And so, with the warm weather, I have found myself outside a lot, prepping my garden space...and not in the kitchen. My poor family is making do on quick thrown together food (homemade, yes, but nothing to blog about...I'm pretty sure most people can scramble an egg!) or leftovers of food that was made and put in the freezer for days like these. This also leaves me without any food to blog about. Sorry, guys! My garden is looking great though! haha
And speaking of gardens...are you gardeners? Do you grow any food? You should! It's amazing how relaxing it is to piddle around in a garden. It's also very satisfying to plant something and then a few months later, harvest your produce and feed your family home-grown, no chemicals added, pesticide free (if you don't use them...although I still believe that a dusting of pesticide is still a ton less than what happens with produce in the stores!) food.
I also believe anyone can have home grown produce! I don't have a yard that can be dug up for a garden. I have a huge patio that runs the length of my home and a little hillside, or drop off as we lovingly call it, off the patio. There is no retaining wall and we aren't planning on making one. So, I have come up with some creative ways to have a garden.
First, I "built" a raised bed. It's made of concrete cinderblocks. Neither the Handsome Mexican or myself are very handy when it comes to building things, so using wood and building a raised bed wasn't going to happen. Cinderblocks are inexpensive, last forever, and require no tools. My garden consists of 18"x8"x6" cinderblocks stacked 2 high. I like to plant tomatoes and root veggies and need at least 12" of dirt. I made a rectangle that was 2 blocks x 4 blocks...giving me 3ft x 6ft of space, or 18 square feet.
I have also gotten several containers for things like basil, radishes, or other small plants. I plan to get several 5 gallon sized containers for some cherry tomatoes. You can find the black nursery pots in all different sizes for really cheap on craigslist or at your local nurseries. If you want, you can even get inexpensive 5 gallon buckets on craigslist, spray paint them and have a pretty planter for cheap! Just be sure to make lots of holes in the bottom for drainage.
For my hillside, I knew I would need some type of "wall" to hold the plant and keep the water from just running off down the hill. Since we aren't planning on putting up a retaining wall, I was able to get some of these cute round bricks for free (ask around...people have lots of stuff they aren't using and are willing to give away just to clean up their yard a bit). These bricks will hold in the plant and water so that everything doesn't wash away. I plan to put my pumpkin, squash, cantaloupe, and cucumbers in them and let them vine down the hill. I now have 8 of these "circles" along my drop off, making an otherwise useless area, useful!
So, there are a few ways to adapt to not having a huge yard to dig up a garden. Be creative! Explore your local craigslist or Dollar Store to find containers. Just remember, the bigger the container, the better (plants need space for their roots and the more space you can give them in a container, the better the plant will be), and don't forget to make lots of drainage holes!
You can also grow up if space is an issue. I have a trellis on the back side of my raised bed to tie up tomatoes. This will allow me to plant more since my tomatoes won't be sprawling all over the place. Cherry tomatoes can hang from a basket allowing them to grow over the edges and then they won't have to be trellissed.
So, there you have it...my garden so far. This is what I've been doing instead of cooking.
But, to not leave you hanging completely, I have come up with a list of tips and tricks that I use in the kitchen all the time.
Tidbits for the Kitchen
1. Powdered Sugar. Ever find a recipe that calls for powdered sugar and find you don't have any? No problem. Just use 1 cup regular granulated sugar and 1 tbsp cornstarch. Blend in a blender until powdery! Easy!
2. Buttermilk. I NEVER buy buttermilk. Mostly because I usually only need a small amount and then have tons left over that I don't use. So, instead of buying buttermilk, just take 1 cup milk and 1 tbsp white vinegar. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes. When you see the milk start to separate it's ready.
3. Brown Sugar. I don't buy brown sugar anymore either. You can make brown sugar by added 1 tbsp of molasses per 1 cup of sugar. Use a mixer or fork and mix until the molasses is incorporated into the sugar. I can buy a jar of molasses for under $4 and it will make pound after pound of brown sugar. A much better deal and the flavor is much richer!
4. Expiring produce. Have you ever dug around in the fridge to find some bell peppers, spinach, strawberries, or other produce that needs to be used immediately but you have no plans to use it? Freeze it. Bell peppers can be chopped/diced/sliced and put in a freezer bag to use in soups or stir-frys. Spinach can be chopped and frozen and used like store bought frozen spinach (I use it for a yummy artichoke and spinach dip). Fruit can be frozen and used for muffins or smoothies. Don't waste your produce!
5. Now that I told you to freeze your produce, let me tell you that you can't freeze everything. Most things, yes. Lettuce however isn't one of those things you can freeze. So, chop it up and make a salad. Then, take the end of your lettuce head (I use romaine mostly) and put it in a bowl of water (not a lot of water...maybe an inch) and watch it grow! Yep, seriously! I'm doing it right now with a head of romaine I bought. This can be done with green onions also. Use the green and put the white part of the onion in some water and watch the green grow back!
Here you can see my lettuce...this is a couple days of growth from the first and second pictures. I'm excited to see how big it will grow! I may never have to buy lettuce again!
Do you have any tidbits for the kitchen that you use/do on a regular basis? Share with us!
Happily Homemade,
Sandra
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