Use homegrown in your Christmas dinner

Garden herbs

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Add a fresh edge to your Christmas dinner by using herbs straight from your own garden.  Herbs can be harvested all the way through the entire winter in most years.  If you are growing vegetables in a greenhouse or are having a mild winter, you can also be harvesting cold hardy greens for salads or cooking. 

Herbs are easy and care free to grow and almost all of them are perennials.  That means you plant once and they come back year after year.  And herbs thrive on neglect!  For more details on growing your own herbs, see my blog here  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Jazzing up the flavor for the main dish

You can easily make seasoning for poultry or red meat from herbs in your own garden.  Poultry seasoning adds great flavor to, of course, chicken or turkey, but also veggies, fish, casseroles, pasta.

The first commercial poultry seasoning was invented by William G. Bell, a Boston cook, in 1867.  His included sage, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, pepper and ginger.

I like to make my poultry seasoning with dried sage, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram.  Some add nutmeg, pepper, ginger , onion powder and/or cloves.

Here is my poultry seasoning recipe:

3 Tbl sage

1 Tbl parsley

1 Tbl thyme

1 Tbl marjoram or oregano

1 Tbl rosemary

  

For lamb, rosemary is a favorite herb pairing.  For all other red meats, I use a combination of whatever I grew in the garden this past summer.  I cut and dry at the end of the season, then mix in a paper bag and store in airtight containers.

“Herbes de Provence” contains herbs that are typical of the Provence region of southern France and are grown in French potagers (kitchen gardens).  I also include sage in my herbal seasoning mix.  These are herbs that were typically used in cooking by the French in this region:

*Thyme

*Marjoram/oregano

*Rosemary

*Savory

*Basil

*Tarragon

Insure all spices are crumbled into tiny pieces so they will disperse evenly in your favorite prepared dish.  You can transfer the amount needed to a kitchen spice jar.  Keep the rest in a cool, dark location.For any spices, you want to keep them as fresh as possible.  They lose their flavor over time and quicker if exposed to heat/light.

Potager gravy

To make 2 cups of gravy, cook in a sauce pan, 1/2 cup of fresh chopped carrots, 1/2 cup of fresh chopped celery, 1 cup of chopped onions, 3 cloves of peeled and mashed garlic until browned.  Add 1 bay leaf, 3 cups of chicken or beef stock.  Simmer on low uncovered for an hour or so until reduced in about half.  Strain out all solids and combine 1 cup of stock with 1/4 cup of cream and 1/4 cup of flour, whisk until smooth.  Bring remaining stock to boil, add cream mixture, defatted meat pan drippings if desired, simmer until thickened.

Herbed mashed potato options

There are a few options for snazzing up your mashed potatoes.  For 5 pounds of potatoes, you can add 5 cloves of roasted garlic, 1 cup of sour cream, 8 ounces of cream cheese and enough buttermilk for consistency you prefer.  

Or how about 5 pounds of small potatoes that are cooked until tender, then tossed with 1 cup of butter, 3/4 cup freshly, finely chopped parsley, marjoram, chives and/or thyme.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garlic and herb roasted vegetables

This recipe works with any really firm vegetables you like.  Here is one variation.  Cut 4 sweet potatoes, 3 medium turnips into 1.5 inch cubes, and 2 large onions into 1.5 inch wedges.  In a gallon plastic bag, place 12 cloves crushed, peeled garlic, 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, 2 tablespoons fresh oregano or marjoram, 2 teaspoons salt, 6 tablespoons olive oil.  Mix thoroughly.  Add your cut veggies and squish them around until they are coated on all sides with the herb mixture.  Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer.  Roast in a 450F, preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until soft.

Potatoes, turnips and onions are all veggies that can be stored over winter if kept in the proper conditions.  Be sure to keep potatoes covered or in a dark place as when they turn green, they are toxic.  Sweet potatoes will keep for a month if kept in cool dry conditions and bagged with an apple to keep from sprouting.

