Tomato skins! When you process your tomatoes save and dehydrate the skins to make tomato powder to flavour everything and anything , and throw some skins into your soup mix jar !!!
Sierra Marini... Okay, you just taught this "old dog" a new trick! It never dawned on me to dehydrate the tomato skins and turn them into powder. In years past, I always added the skins to the compost pile or fed my worms. Thank you for this suggestion! -- such a nice way to make better use of the garden's productivity! Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA -- 7/11/2020
😂 “Well now this is just silly”. I laughed out loud as I am sitting here watching. My husband came out and looked at me like I was crazy. What a wonderful problem to have.
I got tired of endlessly canning tomatoes. Now I cut them up on jelly roll pans and drizzle them with olive oil, garlic cloves and basil and roast them in a slow oven, until they are nice and sweet. Then i freeze them in freezer bags like you do your shredded zucchini. They make everything I use them in taste like summer. And I dont have to drag out the canner and jars.
If you grow cherry tomatoes mainly you can make delicious bursting tomato pasta sauce with just olive oil, garlic and the tomatoes and just cover til all the flavor burst and you're good! I used to have to buy 3 packs of cherry tomatoes just to make enough
Make a basil salt and keep in the fridge. It is amazing and tastes fresh all through the winter. Food processor/Salt/Tons of basil and put it in a jar. So good.
me too, I have had 3 tomatoes and 4 cucumbers and a few handfuls of green beans. I have at least 50 tomatoes that are green and starting to blush. I am going to be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes if all goes well.
Ummmm, northern Minnesota zone 3, I have snap peas and Swiss chard, won’t have cucumbers for 2-3 weeks or tomatoes until mid to late August :( Short short season up here ☹️
So far just my cherry tomatoes have fruits and all green. I'm growing lemon cucumber that's looking like I'm getting a couple of small fruits also not even close to ready. And I have munchers cucumber flowering. It's just the beginning for me. Up in the Pacific Northwest .☝🏻😂
I am in Central IN as well. I haven't even picked my first cucumber (even though there's lots of fruit on the plants) and tomatoes are also still green!
I love the way he gets excited over the produce. I hope he continues lovin the process.give him his own garden tour.Ol granny ENJOYS watching the EYES LITE UP😊😍😉
Do y'all like Tzatziki sauce? That might be a good use for some of your cucumber bounty. My husband puts Tzatziki on everything from roasted veggies to burgers to salads.
80's Kid here!! "The Great Valley is filled with green food like this. More than you can ever eat, and more fresh cool water than you can ever drink. It is a wonderful beautiful place where we can live happily ..." Sounds like every beautiful garden to me! Your smile when you harvest from your garden just shows your pure joy!
My neice did a garden tour of my garden and she identified lettuce (cabbage), the corn of love, some yellow "pahtatoes" (yellow cherry tomatoes) and "batunias" (petunias). I think we need to see Ben give us a garden tour through his eyes!
I LOVE pesto! I used to put it in ice cube trays but found an easier way for me to store it in the freezer. After I put everything through the food processor I put the mixing bowl in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes. This allows it to set up and not be runny. Once it is slightly firm I take a small cookie scoop and scoop the pesto onto parchment paper. I then put the tray in the freezer to allow the scoops to completely freeze. Then I throw them into freezers bags. It is much easier than using an ice cube tray!
Yes, I would love to see Jess's favorite relish recipe! Maybe a video on the whole process. If time permits, of course. I am so thankful she/they take the time to make these videos. ❤
I have just a couple of comments. This first one, I'm planning on doing a video on myself, but I wanted to bounce the idea off you first. When I was working in a lab, and remember, this was a plant lab, if you wanted something to be sterile, every single thing that touched it had to be sterile, not just the container it was going into - the liquids, the tools, and the plants themselves. So, what is the point of sterilizing canning jars and then fill them with non-sterile cucumbers, push them down with your fingers, pour in brine that hasn't been boiled long enough to sterilize it, and then maybe de-bubble with a knife or tool right out of the drawer? A clean jar is plenty good enough. Second, I had a friend who hybridized daylilies. Since different varieties flower at different times, she used to freeze the stamens of the earlier flowering ones to pollinate varieties that bloomed later in the summer. I wonder if you can do this with cucurbits, or other veggies for that matter?
😂😂 Jess laughs then goes quiet and goes “what does RPG mean?” I laugh when my husband makes nerd jokes too. 😂 and then I’m like 👀 did he notice I didn’t know what he was talking about?
Jess if you make pesto with everything BUT pine nuts & parmesan, then freeze it, and add the nuts and parmesan once you've thawed it, the fresh taste holds better. I tried it and it was delicious! Just a thought...
I would like to see herbs in one of the green stalks. You could move it to the house and your herbs would be close when you're cooking. Someone else said carrots. I like that idea, also.
When I was gardening I use to freeze fresh basil in freezer bags. I just picked, rinsed and patted the leaves dry then packed them in freezer bags so when I wanted that fresh taste for pasta sauces or anything else I just grab some from the bag.
