Making it Fit

So many seeds – so little space!

We have a pretty big garden, considering that there are just two of us at home these days. We do give food away to our daughters and some other relations and neighbors, but the garden is pretty big.

And yet, every year some seeds and plants get crowded, or I’ll look up and realize that we’re out of space with a couple of seed packets left over. It seems like an impossible space to fill when we start, and not big enough once the planting is nearly done.

By the same token, we can, freeze, and dry food frantically during the harvest season. We don’t pretend to be self-sufficient, but the way things are going these days, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for such a circumstance.

Now, with days getting longer, we look at our mostly full shelves and freezer and wonder how in the world we’ll be able to eat it all. Of course, that is a wonderful problem to have. So, how do we go about turning stored food into tasty meals?

One idea is soup. Lots of soup. We can make a batch that will last for several days. I like to put things like broccoli and spinach or Swiss chard in the broth and then use an immersion blender to make a super broth. Then we’ll put in chicken and other un-pulverized vegetables.

Another method is to take a frozen pizza and augment it with some tomato sauce – seasoned or not. Then we dice up a modest amount of pickled peppers, bits of broccoli or green beans, and then add a bit of mozzarella over it. It isn’t exactly a health food when we’re done, but it tastes good and has some good stuff in it.

One thing I’ve noticed every year is there are certain things we preserve but then don’t use much. Perhaps we don’t need to grow much of those things, or if we do, why go to the work of preserving them? We made some pepper relish that looked beautiful in the jars. One attempt to eat it didn’t end well, and yet, still the other jars sit on the shelf. Waste not want not, I guess.

A few years ago the door to the freezer compartment on our fridge was left ajar when we went away for a few days. We were upset that we had to throw away virtually all the food that was in there. But, the process of taking it out was a little like an archeological dig as we discovered things long forgotten. Since then we’ve done a much better job of managing that freezer, and even the big one in the basement is fairly orderly. Before the next season’s food starts going in that freezer we’ll do a thorough sifting and winnowing.

So, gardening isn’t just about preparing the ground, or planting the seeds and plants, or even harvesting the produce. It’s also about making sure the food is used by the gardeners or others who appreciate food that is grown with care.

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