Most of us love a good meal out at a quality restaurant. The ambience, the fact we don’t have to do the dishes, and the interesting menu choices make it fun and relaxing. But we rarely know where the food has been sourced from, or even how it has been prepared. There is always that pang of guilt about the fat, the salt, the sugar or the calories. And you may even feel that eating out regularly could be sending the kids the wrong message.
Of course, home-cooked meals aren’t always practical. The kids have after school clubs that leave them starving with only ten minutes to prepare something before they drop. And if you’ve been working all day, you’re probably just too exhausted to head to the supermarket, buy everything, prepare it and cook it. Batch cooking is a great way to dish up something nutritious with the tap of a microwave button. But you can also cut down on those dashes to the supermarket by growing your own.
Fresh food is never that fresh by the time it hits the stores. Picking it from your own garden means it could never be fresher. There are plenty of things you can grow in the garden, or even in pots on your balcony. Fruits from the garden smell and taste so much sweeter. You can find strawberry plants for sale that will grow happily in a small container. And how about an apple plucked from the tree for a snack?
Vegetables are quite easy to grow as well. Potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and turnips are some of the easiest things to tackle if you’re new at this. You can find growing kits from gardening websites, or even plant a vegetable straight into the earth to grow again. It’s important you prepare the area where you want to grow your food. It needs to be somewhere that is exposed enough to get the rain and the sunlight.
You may also want to build raised beds so that it’s easier to work your veggie patch. Pest control can be a challenge if you’re looking for safe or organic foods. Always read the label if you’re buying a solution. A net over the top should stop cats or foxes digging in there. Of course, your herbs for seasoning and flavouring your dishes could be grown in a small window box or even indoors in the window. Fresh herbs are wonderful to work with.
Most produce can be frozen. This means you can harvest your crops and keep some in the freezer until you need it. Usually, you can cook it straight from frozen without the need to thaw. Fruits should be defrosted slowly to avoid spoiling. You may want to use a pot with drainage holes, so the extra moisture doesn’t weigh down the fruit causing it to crush.
Growing your own is hugely satisfying. And once you’ve set up your patch or pots, it doesn’t require much effort. It’s certainly easier than heading all the way down to the supermarket. Best of all, you know where it’s come from and just how fresh it is. Bon Appetite.