Tree stars! I was just thinking the other day how much I thought my loofah leaves reminded me of them, haha. I still get choked up over that mama loving her baby. ETA: Hahaha, I love he had to explain RPG to you. I keep forgetting my military wife lingo isnt normal. ETA part 2: I've heard you can do like a pesto "log" and then slice and grate for a little fresh basil taste if the ice cube trays don't cut it. I'm going to try that this year. Ok, I'll stop after this...but the look on your face describing squash sex ed had me just dying laughing. Well done! You are an excellent teacher.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’d be super interested in a Tomato Horn Worm Hunting video! Haha Also, not an 80s, but a 90s kid, and tree stars always made me hungry! Haha
Last week I went hiking in Colorado at 10,000 ft and I found patches of wild strawberries! I considered saving the seed and sending them to Jess, but I chickened out.
I love yor garden updates! I am physically not able to garden right now but I get so much joy from watching yours grow. But I especially love how honest you are about garden imperfections. It happens. Love your outlook on that too. And so look forward to your videos about processing what you grow. Thank you for posting. Keeps me hopeful that I'll plant a garden another day.
I love seeing all your tomato plants! This is my first year gardening and the Greenstalk was a great option for me, as I am in a wheelchair. I also used Coco coir as a growing medium. All this sounds like a recipe for failure, but I wish I could share what my greenstalk loaded down with 29 tomato plants looks like but I can't find how to share a picture on here, but it is beautiful! Thank you for all the great info and inspiration!
Your adventurous attitude regarding so called failures is contagious. I have been really discouraged by the garden this year and felt like not bothering next year. But you keep reminding us to learn what we can and press on. Thanks for letting is in on your journey. It's making a huge difference for many. Love you guys!
I really need to start watching your tours with a pen and paper lol. I never thought about dehydrating all the veggies for Veggie soups. I have a small space garden and this it the perfect solution. I have been working on learning more ways to persevere stuff and I get odds and ends in my garden all the time since I don't have just rows of stuff
@@nicolebuckwalter2467 lol right. I'm actually growing red noodle beans because of Jess. Turns out they will hold up in my triple digit desert garden. Who would have thought
If you can find an old mailbox, place it in your garden and keep a pair of pruners and anything else you always use in the garden, in it. Very handy for those times when we forget to bring them. I also try to keep a pair inside my picking basket. My mailbox sits on a bench in my garden but I have seen them mounted on a short 4x4.
As a fellow Arkansan, very new to gardening I discovered your channel this spring when I was searching for tips. What a blessing you are to me and so many others... Thank you!
I want to sit and watch this whole video when I can relax and decompress later today. Central Illinois took a hard hit yesterday with the heaviest hail storm I've every witnessed in my lifetime. I am 48 years old. We lost the cardinal babies that I was so happy to check on every day.💔🙈😭 The damage of the garden will be clearer in the coming days when we return to humid 90s. I cried. Started to pull out some of the damaged vegetables last night. Came inside and cried again. I have to say the strongest vegetable in all of this is the tomatoes. We only lost a few branches. Stems so tough after pinching suckers and planting with the egg. So growing and nature will heal and revive but we have a long clean up day ahead. Still so heartbroken. 😰💔
Nice vid, I heard you say you have a big family, but no matter what we have large or small we always have enough to share with another. I hope you help the needy with what the Lord has helped you with, that would be such a blessing for both. ❤️🇨🇦🙋🏻♀️
Had to comment straight away when you mentioned tree stars. I'm a 90's kid myself but I loved and owned all of the Land Before Time VHS's and would watch the first movie over and over again. Even as a tiny kid I was still in awe of the animation and how perfect it was. I haven't watched many of the newer modern ones, but it's still such a dear part of me and I'm so happy you brought it up 🥰☺❤
I make Basil oil by picking it and putting it in warming olive oil in a big pan, then i strain it and keep it in the fridge. Use it to flavor breads ,pastas,soups, pizzas, tomatoes, Lasagna, sandwiches and many other things by adding a drizzle. You can use it like a bread dip by adding basalmic vinagar ,garlic and italian seasoning to a small amount in a plate, like in fancy restaurants. Its so good.
At 27:20 - "I wish I could just let you smell it." Essentially, you did! Because I watched your videos last year, this year I'm growing tulsi and every time I brush against it I get the fragrance. It is pretty incredible!
Last season my goal was to freeze enough pesto for a year. I packed it into 4oz jars, topped with olive oil, and they froze so well. One jar is enough for two pizzas or a big batch of pasta. Much easier than freezing in ice cube trays IMO.
Jess, the kind of seed saving willy nilly is in my opinion more sustainable than relying on a system of farming (seeds) and food production that is so broken.
Jess in my mind you are a tomato expert... I wish you would make a taste scale of some kind to rate slicers and canning tomatoes. I think it would be of great use for those of us that have not tasted so many different tomatoes and can only grow a few.
Thank you so much for your videos. I’ve been raised around gardening and canning, but this is my first year doing it all myself. And having your videos to watch has helped me TREMENDOUSLY! And I appreciate everything you do a LOT. So, thank you and God bless you and your family. God is using you as a light and vessel... and in times that we’re living in right now, it’s a breath of fresh air. If more people spent their time doing things like this... they wouldn’t have time to dwell on negative things that really doesn’t matter. People need to focus more on their own lives and family and make a difference where it REALLY counts... to me that’s where you make the most difference anyway. You rock... thank you for being so real, honest, and positive. Your personality is uplifting and encouraging and we need more of that. Thank you thank you thank you.🙌🙏🏼
I always appreciate your authenticity! I was cracking up with you on the Armenian ? melons, and then it was just bonus when you disappeared and shouted for helpers! You are a beautiful soul, and thank you for sharing your garden with all of us. God bless you! J. L
We live in Wales UK, the home of the leek Jess and also very humid. Leeks stand in the ground until you need them if started at the right time. I can carry on pulling even in March.
