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Uncomplicate.

in pursuit of a simpler, more sustainable creative life.

The Veggie Garden: What Should You Grow?

The Veggie Garden: What Should You Grow?

February 19, 2021 Beth Comments 0 Comment

It’ll be here before we know it: garden season!

This year I’ve noticed a shift in how I’m planning the garden. Back in my shady little city garden I was successful and satisfied to eat backyard salads during the summer months, maybe have enough berries to bake something once or twice during the summer. Aside from my usual short-season tomatoes, scattered herbs and greens, I might splurge on a plant or variety that sounded fun or different.

midsummer dinner

The first season in a larger space I guess I did that same thing but on a larger scale. Then last year I started planting things I buy more often, or have trouble finding now that I no longer live a couple blocks from Whole Foods or my old favorite co-op.

baby purple Brussels sprouts in June

I realized I had been buying a spaghetti squash every week or two from the grocery store or farmer’s market. So I planted a ton of spaghetti squash. We started harvesting and eating them in July when my big, sturdy (!) squash arch started to bend and break under the weight of dozens of squash, and here in February we’re still enjoying them weekly but there are about a gazillion still out in the garage . . . so, ok, there’s a lesson learned.

just one squash harvest in mid-September

Same thing with the tomatoes. I thought I could never have enough tomatoes, and I have literally a freezer full of tomato puree (so fortunate to have lots of freezer space here).

the last pea harvest in July

I grew a second crop of peas in the fall but didn’t get many from it. I had been freezing shelled peas all summer but I ran out mid-winter and I’ve been back to buying bags of frozen peas on my monthly shopping trips. I was giddy to have grown my very first crop of potatoes last summer and had a good couple baskets stored away in the fall, but I’ve been back to store-bought potatoes again. Note to self: grow more peas and potatoes. Right?

my first potatoes (and green tomato photobomb)

Why haven’t I been growing my own cabbage for homemade sauerkraut? I’m still buying grocery store celery: I should be growing that. Dry beans, more string beans, more carrots. I end up buying all of that stuff eventually. We eat a lot of homemade soup during the colder months so I should be growing more of my usual soup ingredients. So many things could occupy some of that space left when growing a few less tomatoes and squash, right?

To me, this feels like some new amazing concept (!) but I realize it’s just Beginners Gardening and Homesteading 101: Day 1 Stuff, right? But many of us seasoned gardeners have never really grown this way: thinking like a homesteader or farmer. We’ve basically been grocery shoppers who grow a few extra things because we like them, or they’re fun to grow. It’s a definite shift in thinking for many of us and a key step toward living more sustainably.

We’ve been conditioned to survive as consumers, depending on others for our most basic needs: we run out of something in the pantry or fridge, we get in our car and drive to the store and pick it up. This was totally my life back in the city. Several times a week. I used the excuse that my house was tiny and I didn’t have room to keep stuff on hand, plus there were multiple grocery stores and restaurants within a couple blocks. Honestly though, it was just easier to not have to think about stuff until I needed it.

Quarantines and closures this past year forced all of us to rethink the way we shop and eat to some extent, but even as restrictions loosen and life gets back to “normal” we have the opportunity to change our habits for the better.

Growing more of your own groceries doesn’t have to be rocket science.

patio containers
goodies from the patio

Even if you have limited space for growing or storing year-round, you can become a lot more practical about how you’re using your space by thinking about your garden this way. What do you buy a lot of that you could actually grow yourself? Chances are you can fit some of that into existing garden beds or a few more pots on your patio, and extend its usability by utilizing shelves in a cool corner of your garage or basement or even the space in the back of the freezer where that old bottle of vodka is pretending to be a woolly mammoth buried behind a giant ledge of frost.

And along the way, you’ll learn what you could use more (or less) of and what crops are really worth your time, energy and space.

It’s time to get planning what you’d really like to grow now. What do you buy and eat a lot of that you could be growing? What would be awesome to have in your freezer or pantry next winter? Buy those seeds or make your lists for the spring plant sales in your area.

Start small or go big, either way it’s going to be an amazing year!


