Working Together

I have posted before about my belief in gardening. My family lives very close so we basically do community gardening. We have one large garden that everyone works. Yesterday afternoon, we worked on corn. We have rows and rows of corn so my Dad and my brother went and picked it. Then we all shucked and silked it. Then my Mom and I cooked and froze lots on the cob and we cut of and made creamed corn out of the rest. We only picked three rows and we had about thirty bags (with 6-8 ears in each bag) of corn on the cob and about twenty quart bags of creamed corn. There are still about 6 rows that need picked.

I know that sounds like a ton of corn but we have several freezers and with three households it will go faster than you would expect. So far our tomatoes aren't doing that great but we have canned about twenty quarts of tomato juice. Great for soups and sauces!

I wonder how much $ we saved? But it's more than money. we all worked together. It's like family therapy! And believe my family could use a little of that.

The value of a vegatable garden

Vegetable gardens are an invaluable resource when considering how to live within a budget. Now I understand that not everyone is blessed to have acreage on which to plant a large garden but even if you have just a balcony with a few pots you are saving money.

One of the easiest plants to grow is a simple tomato plant. The grow great in a garden or in a pot. You can put up stakes so that the plant will grow up and thus it will take up minimal space. Other plants to consider are cucumbers, squash, zucchini, all types of beans and peas, melons, and herbs.

Seeds are so inexpensive that I believe anyone watching pennies should consider a garden. It is a wonderful treat to be able to go over to your freezer in the dead of Winter and pull out a ziplock of freshly grown goodness. OF course my all time favorite is home made vegetable soup with canned tomato juice and tons of home grown veggies. Super inexpensive and good for you to boot.