rI have always liked the idea of growing, preparing, and preserving my own food. I like gardening and cooking, and as a vegan, it just makes sense, a suburban homestead. But, I didn’t grow up in a family that did any of those things. I’ve tried getting started in the past, but never really immersed myself in the process. I didn’t know what I was doing, how or where to begin. Before the internet, it was quite a daunting task. I mean, people figure it out, but I was overwhelmed.
Avoid killing people
I tried canning once. My recipe was for a corn relish. I got the equipment and the ingredients, followed the recipe and preserved it by following Ball’s water bath canning process. The jars I had purchased were Ball’s half-pint quilted jars, and I have to say, the taste I took of the relish before canning was quite tasty and the jars were gorgeous. There was bright yellow corn and flecks of red pepper throughout.
The tops had ‘pinged’ indicating a proper seal and everything seemed to have gone as well as could be expected. My mom and dad came over and I proudly showed mom the jars. Although I doubt that this is true, in my mind, they almost sparkled. Mom took one look and said, ‘They look nice, but if you don’t do that right you can kill people.’ I think the jars stayed on the shelf for about a week before I threw them out. I certainly didn’t want to kill anyone. Well, maybe mom for one brief moment, but it passed very quickly.
Making a garden work
I also tried gardening. It’s quite a lot of work, but I enjoy being outside working in the garden. One year I planted some vegetables. But, the garden plot was behind the garage and, quite frankly, out of sight out of mind. I do recall harvesting some acorn squash, and one watermelon that was the sweetest I have ever tasted. Then I began working in public accounting, and even if I could see the garden, I really didn’t have time to do anything with it. I moved from that house and put in a small raised bed at the new house. This time it was right off the patio near the back door that led directly into the kitchen. It was perfectly situated, but, I was still working crazy hours and traveling too much, so my attempts were half-hearted at best. My harvests were almost non-existent.
When I retired, I thought, this is my time. But the economy plummeted, and although I did put in one new raised bed, it was ridiculously expensive (almost $1k with lumber, soil, and plants) so I didn’t get close to my plan of having three or four raised beds. I didn’t get the bed finished until July, well past the optimal time to start a garden. The next year my beloved Sadie’s health declined and I spent as much time with her as possible before having her put to rest to end her suffering, which coincided with mom starting a rehab-hospital-home-rehab merry-go-round that prevented me from getting anything planted again.
New year, new plan
2023 is a new year. I didn’t get the start that I had hoped for as the renovations to make the home safe for mom to return didn’t wrap up until late January/early February. I didn’t get seeds ordered, let alone planted, and my financial stability is returning at about the same pace as our economic recovery. But, I am determined to not lose another full year. I did get some starts (I think that’s the term for a seed grown to transplant stage in a nursery) planted, and have been harvesting some kale and lettuce. It’s not much, but it has reminded me of how much I enjoy this process.
Garden like Becky
I have been watching Acre Homestead on You Tube. Becky has a beautiful garden with a pantry full of items that she has preserved. I don’t have the space for a garden like hers, and I don’t know much about gardening, but Becky talks about her failures as well as her successes and chalks them up to real-life learning experiences. There is an excellent opportunity for many of those, and I just need to look at them as such rather than as simply failures that should never be repeated. I don’t recall what vegetable it is, but there is one that Becky is trying for the third time this year. It’s only a failure if you’ve given up.
I am inspired by Becky, and realize if I wait for the perfect time to get started, this dream will never be more than that. I also realize that is going to take some time as I’m starting at ground zero, but at least I don’t have many bad habits to unlearn. I’ve already realized that I should have done my raised beds differently, but that is more for aesthetic and efficiency reasons as the bed I currently have is working out just fine. But that is part of the process: dream – research – plan – implement – critique – adjust. I’ve already written about the raised bed, and will bring you along on the revised versions that I will build next year.
Menu planning
For now, I want to spend my money more wisely, reduce waste to the greatest extent possible, be as healthy as possible, and do my part to save the planet. To begin, I’m going to focus my efforts on menu planning. In my head, I should be able to develop 6 weeks of healthy menus for each season. If I repeat them each once, that will give me 48 weeks of menus.
If I have one week of top hits each season, the year is covered. From there, I can plan what I should grow and what I should preserve myself. I even plan on doing some batch cooking so I won’t have to actually cook each day. While I like the idea of that, I know that it’s not something I’m going to do. I am only cooking for myself and while I am worth it, I don’t see myself cooking every day, which means I need to plan in leftovers or batch cooking. I’m going to try both. If cooking every day is your jam (preserving pun intended!) follow Mrs. Lauren Richardsen on YouTube. She’s a mom of four and seems to cook amazing meals every night. Even she has discussed that she didn’t start there. Regardless of your goals, it’s going to be a journey.
Get started
I need to lose some weight and eat healthier. Odd things for a vegan to admit, but there you have it. There is quite a lot of unhealthy food that doesn’t include animal products, and I seem to have found most of them. A menu plan, if I follow it, will help keep me on track. I should also be able to plan a diet that has great variety, eating the rainbow every day, and meets my nutritional needs while maintaining a calorie deficit. As an accountant, I should be good with numbers so this should be easy. But as a procrastinating perfectionist, it’s hard to get started. But get started I will, and I will bring you along with me. I can’t wait to see where this takes me.