Gardening, Homesteading, Preserving the Harvest
edible gardening, garden planning, gardening, sustainable living, vegetable garden

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bethlogansart

bethlogansart
Some days, it’s all you can do. Breathe in. Br Some days, it’s all you can do. 
Breathe in. 
Breathe out. 
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Tonight, that breathing was accompanied by sewing little canvas pouches with a glass of wine while watching Repo Man and Return of the Living Dead. 🤣
Comfort food for my soul…whatever it takes, right?
I’m still getting the knack of these and only have a few finished so far, but I’ll have them with me at the popup market at Jones Creek Brewing tomorrow for Ride the Willapa. 
If you’re around here, it’d sure be nice to see you there. See my previous post for details. 
Keep breathing, friends. 
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Tomorrow you guys!!! ☀️ I know, this is super Tomorrow you guys!!!
☀️
I know, this is super last-minute, but really, SUMMER around here has been really last-minute, right? It’s all totally snuck up on us. Like it’s been cold wet endless pandemic-infused winter for months and months and months and months, then suddenly the solstice this week and BAM it’s summer. And all things summer, including Ride the Willapa! 
Like, this weekend! We will be at Jones Creek tomorrow with art and goodies! 
They’re calling this suddenly-summer-weather “the first heat wave of 2022” but hey, no matter how hot it gets, it will be 20-30 degrees LOWER than it was last year on this weekend, so, yay!
There will be vendors and burgers and of course awesome locally-brewed beer! They’ve got an awesomely cool patio-mister too. If you’re riding the trail or just out for a drive in picturesque East Lewis County (everything’s still so GREEN and lovely and the river is looking amazing) drop by, it’ll be awesome. 
What a gorgeous weekend for #ridethewillapa yay!
Maybe you needed to hear this right now. It’s t Maybe you needed to hear this right now. 
It’s true. 
Also, your hair looks really cute today. 
Happy Friday friends!
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With the sun finally coming out this week I’ve b With the sun finally coming out this week I’ve been seeing my slithery friends hanging out in my bottle-borders & rockeries 😍 which always makes me happy.
🐍
This week’s Spoonflower Design Challenge theme is snakes…I originally drew this one with a #colorocombo palette (scroll to see the palette & original version) but when I was tweaking the repeat on the big computer, the Dusty Rose snakes really started bugging me 🪱😂 so I changed it up a bit before uploading for the challenge…trying to keep it in the neutral/brownish range as a nod to my own little garden buddies. 
🐍
If you’d like to see the Spoonflower Challenge and vote, follow the link from my profile, scroll to the bottom of my links page and click the purple circle 🟣 with the pencils ✏️ behind it 😊 there are some super fun designs entered in this one: cute snakes, sophisticated snakes, geometric snakes, tattoo snakes, snakes in hats…it’s a super fun variety of cool designs!
🐍
Enjoy the sunshine friends! I’m about to go back outside and hopefully finally finish getting my veggies in the ground 🤞 before the REAL summer weather gets here this weekend!
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This time of year out here in the country, my day This time of year out here in the country, my day to day experiences with actual bunnies are pretty much the opposite of these feels 😂😟 so I’m guessing this little drawing was a bit of subconscious art therapy 😉 and maybe we can all pretend together that bunnies always dance with flowy armloads of wild roses and odd little smiles on their faces, ok?
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Thanks.
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Just in case you needed to hear this today…a lit Just in case you needed to hear this today…a little Monday morning motivation, just a nudge to remind you what you already know, right? 😉 you’ve got this. 
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#caturday (swipe to see finished piece) 🐈 #dra #caturday 
(swipe to see finished piece)
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Glass, old linens, sunlight ✨ These are a few of Glass, old linens, sunlight
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These are a few of my favorite things 
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Just a raven out standing in his field. No reason. Just a raven out standing in his field. No reason. 
🖤
When I was little and said “mommy what should I draw?” she always said “draw a giraffe.” I know, I’ve told this story here before, but later she told me it was because they’re big and detailed and would fill the page and keep me occupied for a while. Also she amused herself with shit like that, and why not
🦒
I looked out the window this morning thinking about that and unfortunately there were no giraffes in sight but there were some ravens and 4 acres of daisies, so
🖤
I amuse myself with shit like this, and why not
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