Herbal salad dressing

You can keep it simple and flavor a good white wine vinegar with your favorite herb like tarragon for the salad.  Use a mild olive oil so that the flavor of the herb shines through.  Herbal vinegars are easy to make, but you need to make ahead.  Place the herbs in the vinegar and leave in a cool dark place for at least a week.  You can strain out the herbs before using after infused.

Homemade version of Hidden Valley Ranch is easy to make.  Just mix equal amounts of buttermilk, mayonnaise, and sour cream (half cup each).  Then add parsley, dill, garlic, onion (half teas), salt (quarter teas), and pepper (eighth teas) to taste.  If the mayonnaise is too overpowering, I substitute yogurt. 

This is the perfect time for fresh spinach salads.  Spinach and other greens are in season and loving this cool weather.

Artisanal butter

If you are making an herbal butter to serve, you would want more like 2 tablespoons of herbs to 1/2 cup of butter.  Add the herb that complements the dish you are serving.  

You can either serve in a dish, roll it into a log using plastic wrap, or form into a shape.  If you use a form, simply press the butter firmly into the form, then place the form in a shallow dish of hot water.  The butter should slide out easily after a little warming.

Mint inspired beverages and desserts

Mint is also still green and growing in our garden.  Mint is wonderful to add to teas, lemonades, hot chocolate or adult beverages, even to salads.  You can also incorporate into desserts.  Chop fresh mint and add to sorbet or ice cream.  You can incorporate in a food processor and refreeze until ready to serve.

Don't forget to check out your freezer for possibilities.  This year I am planning on incorporating frozen tomatoes into my Sicilian grandpa's spaghetti sauce and a tomato bisque, my frozen eggplant for eggplant parmesan, carrots and herbs in beef bourguignon, and frozen and fresh greens in a breakfast frittata.  Possibilities are endless for using herbs right from your garden and freezer to add fresh taste to any dish you make for the holidays!

Grow super nutritious sprouts indoors

Microgreens growing in reused salad container

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Winter doesn't mean you can't eat fresh, nutrition packed greens.  There are many that grow well indoors and different ways of growing them.  Sprouts are grown in trays or jars with no soil while microgreens and wheat grass are grown in a shallow layer of soil.  All can be grown indoors.

Something easy and nutritious are sprouts.  I bought a simple, inexpensive sprout grower.  You can also use a quart Mason jar.  You can get seeds on line and in many grocery stores, nurseries, and big box hardware stores for growing sprouts and microgreens.  I like buying a seed mix so I get a nice variety of taste and nutrition.

Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrition and so easy to grow.  There are all kinds of seed sprouting kits out there.  The one I have that I really like is 3 levels so you can have one that is fully sprouted that you are using with 2 in various stages of growth so you always have a ready supply of sprouts.

With a simple sprout grower, you can have nutritious sprouts of many different veggies, beans, and/or grasses in 3-5 days.  All you do is put a teaspoon of seeds in the grower and water it twice daily.

Top 10 Nutrient Dense Veggies & Fruits

If you want to try with a Mason jar, there is more work involved.  You'll need to punch holes in the lid.  Place seeds in jar, fill with water and leave overnight.  In the morning, drain the water.  You will need to rinse and drain 2-3 times a day until most of the seeds are sprouted.  Their tails will be about an inch long.  Move sprout jars to a place where they will get sunlight.  After the sprouts turn green, they are ready to eat.  Place jars in the refrigerator to keep fresh.  Use sprouts on eggs, salads, and any other dish you want to spruce up with fresh sprouts!

Microgreens are also very easy to grow indoors.  You can get variety seed packets of microgreens anywhere they sell seeds or on line.  You can reuse a plastic salad container or seed flat to use as a pot.  Just add potting soil, sprinkle the seeds down as instructed on the seed packet, tamp down gently, water, place in a sunny window and you will have microgreens in 10-21 days, depending on the variety.  To speed up sprouting, you can use a warming mat to boost the soil temperature.  Once sprouted, just cut with scissors and use or place in a glass jar in the refrigerator for keeping.

