Planting Fall Veggies for Cool Weather Recipes

September 15, 2012 By MotherCreative Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

For the Love of Gardening…Fall Gardening, That Is

Gardening is one of the most therapeutic things I do, but I haven’t had a lot of time this year to devote to it. That’s why I’m planting a fall garden. Fall gardening can help you reap more delicious veggies from your garden each and every year.

Most of you are probably thinking that it’s far too late to plant a garden now, but that’s far from true. there are several plants that do best in cool weather. Carrots, lettuce, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, onions and even radishes all grow well when it’s cool. This will add beautiful pops of color and bring more delicious food to your family’s table. Why not extend the growing season? It sure beats paying supermarket prices for sub-par tasting vegetables!

Cool Weather Recipes from Your Harvest

I found a cauliflower and radish salad that I’d just love to try that I saw on Taste of Home. It’s just perfect for the veggies that I can grow in my fall garden and will bring something both delicious and nutritious to my family’s table. You’ll need:

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 cup thinly sliced radishes
3/4 cup thinly sliced green pepper
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 tablespoons grated onion
4 to 5 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Caesar salad dressing mix
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Put the cauliflower, radishes and green pepper in a large bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the cauliflower mixture. Toss to coat and place in the fridge to chill for 2-4 hours. Serve in 3/4 cup servings.

Sounds yummy, right? I can’t wait to try it!

But why stop there? You can make Mock Potato Salad, cauliflower and broccoli salad, California blend veggies and more! With so many delicious salads, sides and even complete vegetarian meal ideas available with these garden choices, there’s really no end to what you could create with your harvest!

Using a product like Scott’s Miracle Gro can help your fall garden flourish! For the past 8 years, I have depended on Miracle Gro for my garden. It provides my plants with the nutrition that they need to help them grow into healthy fruit and vegetable bearing plants that look amazing! Whether you like to find beauty in the spring or summer or Find beauty in the Fall, Scott’s can help make your garden grow and give you a bigger, better harvest.

I’m going to have carrots and onions on hand through the winter, plus a nice supply of broccoli and cauliflower that will offset my grocery costs well into the winter months. That makes me very happy and leaves me a lot more cash in my pocket to put towards Christmas shopping!

Check out the Miracle-Gro Facebook page to keep up with the latest products, tips and tricks for your garden!

Will you be gardening this fall? If so, what are you growing?

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Growing an Organic Garden with Whitney Farms®

April 22, 2012 By MotherCreative 3 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

An Organic Garden Needs Love, Too!

Gardening is a hobby for many, but it can also be a necessity in these tough economic times. I’ve already discussed how you can harvest your own seeds to maintain an heirloom garden, so today I’m going to discuss how you can aid plant development with organic products, rather than using plant foods that contain questionable chemicals.

In this article, I’m going to discuss the benefits of using Whitney Farms® organic plant food, Tomato and Vegetable food and their organic soil. These products make it easy to develop beautiful, healthy, organic gardens.

How Does Your Organic Garden Grow?

Organic gardening starts with heirloom seeds. The problem that many organic gardeners face is that heirlooms don’t always produce the abundance that today’s hybrid plants do. This is the reason that so many of the hybrid plants are grown commercially. However, the fruits and vegetables of hybrid plants contain fewer nutrients than the heirloom. Further, because they are grown commercially, most produce found in supermarkets contain traces of chemicals from pesticides and plant foods.

Do you want that in your body? In your children’s bodies?

I don’t.

Would I like to have a big, beautiful garden? Of course! However, I want my garden to be free of deadly chemicals and free of hybrid plants that contain little nutritional value for my family. I feel that heirloom plants fruit, vegetables and flowers will provide more nutrients.

My organic garden dream:

My Organic Garden Dream

Why Choose Whitney Farms® Products for Organic Gardens?

Whitney Farms® offers a complete line of organic soils and plant foods. Because these products are 100% natural, they contain nothing artificial. Instead of being manufactured with chemicals and other questionable additives, these plant foods and soils are comprised of ingredients that come straight from the Earth; helping your plants thrive on the nutrients that have kept them in existence for centuries. Why use products laden with chemicals and other unnatural substances to obtain a bounty of giant fruits, vegetables and flowers when you don’t have to?

