Once you get one loofah you'll have enough seeds for years to come. After we shake out most of the seeds, we peel it and it's done! I usually cut them into two or three pieces to store.
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#loofah #luffa #growyourown #sproutinglifegarden #teachthechildren
We're having Sunday veggie garden dinner tonight!
Potatoes, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, cayenne peppers and corn all from the garden. Crowder peas (the only thing we bought) and our canned chow chow on the menu too.
If you have too much okra on your hands, this is one way to preserve it. We love to bake okra too, but when we're feeling really Southern we fry it up 😂. My okra didn't do so well this year, but luckily we have extra frozen to supplement.
The vacuum sealer isn't necessary, you can just use freezer bags, but it definitely helps it keep fresher longer. Also, when you take the okra out of the freezer, don't forget to bread it again before you fry.
I've got a similar tip for greens, which I'll try to film soon!
Happy preserving 🥫
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#okratips #freezingokra #dontpanicitsorganic #roanokeva #sproutinglifegarden
Just pressed juice😍
I'm glad our son insists on juicing because I don't always take the time nowadays. This is Atlas' blend last night. He loves picking out all the ingredients and pushing it through the juicer......it was beautiful and delicious.
Beets and carrots from the garden
Apples
Lemon
Blueberry
Here is a basic recipe for refrigerator pickles, taken from self proclaimed foodie....you can always half or 1/3 the recipe for smaller batches. Feel free to add other pickling spices or some red pepper flakes to heat it up a notch!
1. Wash your cucumbers and slice them into spears or circles. Pickling cucumbers are best, but smaller regular cucumbers will do just fine. Stack cucumbers, smashed garlic cloves, and peppercorns in mason jars.
2. Get your brine on the stove. Heat to boiling and pour over pickles, garlic and peppercorns. Make sure to cover cucumbers.
3. Let cool, cover and refrigerate. Let sit for one week then enjoy!
10-12 pickling cucumbers
4 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
big bunch of dill thick stems removed
1 head of garlic skins removed, cloves smashed
peppercorn kernels (about 10 peppercorns per jar, give or take)
We're excited to try fermented pickles next for some good probiotics! We'll keep you posted on how it works out.
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#refrigeratorpickles #cucumbers #roanokeva #dontpanicitsorganic #growyourown
Green beans are going crazy right now! Be sure to pick them often. Peas, flowers, etc are the same way. You end up getting more if you consistently pick!
Also, it's not too late to put some green bean seeds in the ground ( I use bush varieties). They don't require a lot of space, grow quickly and easily and are so delicious fresh.
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#gardentip #growfoodnotlawns #roanokegardeners #roanokeva #greenbeans #growyourown
Aerated worm casting tea? Sounds complicated, but really isn't once you get started.
@mountaingateorganics is the best quality I can find since I don't have worms anymore, and it's great stuff! You can also just spread this around your plants and water well if you don't want to go through the trouble of making tea, but the way I do it is super concentrated and gets to the plants quickly.
We also make our own compost, and I spread a fresh layer in between plantings or in the middle of the grow season to give the plants a little boost.
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#wormcastings #aeratedwormtea #growyourown #organicfertilizer #mountaingateorganics #molasses #tealab #roanokeva #roanokegardeners #urbangarden
I let all the bugs be until they start destroying my crops. Then it's on.
Start with healthy plants, and then squish the eggs before they become bugs and it's easier to keep your plants happy.
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#gardentip #sproutinglifegarden #squashbugs
#growyourown #growfoodnotlawns #urbangarden #squash
I'm no farmer. I just do a backyard home garden and try to supply as much food as I can to preserve for my family in a small space. I'm self taught with books, accounts on here, lots of trial and error, and I still have A LOT to learn ( and a lot of weeds to pull). But I know how to get the most out of one plant and alllll about squash anatomy 😂
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#squash #roanokeva #sproutinglifegarden #pollinate #gardentip #dontpanicitsorganic #growyourown #growfoodnotlawns #urbangarden
More cucumber talk!
Suckers are located right at a male or female flower. Make sure you aren't clipping the main stem off when you prune!
It's okay to leave suckers, but if you do things get crowded quickly and lead to less airflow, which in turn can cause diseases, and the plant uses a lot of energy growing leaves instead of cucumbers.
I also prune any diseased looking leaves, and any leaves that are touching the ground to promote airflow. Again, not everyone does this. You can just let your cucumber go wild, but in my experience you get more cucumbers and the plant stays healthier longer if you prune some.
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#cucumbers #growyourown #growfoodnotlawns #roanokeva #sproutinglifegarden #roanokegardeners
Garden tip! Cucumbers are 95% water. That's why they're so hydrating and delicious in the summer! So they need more water than tomatoes, squash, peppers, etc.
