This is the best time of year for fresh food! There is so many intense flavors to enjoy!

At some point crops do come to a bitter end and we move on to the next delicious crop! Tweaking the garden space and second plantings are another way to get the best from your garden. Carol and I planted earlier in the  season a Lettuce Ladder and it was not just stunning but delicious and easy to pick. It was fabulous until the lettuce decided to BOLT! This will happen typically when it gets too hot and too dry, and the lettuce flowers and  becomes bitter and inedible. Click here to learn more about why lettuce bolts.

When this happened we switched up the Lettuce Ladder and turn it into  Ladder Leeks and Onions! In my garden the leeks and onions are the last to pick as they take a little longer to grow than everything else. This project was so easy to do and is another project that can easily be done with the kids that requires very little or no maintenance. Just as easy as the garden we built this year!

San Marzano….need I say more. This is my personal favorite tomato for canning. We have a few jars left form last year and they taste just like we canned them yesterday. Ask for them at your local market and or local grocery store. They have a long history that takes us back to Peru, with humble beginnings as a little green fruit. Click here San Marzano to get the details on where this little tasty tomato came from and what makes it so great! To get started canning tomatoes you can get your copy of freshalicious online, available in hardcover and 8 e-books!  As well refer to the Bernardine.ca website for more details on how to can more than just tomatoes. So simple and easy to do!

It is so incredible how much you save by growing your own garden and how intense the flavors are. Here is an awesome shot of some of the delicious purple peppers and white eggplants we are growing this year!

Check out our previous blogs on how to build a garden that suits your lifestyle. I have spent almost no time pulling weeds this year because we built raised gardens beds in our backyard. The time to plan for your new garden is now so call up your local Landscape Professional and get started. If your in my local community call Carol, my garden buddy at Glen Echo and she can help you get started today for spring!

Have fun, get canning and save those fabulous flavours for those long winter days just around the corner! Sheppard peppers should be ready for roasting next week! Another personal favorite of mine. So Delicious!

Join me at the Newmarket Farmers Market this Saturday for the Garlic Festival, and book signing!

think fresh*live local*eat healthy

Stacey

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