Even here is frigid New England I was able to keep leeks overwinter using a really simple fabric rowcover and some 4gallon jugs filled with rainwater as thermal mass. I was harvesting all winter, spring, and am now enjoying the beautiful flowers of the leeks I didn't get around to pulling. I'm a little sad I didn't get another batch in the ground earlier this year to enjoy again this winter.
I don't think you should be upset with your efforts. You never stopped your efforts. And that's what makes it the best! This is your first time with having a cottage garden and a huge greenhouse and all this wonderous space for growing the greatest garden ever! Yes, I'll admit you did overdo it a bit. But I have also seen how you tend to find a way to make the overwhelming stuff seem only tedious but not too hard to handle. Which is a great job on your part. Well done! And no worries, you have tackled a pretty full plate and you are slowly whittling it down and it's only half the year! I'm sure within the next 3 years you will have this stuff nailed down. You will get this paradise thing down and well established. And the best part is getting the plants so well established and strong growth that they do grow wild on their own! Which means they are comfortable in the home you provided for them. It's a good mess of a garden. And eventually, everything will be well established and the bounty will still flourish and thrive with you and your awesomeness. Where's your wagon?? You shouldn't be using a basket with a garden that big anymore. Lol. Eventually, work on getting a wagon in multiple spots around the garden lol. Or a nice fancy french cart or a huge European wagon! That is something I've always wanted for a wagon. Thankfully you have enough food made to not only produce for your family but for your animals as well! That would save you tons from having to buy food for the livestock if you are able to provide for them as well. I tend to grow my sunflowers where the vining gourds and cucumbers and even the Armenians grow up from. Yes, I do have a trellis for them but the sunflowers will also grow right next to the trellis'. And they tend to grow thick and strong enough to stand up to the pulling of vining plants and they make a great trellis for them. And the mammoth sunflowers will grow on into the fall season and be perfect for the long growing season. Just be careful if you plan on growing luffa gourds. Those things need telephone poles to grow up onto! I only had 8-foot poles and they made a 40-foot B-line to the back door of my home and tried vining overnight and wrapped around my back doorknob! So creepy scary! LOL!!! I would like to see during the time when you do harvest honey from the bees is your way of storing it. And what you do with stuff like the excess wax and bee bread? I love seeing those sorts of things. Also, bees prefer calming colors. Which is why white is a bee suit color or a natural coloration. Blue is not a favorite color so wearing jeans is not the best idea to wear around them. So harvest wearing white or khakis. Uh-oh! You planted your squash around the watermelons. They're related! LMAO!!! They will cross-pollinate and make the funkiest yuck melons! LMAO!!! Oh my! Have fun with that. I don't recommend collecting seed from any of those melons or squash this year. Great share! Thank you for continuing to inspire and prosper! Take care.
Hey Jess. During the Covid shut down, I feasted on your videos and a couple of others. Although I have gardened for years, I learned so much for this year's garden. I had never talked a lot to others who garden, so on one video I heard the term "amend the soil". I guess most people have heard that expression; but I hadn't. Well, anyhow, I was typing a comment to someone who asked what I had been doing all day. With a little slip of the typing fingers, I answered "Oh, I stayed home to amend my soul." lol
Thank you Jess for sharing your garden and life with us! I have learned so much from you and you inspire me to get out and grow food. Because of you I am now growing veggies instead of just flowers. This summer I have planted different heirloom tomatoes and it is so exciting watching them grow. I saw the first purple shoulders on my blueberry tomatoes this past week. What fun!! You bring so much optimism and hope. My days are always so much happier when I can sit and enjoy your videos. Bless you Jess!
90s baby here but i know exactly what you were referring to. That movie is a old time favorite. Ur garden is amazing i cant wait to start mine officially.
I wash and air dry my basil, usually the leaves. Once they have no excess of water, I pack them into the quart-size ziploc bags and freeze them. When I need fresh basil, I just get some out of my freezer. I prefer this better than dehydrating basil...
Thanks so much for the squash diagnosis. I’ve been losing them all. I was thinking it was either blossom end rot or lack of calcium (which I treated). But I just went out and hand pollinated a bunch of my squash flowers. Fingers crossed that will do the trick!🤞🏼
Tree stars!!! One of my favorite movies when I was a kid. And they totally do! 🌟 I’m hoping my garden does better this fall, because my spring garden is not doing well. It’s rough. Lots of tomatoes but only one that ripened so far. Squash is done thanks to the mildew and bugs. And the storm we had yesterday did a number on things. Such a bummer.
