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Beginning Backyard Vegetable Gardens

April 4, 2018 By ParkerMama Leave a Comment

Beginning backyard vegetable gardens are gaining popularity.   The benefits of vegetable gardening go way beyond simply saving money.  Let’s face it, there is nothing like the taste of a homegrown tomato.  Here’s a guide to getting your backyard garden growing.

 Beginning Backyard Vegetable Gardens

 

What Is Your Growing Zone?

This is an important one.  Your Growing Zone lets you know what you can plant, and when the best time to plant it is.  For example, while I would love to plant an avocado tree in my back yard, my growing zone lets me know that isn’t the best idea.

Look up and learn about YOUR growing zone!

 What To Plant In Beginning Backyard Vegetable Gardens

When deciding what to plant in beginning backyard vegetable gardens, it’s best to start small.  You can always increase what you grow next year, when you have a bit of experience under your belt.

First, look at what your family eats.  Remember that plants like cucumber, tomato, squash and others produce all year long.  While carrots, radishes, and corn only provide a single harvest.

Pro Tip:  Did you know that in order to grow all of the vegetables you family would need for a year, you would need to grow about 450 pounds of veggies per person.  Not ready grow that much in your beginning backyard vegetable gardens?  You may be interested in stocking your pantry with some freeze dried fruits and veggies.  We’ll show you how you can order Thrive Freeze Dried Food!

blackberries in beginning backyard gardens

What Type Of Gardening Works The Best?

There are several gardening techniques to choose from. Here’s a quick review of the most popular choices.

Container Gardening

Depending on the size of your family and what you have chosen to grow, a container garden might be your best idea.  There are even specific plants at the nursery geared specifically for container gardening.  Bonus!  You don’t even need a yard for a container garden.  A patio or balcony will work too.

PRO TIP:  Want to learn more about Container Gardening?  I highly recommend The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible by Edward Smith.  This book, plus his The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible are must haves in my humble opinion.

Raised Bed Vegetable Gardens

Raised vegetable gardens makes gardening easier.  Especially for more (ahem) mature gardeners of those with bad backs.

Does your backyard have poor soil?  Raised gardens could be your answer.   This is the situation we found ourselves in after building our current home.  Dig an inch down in our backyard and you hit solid rock.

Using cinder block ‘seconds’ my husband built a raised garden bed that we then filled with a few loads of good soil and a bunch of organic matter.

Smaller raised gardens won’t require tilling.  However, due to the size of ours, we still till.

PRO TIP:  Thinking of building your own raised beds?  Raised Bed Revolution has all the details you’ll need!

 

Beginning Backyard Vegetable Gardens

Traditional Gardening

Many still choose to garden by removing the top grass from our chosen garden spaces, and then tilling and amending the soil before planting.  My Dad grew up in an orphanage where if they didn’t grow it, they didn’t eat it.  This is still his preferred means of gardening.  It works for him as he has 6 acres to spread out on.

Pro Tip:  Regardless of which gardening method you choose, you will want to understand the quality of your soil.  Once you know more about your soil, you’ll know what amendments it might need. *this post contains affiliate links  A soil testing kit can provide you with this important information.

Lasagna Or No Till Gardening Method

This method works for both raised garden beds or gardening directly on the ground.  Bonus!  No tilling……ever!

With this method you kill off the grass and weed seeds by using thick layers of cardboard or newspaper directly on the ground. Personally, I’d lay down a sweet layer of Visqueen under the cardboard to help keep those weeds from sprouting and growing up through your bed.

Next, you build your garden up by adding alternating layers of peat, topsoil, aged manure, mulch, grass and yard clippings. Before you know it, you’ve got a nutrient rich soil to plant in.

PRO TIP:  I love the Lasagna Gardening book by Patricia Lanza.  I think you will too.

Beginning Backyard Vegetable Gardens

Where Will Your Garden Grow?

The location of your garden will be very important to it’s success.  Here are some things to consider.

Drainage You want your garden in a part of your backyard that drains well. If drainage is a concern, you will want to think about raised gardening rather than gardening directly in the ground.

Sunlight Vegetables and most herbs require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Take the time to see how much sun each section of your yard gets during the summer.

Water I remember watching an episode of Little House On The Prairie where Laura had to carry bucket after bucket of water to her newly planted apple trees in the blazing sun of summer.