For over 25 years, Whitney Farms® has been improving thier products. This has resulted in products that contain an array of beneficial microbes, macro and micronutrients that give your plants everything that they need to thrive. What’s more is that these products are a snap to apply to your garden.

Worried about the smell of manure or the frustration of high dust? Don’t be. You’ll find that these products contain little to no dust and they are practically odorless!

Provide Your Family with an Array of Healthy Produce from Your Organic Garden

Growing your garden with Whitney Farms® plant foods and soils means that you know what your family and/or your customers will be eating – fresh, organic produce that has been grown without the use of harsh chemicals. For me, that’s more than enough reason to try these products.

Of course, you all know how much I love to save money, which is why I plan to use this $3 off Whitney Farms® coupon – and you can, too!

Filed Under: Being Green at Home, Organic Gardening Tagged With: organic garden, organic gardening, organic plant foods, organic produce, organic soil, save money, Whitney Farms, Whitney Farms coupon

Dinner From the Garden: Butternut Squash Soup

September 15, 2011 By Mindy H. 2 Comments

I can’t say I had ever eaten butternut squash in my life until my husband bought himself a soup cook-book and began experimenting. Our favorite new recipe quickly became butternut squash soup. It is almost indescribably good, but let me try: Both savory and sweet, it is pure, golden warmth. It is also surprisingly simple to make, though you will need about an hour to make it.

If you grow your own butternut squash, which is also not too difficult if you have the space, then it is also very cheaply made! Along with a bunch of other goodies my grandpa gave me recently, we transported about 10 butternut squashes from his garden when we traveled back from a recent trip to see family. Our favorite soup will be on the menu for several months!

Since we first discovered butternut squash, I have come to really enjoy three butternut squash recipes so far. Two are soups and the other is a baked veggies over pasta sort of thing. Both soups are fantastic with a side salad and a yummy, crusty bread—the bread is really good for soaking up the last of the soup. Here are the soup recipes:

Soup 1

Render the squash: peel it, scoop out the seeds, and chop it into 1 inch pieces.

Peel and chop the potatoes into 1 inch pieces (2 cups).

Sauté 1 large, minced onion in olive oil or butter in a large pot.

Add the squash, potatoes, 1 teaspoon of paprika, and 1 ½ quarts of chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes or so. Ensure that all the vegetables are quite soft.

Carefully pour the hot mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.

If you like, add a little cream to each bowl of soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

Soup 2

Chop 2 medium onions. Sauté them in a large pot until it is soft.

Peel, seed, and chop 2 apples.

Render the squash: peel it, scoop out the seeds, and chop it into cubes.

Add 1 quart of chicken broth to the onion. Add the apples and squash. Bring it to a boil; then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the squash and apples are tender (about 30 minutes).

Carefully pour the hot mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Filed Under: Delectable Dinner Recipes, From the Kitchen, Great Gardening, Home & Family, Made from Scratch Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetarian Recipes Tagged With: Butternut Squash, Garden Recipes, Soup Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

The Thrifty Kitchen: Cheesy Green Bean Soup

September 12, 2011 By Mindy H. 1 Comment

It’s green bean picking season in the garden. Our weather has also taken a “fall turn” recently. Fall gets me in the mood for soup! As I picked a long row of green beans last week, I remembered a recipe my mom made a lot when I was growing up. It’s just a simple, green bean based soup. Ham is the special ingredient. It’s a filling, comforting sort of meal. Like most soups, it is great with some yummy, crusty bread. Here’s the recipe:

Use leftover ham or a ham bone, or, if you don’t have these, then bake your ham. My family slow cooks our ham in 7-up overnight at 275 degrees. It’s delicious this way!
Chop one small onion and saute it in a small amount of olive oil.
Add 2 cups of ham broth from the baked ham.
Add 1 large can chicken broth.
Add 2 quarts of green beans (home canned are best!)
Simmer until the green beans are tender.
Add 1 can of evaporated milk (You can use regular milk; it just won’t be quite as full of flavor).
Melt 1/4 cup of Velveeta cheese in the soup. Stir continually.