I think the cottage garden you started this year will give you pleasure over the winter as there are lots of things you can plant in the winter so they start flowering in the spring - like daisy's and you will have time to really look at the layers of planting you want - it will take you a few years to get what you want and how you want it but I am sure it will look beautiful
My family for many generations made canned soup mix from garden small pickings...tomatoes, onions, peas, squash, okra or corn...main thing is tomato and onions and fill in whatever else you harvest in small quantities...awesome for the winter time..base for soups
My 2 cents for freezing pesto: 1) blanch the basil and dry it before processing so it will keep its color and flavor better. 2) short the amount of oil by just enough so you can “seal” the frozen portions of pesto from freezer burn by adding a layer of olive oil to the top. When it defrosts you can mix it in. 3) don’t add the cheese into your pesto that is going to be frozen because the texture turns weird. Add it after you’ve defrosted it.
Beautiful concert of cicadas and frogs in the background 🤗 in parts of europe a type of spice is widely used in soups, meat dishes etc, it consists of dried and ground celeriac, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic, parsley, a tiny bit of turmeric just for the colour, and salt. A teaspoon or two added to dishes improves the flavour of everything, especially soups and broths.
Yes! Treestars. My kids would know what you're talking about too. I make a very versatile version of pesto which is: whatever herb you're using, oil of your choice (just enough to get the blender going, garlic, salt and lemon juice. Then I freeze it flat in freezer bags in a thin enough layer that I can break off chunks all of the off season. This way I can do whatever I want with it and I'm not limited to Italian type foods. It's less work than the ice cube trays which works for me cause I have a big family and garden too 😁
Love melting Amish churned butter with fresh basil and freezing in cubes. Perfect finishing touch for pasta sauces, spreading on fresh baked bread and roasted vegetables during the long winter months.
Tomato skins! When you process your tomatoes save and dehydrate the skins to make tomato powder to flavour everything and anything , and throw some skins into your soup mix jar !!!
That is an awesome idea. Thank you
Sierra Marini interesting!
Wow that's a great idea too I love that idea
Sierra Marini... Okay, you just taught this "old dog" a new trick! It never dawned on me to dehydrate the tomato skins and turn them into powder. In years past, I always added the skins to the compost pile or fed my worms. Thank you for this suggestion! -- such a nice way to make better use of the garden's productivity! Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA -- 7/11/2020
Tomato skins have a lot of natural delicious msg. Making a powder of these is so genius!
😂 “Well now this is just silly”. I laughed out loud as I am sitting here watching. My husband came out and looked at me like I was crazy. What a wonderful problem to have.
*procrastinates weeding my garden by watching a garden video*
I’m procrastinating dishes and laundry and oddly enough I could be doing both while watching this video but I may miss something lol
I love how you make gardening so accessible and encourage people to give it a go rather then focus on getting everything perfect. Thank you x
I got tired of endlessly canning tomatoes. Now I cut them up on jelly roll pans and drizzle them with olive oil, garlic cloves and basil and roast them in a slow oven, until they are nice and sweet. Then i freeze them in freezer bags like you do your shredded zucchini. They make everything I use them in taste like summer. And I dont have to drag out the canner and jars.
Thank you!
Sounds delicious!
Good idea!
If you grow cherry tomatoes mainly you can make delicious bursting tomato pasta sauce with just olive oil, garlic and the tomatoes and just cover til all the flavor burst and you're good! I used to have to buy 3 packs of cherry tomatoes just to make enough
@@AmazingGrace492 Do you have to remove the skins or just throw them in the pot whole?
The Land Before Time!!! ❤️🦕 . I cry every time 😩💔. Before Simba and Mufasa, there was Little Foot and Mother 🥺
Make a basil salt and keep in the fridge. It is amazing and tastes fresh all through the winter. Food processor/Salt/Tons of basil and put it in a jar. So good.
Central IN
I only now have a couple cucumbers to pick. All my tomatoes are still green (45-50 plants).
*Who's with me? ✊
me too, I have had 3 tomatoes and 4 cucumbers and a few handfuls of green beans. I have at least 50 tomatoes that are green and starting to blush. I am going to be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes if all goes well.
Ummmm, northern Minnesota zone 3, I have snap peas and Swiss chard, won’t have cucumbers for 2-3 weeks or tomatoes until mid to late August :(
Short short season up here ☹️
So far just my cherry tomatoes have fruits and all green. I'm growing lemon cucumber that's looking like I'm getting a couple of small fruits also not even close to ready. And I have munchers cucumber flowering. It's just the beginning for me. Up in the Pacific Northwest .☝🏻😂
Zone 9b. Harvest over for tomatoes. Getting ready to plant for fall tomato harvest. It’s great to see what growing season everyone is in!
I am in Central IN as well. I haven't even picked my first cucumber (even though there's lots of fruit on the plants) and tomatoes are also still green!
We never get to see the kids’ garden...maybe Ben could give us a tour!
Love this!!!!!!
Love this too!
Good idea!
I love the way he gets excited over the produce. I hope he continues lovin the process.give him his own garden tour.Ol granny ENJOYS watching the EYES LITE UP😊😍😉
Do y'all like Tzatziki sauce? That might be a good use for some of your cucumber bounty. My husband puts Tzatziki on everything from roasted veggies to burgers to salads.
Oooooo what a great idea ! I am plantkng a new dill crop today , so tzatziki will be in my future
I do too. It’s amazing. Instead of dressing for my salad I shake it up with this sauce. It’s sooooo good.
