A Time to Sow . . . Sow What?

As gardening season begins here are some ideas about what to plant in your garden depending on what food you want to preserve for the winter.

First thing to consider is what will you actually eat? If you don’t like beats don’t plant them. If you enjoy green beans plant some and plan on canning or freezing the excess. Home grown green beans taste great and are easy to preserve for the winter.

Vegetable soup is a tasty way to get your vegetable intake for the day. If you like soup, decide what kind of vegetables you like best in soup and plant them in your garden; like carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes and garlic.

Spaghetti makes a great meal and is even better when the sauce is made from scratch using produce you have grown yourself. It takes a lot of effort but it’s worth it in the end especially if you make a huge batch and seal it in jars using a pressure cooker. Plant tomatoes, onions and, garlic and depending on how ambitious you are you may even want to plant an herb garden for seasonings.

There are more reasons to plant pumpkins than for Jack-O-Lanterns. Making your own pumpkin puree is super easy and you can’t beat the taste of fresh pumpkin in homemade pumpkin cookies. Really it’s unbeatable.

With all the necessary ingredients grown in your own backyard you will feel a great sense of pride at what you have accomplished. That fresh produce from your garden doesn’t have to go to waste if you can’t consume it all; you can share it with your friends or preserve it for later. Invest in home canning equipment and begin the joyful and satisfying process of food preservation.

Make sure to use a trusted source for your canning recipes and that your jars have all sealed properly before you put them up for storage. Canning is not an experimental process and must be done properly to keep dangerous bacteria from growing.

Think of the possibilities! Decide what you want to can this year and then order the seeds to plant in your garden. Please post your comments below. We love comments.

Planning a garden design tool: Better Homes and Gardens
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/nature-lovers/welcome-to-plan-a-garden/

Planting Zones Map

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html