How To Enjoy Gardening When You Can’t Grow Your Own

Feb 26, 2021

It happens to the best of us green thumbs, a period of physical limitations, in which you can’t make your garden grow.

So, instead of getting sad or mad, here are some ways to enjoy the spring, summer, and fall gardening season, even if you can’t do it on your own.

Friends & Family

For goodness sakes, take advantage of all the gardening goodies that your friends and family offer you.

In today’s time, there are 100’s of recipes you can find to can, grill, or bake that overload of gardening goodies! LOL

Canning is a great way to not only save, but healthy. There’s nothing like a can of canned green beans, especially when you put them in your Thanksgiving green bean casserole. Gobble! Gobble!

If you’re wanting to see what canning essentials you need to get started, check out my link here :

Canning Creations

And don’t forget to buy veggies and fruit when they’re in season. Strawberries, blueberries, and peaches all go on sale right after each other.

Buy in bulk, and can those babies. I personally love getting a gift of canned goods, and they’re perfect as gifts for the holidays.

Think Autumn jellies, Christmas jams, and Thanksgiving veggies such as corn, sweet potatoes, and green beans are just a few ideas that come to mind.

Local Market Square

Almost every city or town has a market square of local farmers, big and small. If you’re wanting to find one near you, here’s a free Local Food Directory of Farmers Markets

I love this search directory, because it gives you a link to websites, payment acceptance, and products available.

And, if you want to learn all there is to know about how to cook, clean, and use the growers harvested goods, they are more than happy to share their wealth of information.

Facebook, Craigslist, and Online Newspapers

One of the best ways to get super deals on fruits, vegetables, honey, or herbs is through social media.

I have a friend who is a bee keeper, and when his honey is ready to sell he posts it on his Facebook page, and you better be ready to buy, because it usually sells out by the end of the day.

Also, I don’t think twice about asking people if they got anything to sell, such as tomatoes, corn, or green beans.

Word of mouth is the best way to go, and many times people don’t want their veggies to go to waste, and they practically give it to you.

I’ve seen larger growers post veggies by the bushel or pound if you’re wanting to can or freeze for the upcoming year. I would also join some local gardening groups, and you can check daily whats on sale.

Grocery Stores

Finally, I check every week, whose putting their fruit and veggies on sale from Kroger to Aldi, and whatever discount I can get I buy in bulk.

I have found some great deals on strawberries, peaches, cherries, and blueberries this way, and trust me when their in season, they want them to move.

Also, many times grocery stores have a clearance section, and it’s worth taking a look at.

They might have onions, green peppers, apples, or tomatoes, that are ripe and need to go, which equals a deep discount for mwah!

See, there are plenty of ways to enjoy a garden, even if you can’t grow one yourself.

As always, I’ve enjoyed sharing some of these tips with all of you, and I appreciate your stopping by, and if you have any other ways that you like to garden when you can’t please let me know in the comments below.

Top 3 Things To Do With Your Garden Veggie Overload!

Jun 30, 2016

It’s that time of year when your garden veggies are about to burst, and they are begging for you to take them out of the dirt. The problem is, that the veggies & fruit can become garden overload, and then certain people start to secretly put their tomatoes, zucchini, and squash in grocery bags and drop them off on their family and friends doorsteps. (This just happened to me the other day). 🙂

Now…..I know it’s because they don’t quite know what do to with all the extras, and they definitely don’t want to feel guilty for throwing it out, because that’s just not right. So, to take advantage of your garden overload, I am sharing the top 3 things that you can do save some money, and enjoy all your hard work.

Learn How to Can For Goodness Sakes

I have several raised garden beds, which has allowed me to enjoy spring, summer, and fall produce, and I like to extend my saving for the entire year by canning. I keep it simple, I grow tomatoes, green beans, peppers, a little squash & zucchini, and grapes. Which means I get to get creative and make my own salsa, marinara sauce, relishes, green beans, jellies, and preserves. I can usually get through and entire year without buying these items, and they simply taste fresh and fabulous!

New to canning? The best place to start is here: FreshPreserving.com

What equipment do I use? Click here: Canning Essentials

Freeze Them Baby!

Instead of paying for frozen veggies & fruits, you can save a whole lot of moolah by freezing them yourself. I have an extra stand up deep freezer, just to keep this, and any other seasonal sales that I might find at the store safe. Here’s some tips on How To Freeze Fruits And Vegetables from AllRecipes.com.

Compost It

Don’t throw those veggies out! Put them in a compost bin, watch the fertilizer magic happen, and put it in your garden. Plus, this is something that you can do year round with all your food scraps, and I’ve seen some pretty creative DIY composting bins such as this one by Practically Functional below:

I know that growing a garden is hard work, but I can’t express enough the savings that you will reap, as well as accomplishment you will feel the first time you make that can of salsa with ingredients you grew yourself. I thank you for stopping by, and just so you know that some of the links above are my affiliate links, and I may get a small commission fee if you decide to buy. I appreciate all of your support, and here’s to Happy Gardening Season.