Our family has started this adventure as an opportunity for our oldest to grow his interest in and knowledge about gardening. The greatest thing is that we can do this together and learn together. He has really done a great job with caring for the garden, even the hard parts. We love having healthy food available and learning to be more self-sustaining with our food sources. It’s great to know where your food has come from! We have also been able to share and trade items with neighbors and friends which has extended our access to our favorite garden goodies since our foods are ripening at different times.
We have learned about fermentation and canning which are two things we had never tried before. The Build It Up classes provided in depth information about the processes and gave some hands-on practice. That helps greatly with the intimidation factor.
We have been surprised at how much we have enjoyed growing beets and having them around to add to our meals. They are flexible as far as storage and freezing them has been the easiest way to keep them longer term for our family. Our go to recipe for beets is to simply coat them in our favorite balsamic dressing and stick them in the oven until fork tender. Sometimes we will add other root vegetables to the mix.
We have been surprised by all of the different methods to repurpose containers. Our son has really become very inventive with re-using so many things. Anywhere from extra jugs to water plants too far from the hose to using smaller water bottles to start seeds. He has created scoops from jugs and has used containers to create additional growing space inside our tiny greenhouse. He has quite the collection with a variety of sizes and purposes.
One of the most difficult things about gardening is how much time it takes to preserve our harvested items. The classes have definitely helped with learning the different methods and being creative with recipes. Taking the time to preserve our own food has helped to add a slower pace to our busy lives.
~Karen Mumpower
