterday just to enjoy this old bridge over the Arkansas river. It was so peaceful. The swallows were singing God's praises. Then, talking to my son on his way to his house, he turned around because he forgot to admire the Arkansas River by his house, which he does going to work and coming home every day. He lives 100 miles west of me. It's all about the now sometimes.
I came to the same conclusion about eating in season and limiting food preserving about a year ago. In my season of life (my children are grown and I'm feeding just my husband and me), it simply did not make sense to can large quantities of fruits and vegetables. So I calculated what we would reasonably eat fresh through each season (I garden year-round), plan my planting around that, and share any extra with my children and my neighbors. You're right. Nothing is better that a ripe peach picked fresh!.
I had that same realization about eating our produce seasonally last year! I came to the end of the season and felt like I didn’t get to fully enjoy those foods while they were growing. So, this year we’ve been eating more of our food while it’s in season. I’ve still preserved some food but man it’s been so nice to eat it fresh. Tonight we smoked some tomatillos and a whole onion to make some smoked salsa verde. It was delicious!
You are the only gardener that I like to follow. I love your laid back, unstaged poetic style. However, I have often noticed that my reason for gardening seemed to be very different from yours in the past. I only garden to enjoy it during it’s season. I freeze some extra tomatoes and peppers when I can’t eat them all, but I truly love planning new recipes with my current bounty. I personally do not garden with any thoughts for the future or out of fear of lack. I believe this must be a personality trait.
I'm not lucky enough to be able to garden year round, despite living in Southern California. My backyard doesn't get hardly any sun at all during fall and winter (barely gets enough in summer). With my limiting conditions and limited space, I pretty much just grow cucumbers, peppers, green beans, and tons of tomatoes (some strawberries and we have one Santa Rosa plum tree). We eat as much as we can fresh as it comes in... and I also share with friends, family, and neighbors, but I also try to put up as much as I can for eating later. It's just nice to have it all on the shelf. It's SO much better than what you can get from the grocery store! I'm sure you would still put up the things that you know you'll need over fall and winter, but I love that you can also eat more seasonally. What a blessing. :)
At first I wanted to say Duh, you’re just now thinking to eat seasonally, but then as you talked I said Amen! This is the way I think. I helped my Mom prepare for canning but hid in the stairwell when the canner was loud. I was scared of it and am so happy my Mom never got blown up by it. She also froze lots of corn, peaches and strawberries. She had to preserve food because our climate was too cold for winter growing. As an adult with a garden, I had no intention of pressure canning and I’ve only frozen food when we had too much. I don’t even have a deep freezer. In Arkansas I’m able to pick food from the garden almost year round. Sometimes it’s just enough chard for my breakfast scramble. But most of the time we have several meals a week from the garden. I love eating this way because fresh food tastes better than canned or frozen. When summer comes and we can have green beans again the whole family is so excited. Same with tomatoes and peppers. It’s kind of the same feeling as anticipating the next season or holiday. Right now it’s back to school and time for fresh notebooks and new crayons and pencils, then football, last summer swims, first fall hikes, camping, cool mornings when you need a jacket and so on. Anticipating the food is the same. We are in the middle of tomato, pepper and purple hull pea and green bean season. As I plant my last rounds of green beans and pintos, my mouth is watering for soup with zippy mustard greens added, home grown lettuce, and crunchy turnips sliced on top or just eaten whole. Today’s salad was Italian dressing on tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Six months from now the salad will be poppy seed dressing on a kale walnut turnip and apple salad. Vegetables will be roasted carrots instead of roasted green beans. Cut back on the preserving, enjoy your life and live fully in each season!
I grow specifically for preservation. But my family always enjoys the fresh eating when the food comes in. We enjoy our basil tea and pesto, grilled zucchini and green beans with burgers, tomatoe sammies and watermellon, and "tea sandwiches" (cucumber & cream cheese sandwiches). We do eat fresh, but I grow for preservation.