You won’t have to worry about lugging water to your beginning backyard vegetable gardens if you choose a spot that is close to a convenient source of water.

Direct Sowing Or Ready Made?

Congratulations!  You’ve picked your spot, and created your plot!  Now it’s time to get planting!   But….should you plant seeds or go to the nursery and buy plants.  Well, this is a bit of a personal decision, but I’ll share what I do.

Beginning Backyard Vegetable Garden Peas

I direct sow the following:

Vegetables  squash, broccoli, beans, leafy greens, melons, peas, onions (from onion sets), and beets and other root vegetables.

Herbs  cilantro, parsley, basil, and chives.  The nursery is my friend when it comes to herbs.

I purchase ready made for my tomatoes and peppers.  If you would rather not go to the nursery here’s more information on Starting Seeds Indoors  and Starting Seeds Indoors: Germination.

Where To Find The Best Seeds

Wondering where to find the best seeds? Just because I love you guys so much, I’m sharing my Favorite Garden Seed Sources! *muwah*

Here’s the thing.  Gardening is truly on of those learn as you go activities.  Do something that kills  off all of your cucumbers this year?   Well, I bet you won’t do that again next year, now will you?  heh.

Go.  Have fun.  Take notes on what works and what doesn’t.  And feel free to ask any questions in the comment section below.

Filed Under: Growing Your Food Tagged With: #DIY, backyard gardens, beginning gardening, garden hacks

Easy Homemade Nut Milk Recipe

March 12, 2018 By ParkerMama Leave a Comment

Commercial almond  milk has become a mainstay on grocery store shelves.  While  I bought it for a while, once you start making your own, you never go back.  Homemade nut milk doesn’t come with unnecessary additives known to mess with your gut.  Plus, making your own nut milk allows you to add your own choice of sweeteners if desired.  Let’s get started, shall we?

Easy Homemade Nut Milk Recipe

How Hard Is It To Make Nut Milk?

Homemade nut milk is super quick and easy.  It can also be a bit messy, but, that’s the price of this homemade goodness.

Soaking Your Nuts

Soak your nuts overnight the day before you want to make nut milk.  Soaking does a few things, including making it easier to blend the nuts and reducing the level of phytates – the plant enzyme inhibitor that stops the nuts sprouting without water, soil or sunlight.  Soaking nuts is sometimes called ‘activating nuts’ and makes them easier to digest too.

Pro Tip:  Storing your nuts in wide mouth mason jars that have been vacuum sealed with a Food Saver will keep them fresh for years.

Nut Bag for making Homemade Nut Milk

Straining Your Nut Milk

Strain your nut milk with a *this post contains affiliate links nut milk bag or cheese cloth.  I prefer a nut milk bag as I can toss it into the washing machine and reuse it for years.

If you are making cashew or pistachio milks, you won’t even need to strain them.  These milks can blend until completely smooth.

Sweeten Your Nut Milk

Another great thing about making your own nut milk is that you can choose your own sweetener, or leave it plain.  I love to use crushed vanilla beans, vanilla bean paste, dates, vanilla powder, raw honey, maple syrup, and brown rice syrup.

Equipment and nuts for making homemade nut butter.

Nut To Water Ratio for Homemade Nut Milk

Because you are making your own, you can choose how rich you would like your nut milk to be.  If you are making smoothies, wanting less calories or wanting to stretch your dollar use less nuts and more water.  If you are using your milk for coffee or ice cream, use less water and more milk.

Homemade Nut Milk Recipe

I use this recipe for almond, hazelnut, cashew, pistachio, and walnut milk.

1 Cup nuts of choice
4 Cups water

Drain and rinse the nuts you have been soaking.  Place well rinsed nuts into a high speed blender with 4 cups of water.  Blend them until they create a creamy milk.  I have a Vitamix and I go for about 2 minutes.  If you have a less powerful blender, you’ll need to blend longer.

Over a bowl, or large 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup, strain the contents of the blender through a nut milk bag or cheese cloth.  Also,  you could even use a leg from an old (but clean) pair of nylon stockings.  Then, using your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as you can.

Return the liquid (milk) back to your blender after having rinsed the blender clean.  Finally, add the sweetner of your choice, blend again until combined.

