Gardening for Free

One of my favorite summer past times is growing a garden.

Mostly I try to grow vegetables such as cucumbers, green peppers, banana peppers, green beans, onions, potatoes and tomatoes, etc.

This year my family became addicted to guacamole. Joking my kids said we need a guacamole section in our garden. I have the cilantro, green onions and even planted an avocado seed. See how much it's grown.

After many failed attempts at suspending the seeds in water like I've seen in online tutorials.  I ended up just planting it in a small pot of potting soil. Of course, the one in the pot of soil is the only one that grew and has been growing strong for a few months now.  I used a seed from avocado I bought at my local Aldi's.  I love to save seeds from peppers, apples, lemons, cantaloupes, watermelons, and pumpkins. If they grow great - if not it's not a bit deal.

Below is a photo of my veggie haul this week. My kids were helping and dug up some of the vegetables a bit early. 

This doesn't even include my green beans which we ate for dinner before I took the photos.

The best part is I used the seeds from the avocados I bought and also the peppers bought. Not a package of seeds. Some sprouted, a few didn't but it cost me anything. I bought the food to eat - the seeds were a bonus. You can do the same. It is pretty easy.

Feel free to share pictures of your gardens.  

My First Attempt at Canning Pickles

This week I tried my first attempt at canning pickles. I've got a ton of them in my garden. I only planted 3 small plants, but I'm getting lots of small 3-5" pickles. They were specifically for pickling.

Okay don't get all impressed.  I used a packet of seasonings that I bought last year in clearance. It didn't have an expiration date, so I gave it a try.

It's pretty easy. Start with a bunch of cucumbers. Size doesn't really matter. Smaller sized cucumbers are easier to fit into the jars and fill small spaces.

Cut them up into slices (crinkle cut if you can). You can also cut into length-wise strips as well. It's your preference really.

Next start putting the cut up cucumbers into clean, sterilized jars. Any size jar will work. I had pint size jars on hand so that's what I used.

Now it's time to make the liquid that will make the cucumbers taste like pickles. I used the package of seasoning mix, but you can follow any recipe you wish. There are lots available for free on the web. Mostly it spices and lots of white vinegar.

Once your liquid is complete according to your recipe's directions, add the hot liquid to the jars full of cucumber slices. I found it much easier to use a funnel (which can be found in most dollar stores). Leave 1/2" from the top of the jar with no cucumbers or liquid.

After you add the liquid seasoning, be care because the jars will be hot. Wipe the jar with a dry towel, especially around the top rim. Add a dry, clean and sterilized lid and ring and tighten.

Add all the jars to a canning pot. Once the water is boiling, let the jars remain in there for 5-10 minutes or however your recipe calls for.

After the jars were boiled for the designated time remove them to a towel on the counter.  Let the jars remain their for 24 hours to cool thoroughly. You may hear them pop as they cool.

My recipe said they were ready to eat after 24 hours, but we waited 2 days to try them. Let me just say- Yummy!!  Next time I will try sweet pickles, because I still have a ton of cucumbers growing. We will be eating pickles forever! LOL

Feel free to leave a comment with your pickling stories.

My First Harvest of the Year

I just started my garden in June, but I've already gotten delicious home grown veggies.  Okay so not a lot, but one bell pepper and 2 cucumbers. To be honest, I started my garden a little later than I normally do.

I don't mean to brag. I'm totally excited - I love free veggies!

It's really not too late to put a couple plants in the ground and start a garden of your own.  Especially a faster growing plant like cucumbers.

It's really easy. Put seeds in the ground, cover with dirt (preferably miracle grow potting soil) and add lots of water every day. Then let the sun do it's work. Just be warned cucumbers take up a lot of space and the vines grab hold of anything to spread out.