July is a busy and fun month for gardeners.
There’s so much to do in the garden, from weeding and watering to harvesting and making the most of your bounty! If you’re like me you look at your herbs and veggies with pride but then think, “what in the world do I do with all of this yummy-ness?”
My friend and Tribe Member, Trina, has put together some great tips covering gardening this month. And she joined me on the Love Middle Life Podcast…take a listen!
Trina and her husband, Brian, have a ton of experience with gardening, food, wine and farm to table cooking. They have owned restaurants…if you lived in the St. Charles, Missouri area you may have visited their fine dining, yet homey restaurant called American Bounty in Washington, Missouri. I loved that place and it holds so many great memories!
Brian is a New York Culinary institute trained chef and his food and presentation are amazing. Trina has been alongside him every step of the way. She loves organic gardening. Brian is the Director of the Field to Table Institute of St. Charles Community College. And when she is not hustling her full-time job at the Red Cross, Trina is deeply involved with the organic gardens that are part of The Institute. In addition, she has a big home garden, preserves, and cans her veggies and is delving into cut flowers and arranging.
Let’s talk about vegetable gardening and cut flowers.
July is a little too late in the game to START your garden for summer veggies (you can still give it a go) But thinking ahead to fall and beyond (pumpkins, butternut squash, celery, cauliflower and more), here are some of Trina’s best tips for starting your garden:
- If you’re a beginning gardener, start small! It is best to learn some basic gardening skills while you tend to your first garden. And you don’t want to start too big, only leading to overwhelm and frustration. This is supposed to be fun and rewarding! A 6 x 6 space with five different veggies is a good place to begin.
- Choose a good spot for your garden. Two big considerations include an area that gets lots of sunlight and also a convenient access to watering.
- Choosing a layout is important. Maybe you want to try raised beds, or maybe you’re up for tilling your garden area.
- Consider the types of vegetables your family enjoys the most!
- Prepare a rich, nutrient filled soil.
- Be ready for pests and disease.
Okay, let’s move on to caring for and harvesting your garden (here’s a link to some tips from Better Homes & Gardens, too)!
- Mulch is your friend
- Water, water, water!
- But don’t overwater
- Weed
- Feed
- Prune
- Check for pests and problems
- Give your plants a lift
- Harvest Time!
- Finishing out the year
Harvesting and Canning
Once the domain of grandmothers, canning is making a comeback. Sales of home canning products have risen as the popularity of local, seasonal eating has grown. “It’s a craft we’ve gotten away from, but home food preservation is the way we’ve fed ourselves since we’ve been upright,” says Sherri Brooks Vinton, author of Put ’em Up! A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook ($20, amazon.com).
There are two ways of canning food at home: the boiling water method and the pressure-canning method. Both canning methods work essentially the same way. The ingredients are prepared and loaded into jars with special lids that allow steam to escape. The jars are heated and as they cool, the food contracts and creates an airtight seal that preserves the contents for up to a year. Trina tells us of a no-cook way…fermenting! Look for her favorite recipe links below.
For the boiling water method you’ll need:
- Canning jars with two-part lids—a flat lid with a rubberized gasket and a ring to hold it in place
- A stock pot at least 3 inches taller than your jars
- Canning tongs for lifting jars out of the boiling water (find them at the grocery or hardware store; don’t substitute regular kitchen tongs)
- Canning rack to raise jars off the bottom of the pot (a cake cooling rack or a layer of extra canning jar rings will work in a pinch)
- Wide-mouth funnel to make filling jars easy
- Bubble tool to release trapped air in the jars (substitute a plastic knife, chopstick, or skewer)
- Magnetic lid lifter (an optional tool for grabbing lids from the hot water)
Here’s a kit on Amazon.com, $90.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation—the authority on home food preservation safety—houses a wealth of information about canning, as well as fermenting, freezing, curing, and drying.
The Field to Table Institute brings together culinary, agriculture and healthcare, teaching the concept of going directly from the field to the table, and the connection between farming, food, health care and quality of life. In addition to credit programs, the Field to Table Institute also offers community-based courses in food, gardening, health and sustainability.
Check out upcoming Field to Table classes!
Sign up for classes like Sip & Clips (drink wine, pick your own flower bouquet), pasta making with dinner, healthy cooking series, and more!
Trina and I are obsessed with both the show and the person behind the show, The Lost Kitchen with Erin French, based out of Freedom, Maine. Check it out (www.findthelostkitchen.com). It’s Farm to Table, girl-power, rags-to-riches goodness.
Here in the St. Louis area (DeSoto, Missouri), there is a farm that is also providing amazing farm to table experiences this summer: Such and Such Farm and Farm Spirit along with their partner STL Barkeep! No events are on the schedule as of June 2023, but visit their website and watch for updates! Just yesterday, I had the most amazing egg sandwich from Such and Such Farm at Tower Grove Farmer’s Market as well as a beautiful mimosa spritz from STL Barkeep!
Some Great Gardening and Harvesting Amazon Supplies:
Ball Wide Mouth Canning Jars (9 Count)
Check out these great Gardening and Farm to Table Resources that Trina and I LOVE:
RosevineCottageGirls.com have a great Claussen pickles at home recipe HERE.
Bowood by Niche is an urban garden center in St. Louis’ Central West End offering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Here’s Trina’s salsa inspo from mission-food.com.
Here are those Dilly Beans that Trina and her family love.
Bowood Farms in St. Louis has lots of fun planting & plant care classes on the schedule for Summer 2023.
The Lost Kitchen started as a show on TV but is now a destination in Freedom, Maine!
Field to Table Institute is the program that Trina’s husband, Brian, manages which offers community classes in addition to culinary degrees!
Such and Such Farm and Farm Spirit is a family farm in DeSoto, Missouri doing great things!
STL Barkeep is a St. Louis-based team that works with professional bartenders and brand partners to create handcrafted cocktails and one-of-a-kind experiences.
St. Louis Area Farmer’s Markets
Who better to share her Best Flowers to Plant in Your Cutting Garden than the one and only Martha Stewart!
Northeast Nursery has a great list of cool season and warm season crops.
Enjoy your gardening adventures. And remember it is a learning experience full of trial and error! Happy Gardening!!