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What's Growing in the Garden - Late Summer Edition

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We posted an early spring edition about the garden, but have not updated since. We are now at the end of our growing season. We had a variety of plants in the garden, some of which did well, others which did not. We will just hit a few of the highlights below: Here is our 2024 garden update. Garden History Over the past three years, we have struggled getting our plants to grow vigorously. We think the problem is a combination of soil issues (even though we got soil specially made for raised beds) and the amount of shade we have on the property. We have been working on soil amendment and have seen incremental improvements in the garden each year, which has been very encouraging. Ground Cherries We had one plant produce fruits. It was just enough to have a taste every few days towards the end of summer. Four other plants grew taller and fuller than the one in the photo below, but none of them produced any fruit. Ground Cherries with Carrots in the Background Tomatoes It has been a strugg
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National Preparedness Month - Why Prepare?

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September is National Preparedness Month. If you have not yet begun your preparedness journey, you might have a number of questions running through your mind. The biggest questions tend to be: Why should I prepare and for what should I prepare? This short article is designed to answer those basic questions. Reasons to prepare: Natural disasters are one of the most common occurrences for which people prepare. This includes things like floods, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, etc. In situations such as these, access to services can be disrupted for days. Grocery stores and gas stations have been known to run low on supplies, electricity can be disrupted, and it may be difficult to leave your home. Are you equipped to deal with being at home potentially without power and access to food and water for several days? On the flip side, it may be necessary to leave your home. Do you have a place to go? Do you have a plan for what to take with you should you need to ev
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Budget Stretching Ideas - Fruit

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Getting the Most Out of Your Fruit When stretching your budget, it helps to think outside the box and put items you might normally toss to use. Instead of throwing away your apple cores, lemon rinds, banana peels, and strawberry hulls, use them to make something new! Here are some items you can make with those peels, rinds, and cores. Be sure to wash the fruit well before using to remove any dirt or impurities. If you are using non-organic produce, you will need to remove the wax coating from the fruit before using the peels and rinds. Here is a post that explains why you should remove the wax coating and how to safely remove it. Juice Strawberry tops (or hulls), peach peels, and apple peels (and cores) can all be simmered in water to make a light juice. This can then be turned into syrup, used in smoothies, or enjoyed straight. Just add your clean scraps to a pot. Pour enough water over them just to cover. Bring to a boil then reduce immediately to a simmer. Let simmer for 20-30 minut
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Three Garden Favorites to Try Next Season

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As summer draws to a close, I am already thinking ahead to next year’s garden. This means assessing what grew well this year, what didn’t, what beds need amending, what and where we will plant next year. This process started me thinking about what plants we have enjoyed having in the garden. We like having the traditional garden favorites such as lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and such, but we also love planting things that are new to us. Here are three not-so-traditional favorites we have enjoyed having in the garden that you might like to try as well: Note: This newsletter contains affiliate links. As affiliates, at no extra cost to you, we may earn from qualifying purchases. Earnings help to fund our website and blog. We know you have many options when shopping and that each dollar you spend is valuable. Thank you for choosing to purchase through our links. 1)     Ground Cherry –         Ground cherries look like a tomatillo and are part of the nightshade family. They grow in a husk
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Making Mayonnaise at Home

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I have mentioned before that our family loves sauces and that includes mayonnaise. Years ago, as health problems arose in the family, we started avoiding soy. Back when we didn't know about the detrimental health effects of seed oils, we sought out products that had other oils, like canola. When the affordable brand of mayonnaise we were using at the time started making their mayonnaise with soy oil, we unsuccessfully searched for other affordable brands without it. As we learned about seed oils, we took those off the list of acceptable ingredients as well and mayonnaise became even more difficult to find. As time went on, we would occasionally find a brand without soy or seed oils and try it, but for the most part it was too cost prohibitive. In addition, some of the soy-free, seed oil-free mayonnaise we tried early on was terrible. I remember one particular jar we bought that was made of coconut oil. It was so terrible the flavor couldn't be drowned out even when blended with
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