Making soup is a must for the thrifty kitchen. The advantages are many. Most soups can be made in bulk, and the leftovers can be frozen. Thawing homemade soup is a quick and healthy alternative to other fast dinner options. Soup can be made fairly cheaply, particularly if you make your own broths or grow your own vegetables. Even when meat is called for in a soup, it’s never the main point; if your grocery budget is tight, rely on the broth and only add a portion of the meat that is called for. A final thought: Soup can be a sneaky way to get your kids to eat vegetables. When vegetables are incorporated in meals with other flavors (particularly cheese!), they are sometimes more appealing to kids.

Another great thing about soup is that it is versatile. It can be its own meal; serve it with a side of crackers. Or, it can be one course in a big, fancy meal. However you choose to incorporate it, I hope you’ll enjoy my family’s green bean soup recipe.

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Delectable Dinner Recipes, Family Health, From the Kitchen, Great Gardening, Home & Family, Made from Scratch Recipes, Other Ways to Save, Saving Money Tagged With: cheap meals, eat healthy, green bean soup, thrifty kitchen

The Thrifty Kitchen: Baked Mediterranean Chicken

September 9, 2011 By Mindy H. Leave a Comment

This week I have found myself with a plethora of potatoes and tomatoes on hand. They are both fresh from the garden! I love to create new meals based on what’s in season. This week I made up what I am calling Baked Mediterranean Chicken. I hope you will give it a chance, and I hope you will like it!

You will need:

A long drizzle of olive oil, a short drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a short drizzle of lemon juice
4-6 chicken breasts, 6-8 golden potatoes, 2 big handfuls of cherry and pear tomatoes
¾ cup dry couscous , 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and pepper. Bathe chicken breasts in it. Place chicken in a shallow pan; pour the remaining mixture over it. Bake for 30 minutes.
Chop the potatoes into very small pieces (this will shorten the cooking time). Mix them with olive oil, salt, and pepper; bake on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan.
Chop cherry and/or pear tomatoes. Soak them in a mixture of lemon juice and salt. Add them to the potatoes for the last 5-10 minutes the potatoes bake.
Prepare the couscous in chicken broth and olive oil.
Mix cooked chicken, veggies, all remaining liquids, and couscous. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm. It serves 4.

One thing I love about this meal is that it can be prepared in the toaster oven. This will save on utilities and will also make your summer kitchen a more pleasant place to be. This meal takes about 45 minutes to prepare and bake, which is not too bad for a recipe from scratch. It is healthy and delicious. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did!

Filed Under: Delectable Dinner Recipes, Family Health, From the Kitchen, Great Gardening, Home & Family, Lowering Utility Costs, Made from Scratch Recipes, Saving Money Tagged With: baked chicken, cheap and healthy eating, dinner from the garden, original recipe, thrifty kitchen

The Thrifty Kitchen: What To Do With 30 Pounds of Tomatoes

September 8, 2011 By Mindy H. Leave a Comment

What can a person do with 30 pounds of tomatoes? I found out today. I’m fortunate to have a grandfather who still raises a huge garden. I visited home last week, and on my way out of town, my grandpa told me to go pick the last of the tomatoes. I did; between that and the ones he had already picked for me, I had inherited 30 pounds of tomatoes.

Ripe tomatoes don’t last long. There is a small window of opportunity to eat them fresh or preserve them. When I got to my house, I set aside a large bowl of cherry and pear tomatoes for us to snack on. The rest of them, along with a ton of large orange ones, I vowed to make into tomato sauce.

Tomatoes can be chopped and frozen, stewed and canned, made into canned sauce or salsa, and probably a few more things I haven’t even thought of yet. Since I have enough frozen tomatoes and stewed/canned ones, I opted to make this new batch into tomato sauce.

There is a recipe I have wanted to try for a long time in Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (HarperCollins, 2007). It just so happens the recipe calls for 30 pounds of tomatoes! It had to be a sign. I have never canned anything before in my life, so my excitement began to mount as I reviewed the canning rules and looked up my sauce recipe.

If you happen to have 30 pounds of tomatoes on hand, here is what you’ll need to do. First of all, you need a day; you need an entire day set aside for this task. If you are still up for the challenge, you will need to begin your day by pureeing your tomatoes. They will need peeled first.

The best way to go about peeling tomatoes is as follows:

Boil a very large pot of water
Prepare a large bowl of ice water
Cut a small X in the bottom of each tomato and then immerse them in the boiling water for 30 seconds
Place them directly into the ice water afterwards, and leave them for 5 minutes.

