The Fruit of My Garden

When I started dating Bryan he lived in a spacious studio apartment. It had everything the two of us needed-a bathroom, 1 bedroom, and a kitchen, all which totaled about 500 sq. ft. Now we reside in a small, very small 1,200 sq. ft. 2 bedroom apartment. It's funny how one small little baby can make your space seem so much smaller than before. His stuff is EVERYWHERE. Today for instance, as we were getting ready for a walk I said, "grab the stroller out of the bathroom, please." Yes, we store diapers, wipes, baby tubs, toys, clothes, and the stroller in our spare bathroom.


I am not much of a gardener. In fact I am quite sure that if I had flowers in my yard they would all die. However, I am a fan of gardens. The type that produces actual food. My great grandparents have had a garden for as long as I can remember. For as long as I can remember I did not appreciate all the fresh fruits and vegetables it produced. But since we have lived here the past 6 years I have really enjoyed having a garden all summer. It is so cost effective to have your own garden and I really enjoy cooking with vegetables that I know where they came from.


These two paragraphs seem to have nothing in common but the point I was trying to make is if I had a house with a yard I would definitely grow my own garden. Unfortunately my apartment is far too small to farm a garden every spring. I long for the days when we own our own house so that I can hoe my garden. For now though I must go to my grandmother's to get my garden fix.

Soup mixes are one of the great things that gardens produce. Grab every vegetable from the garden to make your own soup mix to freeze for the coming winter. Here in Kentucky it stays cold for a long time and warm soups are nice to have. Okra, potatoes, green peppers, onions, squash, tomatoes can all be cut up and canned or placed in freezer bags and stored in the freezer. You can cater the soup mixes to your taste as well by adding as much or as little as you want. When that cold air of winter creeps around just reach in your freezer (or cabinet if canned) and place in the crock pot. Add water and canned tomatoes for a delicious home made soup that is not only satisfying, but good for you.

Another great plus of having a garden is all the tomatoes it produces. Admittedly I am not the biggest raw tomato fan. I do however love it in soups and sauces. I'll even eat a grilled tomato. I guess it's just something about the cold texture. Every year my great grandmother would boil and peel the tomatoes in order to can enough tomatoes until next spring. This is great because you have something fresh and homemade that doesn't take all that much effort. The cans you buy in the store are very convenient and loaded with sodium. You can use the canned tomatoes in soups, chili, and it makes a mean salsa.

If you don't have a garden another quick way to get fresh tomatoes is to buy them from the store. I always buy organic, but you can buy whatever you prefer. Tonight I  made chili. I diced about 4 roma tomatoes and tossed another three in the food processor to make it into a liquid. I added that to my ground beef instead of a can from the store and seasoned it to my preference. An easy red Italian sauce can be made by blending your tomatoes in the processor with fresh garlic and basil. Add your own seasonings to taste (I prefer a little italian seasonings and pepper), heat it on the stove and serve over pasta.