Why?
You may be asking yourself, “Why would I start a vegetable garden?”
With all the grocery stores available to you these days, what is the point of growing your own food? Is it worth the effort of getting dirty and sweaty? You may be asking yourself, will I even succeed at growing anything? Some of my reasons are below. Yes, it is worth it and yes you will succeed, with me helping you along the way!
Tomato seed saving!
Tomatoes have always been my favorite plant to grow! We grew them when I was a child and I have been growing them on my own for twenty years now! To say I’m obsessed with tomatoes is an understatement! The last five years Ryan and I have been actively saving the seed of our heirloom open pollinated tomatoes we grow. We grow more and more varieties and colors every year!
I love saving seed because it saves me money on seed orders and I can trade with other seed savers and get even more variety! This year we grew over 40 varieties of heirlooms, next year will be even more!
So to start, be sure the plant that you are saving from is an heirloom so the seed will be true to parent plant. Hybrid plant seeds can have all different results from their lineage. If you don’t know you can just research the name of your tomato plant and find out easily. Next, choose your healthiest plant with the best fruit.
Backyard Orchard in bloom!
So we finally did it! We took the plunge we have been dreaming of for years!
I have been wanting to plant a fruit orchard for years and years but also trying to find a house to buy so we always put it off… Well we moved in October to a great property that is still a rental, but we will live there for a long time and we know the family who owns it so even if we have to move out we know we could always come visit and pick fruit! So I insisted our tax returns would be spent on a long-term grocery investment!
We picked up our orchard from a local nursery that happens to be one of the best fruit tree suppliers in the country! Ison’s has so much to choose from! They were very helpful and patient with our large list. We got some combination fruit trees: (multiple varieties grafted to one tree, 5 on each), Apple, Pear, Asian Pear, Cherry, and Fruit Cocktail (peach, plum, apricot, and nectarine). Three different varieties each of Figs, Blueberries, Blackberries, and Raspberries. A pair of Elderberries, a Pomegranate, and a Goji berry. Two each of the top three muscadine varieties. Three Paw Paw. 100 strawberry in three varieties, half June bearing and half Ever bearing. 40 asparagus in three varieties. 3 rhubarb, and 3 horseradish… I think we are good to go for now!
So I recently received some dehydrated water kefir grains in the mail from a trade on Facebook for some of my 300 year old sourdough starter. Fermenting folk tend to be quite generous and trade and share often if you’re looking to get started…
If you liked my post about Milk Kefir than you will also like this! Water Kefir (WK) is a carbonated probiotic beverage that is quite simple to use and tasty! Many people compare it to soda and use it to get away from that unhealthy beverage. I have done water kefir in the past from already hydrated grains I got from my mom (but I lost them in a box during the move and killed them…oops!). This time I had to learn about rehydrating the grains and getting them active again. It ended up being quite simple…
Mmm… Yum!
Cultured cornbread? What exactly do I mean by that? Well cornbread is a part of southern culture but that’s not what this recipe is about. In this instance I’m talking about two cultured ingredients that give this cornbread a healthy twist and make it taste amazing. They add a pleasant zing that will have people asking for your recipe! Cultured foods have added probiotics making them easier to digest. This cornbread includes sourdough starter and whey, both add probiotics and an incredible flavor profile!
Ingredients:
2 cups organic cornmeal
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cup whey (buttermilk can substitute, I used the whey left from making Milk Kefir Cheese)
1/4 cup melted organic butter
2 beaten eggs (ours are from our free range chickens)
1/4 cup organic cane sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons bacon grease