Your tomatoes will peel like a dream after this—you won’t even need a knife. Next, blend them until smooth.

After you puree all those tomatoes, you can make the sauce according to whatever good recipe you find; it will need to be a recipe that has canning in mind, though. In order for tomato sauce to be canned properly, it needs to have a certain pH balance. Your sauce will likely need to cook for a couple of hours.

When your sauce is nearly done, fill a very large pot with enough water to cover your jars (you’ll need at least a 3 gallon pot). Your pot will need a lid. If you buy Mason jars, there will be canning instructions on them. Follow these precisely. Once your sauce has been placed in your sterilized jars and your lids are on, you’re ready to lower them into the large pot of boiling water. They will need to simmer for 35 minutes or so, and then cool for 5 more before you remove them.

After you have removed your jars, carefully check each one to ensure that the lid has sealed—it should not move up and down at all. Finally, take a look at your lovely rows of canned tomato sauce and tell yourself, “Next winter, all of this work will have been worth it!”

Filed Under: Family Health, From the Kitchen, Great Gardening, Home & Family, Made from Scratch Recipes, Organic Gardening, Other Ways to Save, Saving Money, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetarian Recipes Tagged With: canned tomato sauce, do it yourself, home made tomato sauce, thrifty kitchen

Growing, Drying, and Selling Herbs

September 6, 2011 By Mindy H. 1 Comment

Today’s article is where the thrifty kitchen, the organic garden, and working from home collide. These three areas of life unite in the herb garden. I began growing herbs because it made so much sense; I cook with herbs, and I have a garden plot—so why wouldn’t I just grow my own? I started my garden four years ago, and each year my perennial herbs have gotten fuller and more prolific.

This year, it occurred to me that I could sell my excess herbs. I have stock piles of dried herbs from the last few years. Last year I made up packets of dried herbs as gifts and still had a ton left over, so why not turn my herb garden hobby into a little extra cash?

The first step is choosing which herbs to grow. I have chosen to grow the herbs I use the most: oregano, sage, basil, and rosemary. In the past, I have also tried growing chamomile, cilantro, thyme, and dill. Additionally, my neighbor has a plethora of peppermint growing, and I have full access to it. I recommend all of these plants to you. Oregano, sage, chamomile, dill, and peppermint are all perennial—they will come back year after year. You need only cut them back at the end of fall, and the next spring some of them will be among the first plants to greet you in the garden.

In the fall, rosemary must be brought inside—in the north and the Midwest anyway. You can either dig it up from your garden, or simply plant it in a large pot to begin with, and let it lay dormant inside throughout the winter. Basil, cilantro, and thyme must be planted again each year, but they are not expensive, and can even be started indoors from seed.

Your next step is to dry your herbs throughout their growing season. Any of these herbs can be collected all the way up until they begin to flower and go to seed. Harvesting herbs throughout the season will make them hardy and healthy—essentially you are pruning the plant.

After you collect herbs, there are a variety of ways to dry them. I begin by filling up my sink and washing them. Then I put them upstairs in what used to be the attic; it still gets ridiculously hot up there on a warm day. My herbs dry out in no time in such a warm place. Some people lay out their herbs on a cookie sheet and set them in their car on a hot day. They dry out fast, and the herbs make the car smell great!

After the herbs dry out all the way, I label zip lock bags and put the herbs in them. As long as your herbs are totally dry, they will not mold. Another good option for storing dried herbs is in envelopes.

The final step is up to you. You can store your herbs and cook with them all year long. You can put them in pretty pouches and give them as gifts. Or, you can contact your local farmers market and find out what you need to do in order to rent a stall. At my neighborhood market, vendors can opt to rent a space week to week—we don’t have to commit to more than a week at a time. Since I only have about a week or two’s worth of herbs to sell, this works out perfectly for me.

Whether you cook with them, gift them, or sell them, I wish you lots of luck with your herb garden!

