My Garden and How I get produce to preserve

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     I promised a garden update and I'm happy to give you one today because I am so happy with my garden so far this year!  
      One of the benefits of living here in Phoenix is that we can grow food just about all year round.  The hardest time to grow is in the hottest part of the summer, basically the months of July and August, but even then there are some very heat tolerant plants that can survive even our extremely hot summers.  Then, in September we can begin sowing our Winter crops and by the end of February, the winter garden starts to finish up and in goes the Spring/Summer garden! 
      This year I had a bumper crop of peas in my winter garden which delighted me to no end.  I even had enough to freeze some for later! 
      Once my peas were ready to pull out, I already had seedlings ready to go in to replace them!  The miracle of planting those little seeds and then later harvesting large fruits and vegetables never gets old for me.  Click Read more and I will tell you how I get it all to work and where else I get produce to preserve and feed to my family. 

     Last year, I learned to plant and sprout my own seedlings for my garden, rather than purchasing them all or starting them from seed outdoors.  That opened up a new world for me!  These plants became like pets, I called them my babies as I truly babied then into large enough plants to put out in the garden beds!  One thing that I've learned to do since writing that post that helps to speed up the growth process is to sprout my seeds in a wet paper towel before putting them in soil.  I even do this with seeds that must be planted straight into the soil rather than into a pot and transplanted.  Beans are a good example of this.  I like this method because I can find out which seeds are viable and not duds right away and then transplant those good seeds into soil after that.  
       To sprout seeds in a paper towel, do the following:

1. Choose which seeds you would like to sprout.
2. Fold a paper towel into a double layer and then moisten it well.
3. Lay seeds, spaced a little bit apart on one side of the wet paper towel and then fold the towel over the top of the seeds.  
4. Slip the paper towel into a ziplock plastic bag and set aside in a drawer or shelf, wherever is handy for you.  They do not need sunlight. 
5. In a couple of days, check the seeds.  Some may have already sprouted.  Remove those to plant in red cups, the sprouted part will be the root.  For the seeds that haven't sprouted,  be sure that the paper towel is still moist and put back for another couple of days.  Some varieties of plants will take longer than others, so don't give up in that first week.  

The bottles you see are a back-up watering method I use because of our hot weather and dry climate. I will put a link to the clay spikes I use that allows the water from the bottles to slowly seep into the soil as needed.

Sunflowers and yellow squash.

Can you see the baby yellow squash coming on this plant?

This is a baby Cherokee Purple Tomato! I can't wait to see it when it is ripe!

Another shot of my garden bed with squash, cantaloupe, sunflowers and tomatoes!

In my block garden bed, I decided to plant some flowers in some of the block openings to attract pollinators.

      It makes me feel kind of giddy when I tell you that every single one of those plants that you see in the above photos I sprouted from seed as I described above.  Here is a run down of what I've planted:

• 5 varieties of tomatoes (Beefsteak, Pink Beefsteak, Homestead, Cherry Tomatoes and Cherokee Purple.
• Yellow Squash and Zucchini Squash
• Cantaloupe
• Bell Peppers
• Sunflowers, Marigolds and Wild Flowers to attract pollinators
• Oregano, Garlic and Mint
• Red and Sweet White Onions
• Kidney Beans and Black Beans
• Spinach (a heat resistant variety)

     Starting and growing my plans from seed saves me money and gives me so much satisfaction. 
Yes, I do have to purchase soil for my garden boxes and we did invest in some drip hoses for watering, but you can look at this post and this post to see how you can start your own garden economically. 

     Since I took those garden pictures, Anita brought me some Malabar Spinach sprouts, which are heat resistant, and blackberry cuttings!  If you have followed the blog at all, you know how much I love blackberries!  I can hardly wait to put those in, not to mention the Mulberry Tree Cutting that actually has already produced 1 mulberry while still in its pot!  My garden will be growing again! 

This isn't actually my little mulberry, but similar. I already ate mine before a bird could, LOL.

     Even though my little urban garden is doing so great and I am able to preserve food from it by canning, freezing, fermenting and dehydrating, I can't grow enough on my own to preserve the amount of fruits and veggies that our family could eat in a year.  So, I have found other economical ways to supplement our food storage pantry to round out our diets.  (Yes, my husband and I are technically empty nesters, but I have some kids who like to come and shop my pantry!  Plus, I want to be able to share as much as possible.  Besides, I love canning and preserving!)  Here are the ways I get produce to add to what I grow:

• ​Find a local produce wholesaler who sells to the public.  There are a few of these in Phoenix.  You do have to watch their prices, because they aren't always better than the grocery store, but when they are they can be absolutely amazing!  Just today I was able to get 36 cartons of blueberries (6 oz each) from them for $24!  My granddaughter, Jayda and I canned them in simple syrup and were able to can 11 quarts, plus save some out to eat fresh for a delicious dessert over angel food cake!  At other times I've seen and often purchased at excellent prices, strawberries, apples, peaches, broccoli, cranberries, potatoes and tomatoes....just to mention a few things. 
• Sometimes I take part in collective orders that get fruit delivered at good prices from the states that they grow in.  In my case, I have been able to get apples and peaches from Utah.  I'm not sure how to tell you to find a group like this.  Perhaps ask on Facebook or at your church?
• Neighbors and friends who have an over abundance of produce are often happy to share or trade what they have.  Every winter we are offered lemons and oranges!  What a blessing!  Once on a Facebook gardening page someone in our own neighborhood had an over abundance of mulberries that he allowed people to come and pick for free!  Perhaps if you have an over abundance of something like tomatoes or zucchini, you could trade with someone who had an over abundance of peppers or corn. 
• If you keep an eye on sales, sometimes your local store will have a remarkable price on an item.  I'll never forget the time my local grocery store had peaches on sale for .39 per lb.  I went to the store and asked if I could buy and entire case of them.  They let me!  I was able to can them!  Then, I told some friends about it and when they went in, the store was no longer allowing people to purchase them by the case!  All you can do is ask, it is worth a try! 
• Besides wholesalers, there are co-op groups who go together to purchase produce at a discount.  One that comes to mind is Bountiful Baskets.  In Georgia, Alicia belongs to a group that for $50 per month receives boxes of groceries each week!  These boxes sometimes include huge boxes of produce, as well as meat, bread and other sundry products, worth much more per week than the $50 they pay per month.  I've searched for a group like this in my area without success, but ask around, there may be something like it near you! ​

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     Here is a small slide show of a few of the things I've canned within the last few years.  It is an amazing feeling knowing that this is food for my family and it was canned fresh without chemicals. These images don't even include the freezing and the dehydrating that I have done.! 

     Can you tell that I love gardening and preserving?  Maybe it is because I love to eat, LOL!  I have expounded on the benefits of growing something in your home in many of my posts.  I have given lots of tips about how to do it! I hope that I am converting you! Let me know if you have questions or if you have tips or if you just want to share your joy of gardening with me!  
      Here are some helpful links below! 

These are the watering spikes I use in my garden.

This is the soil I use to start my seedings.

I use red cups like these to start my seedings in.

These are the clear cups that you set the red cups in to catch the water from them.