Do you have a good recipe to share?
Would love the recipe too!!
Love it!!!
80's Kid here!! "The Great Valley is filled with green food like this. More than you can ever eat, and more fresh cool water than you can ever drink. It is a wonderful beautiful place where we can live happily ..." Sounds like every beautiful garden to me! Your smile when you harvest from your garden just shows your pure joy!
My neice did a garden tour of my garden and she identified lettuce (cabbage), the corn of love, some yellow "pahtatoes" (yellow cherry tomatoes) and "batunias" (petunias). I think we need to see Ben give us a garden tour through his eyes!
Live on the wild side... Save seeds willy-nilly!
This is your next T-shirt😆
I just dollop a Tablespoon of pesto on parchment and freeze. Move to a bag or jar. No messy clean up of ice cube trays!
Same. I freeze blobs in a cookie sheet for a few hours/overnight and then put the frozen blobs in a container or jar.
I do both, ice cube trays in the dishwasher is easy peasy cleanup.
How smart! I should definitely try this way. Thanks! It tastes amazing in chicken or veggies soups. *O*
@@annmarienoone9879 my life would be much improved with a dishwasher
Genius!
I LOVE pesto! I used to put it in ice cube trays but found an easier way for me to store it in the freezer. After I put everything through the food processor I put the mixing bowl in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes. This allows it to set up and not be runny. Once it is slightly firm I take a small cookie scoop and scoop the pesto onto parchment paper. I then put the tray in the freezer to allow the scoops to completely freeze. Then I throw them into freezers bags. It is much easier than using an ice cube tray!
As a couple, we freeze pesto into snack bags to throw on pasta. Also if you're too cheap to buy pine nuts, cashews work great.
I don’t believe in using throw away plastic. It’s awful for us, as bad as pesticides…
Have you thought about putting your banana plant in the high tunnel to see if it will grow through winter ergo producing fruit next year?
OMG the little foot reference got me like :O I knew there was a reason I liked you haha
Lol. Little foot, cera, ducky, petrie, and spike. Yeah ima 80s baby
I'm sure a hundred people already answered but tree stars are from Land before time 🙂
Were really going to need a relish video. That’s all lol
Yes, I would love to see Jess's favorite relish recipe! Maybe a video on the whole process. If time permits, of course. I am so thankful she/they take the time to make these videos. ❤
I have just a couple of comments. This first one, I'm planning on doing a video on myself, but I wanted to bounce the idea off you first. When I was working in a lab, and remember, this was a plant lab, if you wanted something to be sterile, every single thing that touched it had to be sterile, not just the container it was going into - the liquids, the tools, and the plants themselves. So, what is the point of sterilizing canning jars and then fill them with non-sterile cucumbers, push them down with your fingers, pour in brine that hasn't been boiled long enough to sterilize it, and then maybe de-bubble with a knife or tool right out of the drawer? A clean jar is plenty good enough.
Second, I had a friend who hybridized daylilies. Since different varieties flower at different times, she used to freeze the stamens of the earlier flowering ones to pollinate varieties that bloomed later in the summer. I wonder if you can do this with cucurbits, or other veggies for that matter?
When you laughed and then asked Miah what his joke was, I felt that. Deep in my soul.
Your whole place makes me so happy but today the sound of the frogs is making me giddy!! Lol. 🐸
I met a toad in my mini garden yesterday and then it rained for the first time in weeks. We are so blessed!
I love the chorus of frogs too! Jess you are so blessed then you bless us in turn!!!
@Dede Tudor I have a ton too. I've been here so long and if I were ever to move they'd be something I'd miss the most.
😂😂 Jess laughs then goes quiet and goes “what does RPG mean?” I laugh when my husband makes nerd jokes too. 😂 and then I’m like 👀 did he notice I didn’t know what he was talking about?
I learned something new too!
I'm married to a soldier... I laughed... and my husband ducked his head over...like gardening and RPGs? What are you watching? Can I watch? Lol
I do that too😊
😂
Jess if you make pesto with everything BUT pine nuts & parmesan, then freeze it, and add the nuts and parmesan once you've thawed it, the fresh taste holds better. I tried it and it was delicious! Just a thought...
I would like to see herbs in one of the green stalks. You could move it to the house and your herbs would be close when you're cooking. Someone else said carrots. I like that idea, also.
smart ,Libby !
I adore that you mention tree stars my son jumped up yellling "I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!!!"
YES!! Littlefoot! Tree stars! Now I'm teary-eyed, thanks LoL.
When I was gardening I use to freeze fresh basil in freezer bags. I just picked, rinsed and patted the leaves dry then packed them in freezer bags so when I wanted that fresh taste for pasta sauces or anything else I just grab some from the bag.
Yes, it works great for dill as well! Will never have to buy those stupid $4 sprigs from the store again!
Seems like just yesterday we were all anxious to get the garden in
I'm not an 80s kid, born 1995, but I still happen to have Land Before Time on VHS. It was how my mom got me to eat spinach
Tree stars! I was just thinking the other day how much I thought my loofah leaves reminded me of them, haha. I still get choked up over that mama loving her baby.
ETA: Hahaha, I love he had to explain RPG to you. I keep forgetting my military wife lingo isnt normal.
