Friday, September 11, 2009

A Gift That Keeps On Giving!

Our garden has been amazing this summer! I don't know if it was technique or location or some of both, but already there are 32 quarts of tomatoes in the freezer and my kitchen table AND buffet are still loaded with those ripening to that perfect state of tender firm so I can process them for freezing! Our yellow crookneck summer quash has yielded enough to freeze and eat along the way! We've had cucumbers for fresh eating, lettuce of the spring mix variety, bell peppers, banana peppers, AND now we are beginning to harvest some celery.  I HAVE NEVER eaten totally fresh celery in my life~but it's purely divine! Oh I forgot our Japanese pumpkins which were supposed to be acorn squash lol! Our regular pumpkins did not produce~bummer! Our others "failure" were cauliflower and spring onion.  I just am thrilled! AND I want to encourage you to begin thinking about a garden for next spring/summer.  If you are a seasoned gardener then you already know it's a process of learning what works for each individual according to soil type, ph and weather conditions...also the amount of "tending" a person wants to do! Just remember that THIS IS ALMOST FREE FOOD that a garden with God's blessings provides for your family. Just yesterday I took 1lb of ground beef and made a four quart sauce pot of speghetti sauce from my fresh bounty off my table.  I sent hubby to pick (prune really, but since it's ALL edible) celery, and the only thing I put in store bought were dry oregano, garlic and black pepper seasonings and an ONION that I had to purchase~of course the pasta...but I intend to learn that too...just not there yet, but will keep you posted! Anybody do this??? But for a sauce that was 100% fresh and almost free, it was delicious.  I added no sugar or salt.  That's our taste preference, but you make your sauce they way you believe it will taste best...did I forget all the bell peppers? I had about 6 small peppers which I removed the stems and shopped seeds and all into the mix...it was delicious~and for years I have removed the white portion and seeds from my peppers, but the other day when chopping for the freezer, I at a piece of the white and some seeds. They have flavor! Now I wouldn't put them on a veggie tray for dipping, but I'd throw this in my soup bowl in my freezer for later use! It all has such great flavor!

Please consider gardening and I am preparing now a post for Fall preparations~
Gardening IS a great gift from God that keeps on giving in our budgets and in our healths!
Planing away for GARDEN 2010!

No comments: