From Scratch.

The greatest things start with the smallest steps.


It is never too early to start planning your backyard farm. One of the most important things is finding out what exactly you want to grow. If you truly want to have a "kitchen garden", you need to be ready to use what you grow.


A good place to start is to look in your kitchen cabinet or refrigerator & see what you can replace with a homemade version. Our family made a goal this year to replace one item a month with an alternative made entirely from scratch. It has actually been easier than we imagined it would be & we are so far exceeding our goal & adding multiple homemade items to our kitchen every month. We started with salad dressings. We looked at the different types we most frequently ate & either found a recipe for it online or made one up! We then bottled them in leftover cooking wine bottles we had saved. We then moved on to breads, ketchup, frozen pizzas, ice cream, tomato sauces, corn tortillas & cereal! !


The one thing that everything we made had in common was that they were all way more delicious & much healthier than the store bought alternatives. The main rule of thumb when we make something is that we have to use all fresh, whole ingredients. No canned soups or mixes. The main advantage this has is eliminating the additives & preservatives found in pre-packaged foods. This has been quite liberating for our family. The boundaries have been broken as to what can be done in our home with food. Starting every thing from scratch allows you to explore combinations of flavors & to get to know ingredients in their true form. Your imagination is sparked by the smells & textures & your palette becomes accustomed to the challenge. You are freed from the limits of preservative laden & additive heavy seasoning & sauce packets

Once you get comfortable cooking from scratch you will begin to get an idea where to start with your backyard farm or garden. What ingredients do you use most that would be better replaced by a homegrown version? Curious about something you've seen in a seed catalog? Test it out by buying that ingredient from your local market & testing out a few recipes with it. It is always fun to add a new fruit or vegetable to your menu. Remember not to overwhelm yourself. It may even be best for you to start with a simple herb garden or even some trash can potatoes! The funnest part for us is removing an item from our grocery list! Our pantry is filled with less boxes each month but our dinner table has more variety than ever! Don't forget that backyard farming doesn't have to stay within your own backyard. Branch out in your community & find out what local farms are growing or even plan to swap with a neighbor!

Whatever your motivation is for the homegrown/homemade revolution, the benefits far outweigh the extra effort it takes. We started from necessity due to my severe son's MSG allergy & have been rewarded not only with his good health, but in his diverse palette & love for creativity in the kitchen. It has become a family habit that we grow to love more &more as we reach greater strides in our little kitchen. Once you take the first step & get started, your eyes will be opened to a whole new world of eating & a brand new appetite for diversity in the kitchen!

~meghan s.

Program Review: Get Naked at Home.

Against my better judgment I stayed up way past my bedtime Sunday night to watch the sneak peak of Jamie at Home on the food network. The show will premier this Saturday but it was definitely worth the late night to catch an early glimpse. Jamie Oliver, otherwise know as the Naked Chef, has come out of retirement on Food TV with a new cooking show featuring food he grows in his own backyard. The show is filmed in an outdoor cooking shed, in his kitchen, & right in his backyard where he cooks in a brick oven. It is oh so inspiring on so many levels. Sunday nights episode featured Peppers & Chilis & left your mouth watering after every recipe. Jamie is so excited the entire episode & it really gets you excited about cooking homegrown food. He seems driven by love for the ingredients he is working with & he has a very hands on approach to cooking. Many times he stirred with his hands & licked his fingers to taste, & of course we get to watch him pick his ingredients from his garden. You almost get the feeling that the food is a part of his family.
Not only did this show inspire in the way of cooking but also in encouraging a wide array of ingredients to be grown. Jamie featured many heirloom peppers & speaks of the different characteristics they all have. The colors of the dishes were incredible. One of the highlights of the show was when Jamie deseeded one of the peppers & then simply threw the seed behind him on the ground commenting that he hoped that would produce a plant next year!
You can't help but pull from Jamie's enthusiasm as you watch. The show is very fast pace & it almost feels as if Jamie is going to jump up & down with joy as he is cooking. That kind of love is addictive & you almost feel the need to run & start your own garden immediately! The show airs on Saturday mornings starting tomorrow & I don't think that time slot was unintentional. I have a feeling Jamie Oliver is going to start a new movement all on his own of urban homesteading & the results should be magnificent!
P.S.-
For those of you who don't have television, make sure to check out the Jamie at Home book where you will learn to cook & to grow stuff. Watch the funny promotional video here.

-meghan stubbs