This post comes from a tattoo that my dear friend T has on her arm, reminding her that she shouldn’t get out of doing the good things in her life because they take too much time. Gardening has been like that for me so far: imperfect and tedious and day-by-day, but so worth it, I hope, when food comes out of the ground for us.
Here’s the gardening updates, complete with photos!
The herbs (dill, parsley, basil) have sprouted! They are in a metal bucket (pretty much everything is modular so we can move or cover it if we get an unexpected late frost).
The latest addition: a cherry tomato plant! D, of D’s Kahlua Brownies fame, visited us this weekend and brought this, which was perfect because our currently tiny sprouts of tomatoes are san marzanos, a paste tomato. This will make our salads lovely in summer. 🙂
The beautiful bearded irises that were planted by those who used to live here, and the lovely sourwood tree we got from Husband’s brother as a wedding gift! We’re excited to get it in the ground next weekend.
An old whiskey barrel full of potatoes! I never knew how leafy and green their plants were.
The strawberry plants are bursting with green fruits! So excited for a few good hot sunny days to get them ripened up. 🙂
Carrots are so distinctive and feathery that I knew they weren’t weeds immediately, which can be hard with other plants!
Lettuces, spinach, and some garlic sprouts!
So, things are moving along. No harvesting even of the spinach yet (except two leaves I sampled just because they were there) but soon. 🙂
Recipe in a Bottle 
It is a tedious job and almost feels like caring for a child with the constant care but so worth it in the end when you are freezing/canning your own food! Good luck! Tina
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I am really excited to try to freeze and can if we have any bumper crops! Any suggestions for online resources on teaching yourself basic canning and freezing?
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You tube has tons of canning videos (it’s so simple once you do it once). Freezing foods I always flash freeze. Clean them and lay them flat on a cookie sheet. Pat them dry and let air dry for a bit. Place them in the freezer for about 2 hours and when totally frozen put them in baggies. That way they will not stick together in a glob. This works for all fruits and veggies.
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I hadn’t thought about how they would all stick together, and that’s my least favorite part of grocery-store frozen vegetables! Smart smart. I’ll make sure to post when I get there. 🙂
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when that first meal cooked with you own produce is served the hard work is soon forgotten….
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That will be so exciting! I’m an impatient person but I hope this is teaching me the virtue of waiting for what I want. 🙂
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mmmm….I’ve been at it a while and haven’t got much of that virtue lol….I start sowing my seeds way toooo early….lol
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Things are certainly coming along! It looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you…but at least you know you will literally reap your reward. Good luck!
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Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement when it often feels like we have NO sunny days around here.
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