We are at the end of our 1st summer of learning. I want to share with you some of what we accomplished. It has been a lot of work, not just the doing but, the research that is needed for a someone new to gardening and preserving food.
I started a bucket garden in the spring, while learning all about the gardening process. Tomatoes and peppers were our best growers. I bought several beet starter plants at a home improvement store that were on sale. They looked pretty bad at the start, but I was able to get a handful of beets to grow. Although I was happy with how they grew, there definitely was not enough produce to feed our family for a year. I have to work on how to calculate how much to grow.
I planted carrots in an old cooler. This was probably where I had the biggest challenge and reward. How do you get them to grow, when and how to thin them, and how do you know when they are ready to pick? So many questions on carrots. In the end, they did fairly well. We ate them for several meals fresh, and I was able to can 2 jars.
Fruit trees, lemon, orange and blueberries, grew about a foot this summer. I put them into big barrels last week. Hopefully next year we get some fruit. My pineapple tree/plant grew and just within the last couple week sprouted 2 new plants. Today, the new pineapple plants are now bigger that the original. Next year, I will get better at taking picture and videos along the way.
I’m also learning how to preserve the food we are growing. Canning, water bath or pressure, or freezing are the options I’ve been learning about. My first canning experience was making pickles. My son gave me a ton of cucumbers, so pickles was my first project. My husband thinks I made too many, but who can have too many pickles. I’ve tries many difference things this summer, as my garden had a variety of produce with small output. This process is more time consuming than I thought. I’m not organized yet, and I think if I get organized, it might be smoother. I’ll work on this part.
I’m now thinking about fall and winter. I’ve planted more beets, carrots, or something new cabbage. These are buckets that can be brought inside over the winter. My husband is building a greenhouse out of old window we gather up. This will be a great place for my winter growing. I’ll give an update on how that is going later in the fall.