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#gardentip #cucumber #dontpanicitsorganic #sproutinglifegarden
This is our main backyard garden, and by getting a little creative and lots of companion planting we have fit into this small space...
60 tomato plants
15 cucumber
15 squash/zucchini/delicata
Luffa
Loads of potatoes in grow bags
Lots of baby green beans
Corn
Kale
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Cabbage
Collards
Romanesco
Melons
Butterfly peas
Asparagus
Beets
One boysenberry
Two raspberry plants
Hundreds of strawberry plants
Cilantro, rosemary, Tulsi, basil, Spilanthes, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, mint,
Echinachea, zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, calendula, yarrow, nasturtium, Celosia, daisies,
Medicine plants 😉
And probably some randoms I forgot.
Our 4 raised beds have onions, carrots, peppers, more tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers, green beans, okra, and lettuce.
It's not the neatest garden, but man it churns out some food. 👍 A lot of times I don't pay attention to spacing requirements, I am just mindful of when things will be harvested, what can grow up and what I can prune. And it works!
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#urbangardens #roanokeva #zone7 #dontpanicitsorganic #growfoodnotlawns #sproutinglifegarden #smallspacegardening
Here's what we do with some of our summer bounty! We do everything we can to not have to spend all our money at the grocery store.
If you have freezer space this is a great option. With tomatoes and strawberries we freeze like this, and then when the garden slows down in the fall we will do big canning sessions too. We leave some in the bags all year if our deep freezer has room. And this is last year's basil, smelling delicious.
We always wash and reuse the plastic bags to decrease waste.
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#tomatoes #tomatosauce #freezingbasil #dontpanicitsorganic #gardenfresh #freezingtomatoes #roanokegardeners #roanokeva
Basil hack! 🌱Hit up your local grocery store!
Now, ideally I would wait until the basil gets a little bigger to pull the top leaves off. I was just doing it to show you an example right now.
I'm all about saving some. Happy planting!!!
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#basil #organic #growyourown #dontpanicitsorganic #roanokeva #roanokegardeners #sproutinglifegarden #growfoodnotlawns #suburbangardens
Does anyone else get as giddy as me with the first bits of Spring goodies?
And yes, if I'm not barefoot then I'm wearing crocs in the garden, no matter what🤣
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#growfoodnotlawns #growyourown #dontpanicitsorganic #calendula #peas #lettuce #sproutinglifegarden #swva #roanokegardeners
Topping pepper plants? (Cue my middle school giggles)
May be worth trying! We'll see!
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#growfoodnotlawns #peppers #roanokegardeners #zone7 #dontpanicitsorganic
Garden tip. Grow up!!!
This is a great tool for small spaces. And use your existing fencing to grow on!
I mention using my chicken wire fencing for boysenberries, raspberries, etc but what I didn't show is I put grow bags near the edge of the fence and plant Luffa and butterfly peas to grow on the fence too. I don't have any in my garden, but you can look up beautiful arbor/arch type fencing too.
For the berries I use twine or whatever I have handy to tie the plants onto it, rather than sticking it in the actual holes of the fencing, so it's easier to prune the branches when the time comes. Growing cucumbers vertically not only helps with space, but I believe the plants stay healthier longer with more air flow. I'm even trying to grow some of my summer squash up in a tomato cage this year! I'll keep you updated if it's successful. 🤞
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#verticalgarden #growingup #urbangarden #sproutinglifegarden #cucumber #luffa #squash #delicata #berries #roanokeva
Tomato planting time! A few things I forgot to add....after planting anything I water thoroughly. Tomatoes need a good deep watering about once a week. Also, I add organic fertilizer at the time of planting, but once the tomatoes start making fruit I make a great compost tea that I pour on all my plants periodically throughout the grow season. Behind me is a new system I'm trying this year stringing tomatoes and I'm excited to see how it works!
In addition to basil, I also plant calendula and lettuce with my tomatoes. Lettuce tends to get bitter in the summer heat, and the tomatoes shade the lettuce to get a little more time for fresh salads.
And remember y'all, there's more than one way to skin a cat (southern sayings🤣), so if you do things a little differently I'm sure it'll be fine too! Happy planting🌱
I was attempting to show a quick video of how I get holes in our sourdough bagels....and then real life happened 🤦
For the record, we really try not to yell in his house, but sometimes when those children will not stop asking the same question, Mama's had enough🤣 iykyk
I'm really trying to get a video of how I rehydrate our dehydrated starter and make our sourdough bread together for y'all, but with three toddlers, it's kinda impossible and just fair warning, there's probably going to be some madness🤷
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#letsgetteal #reallife #sourdoughbagels #sourdough #lifewithlittlechildren #sahmproblems #sproutinglifegarden #wakeandbakesourdough
Potting up tomato plants🌱
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#growfoodnotlawns #tomatoes #sproutinglifegarden
#roanokegardeners
