Garden Memories

The time is getting closer! Spring is finally here so that means the garden will be going in shortly! I don’t have room right now to start seeds indoors, so we will be putting the seeds directly into the ground. I have been scouring my seed catalogs like a stalker and can’t wait to order my seeds.

 

I’m still contemplating which things to plant this year. I’m sure there will be my usual Kandy corn, russet potatoes, peas, beans, etc., but I really want to try some of these other things. There are so many cool new things we could plant! I’m definitely leaning toward going for the purple potatoes and purple carrots. Maybe my kids will eat even more of them if they are cool colors?!

 

This is kind of a side note, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I HATE eating vegetables. My kids (for the most part) love vegetables. I’m so glad they got that gene from their Daddy. But I, on the other hand, detest vegetables. I LOVE potatoes, but can’t stand anything else. Every now and then, I will eat a tiny bit of corn on the cob, but I won’t touch any other vegetable with my eating utensil. I don’t mind at all when the vegetables are made into something else, but I can’t eat them just as a vegetable. I love pizza and spaghetti sauces. Sweet corn bread is basically a food group for me. And I can eat an entire loaf of pumpkin bread all by myself. I have no idea what my problem is with eating just straight veggies, but they make me gag like nobody’s business. I am completely a meat and potatoes type of girl!

 

My husband thought he was going to experiment not too long after we were married. He used my food chopper and minced up an onion super fine and put it in something he made for supper. I could tell right away it was in there. He thought he was getting away with something, but I knew. I didn’t say anything though. I just ate the food and waited for what was coming later. I don’t know what it is about veggies, but I end up throwing up about a half hour after eating them. My husband didn’t know that little detail.

 

Not long after we finished eating supper, I ended up running for the bathroom. He thought I was really sick and asked what was wrong. I told him it was the onion he put in supper. His face was priceless! He realized all at once that he was caught red handed putting vegetables in the food, and that I was being serious when I had told him that vegetables make me puke. He couldn’t believe it! He hasn’t tried to add anything extra since that day. That was over 10 years ago.

 

Back to the garden though. When we first got married, Phil and I planted a garden at his parents’ house since they lived just down the road from us at the time. I was hoping that I could make myself like vegetables if I grew them, and if they were fresh out of the garden.  Well, that didn’t work either. We ended up moving out of state before we could harvest anything out of the garden. This year is the first year that we should be able to plant a garden and actually reap the rewards. So, I’m back to hoping that I can make myself like vegetables if I grow them and they are fresh from the garden. We’ll see how this goes!

 

 

So now, my big project is to figure out what seeds to purchase and get them ordered. I am so indecisive sometimes! I’m working on just picking something and going with it. I have a feeling it’s going to be a lifelong learning process. Maybe someday I will figure it out!

 

 

I’m also hoping to learn how to can veggies this year. I want to plant a big garden so that I have plenty to practice with. My grandpa taught me, at one point, how to freeze corn. That will also be a project for this summer/fall. I’m super excited about it and about teaching my kids how to do some of these basic life skills. They are just as excited as I am about learning the “old way” of life. I think they are just as fascinated with farming and making our own food as I am.

 

I remember spending hours and hours making jellies and jams with my Grandma. We never had store bought jelly at Grandma’s house. I think she is the one who instilled this love of homesteading into me. I absolutely love the idea of growing our own food, preserving it for winter, and being able to enjoy it all year long. I love that I can support my family with what we grow. My only hope is that I can live up to the legacy that my Grandma left. She was the queen of making an entire meal out of next to nothing. She was amazing at providing for her family. She was not a very big woman, but she definitely left big shoes to fill.

 

So, as the seed hunt continues and the planting begins, all the memories come flooding back from my childhood. The days spent planting tiny seeds, watering the rows, and watching the bright green leaves pop their little heads out of the thick black dirt. The hours spent picking berries and vegetables, washing them up, and either turning the berries into jelly or freezing/canning the vegetables. And then, my personal favorite part, enjoying a slice of fresh homemade bread with a spoonful of fresh jelly on the top. Those were the days! Those are the days that I hope to bring to my children this summer. Those are some of my favorite memories from growing up, and I hope they will be some of my children’s favorite memories.

 

Leave me a comment below with some of your favorite garden favorites and your favorite homemade jellies! I can’t wait to read them. I may have to take some of your favorites and try them in our garden this year!