With my to-do list full of all the things I could hardly wait for all winter, I am rudely reminded of the desperate need for perseverence before the frost is even gone. -every gardener every spring
I love puttering in the kitchen all winter, but I’m ready to spend time outside and putter in the garden. Meal planning and prepping helps me find time to do both.
Spring is busy. We’re hatcing chicks, starting seeds, and prepping the garden. We’re also cleaning up the pantry and using what’s left to make room for more.
I want quick recipes that won’t make a mess.
Cooking Real Food Saves Real Money
When we moved into our first apartment in 1996, I quickly realized that food was our biggest expense. It felt overwhelming, but I accepted the challenge and approached it as something we could control. I started cooking at home and buying ingredients instead of ready-made, processed items.
My pantry is stocked with our basic staples, and I cook from what I have on hand. I grocery shop to restock my pantry, not to fill a meal plan, and it’s simplified my life.
If you’re looking for a way to save money and eat real, homemade food, pull up a chair.
Growing Food to Save Money
This will be my sixth year growing food in a 2000 sqft kitchen garden. I grow all of our own garlic, herbs, green beans, peppers, tomatoes, and this year I believe I will have enough strawberries too! It’s exciting, but a lot of work.
My garden gives me a lot more than just food.
Being outside gives me mental clarity. Learning a useful skill, eating seasonally, and having a hobby that provides is cool too. My favorite part about it is just being out there in it. Every summer my garden becomes a magical place.
We are far from growing all of our own produce, but we do eat a lot of food we grow. You can create a garden that is super time consuming or extremely low maintenance, it just depends on what you want to grow and how much time you want (or have) to spend on it.
I used to have a black thumb, but it turns out I never gave myself room to learn how to grow. If you’re thinking about starting a garden this year, I hope you do.
You can learn how to do just about anything on YouTube.
Here are some of my favorite gardening channels that taught me (and are still teaching me) how to grow and keep a beautiful garden.
https://www.youtube.com/@RootsandRefugeFarm