ETA part 2: I've heard you can do like a pesto "log" and then slice and grate for a little fresh basil taste if the ice cube trays don't cut it. I'm going to try that this year.
Ok, I'll stop after this...but the look on your face describing squash sex ed had me just dying laughing. Well done! You are an excellent teacher.
I love the Idea of a veggie soup mix!! Thank you for that idea, there really is that weird stage of only getting a few thing out of the garden.
OMG I get SOOOOO EXCITED for your videos!!!!! L wake up and say "I hope Jess posts a video today"!!!!!!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’d be super interested in a Tomato Horn Worm Hunting video! Haha Also, not an 80s, but a 90s kid, and tree stars always made me hungry! Haha
Last week I went hiking in Colorado at 10,000 ft and I found patches of wild strawberries! I considered saving the seed and sending them to Jess, but I chickened out.
My husband wants to know where your new kitty has been...we love watching you and we are so thankful for all you are teaching us.
I love yor garden updates! I am physically not able to garden right now but I get so much joy from watching yours grow. But I especially love how honest you are about garden imperfections. It happens. Love your outlook on that too. And so look forward to your videos about processing what you grow. Thank you for posting. Keeps me hopeful that I'll plant a garden another day.
Yes! Little foot. Land before Time! I cry every time!
I love seeing all your tomato plants! This is my first year gardening and the Greenstalk was a great option for me, as I am in a wheelchair. I also used Coco coir as a growing medium. All this sounds like a recipe for failure, but I wish I could share what my greenstalk loaded down with 29 tomato plants looks like but I can't find how to share a picture on here, but it is beautiful! Thank you for all the great info and inspiration!
I believe you can share it on Instagram, definitely on facebook.
Congratulations! On your bounty! I love that you found a great way to garden safely and enjoyably (is that a word, lol?)😊.
Those dehydrated veggies work well in soup ... but they're also good in rice!
Your adventurous attitude regarding so called failures is contagious. I have been really discouraged by the garden this year and felt like not bothering next year. But you keep reminding us to learn what we can and press on. Thanks for letting is in on your journey. It's making a huge difference for many. Love you guys!
Tree stars...I cried about those even as a small child. Such a beautiful story.
My life is so incredibly stressful right now, Your uploads keep me going!👋🏼
I really need to start watching your tours with a pen and paper lol. I never thought about dehydrating all the veggies for Veggie soups. I have a small space garden and this it the perfect solution. I have been working on learning more ways to persevere stuff and I get odds and ends in my garden all the time since I don't have just rows of stuff
I got out my seed catalog with a pen and a highlighter.
@@nicolebuckwalter2467 lol right. I'm actually growing red noodle beans because of Jess. Turns out they will hold up in my triple digit desert garden. Who would have thought
No kidding Jess has got me thinking (now I need a dehydrator 🤔)😂
If you can find an old mailbox, place it in your garden and keep a pair of pruners and anything else you always use in the garden, in it. Very handy for those times when we forget to bring them. I also try to keep a pair inside my picking basket. My mailbox sits on a bench in my garden but I have seen them mounted on a short 4x4.
As a fellow Arkansan, very new to gardening I discovered your channel this spring when I was searching for tips. What a blessing you are to me and so many others... Thank you!
I want to sit and watch this whole video when I can relax and decompress later today. Central Illinois took a hard hit yesterday with the heaviest hail storm I've every witnessed in my lifetime. I am 48 years old. We lost the cardinal babies that I was so happy to check on every day.💔🙈😭 The damage of the garden will be clearer in the coming days when we return to humid 90s. I cried. Started to pull out some of the damaged vegetables last night. Came inside and cried again. I have to say the strongest vegetable in all of this is the tomatoes. We only lost a few branches. Stems so tough after pinching suckers and planting with the egg. So growing and nature will heal and revive but we have a long clean up day ahead. Still so heartbroken. 😰💔
Also, loved "good stuff happening among the weeds"😁
You should write that on your garden board..or a new t-shirt?!😍
Your channel has quickly become my favorite upload!!! I get so excited to see what you have to say and excited to see your bounty! Thank you so much
They do look like Tree Stars!!!! I love those movies. My favorite character is Ducky. Yup yup yup!
This is terrible, but I recently learned the actress that voiced Ducky actually got murdered. 😭
Jessica, you have renewed my true love of gardening, I'm having the best garden in 10 years! Thank you for sharing
Nice vid, I heard you say you have a big family, but no matter what we have large or small we always have enough to share with another.
I hope you help the needy with what the Lord has helped you with, that would be such a blessing for both. ❤️🇨🇦🙋🏻♀️
Had to comment straight away when you mentioned tree stars. I'm a 90's kid myself but I loved and owned all of the Land Before Time VHS's and would watch the first movie over and over again. Even as a tiny kid I was still in awe of the animation and how perfect it was. I haven't watched many of the newer modern ones, but it's still such a dear part of me and I'm so happy you brought it up 🥰☺❤
I make Basil oil by picking it and putting it in warming olive oil in a big pan, then i strain it and keep it in the fridge. Use it to flavor breads ,pastas,soups, pizzas, tomatoes, Lasagna, sandwiches and many other things by adding a drizzle. You can use it like a bread dip by adding basalmic vinagar ,garlic and italian seasoning to a small amount in a plate, like in fancy restaurants. Its so good.