Filed Under: Container Gardening, From the Kitchen, Frugal Gifts, Great Gardening, Herb Gardening, Home & Family, Legitimate Work from Home Jobs, Organic Gardening, Other Ways to Save, Saving Money Tagged With: gardening, herb gardening, home made gifts, thrifty kitchen, working from home

Teaching Our Kids Where Food Comes From

September 6, 2011 By Randi M. Leave a Comment

In today’s busy and fast-paced world, it’s more important than ever to make sure our children know where food comes from. It’s easy to rely on quick and easy food options, which aren’t good for our pocketbook, our bodies or our planet. An appreciation for “real” food (natural and homemade) can help us stay away from prepackaged, processed food products. Teaching our children healthy eating habits when they’re young will help them grow up enjoying good foods that are good for them. Here are few ways to help teach our kids where our food really comes from:

Take them to a farm. This one is easy where my family lives. We live in a very rural area and are constantly driving by farms filled with animals like cows, pigs and chickens. If your family eats meat, like mine, talk to your kids about where the meat comes from – from a real animal, not minced in a nugget or inside a bun wrapped in paper. We purchase part of a cow once a year from a local farmer. It was delivered a few weeks ago and was the perfect opportunity to talk to my three-year-old about it. It’s a great way to save money, too, if you can shell out the funds to buy in bulk.

Make homemade. Take the time to make foods yourself, especially with your kids. Show them that applesauce comes from apples, not in small foil-topped plastic cups and that bread comes from yeast, flour and grains (avoid “enriched,” spongy white bread). The more exposure your children have to how food is made, the more they’ll understand and appreciate it.

Grow your own food. There’s no better way to see where food comes from than to actually grow it yourself! Just a small garden in your backyard can be a great educational (and healthful) opportunity for the family. Have little ones help dig holes, plant seeds, pull weeds and harvest the yummy products. Then, put your bounty to good use in the kitchen.

Visit the farmers’ market. This is a fun family outing and a great opportunity to show your kids food that doesn’t come in packages. Talk to them (and the growers) about how each food is grown. Also use this activity to teach them about seasonal foods. Strawberries grow in the summer, apples in the fall, etc.

Filed Under: From the Kitchen, Great Gardening, Living Green, Saving Money Tagged With: farmers market, healthy eating habits, real food, where food comes from

Gardening for the Whole Family

August 29, 2011 By Mindy H. Leave a Comment

Last night, my uncle and his wife brought the last of the green beans from the garden into my grandfather’s garage for us to snap. They had my little girl in tow. My uncle’s wife said, “Well, she may not eat her dinner; she just ate a ton of tomatoes and green beans!” It was every parent’s dream: your child is too full of fresh vegetables to eat whatever else will come next.

Involving children in gardening has many advantages. Year-round, whenever we eat a meal that involves corn, my little girl is quick to ask, “Now, is this Pappaw’s corn?” If it is, she gobbles it up as quickly as I dish it out.

Just like it happened last night, when I harvest vegetables in my own garden, my little one eats half of what we pick before we get it in the house! Peas, green beans, and tomatoes are some of the best raw vegetables for kids to snack on straight from the garden. Not only does it help them feel excited to eat vegetables, but gardening together can also be a wonderful way for a family to bond as they work together.

In my garden at home this year, we all played a role in the potato “crop”. I dug the trench; my little girl planted potatoes along it; we both covered them up; and just a few weeks ago, my husband dug up our potato harvest for the year. We have been enjoying fried, mashed, and baked potatoes for weeks now. Nothing can beat a home grown potato.

Kids who are as young as three can be really helpful in the garden if you give them age-appropriate tasks. Even if they are too young to “snap” the green beans, they can at least snap off the ends. If they are old enough to recognize differences in color, they may be old enough to help pick small tomatoes. You can help children who are slightly older to recognize weeds and pull them. And, if nothing else, little ones can play in the sprinkler whenever you need to water the garden.

In the winter months, kids can have fun looking through seed catalogs with you—the pictures are so beautiful that even very little ones will enjoy it. Older kids can start their own seeds indoors and tend them. And once spring comes around again, kids who are old enough can even be given their own small plot or raised bed to plant and tend. Giving kids lots of choices and responsibility will help family gardening seem like an adventure instead of a chore.

Ultimately, I don’t believe in forced labor! I hope my kids will grow up to love gardening and value it as highly as I do. The surest way to kill that dream, though, would be for me to force our kids into spending long, hot hours of hard work in the garden against their wills. In the mean time, our almost-four-year-old is enjoying her time in the garden, and I’m thrilled about it.

