Spring Garden Preparation

I posted earlier this week about 13 things I am looking forward to planting in my garden this spring. While we don't grow all of our fruits and veggies, we like to try to grow a substantial part of them. I do a lot of homecanning, as there are some things that I just don't like to buy at the store anymore because of all the artificial colors and preservatives that are added.

I thought I'd share some of the things we like to grow and how we like to use them.

Tomatoes: We grow lots of tomatoes. Even though I'm not a big fan of just eating a fresh tomato, my mom and husband are. But there are tons of recipes I like to use them in. We grow red and yellow tomatoes and roma tomatoes. With them I make Tomato Apple Chutney, Tomato Preserves, Homemade Ketchup, Salsa, Stewed Tomatoes, Dilled Green Tomatoes, and Piccalilli as my mainstays.

Cucumbers: We make attempts to grow cucumbers every year. Some years we are more successful than others. My mom likes the "burpless" varieties, because they cause less burping and indigestion when eaten fresh. With cucumbers I make Sweet Pickle Relish, Sweet Pickles, Dill Pickles, and Bread and Butter Pickles.

Peppers: We grow sweet and hot peppers. Usually a red or yellow bell pepper or two, sometimes a chocolate pepper and/or a banana pepper plant and several varieties of hot peppers - cayenne, habanero, and jalapeno. I use these in lots of canned items, make a mild and a hot version of most relishes I put up. I also use them for salsa and make pickled peppers.

Lettuce: We grow several varieties of leaf lettuce so that we can have ongoing fresh salads.

Spinach: We usually grow spinach as well, picking the tender young leafs for salads and also some when more mature for spinach dishes.

Swiss Chard: We grow the "bright lights" version, which has stalks in a variety of bright colors like orange, pink and yellow. The girls love this. I use it like I do spinach.

Peas / Beans: We don't have a ton of gardening space, but we try to plant a couple of bean or pea plants. Sometimes these do well, sometimes not. If not, there are always lots of vendors at our local Farmer's Market that sell beans and peas, so I don't stress about them too much. Our favorites are Purple Hull Peas, Little Lady Peas, Black-eyed Peas, and Speckled Butter Beans.

Carrots: This year the girls are begging to grow carrots, which we'll probably do in a 5-gallon bucket. Carrots love deep, loose soil. It is really hard to cultivate good rich and loose soil in our area, so the bucket option works just great.

Green Onions: This year I also plan to put in a few green onion plants, something we haven't planted in recent years.

Radishes: We may or may not plant these. Only my husband really likes them - we tend instead to sprout our radish seeds and eat the sprouts in the winter when we don't have lettuce. They have a great peppery taste!

Figs: We don't have a fig tree, but a few friends of ours do and they usually share with us. I put up fig preserves and fig pickles are a family favorite.

Blueberries: We buy our blueberries from a local organic farmer that has 4 acres of organic blueberries. I buy dozens, as we like blueberry spice jam, blueberry syrup and lots of fresh ones to last through the year for blueberry muffins and pancakes!

Apricots: We have 2 apricot trees in our yard that bore fruit for the first time last year, just before the Easter freeze killed all the fruit in our area. I'm anxious to see how these trees do this year.

Apples: We have 3 apple trees in our yard and usually get enough each year to have a few fresh ones and for making a little applesauce and apple butter.

Pears: We now have 1 pear tree, as one died this past year. We'll see if we get any fruit, as they are cross-pollinators. Normally we get a ton and I make pear pickles and pear butter.

Blackberries: We lost our primary blackberry bush last year, which we haven't replaced. That will be on the list for this fall.

Herbs: Our favorite herbs are rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil. These are the ones we seem to use the most. I have a huge rosemary bush - it's over 4 feet tall and about as big around. I've had it for about 8 years and it is still going strong. The other herbs we replant each spring and use until the fall of each year.

When we order seeds, we order most of our from Bountiful Gardens. They carry a wonderful selection of heirloom seeds. Some things we buy as plants, usually from a local store that we trust to have high quality plants without disease.

We keep a diagram of our garden plots each year, so we can remember what was planted where when we are planning our rotations each spring. As part of homeschool for the girls, they help keep track of rainfall and any persistent weed or bug problems that we are having each year. They also help keep track of growth and yield so we can decide from year to year which varieties do best in our environment.

I'd love to hear what others are planning for the garden this year and any great recipes you might have for your fresh veggies!