Autumn Gardens

When we think of gardens, we usually think of warm, sunny days… and lots of space. But, looking at our little piece of earth (pictured above) you can see that the space is small and you will have to trust me when I say the weather wasn't warm (wink).

However, when the summer season ends, the planting of broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, carrots and beets begin! And so do the savings on your grocery bill!

Above is a picture of our "kitchen garden" which used to be a grass section of our backyard. We simply removed the existing grass with a garden pick (okay, not too simple as my hubby did have to do that part for me). We added in some extra nutrients into the soil such as old chicken manure and planted seeds directly into the ground. You can also add in some compost (we had just moved in and had nothing of the sort on hand) or you can purchase some nutrients for your garden at your local nursery.

You can see above that it was just some dirty dirt at the beginning but underneath the soil lays a promise with a seed… And with water and time, the earth will sprout forth life...

We ended up getting excited about this "little" project and added some brick work around it to keep it "contained" and give it a walk way…

And now… some patience as we wait for the produce! I will share as we harvest each vegetable. What came in first? (See below...)

We call it our "kitchen garden" since it's close to the kitchen and makes for easy access to add straight into the cooking pots or salad bowls. There isn't enough here to store via canning, freezing, or drying which makes it low maintenance. This is a perfect project for the beginning gardener as it is nice and small and convenient.

Lettuce was the winner...

What I did was wash a large batch of it and placed inside our salad spinner to remove any excess water. I store my lettuce in these Kinetic Premium Nano Silver Food Storage Containers (Go Green Premium Nano Silver is 21st century line of air tight, water tight and Nano Silver embedded food storage containers. Silver particles are embedded into the plasticwhich makes the plastic resistant to the formation of mold or bacteria which signifigantly extends the life of food. No BPA and FDA approved.) because they give a WAY longer shelf life than regular plastic ones. All that week I have lettuce already prepared and ready to use! 

I hope you keep on planting when the heat says good-bye and welcome a different crop of veggies onto your supper table! It's always fresh, free and fit for your family.