inspiration and know how's needed

[Nursingnaturalmom]

Okay,Thats it! I need to learn how to can!! LOL

I want to start my own (probably small to start) garden. I just don't know how. I can barely keep plants alive,much less a garden :

[Chloe]

dear nursingnaturalmom-

I'm right there with ya! With all this coldness and snow, I am yearning for Spring so I can start a garden- herbs and some veggies, and also perennial. I love flowers~especially lavendar, daisies, rose of sharon, and roses(they are hard to grow, and both houses I have lived in have them already!) I am not what you call the best at weeding! I tend to just let things go! LOL

This is my opinion...who cares if you don't know what you're doing at first. Learn! I just started checking books out of my library, and I look up stuff on the internet.

This is how I have learned about the majority of stuff- vaccinations, circumcision, attachment parenting, breastfeeding, etc! So why not gardening and herbs and stuff? I can't wait to try!

By the way- love the name Peyton...if we have another boy, that's the name we chose.

[JessicaS]

Moving this to good eating..

[cathe]

I agree about getting books - try starting with easy to grow stuff like green beans, zucchini and tomatoes - I hardly do anything and always end up with way more than I need. Your library is sure to have books you can borrow. Even the seed packets alone can give you a lot of the info you need - talk to your local nursery too. Then just go for it. You'll learn as you go along. There's nothing like fresh veggies you grew yourself!

[justmama]

I found seed packets at the dollar store(10 for $1) and I am tryign my hand at veggie gardening this summer. Living in the North East we hardly have a growing season so i am hoping that if I am extra diligent my veggies will sprout and I can store them. Any ideas on storing garden veggies? Freezing? How would you go about doing that?
meg and madyson 7/23/00

[cathe]

That's a good question. The last couple of years I have been really working toward trying to live off my garden produce all year round. I do some freezing but since I don't have an extra freezer I don't have that much room. Here are some freezing tips:

Green beans: Blanch just till bright green. Lay on baking sheet till frozen, transfer to freezer bags or containers.

Zucchini - shred and then freeze. Frozen zucchini doesn't have a good texture but shredded it is fine in zucchini bread or soups.

Tomatoes: I found this great way to make tomato sauce. Make a slit in tomatoesand put them in steaming basket over small amount of boiling water. Steam until the juice runs out - you'll be surprised that it's mostly just clear water. (about 45 minutes). Then remove skins and place tomatoes in blender. Puree - you have tomato sauce! Then freeze it.

There are some great preserving books around - check the library. I do a lot of canning and got a pressure canner. It works better for me because of the space issue.