Once upon a time I read books about homesteads + small scale farming. I scoured the area for homes with land...just enough to sustain us. We looked at an old house on one acre of land. The sellers had a few sweet cows in the small barn. I read books about suburban families who grow enough food to sustain them on their suburban plots. We attended classes about backyard chickens, visited working farms + went to hear Joel Salatin speak. Midway through this studying + dreaming, we finally had some space to start a garden of our own.
My current gardening strategy is not to stress out about growing all we need (though I admire that greatly). I focus on growing the most expensive things that grow well where we live (+ that we love to eat). For us that means tomatoes, peppers + strawberries. We grow other things too, but tomatoes are my main priority. Fresh tomatoes are a highlight of many summer meals. Tomato sauce is the base for soups, pasta sauce, salsa + other meals all year round. We avoid all the transport, the cans + lots of expense by growing our own.
This jar held the last of the tomato sauce from our 2018 home-grown tomatoes. I used it this week, and it's almost time to start picking this year's tomatoes. :)
Love,
Jane
My current gardening strategy is not to stress out about growing all we need (though I admire that greatly). I focus on growing the most expensive things that grow well where we live (+ that we love to eat). For us that means tomatoes, peppers + strawberries. We grow other things too, but tomatoes are my main priority. Fresh tomatoes are a highlight of many summer meals. Tomato sauce is the base for soups, pasta sauce, salsa + other meals all year round. We avoid all the transport, the cans + lots of expense by growing our own.
This jar held the last of the tomato sauce from our 2018 home-grown tomatoes. I used it this week, and it's almost time to start picking this year's tomatoes. :)
Love,
Jane