Filed Under: Great Gardening, Home & Family, Vegetable Gardening Tagged With: family bonding, gardening, healthy eating, Spotlight, summer fun, vegetable gardening

Moms Living Thrifty – 30 Day Blog Challenge – Day 02

August 25, 2011 By MotherCreative Leave a Comment

Oh, it’s such a tired morning. When I heard my toddler yelling from the bedroom this morning, “Mooommyyy! Mooommyyy! I’m up!” I was sitting here at the computer working in a sleepy-eyed stupor. (Yep, today I’m working without caffeine.) To make things worse, I’m behind on my work and I’ve got another full day ahead, but I’m fulfilling my goal of posting for this challenge!

So, the question for day 02 is, “Where would you like to be in 10 years?” and I’ve got an answer…I think.

In ten years, I would like to own my home and know that my family doesn’t want for anything. I would like to be able to afford to travel more and I would like to have a significant amount saved for retirement. I know that all of this is possible, but I want more than that. Call me selfish.

In ten years, I would like to be in a position to give more than I do now. Right now, my family budget is tight and I’m working on building a stockpile in case things get even tougher. I’m currently working 14 – 16 hours a day. Yes, it’s from home. However, when you have a toddler, a teenager, a spouse, two dogs and family members nearby, working from home is not always as easy as it might seem. My day is interrupted constantly and I have to adapt by extending it. My guy has also been laid off since February, so our financial situation is tight. I certainly hope that will have changed in 10 years.

I hope to be able to send my son to a private school. However, if we can’t afford it, then I may decide to home school him. I was educated in a private school through 5th grade and that strong foundation enabled me to relatively skate through the next seven years of public school. I want that strong educational foundation for my son as well. At two and a half years old, he’s already showing remarkable intelligence and I want him to be able to expand that exponentially so that he has the ability to do anything that he wants with his life.

In 10 years, I hope my stepdaughter has successfully completed high school, entered and graduated college and is able to find a fabulous job doing something that she loves. However, there are countless obstacles in her path. She was born with spina bifida and has a lot of self esteem issues due to her disability. Anytime anyone looks her way, she feels as if they are staring at her because she has braces on her legs or because she doesn’t walk as well as other people. Does it hurt me that she feels this way? Of course. Do I often want to yell at people that I catch repeatedly glancing her way? Yes, but only because I know how their looks make her feel.

The problem (and it’s not necessarily a problem) is that I still believe in humanity, and although I realize that it is possible that many do stare at her and possibly even make comments behind her back, I would like to think that the majority of people who see her might look too long simply out of sympathy or possibly even concern. So, my goal for her is to rise above it. She is a beautiful girl who has a heart of gold and she possesses an abundance of creativity. I know that she can achieve anything that she wants if she wants it badly enough.

Obviously, my main concern is always my family, but I can’t help but hope that I will be in a better position to take care of more than just my family in 10 years.

What I would really like to do is be able to convince my city to provide multiple city lots (currently unused) to be used for community gardens. This would provide families of all financial backgrounds with fresh vegetables and it will also encourage cities nearby to become more sustainable. My idea is that the ground rental for each person wanting to participate and utilize a garden plot would be based on a sliding scale by household income. Anyone participating would be required to donate 20% of their harvest to local food banks. The cost of plot rental would cover the water and taxes on the lot for the year. The city could also bring mulch to the lots each year when the Christmas trees are mulched.

Well, those are my goals. I hope that they have inspired you to create some of your own!

Filed Under: Great Gardening, Home & Family, Mother Creative's Corner, Stories of Inspiration, Time for Mom Tagged With: 30 day blog challenge, family, future, inspiration

Planting Fall Veggies for Cool Weather Recipes

For the Love of Gardening…Fall Gardening, That Is

Cool Weather Recipes from Your Harvest

Will you be gardening this fall? If so, what are you growing?

Growing an Organic Garden with Whitney Farms®

Dinner From the Garden: Butternut Squash Soup

The Thrifty Kitchen: Cheesy Green Bean Soup

The Thrifty Kitchen: Baked Mediterranean Chicken

The Thrifty Kitchen: What To Do With 30 Pounds of Tomatoes

Growing, Drying, and Selling Herbs

Teaching Our Kids Where Food Comes From

Gardening for the Whole Family

Moms Living Thrifty – 30 Day Blog Challenge – Day 02

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