Grow Your Own Ingredients

02 Mar Grow Your Own Ingredients

Scott Woolley’s cookbook, “Cooking For The Family” often calls for fresh herbs and vegetables Using fresh herbs and seasonings makes your meals just that much nicer. If you are able to use some of your own freshly grown vegetables, as well, then you are really able to up your cooking game.

Finding fresh herbs and certain vegetables can be tricky in the off-season. They can be of porter quality and much more expensive. No one wants to buy tomatoes that had a longer trip to the market than they did.

If you have a big space for a vegetable garden or a greenhouse, that’s great. But you don’t need either one to grow plenty of herbs, spices, and fresh vegetables.

You can grow plenty of fresh ingredients on your patio, balcony, sunroom, and on your windowsill. Many plants can be started right away with their own seeds. When your recipe calls for fresh items, like Scott Woolley’s, “Cooking For The Family”, you can find them right in your own kitchen.

Gardens

If you do have outdoor space for growing vegetables, choose some that will grow early, some that will bloom later, and some that will continue to provide food for the entire growing season.

If you have limited space, choose wisely. You want to grow things you know you will use, items that won’t crowd the rest of the garden, and perhaps things that don’t require a great deal of your attention.

If you plan on canning certain items, that’s fine, but keep in mind they will take up a lot of space. If they are foods that you don’t use that much, don’t plant too many.

A nice variety of vegetables and herbs will keep your family going for many months. Green onions, radishes, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and tomatoes are easy enough to grow and they will grow quickly.

You do need to keep an eye on them all, watch for bugs and garden pests like rodents that will eat them. Mind you don’t overwater them, and make sure they are covered during hail storms or when the weather starts to turn.

Greenhouse

A greenhouse, even a small one, will allow you to grow many different kinds of herbs and vegetables. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and many of your popular herbs can all be grown in pots.

Garlic will grow well in a pot in a greenhouse, and you can extend the growing season due to the protection and warmth it provides. If you have one close to the house or off your kitchen, you can have it heated.

Many people choose to just grow a few of their favorite foods in the greenhouse, to make sure they have plenty on hand. If you use a lot of tomatoes, you don’t need a lot of plants to produce quite a bit of fruit.

You can also use the greenhouse specifically for one item, like tomatoes. They are better protected and you can have several different kinds. Cherry tomatoes, Roma, or whatever you choose.

Balcony and Window Gardening

If you are like many of us, we don’t have a sprawling yard to plant things. But you can grow quite a bit of food and herbs on your balcony or in a sunny window.

With a few small pots placed in your window, you can grow things like basil, chives, oregano, parsley, dill, and even smaller items like green onions, and garlic.

Just get a few pots with drainage bottoms and some good soil. You can mix and match different herbs together in a larger window box. It looks lovely and will flourish in your sunny kitchen window.

For balconies, you can use larger pots and easily grow peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and all the herbs you like. Green onions and garlic will do very well in a pot and they grow very quickly, as well.

The best part about the herbs is that you can pinch off what you need to use and that will also help prune the plant and help it thicken and continue to grow. There are many herbs that will simply grow in water, so you don’t need to use the soil, at all.

If you have a covered balcony that is heated, you can have a garden in there year-round. Grow a mixture of herbs, mint, tomatoes, peppers, plus a few blooming flowers to make yourself a little oasis.

Fresh is Best

There is nothing so disappointing than paying a lot of money for wilted, soggy or wooden fruits and vegetables. Certain fresh herbs bought in the off-season can also be expensive and they were still only grown a few miles away. Scott Woolley’s cookbook, “Cooking For The Family” often calls for fresh herbs and vegetables. When they aren’t available, just grow your own. It’s easy, it’s better for the environments, and you will always have them. Learn more from Scott Woolleys cookbook ‘Cooking for the Family at www.scottwoolley.com