At 27:20 - "I wish I could just let you smell it." Essentially, you did! Because I watched your videos last year, this year I'm growing tulsi and every time I brush against it I get the fragrance. It is pretty incredible!
Last season my goal was to freeze enough pesto for a year. I packed it into 4oz jars, topped with olive oil, and they froze so well. One jar is enough for two pizzas or a big batch of pasta. Much easier than freezing in ice cube trays IMO.
Oh my goodness tree stars from land before time!!! Absolutely loved those movies!!!
Jess, the kind of seed saving willy nilly is in my opinion more sustainable than relying on a system of farming (seeds) and food production that is so broken.
Aww, tree stars 💗! 😢Loved watching that with my oldest son
Im a 90's baby and I love the land before time movies they are awesome I remember watching them on the box tv on vcr 😁
Jess in my mind you are a tomato expert... I wish you would make a taste scale of some kind to rate slicers and canning tomatoes. I think it would be of great use for those of us that have not tasted so many different tomatoes and can only grow a few.
Thank you so much for your videos. I’ve been raised around gardening and canning, but this is my first year doing it all myself. And having your videos to watch has helped me TREMENDOUSLY! And I appreciate everything you do a LOT. So, thank you and God bless you and your family. God is using you as a light and vessel... and in times that we’re living in right now, it’s a breath of fresh air. If more people spent their time doing things like this... they wouldn’t have time to dwell on negative things that really doesn’t matter. People need to focus more on their own lives and family and make a difference where it REALLY counts... to me that’s where you make the most difference anyway. You rock... thank you for being so real, honest, and positive. Your personality is uplifting and encouraging and we need more of that. Thank you thank you thank you.🙌🙏🏼
The tree stars from the land before time! Awww little foot
Land before Time! The best!
You can look up 'Romanian pickle stew' ... it uses dill pickles chopped with chicken in a tomato sauce... absolutely delicious
Your channel is what I look forward to every day. Thank you Jess and Miah xxx
I always appreciate your authenticity! I was cracking up with you on the Armenian ? melons, and then it was just bonus when you disappeared and shouted for helpers! You are a beautiful soul, and thank you for sharing your garden with all of us. God bless you!
J. L
Since you have more space in your garden, you should do a whole bed of ground cherries!
90's kid here, but I was obsessed with Little Foot when I was little! My grandparents had pretty much all the sequel VHS's for me to watch lol :D
Oh they do remind me of tree stars too! Darnit, no movie can make my cry like that. Still to this day....( 80s kids represent! #Thelandbeforetime)
We live in Wales UK, the home of the leek Jess and also very humid. Leeks stand in the ground until you need them if started at the right time. I can carry on pulling even in March.
Even here is frigid New England I was able to keep leeks overwinter using a really simple fabric rowcover and some 4gallon jugs filled with rainwater as thermal mass. I was harvesting all winter, spring, and am now enjoying the beautiful flowers of the leeks I didn't get around to pulling. I'm a little sad I didn't get another batch in the ground earlier this year to enjoy again this winter.
I also live in Wales and keep the leeks in the ground till I use them. Hello from North Wales x
@@skullfronttaylordunn3292 hello from Carway, South Wales :)
I don't think you should be upset with your efforts. You never stopped your efforts. And that's what makes it the best! This is your first time with having a cottage garden and a huge greenhouse and all this wonderous space for growing the greatest garden ever! Yes, I'll admit you did overdo it a bit. But I have also seen how you tend to find a way to make the overwhelming stuff seem only tedious but not too hard to handle. Which is a great job on your part. Well done! And no worries, you have tackled a pretty full plate and you are slowly whittling it down and it's only half the year! I'm sure within the next 3 years you will have this stuff nailed down. You will get this paradise thing down and well established. And the best part is getting the plants so well established and strong growth that they do grow wild on their own! Which means they are comfortable in the home you provided for them. It's a good mess of a garden. And eventually, everything will be well established and the bounty will still flourish and thrive with you and your awesomeness. Where's your wagon?? You shouldn't be using a basket with a garden that big anymore. Lol. Eventually, work on getting a wagon in multiple spots around the garden lol. Or a nice fancy french cart or a huge European wagon! That is something I've always wanted for a wagon. Thankfully you have enough food made to not only produce for your family but for your animals as well! That would save you tons from having to buy food for the livestock if you are able to provide for them as well. I tend to grow my sunflowers where the vining gourds and cucumbers and even the Armenians grow up from. Yes, I do have a trellis for them but the sunflowers will also grow right next to the trellis'. And they tend to grow thick and strong enough to stand up to the pulling of vining plants and they make a great trellis for them. And the mammoth sunflowers will grow on into the fall season and be perfect for the long growing season. Just be careful if you plan on growing luffa gourds. Those things need telephone poles to grow up onto! I only had 8-foot poles and they made a 40-foot B-line to the back door of my home and tried vining overnight and wrapped around my back doorknob! So creepy scary! LOL!!!
I would like to see during the time when you do harvest honey from the bees is your way of storing it. And what you do with stuff like the excess wax and bee bread? I love seeing those sorts of things. Also, bees prefer calming colors. Which is why white is a bee suit color or a natural coloration. Blue is not a favorite color so wearing jeans is not the best idea to wear around them. So harvest wearing white or khakis.