If there are still seeds visible after your initial harvest, you can wait and see if they will sprout or go ahead and start your next batch of microgreens.  I would compost the used soil and start with fresh to keep the chance for any soil diseases to develop low.  Be sure to sanitize your growing container before adding new soil and seeds.

Wheat grass is another great edible.  I put it on salads.  You can also juice it.  Wheat grass is a great alkalizer.  Today’s diet is so acidic.  Basically anything we eat besides leafy greens and some other vegetables are acidic.  Your body’s blood pH must stay between 7.35-7.45; anything above 7.0 is alkaline.  Wheat grass helps balance your pH.  Wheat grass is also a purifier of the blood.  There are wheat grass growing kits too.  Or you can use an old salad tub that you fill with potting soil and grow them right in the salad tub or seedling flat like microgreens.

Sprouts and microgreens mirror the taste of their grown counterparts.  Here are some reco's based on taste:

Spicy-mustards, arugula, radishes, sorrel, cress, basil, oregano

Mild-amaranth, chard, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, beets, kale

You wouldn't want to grow as sprouts varieties that produce a really thick stem like squash or melons.  These will just be chewy.

If you like to add color (which also adds different nutrients), be sure to include varieties like purple amaranth, neon chard, red kale, red varieties of mustard (Ruby Streaks, Giant Red), red-veined sorrel, red beets, purple basil, or many more.
The Power of Purple

So, if you are wanting some fresh, nutritious, home grown food, it is super easy to grow any of these indoors year round! 

How to keep children interested in veggies and the edible garden

How about a pizza garden?

Saturday, December 14, 2024

A proven way to get the young ones interested in eating their veggies is for them to grow them!  Nowadays, children are used to instant gratification so plant things that grow quickly and they can harvest from daily.  You can also have them grow the veggies for one of their favorite foods like pizza.  Engage them in choosing their favorite pizza ingredients and grow a garden with those in them.   

It is amazing how many children will swear they don’t like a vegetable until it is in their backyard!  Have them help you plant the seeds, monitor the seedlings, water, and harvest.  You will likely catch them picking green tomatoes to sample because they are so excited about eating what they have helped grow.

To get and keep young ones interested in the garden, whether in pots or the ground, plant things that grow quickly and/or produce over a long time that can be harvested daily.  Here are some ideas for each season that can be grown in pots or the ground.

Early Spring and Fall

Radishes are the quickest to harvest, especially the small ones.  Plant a variety of sizes and days to harvest at the same time and keep the harvest going for weeks.  Radishes less than 3" grow great in pots or the garden bed.

Carrots take a little longer to come to maturity than radishes.  A common gardening practice is to plant both at the same time.  As radishes are finishing up, carrots are ready to eat.  Like radishes, the smaller ones mature quicker.  Choose varieties like Little Finger (4” long), Adelaide (the size of your pinky), Short n Sweet (4”), Thumbelina (1-1.5” diameter), Parmex (1.2-2” diameter), Tonda di Parigi (1.5-2” diameter).  Plant a variety of sizes to keep the harvest going.  Smaller carrots do great in pots or the garden bed.

Leaf lettuce can be harvested in 30 days as baby lettuce leaves for the salad.  After the plants have a few leaves on them, harvest the outside leaves only and let the inner leaves continue to grow.  You can pick lettuce leaves this way for weeks.  Plant lettuce seeds every 2-3 weeks to keep your family in lettuce all year long.  I grow most of my lettuce in pots and some in the garden bed.

Herbs are something that can be harvested year round.  Have them harvest the herbs you are using for your meal that day.  Many herbs are perennials that only have to be planted once like thyme, oregano, and chives.  I grow herbs in pots and the garden bed.

Bunching or walking onions can be harvested year round, too, and are perennials.  You can use the bulb for cooking and the greens for chives.  Walking onions are fun and interesting with their topset bulbs.  The can help you pull the in ground bulbs for using in the kitchen and help you plant the topsets to keep the family in onions year round.  I grow walking onions in pots and the garden bed.

