Breakfast From the Backyard; How a Non-Committed Girl Became a Gardener
By Jeanette Vale
Having fresh hash browns and a fluffy omelet from the back yard has been my favorite vlog to make for Emergency Zone so far. Okay, to be truthful, it’s only my second vlog I made for EZ. But out of the two….Breakfast is king. Hearing the sizzle in a cast iron pan as the vegetables saute is magic. The eggs being poured in and immediately bubbling up make my day.
The chickens almost stole the show. My ladies in waiting are so adorable. I was very surprised to open their hatch and find two hens in two pens. Usually they lay two deep, sitting on each other, laying eggs and screaming about it.
I saw my brother go through the hassle of cutting the wood to make four pens. And they all just use one. What the dickens, chickens?
The potato harvest footage was actually filmed in 2020. And the store bought reds filled in nicely as if they had just come out of my ground.
Smoke and mirrors, people. Smoke and mirrors. Why do we compare ourselves to the people who have vlogs? They make it all look so effortless. And we beat ourselves with a stick because we aren’t able to ‘wham-bam’ it like they do.
Good news! If you think you can’t grow food, you might be wrong. Plants have a powerful will to live! Most of my plants should die every year, but they stay alive and somehow feed me.
I have been a reluctant gardener for years. By watching the EZ Living video (see below), you would think that I am consistent, I’m good at this, and that it comes easy.
Just send a drone over my yard as I exit the house to garden. You might hear me belly-ache. I work full time and once I get home I hardly want to garden.
I’ll stop complaining.
Having a garden is lovely. Luckily, I live with my mother and between the two of us we make one full human gardener. We tag-team the effort beautifully. At the end of every growing season we have so much food coming off the beds/trees that it creates the next blessing.
Canning! We can apple pie filling, apple butter, apple sauce, plum jam, Chili, spaghetti sauce, potato corn chowder, pickles, stewed tomatoes, and more. And everything comes ripe all at once, it seems.
Events on the calendar are wiped off when Mother Nature says the plums are to be processed now. It takes days to can and seconds to eat.
It doesn't get better than this!
Pure revelation washed over him. The Italian plum jam did its dance, followed by the zing of the lemon juice cutting through the sweet. And his eyes bulged as he slowly said, “wooow”. I'll post that recipe around harvest time.
We also dehydrated the plums. This makes a chewy treat. The plums pictured came off of my brother’s tree’s. Free organic food is the best food.
Eating Breakfast from your Backyard is very rewarding! It feels amazing to be reliant on self, the sun, rain, earth, seeds---Oh! And a few magnificent chickens.
Here is the truth about my skills as a gardener – and I share this with you to give you hope (if you're not a gardener) because this doesn't come natural for most. I am not a good gardener. There, I said it.
Shortages and empty shelves might have a few of you feeling scared. But if I can garden - so can you. I want to inspire you. We just filmed a garden bed prep video for you. That is coming.
I don’t do any of it perfectly. I don’t water or feed my plants as much as I should and the plants give me their bounty anyway. Don’t think that things need to be just right. “Just do it” Is more important than “just right”.
How did a non-committed girl become a gardener?
I just kept trying. So you keep trying. Don’t give up. I’ve been at this for years, all of it in a non-committed–even lazy way. That is just me.
I don’t do things right– but I do them. I don’t get caught up in perfectionism. If I did, nothing would get done.
I move forward and I make things happen, all the while driving my family crazy. But they forgive me when they eat homemade bread and jam!
You can do this! I'm cheering you on.
Hey! Thanks for coming in. Step on, Prep on and come over for breakfast!
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