Uh-oh! You planted your squash around the watermelons. They're related! LMAO!!! They will cross-pollinate and make the funkiest yuck melons! LMAO!!! Oh my! Have fun with that. I don't recommend collecting seed from any of those melons or squash this year.
Great share! Thank you for continuing to inspire and prosper! Take care.
Since you're moving the greenstalks into the high tunnel, how about growing some edible flowers???
I have never wanted to eat a cartoon thing in my life as badly as I wanted a tree star when I was a kid! 🥰
Hey Jess. During the Covid shut down, I feasted on your videos and a couple of others. Although I have gardened for years, I learned so much for this year's garden. I had never talked a lot to others who garden, so on one video I heard the term "amend the soil". I guess most people have heard that expression; but I hadn't. Well, anyhow, I was typing a comment to someone who asked what I had been doing all day. With a little slip of the typing fingers, I answered "Oh, I stayed home to amend my soul." lol
Thank you Jess for sharing your garden and life with us! I have learned so much from you and you inspire me to get out and grow food. Because of you I am now growing veggies instead of just flowers. This summer I have planted different heirloom tomatoes and it is so exciting watching them grow. I saw the first purple shoulders on my blueberry tomatoes this past week. What fun!! You bring so much optimism and hope. My days are always so much happier when I can sit and enjoy your videos. Bless you Jess!
80's kid here🙋♀️ I will now and forever call my okra leaves tree stars!!!!!!!
90s baby here but i know exactly what you were referring to. That movie is a old time favorite. Ur garden is amazing i cant wait to start mine officially.
90’s baby here, and tree stars were an instant throwback. Thank you for that
I wash and air dry my basil, usually the leaves. Once they have no excess of water, I pack them into the quart-size ziploc bags and freeze them. When I need fresh basil, I just get some out of my freezer. I prefer this better than dehydrating basil...
Littlefoot...love the dehydrated veg mix idea
Thank you Jess, you taught me something new...sweet
I love hearing the birds in the background as you walk through the garden.:)
Thanks so much for the squash diagnosis. I’ve been losing them all. I was thinking it was either blossom end rot or lack of calcium (which I treated). But I just went out and hand pollinated a bunch of my squash flowers. Fingers crossed that will do the trick!🤞🏼
Land Before Time! My daughter loves it! She was collecting her tree stars just yesterday 😊
Oh thank goodness someone gave a title. I'm just a little too old for that movie.
Wow your garden is bursting with food!! Looking so good and healthy
Still have all of these old Jess videos to watch! 1st time seeing the cottage garden.
Tree stars!!! One of my favorite movies when I was a kid. And they totally do! 🌟 I’m hoping my garden does better this fall, because my spring garden is not doing well. It’s rough. Lots of tomatoes but only one that ripened so far. Squash is done thanks to the mildew and bugs. And the storm we had yesterday did a number on things. Such a bummer.
Rewatching for Jess in her time family time and rest.
I think the cottage garden you started this year will give you pleasure over the winter as there are lots of things you can plant in the winter so they start flowering in the spring - like daisy's and you will have time to really look at the layers of planting you want - it will take you a few years to get what you want and how you want it but I am sure it will look beautiful
That tunnel of noodle beans is sooo magical! 🥰
My family for many generations made canned soup mix from garden small pickings...tomatoes, onions, peas, squash, okra or corn...main thing is tomato and onions and fill in whatever else you harvest in small quantities...awesome for the winter time..base for soups
My 2 cents for freezing pesto: 1) blanch the basil and dry it before processing so it will keep its color and flavor better. 2) short the amount of oil by just enough so you can “seal” the frozen portions of pesto from freezer burn by adding a layer of olive oil to the top. When it defrosts you can mix it in. 3) don’t add the cheese into your pesto that is going to be frozen because the texture turns weird. Add it after you’ve defrosted it.
Beautiful concert of cicadas and frogs in the background 🤗 in parts of europe a type of spice is widely used in soups, meat dishes etc, it consists of dried and ground celeriac, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic, parsley, a tiny bit of turmeric just for the colour, and salt. A teaspoon or two added to dishes improves the flavour of everything, especially soups and broths.
Yes! Treestars. My kids would know what you're talking about too. I make a very versatile version of pesto which is: whatever herb you're using, oil of your choice (just enough to get the blender going, garlic, salt and lemon juice. Then I freeze it flat in freezer bags in a thin enough layer that I can break off chunks all of the off season. This way I can do whatever I want with it and I'm not limited to Italian type foods. It's less work than the ice cube trays which works for me cause I have a big family and garden too 😁
😍Tree stars!!! I loved The Land Before Time, littlefoot and ducky all the feels and memories come flooding back!
80s kid here! I know exactly what a tree star is!! 🦕
Love melting Amish churned butter with fresh basil and freezing in cubes. Perfect finishing touch for pasta sauces, spreading on fresh baked bread and roasted vegetables during the long winter months.
We know tree stars here! Our daughter was nicknamed Littlefoot when she was in my tummy. She's our first miracle baby. 💜
Yesss TOMATOES ARE BETTER THAN DINNER! I’m so ridiculously happy that made it on to the chalkboard.