Planning Your Garden Out, Spring Is Coming Part Two, Recipe Ideas?

Well, mom might have been right and maybe none of us want to agree. One of the most important tools you can have is knowledge of the food and its nutritional value as part of your diet. This should be the reasons why planning your garden out is so important.

In my personal library I have several key books that I often suggest for many reason, but one main reason is easy/use/application whether your a experienced gardener or your just getting started jumping in both feet first. Grow Vegetables: Gardens - Yards - Balconies - Roof Terraces is a book that everyone can use, I bought this book when I was living in the city and needed to figure out planting spaces and which veggies grow with each other to ward off pest. Now that I live in the country on my farm/homestead this book is one of three I use every year to help me plan my gardens.

I have started this year to look more closely at the types of veggies I will be planting this year for their food value in my diet. Its important that you get your soil worked in really well, but if this is your first year, not to worry. You can still have a pretty decent harvest using some ready made organic fertilizers which can be purchased locally.
The second book I will strongly suggest is Country Wisdom & Know-How. This book, more than any other book has been my self sufficient guide from the start of my journey. As far as Self Sufficient living goes, this book goes into detail about all sorts that folks have to know. This book is filled with more than how to garden, it has recipes, crafts, elixirs, quilting, canning, soap making, lotions, home repairs, bee keeping, animal assistance/health, meat sectioning for small and large game, chicken/duck rearing and under ground storage. Hands down, mine is covered with dirt, torn pages, folded pages, and the cover is worn. I have notes scribbled for things I have tried or ideas.

Because this book was put together by the Editors of Storey books, you can be assured that for the $7.18 your paying for the book, you are getting a awesome bargain.

Be sure to stop back so we can talk about the books if you decide to purchase them. Once I got my head into them, I was learning all kinds of new skills as well as educating myself on living a more self sufficient lifestyle. I also have learned to make my soil better and how to get the best veggies from my garden.

So sitting in front of me is my sprout seeds, Catskill Brussels Sprouts, I know in my heart in life, sometimes you have to be brave.

Do you have a recipe for Brussels Sprouts??? I sure would like to find some ways to eat them!! As my memory reminds me, my Mom use to boil them, a little butter, and rolled them on my plate. Oh the memories are fresh now.....

Also ideas on Swiss Chard which is also new to me this year, I will try to grow this in my cold frame as well. So how do you eat Swiss Chard????

Now that I had my first taste of a Tomatillo sauce over a wonderful organic chicken burrito, I fell in love with them. I am looking for some sauce ideas I can can up for next winter as well as other ways to use them in my foods????