Garden Phases

Phase 1: Determined as I was to have a garden, it was a darn good thing. To till the grass under was a 'no, no' I was told, the grass would soon consume the area. The proper way is to dig up the grass. So I did. My vision of producing vegetables to feed us through the year dwindled with each load of sod-substance I hefted to the back of our yard. I rationalized the 'it's a rental, who knows how much longer we'll be here' & settled for a plot 1/3 the size: re-visit the vision #1. Next came the tilling. A member of our bishopric came & promptly declared it was the hardest-dirt-he'd-ever-worked-in-his-whole-life. Better stick with plants that grow above ground, unless you're happy with microscopic carrots and the like. Thus came re-visit the vision #2: plant only green beans (they freeze/can easily & they produce much in little space), spinach (my must-have for fresh salads, lots of vitamins), zucchini, yellow squash & cucumbers (grow easily, will freeze for casseroles & breads & loaded w/ nutrients).

Phase 2: Plant & wait (not pictured :)

Phase 3: Ta Da (minus the 3 spinach rows you can't see...they've been eaten)!

Beans, beans, beans!

Squash, cucumbers & zucchini

Victory! The first of our spoils!

...& this strawberry jam (courtesy of Aldi's the super-discount store where you bring your own bags & pay a quarter for the cart) is my first try (well, 2nd if you count the burnt 1st batch--but I don't) to produce an extremely low-sugar (or no sugar) jam. I found a pectin here that is all-natural, made from citrus peels & doesn't need sugar to activate it so you can use whatever amount of sweetener (agave, stevia, honey, etc.) you want! There's even a recipe that uses no sugar, just a cup of 100% juice concentrate (I didn't have the juice on-hand or I would have done that one).