Five Reasons to Grow Vegetables

I started growing vegetables before I grew flowers because my grandfather was a farmer and I remembered what fresh vegetables tasted like. So here are five reasons to grow your own vegetables.






1. You can make mashed potatoes with your own heirloom vegetables to enjoy at a Thanksgiving feast. These are German Butterball, All Blue and Purple Viking potatoes that I am using in Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes (recipe to follow). We will eat them tomorrow on Thanksgiving. I have enough potatoes to last me into March!

2. If you grow rhubarb you can freeze it and then use it later for baking. Tomorrow we are going to have Oatmeal Rhubarb Crisp for dessert.

3. Onions are another vegetable that will last if you store it right. I am eating potato leek soup this week that I used homegrown potatoes and onions and leeks from the farmer's market.

4. There is nothing better than a homegrown strawberry in June. Yes, I know strawberries are fruit (and perhaps tomatoes are fruits as well) but I am lumping them in with my vegetables as they are the reason I started a garden in the first place. I wanted to taste the strawberries I remember from grandpa's farm after many years of the mealy hard ones from the supermarket. There is a difference, the difference being the ones you grow yourself actually taste good.

5. One of my favorite meals is to take a piece of good bread, toast it, spread pesto on top of it and add some tomato slices. I had this yesterday for dinner with my own tomatoes and pesto I froze using my own basil and garlic. Now if I only had a cow I could make my own cheese!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

8 large potatoes peeled and pared

1 8 ounce package cream cheese

1/4 cup dairy sour cream

salt pepper to taste, butter, paprika

Boil potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Mash. Add cream cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper, mixing well. Put in a greased 2 quart casserole. Top with pats of butter. Cover May store in the refrigerator several days. Before serving, sprinkle with paprika and bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Ten Reasons to Garden Organically

Organic Gardening Magazine has a wealth of ideas for the gardener who doesn't want to use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides. It is a great resource and I have subscribed to this magazine for many years now. What follows are my own reasons for gardening organically. And believe me, if I can do it so can you!

1. My grandfather was a farmer who used two horses and a plow. He lived a good, long life (88) as did my grandmother (91). What is good enough for my grandparents is good enough for me. I may not have two horses and a plow (I garden on a small city lot after all) but I do generate kitchen scraps and they work pretty darn well.

2. Organic food to buy is more expensive. If you grow your own organically you are getting a really good deal.

3. I can make compost for free. I can use leaves to make mulch for free. Free costs less than what fertilizers cost which is a good thing for a retired person living on a fixed income.

4. My soil is a lot easier to deal with since adding compost to it. I have hardpan clay soil that was awful before compost. Vegetables grow so much better now.

5. I can make my own soap sprays which is a lot cheaper than buying insecticides. Who doesn't want to save money? The saving money theme keeps repeating itself. I guess I am cheap.

6. I make barriers out of used cottage cheese containers to keep the cabbage moths away from my brocolli, cabbage and cauliflower. It's cheap, it works and it recycles.

7. The bees, butterflies and birds seem to love my garden. I suspect that is because it is pesticide free. Who doesn't want these wonderful creatures buzzing around their little patch of land?

8. I can walk anywhere in my garden at anytime without any warning signs saying something has just been sprayed and it is best not to walk on it. The bees are happy, the butterflies are happy, I am happy and Fido is happy.

9. The clover in my grass attracts bees. Bees are needed to pollinate the vegetables. Most of our crops are pollinated by honeybees. Can you imagine how much your food would cost if everything had to be hand pollinated because we have turned the world into a place where honeybees can't live?

10. I feel I am doing my little bit of good on my little bit of land to make the world a better place. I can't solve all the world's problems, but I can give friends and neighbors something to make them feel better, and what can make you feel better than a homegrown heirloom tomato in August in Michigan after living through a winter of either mealy tomatoes (from the grocery store) or no tomatoes (which is what I do). Here are some tomatoes in the middle of November which I am going to dine on tonight. Bon appetit!

Article in the Saginaw News

Okay, I know I am being backwards here, but I figured that since it is November and I have less to write about that I would provide a link to an article about my garden that occured in the Saginaw News back in 2008. So, to see Anne's Garden circa 2008, just click!