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Food For Life Garden Update!

Inspiration "Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever." — Unknown

May is here in full swing and with it comes a great awakening. The deciduous trees are once again clothed in leaves and spring rains have colored the world a rich green. Green is my favorite color and I love seeing so much of it all around. The pastures are getting dotted with wild flowers and the bees and hummingbirds are starting to fill the air with their buzz.

🌺 Happy Mother's Day To All Moms! 🌸 May also brings a special day for Moms and I want to wish all you mothers a lovely Mother's Day tomorrow! And all you sons and daughters a beautiful day spent with your moms! If your moms are not with you anymore I share your grief. Let us be filled with grateful and loving thoughts for all the moms in heaven. "A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." (Cardinal Mermillod) Know that you are special and appreciated! Moms can change the world!

If you're cooking for mom, here is a perfect Mother's Day dish that she will love! It is easy to make and tastes superb! Read all about how to make a gourmet mushroom risotto. And it's especially fancy with some homemade foraged wild greens pesto. Scroll down to find out more ↓

In the garden: I hope you are all getting some time outside in the garden, planting and sowing now. Don't forget to scatter around some flower seeds! Flowers are great companion plants and will attract pollinators and butterflies, can deter pests, and reduce plant diseases. Some can act as a catch crop to keep the bad bugs away from your vegetables. And they look so pretty when they add specks of color to your garden beds.

Here are some of my favorite flowering plants that are great for repelling nuisance bugs too: Marigolds, Calendula, Nasturtiums, Zinnias, Four o' Clocks, Shasta Daisies, Sweet Alyssums.

Nasturtiums are not only pretty and useful as companion plants, they can also be grown as a vegetable. Use the leaves and flowers to spice up a salad, or throw them into a stir-fry, and collect the immature seed pods and pickle them. Then you can use them like capers in recipes.

Calendula are amazing medicinal flowers too! They make the best soothing oils and salves and the flower petals are also edible. Stay tuned as I'm working my way through medicinal plants. Calendula will be featured soon!

May also means Allergy Season!

If you're like me, time outside also means allergies! Check out how to make a tincture that might help. Scroll down for more info ↓

Just as a reminder, and if you got my previous newsletters, you already know this, but...

Don't forget to make compost to nourish your soil and plants throughout! You can make great compost in just 3 weeks, and use it for side- and top-dressing your planted garden thoughout the season. And if making a huge compost pile isn't your thing, there are lots of other ways to compost!

Fruit trees are best planted 10 years ago, and second best today! You can still plant fruit trees safely. Here is a guide to planting trees and another about planting a tree guild that features companion plants that help attract pollinators, repel pests and will help the tree to grow up healthy. And if you choose edible varieties, you can get abundant harvests even before your tree starts to bear.

Don't miss my guide for starting a medicinal herb garden! More about it below!

Your source for information about gardening, planting a food forest, permaculture, farming with animals, growing meat, and milking goats. Learn about making cheese and sourdough bread, preserving your harvest, traditional homestead recipes, off-grid living and more! Visit FoodForLifeGarden.com​

​GET YOUR SEEDS HERE! True Leaf Market has many vegetable varieties, as well as a big selection on herbs! Plus, they offer Free Shipping over $75.-. So get your seeds before they sell out or it's too late to plant!

New On The Blog

Forage For Purple Dead Nettles And Make A Tincture!

Did you know that the purple dead nettles are full of medicinal benefits? They are often considered a nuisance, because once established, they grow prolific and tend to spread. However, they are super useful, and if they are running rampant in your yard, you might as well eat them. They have a unique earthy flavor and can be added to soups and raw in salads and smoothies.

Purple dead nettles are very high in antioxidants and many other compounds that are supportive of our health and immune system. And they have a high nutrient value as a vegetable.

Many people report that it helps with their allergy symptoms. I find that it provides relief with my itchy eyes, and swollen sinuses, and helps drain congestion.

We'll explore the benefits of the purple dead nettle, how to identify it and how to use it for health and food. We'll be making a tincture too, so we can extract all the wonderful healing benefits of purple dead nettles and make it easy to dose.

Purple Dead Nettle Benefits, Uses, And Tincture

Got Weeds? Eat Them!

Early spring invariably turns me into a forager. As winter progresses I start craving fresh greens from the garden. But it will be months yet before anything will start to grow there other than a few perennial greens like sea kale. This is when I head into the ‘wild’ to see what’s growing. Nature is very good at providing some nutritious greens even while there is still snow covering the ground. And quite often the wild greens show up in my garden too. Got weeds anyone?

Explore nature’s wild buffet of fresh greens with me and let’s turn these into a fantastic, delicious foraged wild greens pesto. What could be better than your first fresh, nutritious wild greens of the season to wake up a sluggish digestive system.

Got weeds? Eat them!

Foraged Wild Greens Pesto

Make An Outrageously Delicious Mushroom Risotto!

I am so excited to share this mushroom risotto recipe! You're probably getting tired of my praises for growing mushrooms, but I'm still picking them every day and have been for about 6 weeks now. My freezer is full and I've put away several jars of dried mushrooms, and been giving some away. And, of course, I've been cooking them up into delicious meals like mushroom chowder and my newest favorite, this awesome mushroom risotto.

Mushroom risotto is a superb way to highlight mushrooms in a meal. Whether you buy button mushrooms, forage, or grow your own, a risotto will serve your mushrooms in their best light.

If you can get mushrooms, be sure to try this recipe. Serve it on it's own as a delicious vegetarian dish or with juicy pork, goat, or venison roast or steaks. Top the meat with foraged wild greens pesto for a perfect special dinner. Or do as I do, and chop the roast and add it to your mushroom risotto. Top the risotto with pesto and, wow, you’ve got an awesome meal! Ready to start? Let’s go make some fantastic mushroom risotto!

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto Recipe

And there is still time to...

Grow Your Own Apothecary Garden!

Have you ever thought about becoming more self-sufficient and resilient? Would you love to be prepared in the case of supply-chain disruptions, devastating storms, or other natural or man-made disasters?

I know I like to be prepared for such situations, but really, I just don't want to run to a store half an hour away every time I need something! Being prepared makes you more price-hike resistant and it can save you a lot of money long-term.

Being prepared is especially important when it comes to wellness and setting up a home apothecary with first aid remedies.

If you want to start your own Apothecary garden, you might like to check out my collection of 25 Essential Medicinal Herbs to grow. There are lots more, of course, but we've got to start somewhere, right?

Learn about each plant's healing benefits and find a reference to growing conditions, what parts to use, and where to source the seeds or plants. Check it out and become more self-reliant by growing your own apothecary herbs and making homegrown teas, tinctures and salves.

Yes, I Want To Start My Own Apothecary Garden!

​Herb Seed Collection! Here is a great deal I found for a herb seed starter pack from Amazon. A collection of 36 herbs for just over a dollar a packet. I just got mine and can't wait to plant them. This contains most of the seeds to grow the herbs I mention in my post.