Late Spring, after last frost

Smaller peppers produce much quicker and more continuously than larger peppers.  Many hot peppers like cayenne produce continuously all summer.  Sweet peppers like banana peppers that are smaller do the same.  You can start pepper seeds indoors or buy pepper plants to speed up when you can start harvesting.  Buy 3 plants and let them harvest 1 a day to be able to harvest for months.  My pepper plants do better in pots than the garden bed.

Cherry tomatoes are prolific and are the quickest to be ready to harvest of all tomatoes.  Cherry tomatoes are ripe almost a month before the bigger tomatoes.  Again, you can start your seeds indoors or buy transplants to be able to harvest sooner.  Cherry tomatoes will produce until a hard freeze.  Dwarf tomatoes can be grown in medium sized pots.  Indeterminate tomatoes can be grown in extra large pots.  You'll get the most tomatoes when grown in the ground.

Try a themed garden, too, to keep them interested.  A pizza garden or spaghetti garden are a couple of ideas.  You can even throw a few other healthy ingredients in the mix as everything tastes better when you grow it yourself, like spinach, sprouting broccoli and peas.

So, what are some ideas for pizza or spaghetti ingredients?  

*Tomatoes-any you can’t eat, you can easily freeze for winter pizzas Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots

*Basil, oregano, chives, garlic for seasoning  Start a kitchen herb garden!

*Onions-you can grow Egyptian walking onions in a pot and they are perennials to boot  Egyptian walking onions

*Spinach, kale, arugula, sprouting broccoli and peas for spring and fall pizza toppings (also easy to freeze for later)  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower  Time to plant peas!

*Green peppers, eggplant, zucchini for summer pizzas (maybe some hot peppers for the adults) 

Peppers are for every taste and garden   Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden 

Growing zucchini and summer squash 

All of these are easy to grow in a small space and the basic ingredients in an Italian garden.  

Grow a Sicilian/Italian kitchen garden in as little as 6' x 6'

For those that are real adventuresome, you can get mushroom kits to grow mushrooms indoors.

If you are just starting your garden adventure, try these tips.  Easy kitchen garden

You can tell them stories of where the heirloom they are planting came from.  Share the history of Victory Gardens in past war efforts.  How we can actually grow our own food just in yards across the U.S. if we wanted or needed to.

Little ones bring such wonder and joy in the garden.  They will check out every bee and butterfly, every worm and centipede.  And will want to taste everything they helped to plant and water!  It is a wonderful learning experience for the child to see where food comes actually from and helps the adult re-see the world through a child's eyes.

Home grown medicinal teas

Thyme in flower

Sunday, December 8, 2024

You can make your own teas from common herbs growing in your garden or to spice up store bought teas. You may have growing in your garden what you need for your own home grown medicinal teas.

Burdock-can be used to help with constipation and skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.

Chamomile-used to reduce inflammation, muscle spasms, and restlessness.  It is well known for its relaxing effect.  Be careful using, though, if you have a ragweed allergy.

Echinacea-the dried root of this coneflower is a well known immune system support.

Fennel-used for osteoporosis, stomach cramps.

Lavender-for anxiety, insomnia, irritability, restlessness.

Lemon balm-for digestion, nervousness, skin conditions.
Oregano-has antibacterial and anti fungal properties.

Plantain-for coughing, inflammation, insect/animal bites.

Red clover-menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, skin conditions.

Rosemary-been used since ancient times for memory.

Sage-for digestive problems, menopausal symptoms.

Thyme-for allergies, colds, cuts or scrapes, fungal infections, respiratory infections.

Valerian-used in many sleeping aids, has a relaxing effect.
Harvesting and drying herbs

You can use stevia, an herb rich in antioxidants, to help sweeten your tea.  A little goes a long way and too much can cause a bitter taste.  1/8 teaspoon or less is all that is needed.
A sweet alternative-grow your own

You can place in cheesecloth or a tea ball.  Steep for 4-6 minutes.  