Pro Tip: Want to take your nut milk recipe to a higher standard?  I love Melissa King’s book DIY Nut Milks, Nut Butters and More:  From Almonds to Walnuts.   Melissa shares yummy recipes that can’t be found anywhere else!  Check it out.  I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I have.

What To Do With The Nut Pulp?

Take the nut pulp left in your milk bag and use it to make homemade hummus, dips or nut cheese.  You can spread out the nut pulp onto a parchment lined baking sheet and dry it in a 222 degree oven for 2 hours or until completely dry.  Use the dried nut pulp in oatmeal, granola or in baking.  Or, you can freeze the nut pulp for later use.

What do you make rather than buy from the grocery store to save money?   Have you even made homemade nut milk?

Filed Under: cooking tutorial, Food Storage Tagged With: cheese biscuit recipe, Food Saver, food storage, mason jars, prepping on a budget, save money, vitamix

Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread Recipe

November 8, 2017 By ParkerMama Leave a Comment

I love that Red Lobster cheese biscuit that makes you sigh with delight each bite you take.  I wanted to make them at home, but I didn’t want to go to the work of making individual biscuits.  Instead, I decided to try this recipe for  Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread.  Baking this copycat bread in a loaf pan means less hands on time in the kitchen, and that makes this busy Mama happy.

Tools Of The Trade


*this post contains affiliate links

The loaf pan you choose for making Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread is important. If your pan is too thin you will wind up with a crust that is burnt. I discovered this the hard way, unfortunately.   Therefore,  you want a heavy weight pan that will allow your loaf to cook evenly.  After a bit of research, I found these *this post contains affiliate links USA 1 1/4 Pound Loaf Pans, and promptly fell in love.

Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread

Ingredients for Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread

*this recipe makes one loaf
3 Cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
4 Ounces Cheddar Cheese Cut In 1/2 Inch Cubes
1 1/4 Cups Milk
3/4 Cup Sour Cream
3 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
1 Egg, Lightly Beaten

Bread Making Technique for Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread

*Heat oven to 350.

*Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with oil.

*In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.

*Carefully stir in cheese cubes until covered in flour mixture. This will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread.

*In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

*Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture.

*Stir until just combined. Because the dough is thick, I like to use a large wooden spoon to do my stirring with.  Do not over stir. Your masterpiece will turn out like a giant hockey puck.

*Pour and spread the mixture into your  bread loaf pan.

* Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.

*Sigh with delight.

So, the next time those cheddar bay biscuits are calling your name, remember this made from scratch, super easy recipe!

Helpful Hint: Like this Red Lobster Cheese Biscuit Bread so much you want to add it to your regular bread making rotation?  Use our Family Food Storage Plan to figure out how much of each ingredient you’ll need to store to make this recipe part of your 3 Month Food Storage Plan!

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Filed Under: cooking tutorial, Food Storage Tagged With: bread, cheddar bay biscuits, copycat, recipe, Red Lobster's biscuits, scratch, USA Bread Loaf Pan

Make Perfect Stove Popped Popcorn

January 23, 2017 By ParkerMama 3 Comments

We are big stove popped popcorn eaters around here.  I pretty much pop a pan a day.  My kids grew up on it.  Cheap and whole grain healthy, with a long term storage life and the added bonus of being quick and easy to make, popcorn is a food storage mainstay.

Making stove popped popcorn in oil is easy. It's a favorite snack for movie nights. It's a perfect long term storage item for your food storage too!

Which Pot Should You Choose?

Your choice of pot to pop popcorn in is very important.  It needs to have a heavy bottom so the corn doesn’t stick and burn easily.  It’s got to have a lid for…..well, you can figure that one out for yourself.

*this post contains Amazon Affiliate Links

I really *this post contains affiliate links: love this little beauty from Cooks Standard.  All the required elements listed above, and a price tag that is very affordable. Bonus! You can watch your corn pop through the glass lid!

PRO TIP:   In case you find yourself with a burnt batch of stove popped popcorn, or any other brunt on blech, grab some Barkeeper’s friend and you’ll have your pot shining again in NO time.  Grab some NOW!
You can come back and thank me for this life changing wonderment later.

Ingredients for Stove Popped Pop Corn

My family prefers a light olive oil.  Or if I’m feeling rich, I use macadamia nut oil.  Grape seed oil works well.  I’ve also used avocado oil and love it.  Since I always have olive oil on hand, it’s usually what gets used.  Some people like to use coconut oil for their stove popped popcorn, but the taste wasn’t a hit at our house.

