UNCERTAINTY
Nationwide, this season is different. With so much uncertainty and upheaval, plus Covid19, more folks are gardening, prepping, and putting up their own harvests. 

Many city dwellers are seeking rural settings where property and homes are selling well. In our little rustic wooded neighborhood two homes recently sold with contracts secured within two days of listing at or above the asking price!

SEEDS & SUPPLIES
Seeds for fall are in short supply at favorite online sellers, so more folks are turning to seed saving. Canning jars are hard to find in any local store and are selling for more than usual online. Many of the canner cookers and accessories are also hard to find. 

SELF SUFFICIENCY
It’s wonderful seeing so many folks turning to gardening. And as with so many other things that have become essential items to have and hold, garden necessities have become popular.

To us, any trend toward independently growing one’s own sustenance is a plus. And, yes, even if it means there’s a tighter supply of seeds, onion sets, garlic, and food storage equipment. Back to the earth and growing independence is a good thing, and we wish that for more people.

We’ve long operated on this principle:
Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

It’s always a good idea to plan and prep to the extent possible and practical, and gardeners and farmers tend to be naturally good at that. 

Speaking of harvesting and prepping...

IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK
We’re enjoying the last of the cut flowers- zinnias, dahlias, and roses and harvesting, drying and preserving our herbs this week. There are bundles of lemon balm drying in the greenhouse. Lemon balm is a form of mint that’s well suited for food, beverage and medicinal applications, the most popular of which is a calming tea.

We’re still also enjoying eggplant, three varieties of beans and fried green tomatoes.

SUPER SIMPLE - SUPER DELICIOUS RAVIOLI CASSEROLE
Yesterday day we made a delicious crock pot (or soup pot) ravioli. This recipe calls for ground beef, but we made ours vegetarian by using mushrooms and garden eggplant instead. It’s not a pretty dish but it’s super tasty. Ours was devoured in one evening, so next time we’re doubling it. The other substitution we made was to swap the spinach for garden greens, beet greens and longevity spinach. Check it out!


TEAS, TINCTURES, OILS & SOAPS
Like many, our dehydrator has been humming away… the good little workhorse that it is. And we’re also drying by hanging herbs. A shortcut to tying them is to clip them with clothes pins.

We’re adding some of the fresh herbs into salads and soups, oils and tinctures. The rest we’re drying as a great way to quickly preserve it for later use as tea, herb seasoning and tinctures and oils.

It’s wonderful to be able to create your own soaps, lotions and salves, even better when you can grow your own. We enjoyed growing loofahs and then had fun making loofah soap, which are fun to make even if you have to buy the loofahs. Once we have more garden space we’ll grow them again. For now, we’re relegating our small sunlit space to edibles.


EDIBLE EVERYTHING
Speaking of space for edibles, as we’ve indicated in the past, we used to be more into landscape gardening. Coleman used to have a landscape company, plus being in the woods, our focus was on ornamentals and shade plants.

With the various economic downswings, coupled with our own losses to scoundrels and the whim of the market, plus some bad decisions on our part, we started looking toward self sufficiency, just as many are doing in today’s turbulent times.

So for everything we decide to plant, including flowers, we ask and consider:
Is it edible?
Is it medicinal?

Any plant that is both — and many are — moves to the top of our list for planting as well as for future consideration as a crop to farm when we start “planting for profit”. (More on that next week). So it’s been wonderful to discover that there are many flowers that are edible. Other factors are also considered, which we talk more about here.

Most recently we discovered that about Zinnias and cooked up the last of our Jerusalem artichokes - sunchokes. And just last night we talked about trying to grow nasturtiums through fall and winter in the greenhouse since the entire plant - flowers, leaves and seeds are delightfully edible with good amounts of vitamin C. Here’s our full list of edible flowers thus far.

You may also enjoy this related article on our sister site:
Seasons of Life Metaphor for Life and Business


Let us know what’s up in your garden, what’s working and/or what’s not. We enjoy hearing from you and are always open to feedback, questions and your tips.

May your gardens flourish and your harvests be bountiful, and when you look upon your little Eden, may you see that it is good.


Coleman and LeAura Alderson
GardensAll.com