For more ideas on tea blends for the cold months, this article in Mother Earth News had some nice tea recipes:  4 Herbal Teas for Autumn and Winter

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Many medicinal teas are made from herbs which are easy to grow.  Most herbs are perennials which come back year after year.

Start a kitchen herb garden!

For other teas you can make from your garden, Make your own teas from garden grown herbs

You should always consult with your doc on any supplement you plan to incorporate into your diet.

Quick tip-using dried beans

Saturday, December 7, 2024

You can grow and dry your own beans or buy them.  Dried beans are significantly less expensive than canned beans and you don’t have to worry about BPA from can linings (Eden Foods has BPA free canned beans).  

It takes some planning to use dried beans.  I take them out the night before and put them in a bowl of water to soak.  Use 4 cups of water to 1 cup of beans; the beans will absorb significant amounts of water.  Then, drain, rinse, and cover with water in a pot and cook for 20 minutes at a boil.  They are now ready to use for your favorite recipe!  

If I am doing chili, I will put the dried beans with my homemade tomato sauce, chili powder and a quart of frozen tomatoes into the slow cooker right before I go to bed on low.  By morning, the beans are soft. I cook the burger, chopped onions, minced garlic and add to the pot to warm about an hour before serving.

Growing your own beans let you try heirloom and unique varieties.  For how to grow this easy crop, Growing beans

What to plant in the December edible garden

Newly sprouted greens inside portable greenhouse

Monday, December 2, 2024 

You can still plant outdoors for the edible garden in December.  What you are planting in December may not germinate quickly.  Growth will restart in mid January when daylight hours get back to 10 hours.  Keep your edibles under cover to encourage germination and growth and to extend the harvest all the way through to spring.  

What is a four season garden?
You can garden year round in small space
Planning for a four season garden

This month you can sow more greens, carrots, and herbs in the greenhouse.  You can also transplant trees and shrubs and even spring bulbs as long as the soil is workable.   Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden

Here are the crops you can start outdoors and indoors in the December Midwest edible garden:

December seeds outdoors

Austrian winter peas-will sprout in early spring

Broad beans-will sprout when conditions are right

Spinach seeds-will sprout in late winter/early spring

Snow peas-will sprout in early spring

December seeds under cover

Will sprout under cover

Arugula

Sprouting Broccoli

Carrots

Celery
Corn salad

Endive
Escarole

Frisee

Lettuce, Winter Hardy types

Mustard and Mustard Greens

Parsley and Parsley Root

Pak choi

Austrian and Snow Peas

Radicchio

Scallions

Sorrel
Spinach

Swiss Chard

December transplants

Trees and bushes until ground freezes

Transplants for winter and overwintering

December seeds indoors

All kinds of microgreens

Onion seeds-end of month

Flowers-Dephinium, Dianthus, Viola end of month

Look for cold hardy varieties when planting for winter growing and harvests.  You will be surprised to harvest all through the winter months things like greens, onions, Austrian peas, carrots, and cabbage when you get them started in the fall.  You can also extend the harvest by looking for the same crop with different days to harvest timing so that they mature at different times.  For those you are seeding now, they will provide your late winter and early spring harvests.  

 Winter planted crops take longer to sprout and grow than they do in the spring.  It's because the days are getting shorter rather than longer and the temperatures are falling.  Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year on December 21, so daylight hours are still getting shorter.  Just be patient, the seeds will sprout when conditions are right.  Growth is very slow at this point as the daylight hours are less than 10 and temperatures are cold.  In my area, we will get back to 10 hours of daylight on January 17.  Growth will pick up in late January.  

To keep plants producing, keep them covered.  The biggest risk with covers is the plants overheating.  Full sun can raise the temperatures by 50 degrees.  Keep this in mind and give ventilation when the temperatures are getting up into the 50's with nice sunshine.

Window open on portable greenhouse

If you are using a row cover, they should be in place now.  I put mine in place when the temperatures are getting into the low 20's at night.  Your plants are safe from overheating as long as the temperatures don't get into the upper 50's with the full sun.  When temperatures are that warm, just open the ends of the row cover and close back up when the temperatures are forecasted back into the 20's or colder.