4 Tablespoons of oil.
1 Cup Popcorn
Sea Salt

Making stove popped popcorn in oil is easy. It's a favorite snack for movie nights. It's a perfect long term storage item for your food storage too!

How To Make Stove Popped Popcorn

Pour 4 Tablespoons of oil into a cold pan.

Next pour in 1 cup of popcorn.

Make sure each kernel is covered in oil. Shake the pan a bit to get so the corn and oil is evenly distributed over the bottom of your pan. Remember, you don’t want your popcorn to be drowning in oil. The oil line shouldn’t be above your popcorn.

I then put the top on my pan, turn up the heat to about a 7, or medium high, and let ‘er rip!

Making stove popped popcorn in oil is easy. It's a favorite snack for movie nights. It's a perfect long term storage item for your food storage too!

To Shake or Not to Shake (The pan that is……)

I use to shake my pan back and forth. But if your heat is high enough and your oil is hot enough all those little pieces of popcorn will pop up without any extra help.

However, if shaking helps you from burning your popcorn, by all means SHAKE! Just keep sliding the pot back and forth over the heat until all of those kernels have turned themselves inside out!

When the popping slows down to just a few pops at a time, it’s done!  Remove it from the burner.

Making stove popped popcorn in oil is easy. It's a favorite snack for movie nights. It's a perfect long term storage item for your food storage too!

 

Salt

Add salt while the popcorn is still very warm. It sticks to the popcorn much better this way.  I use sea salt. Unless I’m out. Then I’m stuck with table salt. That always make me a little bit sad.

Here’s the secret to adding salt to your popcorn. STIR/TOSS IT UP. More stirring/tossing than salt. Add a few shakes, stir the bejeebers out of it, taste it to see if you need more salt and repeat IF necessary. There is nothing worse than too much salt on the top of the popcorn and not enough on the bottom.

Viola. That’s it! That’s right, I don’t even add butter. Seriously. It’s divine just the way it is. Food of the gods. I always have people tell me how good it is.  As a matter of fact, people often leave my home with a big plastic cup of the stuff to take on the road with them.

It’s really that good.

Making stove popped popcorn in oil is easy. It's a favorite snack for movie nights. It's a perfect long term storage item for your food storage too!

Toppings for Stove Popped Popcorn

Every Sunday night is popcorn night at our house. It’s been a tradition since my kids were little. As a matter of fact, my married kids keep the tradition alive in their own homes now.

Over the years, we’ve come up with a few ideas to make our humble pots of stove popped popcorn a little more festive. Heck, we’ve been known to jazz up a pot of corn, serve it with a side of carrot sticks and fruit and call it dinner. (ahem)

Here are some of our favorites:

Lightly buttered with freshly grated Asiago cheese.

Lightly drizzled with white truffle oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Tossed with salt and dry Ranch seasoning.

Lightly buttered with both sea salt and black pepper.

Sprinkled with Thrive’s Dry Cheese Blend.  (Item #22445)

What is your favorite popcorn topping?

I’m secretly hoping that once you’ve tried making your own stove popped popcorn,  you’ll never go back to the microwaved stuff again.  Try it out for yourself, then come back and tell me what you think!

Filed Under: cooking tutorial, Food Storage, Uncategorized Tagged With: food storage, frugal living, healthy eating, stove popped popcorn

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Why Worry About Preparing?

Preparedness for a disaster makes a lot of sense. With recent and predicted events like Hurricane Sandy, The Colorado Wildfires, Fiscal Cliffs, and rising food and gas costs just in 2012 there is no denying that things are changing in our world. Whether or not you believe "The End of the World As We Know It" is near there are plenty of everyday things to worry about: loss of a job, health emergency, local weather events to name a few.

I find that I worry less about the big "what if's" out there the more emergency planning my family does to deal with the unexpected. I will share the survival tips and tricks I have learned while on this preparedness journey and hope that you join in with lots of comments. We all have a lot to learn from one another.

Now, lets get started prepping! Pick a post and start reading. At the end of every post the blog randomly selects three more survival posts for you to check out. Set aside 10 minutes a day to build your preppers knowledge base. We can never be done learning or prepping, right?

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