Winter garden prep or overwintering beds seems to be a newer mainstream practice in the last decade or so. Not that it wasn’t done by growers who were enlightened to the benefits prior to this time frame, it’s just the importance is finally getting the attention it deserves. And let’s be clear, it does deserve it! I can say that over the last year, that I’ve been active in the blog content here at MIgardener, we have been doing our best to show you ways that the garden can work for you. We know that the to-do lists are miles long and that there just are not enough hours in the day to get it al ..read more

Fermenting Our Garden Harvest As we continue our series of preserving our harvest we will take a look into fermentation. This practice is coming back to the forefront of preservation making it all the hype through popular products. Two big products we hear a lot of now are Kombucha and Kimchi. So what’s the hype? What is it? To our benefit, there are not many things that cannot be fermented. Preservation through fermentation is achieved by using controlled microbial growth to create the perfect environment extending the shelf life of fresh food. Fermented foods are great for the gut. Packed w ..read more

Water Bath Canning – A Quick Intro   In our last newsletter, we talked about dehydration as a mode for preservation. Practicing dehydration gives us the opportunity to give our produce a shelf life with little to no equipment. Water Bath Canning is next in line as we introduce ourselves to the world of food preservation. Into this next step, we are required to use a small amount of specific equipment. To our benefit, most are reusable year after year. Water bath canning has been practiced since the early 1800s. Practices have developed over time always working to better safety. There has ..read more

Do you practice food preservation? If so, we would love to hear the reasons that these historic practices are a staple in your kitchen. There are many modes of food preservation to enjoy your harvest throughout the year. Dehydration is one of the oldest practices reaching as far back as prehistoric times but maintained its integral part in civilization to the current date! The extraction of moisture from food through dehydration is the key to longer shelf life. Moisture can lead to food spoilage very quickly. Dehydration can and has been used across most food mediums. From fruits and vegetabl ..read more

Most of us are already starting to see the end of our 2021 growing season. We have our fall gardens sown and are steadily putting up the harvests we have been blessed with this year. If you are like me, underestimating how much to plant, you are nearing the end of your homegrown garlic that you started in the fall of 2020. The last of mine are being incorporated into fire cider, my mom’s best-canned salsa recipe and my best friend’s canned Italian pasta sauce recipe! I’ve put a few bulbs to the side for cooking through the winter, though I know it won’t be enough! Through this whole process, I ..read more

It’s Zucchini-pocolypse season again! Right now, in my garden, it seems like every day, multiple zucchinis and summer squash appear out of nowhere. I hate wasting perfectly good food, so I knew I had to act fast and get in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I know I can’t be the only one; this is also the time of the summer where I have zucchini fatigue. I already feel like I’ve consumed so much zucchini this year, and I’ve exhausted traditional zucchini bread and roasted veggie recipes. I’m on the search for a few go-to, truly unique, fun-to-eat recipes. I hope you enjoy this list! I’ve tried some o ..read more

There is more to getting ready than just researching the perfect garlic varieties for your gardens. The most important step is bed prep! As most of you know, garlic grows below the soil surface making fertility and aeration key players in a large harvest!   Bed Preparation Soil Structure As regenerative gardeners, we are always working toward increasing the integrity of our soil structure. Our first step in prepping a garden bed for its next set of crops is to work on aeration. This can be done without disturbing and killing the life in our soil, often caused by tilling. Instead, we are g ..read more

It is August around here and for most, it is just the second wind to growing another crop before a frost comes! Depending on your growing zone you may be able to take advantage of this to plan another garden! Here is a quick way to determine what you can grow right now! How to determine what varieties you still have time for! What you need to do is find out how many days you have left in your growing season, prior to your last frost. Step 1: Using the Farmers Almanac, type in your zip code to find your first potential frost date. Step 2: Count the days from today until your first potential fro ..read more

Seed saving gives you access to a never-ending supply of your favorite garden varieties. Learning how to harvest and save seeds from your heirloom varieties is the best way to go! You can save seeds from hybrid varieties, but only if you want to discover a different variety from the original plant. With heirloom varieties, cross-pollination can complicate things slightly. Now, let’s get into the “how-to” of seed saving for different varieties. Flowering Plants (Roots, Leafy Greens, Herbs, Celery) Plants harvested for their roots, leaves, or stems all show their seeds after becoming fully matu ..read more

The best quality vegetables are harvested at exactly the right time. There are a few tips and tricks to use, depending on what you are planting. Here’s how to get the best flavor possible out of your harvest! Let’s get started! Roots The first step is to check shoulder growth with any root variety (beets, radishes, carrots, etc.). Once the shoulders get to a size you know is normal for each variety, they are good to harvest. Be aware that beets left in the hot weather for too long will become woody in texture. Carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas will sweeten the longer they are left in the groun ..read more