The same goes for greenhouses. I have my edible greens covered by my portable greenhouse with the "windows" open to vent when it gets into the 50's.  You can use cover to extend the harvest all the way to next spring.  Extend the season with protection for plants  Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter 

December 2024 Edible Garden Planner

Early December garden; chard in the foreground, herbs in the background

December 1, 2024

December is when many stick to the indoors and staying warm.  When winter arrives, it may appear that everything is dead outside, but there is still life in the garden.  In the beds, kale, cabbage, salad burnet, sorrel, rosemary, oregano, garlic, onions, lettuce, leeks, chard, dill, celery, sage, carrots, broccoli, spinach are all still green in December.  Under cover, greens, celery, parsley and lettuce are growing.

The winter edible garden

This fall had weeks of above average temperatures with below normal for rainfall.  We had our first killing frost this past week.  We brought all my overwintering tropicals, pepper plants, bay tree, moringa tree, basil, aloe vera and citrus tree last week.  The pepper plants will continue to produce for a few more weeks.  It will keep its leaves and start producing again in February.   

Outdoors, fresh herbs, onions, kale and broccoli are just steps away from the back door, the portable green houses are packed with greens.  We planted the lemon tree I had been bringing indoors for the last 15 years outside against a south brick wall.  It is doubtful that it will make it through the winter but it has not fruited in years in its pot so it is worth a try.  I did buy a cover for it to help it keep about a zone or so warmer.  We also planted my Morton Citrange outdoors against the south stone fireplace wall.  It is a hardy citrus and is supposed to be able to survive in our Zone 7 garden.  I bought a cover for it and covered it as well to give some added protection.  

Most Mediterranean herbs are perennials so you get to enjoy them practically year round.  You can also grow many herbs indoors as well like chives, oregano, rosemary, parsley, chervil, and basil.  Rosemary, basil and bay are good ones to dig up and bring indoors to guarantee survival through the winter.  Just place your potted herbs in a sunny window.  I keep my bay tree in a pot.  I have put in the basement with a grow light but this year I put it upstairs in a south facing window.  My bay tree is over 9 feet tall after 8 years in a pot. 

Growing herbs indoors for winter

If you are using a greenhouse or row cover, your kale, celery, mustard, lettuce, chard, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, sprouting broccoli will be happy all winter.  They will not grow much until sunlight gets back to 10 hours per day in late January, but you can still harvest from them right now.  Be sure on sunny, warm days to pop the top on your covers or you will scorch your greens.  It can get 50 degrees warmer inside a greenhouse on a sunny day than the actual temperature outside.  Do check to make sure your pots in the greenhouse have enough moisture.  Open when it is warm to check, water and harvest.  If kept covered, little moisture escapes so there is not much watering that needs to be done over the winter.  While plants are actively growing, fertilize every couple of weeks.  

Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

Cultivated dandelion in a pot

All cold crops are at their sweetest during the cold weather.  Frost brings out the sugars in cold crops.  Hardy greens like chard, kale, spinach, mustard greens, cultivated dandelion greens, pea shoots and collard greens make great salads and are tasty steamed or braised.  You can still sow seeds in December to get a head start on the spring garden.  What to plant in the December edible garden 

Make sure if you have any potted veggies to put them on the ground if they are on coasters to keep them warmer during the winter.  The ideal location is in full sun and a sheltered area on the south side of the house to extend their growing time.  Placing straw bales around them or mounding mulch provides extra protection.  Moving them up against the wall on the south side does double duty-southern exposure gets the most sun and warmth and the wall radiates its warmth.  Pots left exposed on all sides will be zone colder than the ones planted in the ground.  If you are in Zone 7, be sure that plants left in pots are hardy to at least Zone 6 if you want them to come back in the spring.  If they are not, put under cover, mulch around them or bring into the garage or basement for the winter.

How to extend the harvest after a hard freeze 

Veggies like your favorite tomato, pepper, eggplant, or celery that you potted and moved indoors will continue to produce indoors if provided warmth and enough sunlight.  My Chiptelin pepper is one I bring in every year.  I grew a Jigsaw pepper indoors over last winter and brought it in last week.  I brought in a small sweet pepper plant Habanada to see how it overwinters indoors.   I have them placed in my sunroom.  I may need to add supplemental lighting as we have triple pane windows so they keep most rays from getting through the glass.  

Your indoor and outdoor plants will still need to be fertilized at about half the rate as during the growing season.  A liquid fertilizer every two weeks would be plenty.  I used blood meal to provide nitrogen for my greens when I covered with the portable greenhouses.

Be sure to spray your edible garden beds with deer repellant, sooner rather than later.  The deer and rabbits will be getting hungry and your edible garden will look like a feast to them!  If you keep them from getting into the garden the first time, it is much easier to deter them after the fact.  Quick tip-how I keep the deer away

Chives in front, sage and rosemary in back

In addition to the greens, onions and fresh herbs fresh from the garden, we will be eating the extras I put up over the summer and fall.  I have green beans, okra, tomatoes, pesto, winter squash, sweet peppers and hot peppers in the freezer.  Canned tomato sauce, hot peppers, pickles and pickle relish in the pantry.  I have a few winter squash in the cellar in the basement.  They like it warmer so I have the door open to the basement.  I have dried onions, homemade chili powder and herbs for seasoning dishes.

Preserving the extras from the summer garden

If you don't have much freezer space but want to grow what you can preserve without freezing, check out this blog for your garden this next year 21 no tech storage crops.

If you weren't able to put in your own garden this year or have enough to put up for the cold months, buying local is a good option.  Many farmers markets will open up again right before Christmas.  You can also look up local farms at www.localharvest.org  If you want to support your local farmer and get fresh produce come spring, buying a share from a local farmer is an excellent option.  It's called CSA (community supported agriculture).  You buy a share now and then get a weekly allotment of fresh produce when gardens start producing again in the spring.

Before I started our own edible garden, we joined a CSA.  It was great.  We got lots of super fresh produce, our weekly grocery bill was significantly reduced as our meals were planned around the vegetables, and it was an adventure getting to try new recipes with veggies we had never ate before.  
Eat well, be healthy

A CSA shows you what grows well in your area.  You can find out the varieties you like and when they come into season.  You can even save the seeds from the varieties that you want to grow in your future garden if you partner with an organic CSA that grows open pollinated and heirloom vegetables and fruits.
What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

To advertise as “organic” you have to be certified.  Many farmers cannot afford to do this.  Some farmers participate in the "Certified Naturally Grown" program.  This is less expensive than USDA organic, but also relies on inspections by other CNG farmers, non-CNG farmers, extension agents, master gardeners and customers instead of USDA certified agents.  If you are interested in produce grown without pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals, ask the farmer if she uses organic practices.  Go visit them to see the garden for yourself before you commit.  You can also check out reviews on line. 

Many sell out by January so don’t delay if you want to join!

Tarragon, thyme, sage, rosemary and chives

Winter is time to savor the fresh herbs from the garden along with what you have preserved, browsing for canning ideas, and planning next year's garden.  A potential Christmas meal using what is growing in the garden in December, Jazz up the Christmas feast with herbs from the garden  Consider making herb mixes and herbal salts to give to family and friends as Christmas gifts.  Make your own "Herbes de Provence"   Using herbs, flowers and fruit for flavored sugars and salts   If you had a bumper canning season, consider giving extras as Christmas gifts too or to your local food panty.

I have used Christmas break in the past as the time to finalize my garden plan for the spring.  I look back on my notes from last year's edible garden and this year's seed catalogs to decide what new varieties to add to my standbys.  Here is my 2024 garden reflections and plans for 2025.

Reflections on the 2024 edible garden and the 2025 plan

Seed catalogs have started arriving and there are tons to look at on the internet that you can start ordering for your spring garden.  For tips on choosing seed catalogs to order from:   New seed catalogs are here!