Fresh salad with home grown cherry tomatoes!

Late last summer, I started a cherry tomato from seed. Summer faded into fall with no results. It wasn't until November that my plant began producing some of the best cherry tomatoes I've ever eaten. It was now mid December and I was still enjoying them in fresh romaine salads!

Making Your Salad Dollar Stretch

A recent visit to the local grocery store in my town of Forsyth, Missouri convinced me more than ever that many of us should consider planting a small garden. Lettuce was well over a dollar a head, celery was pushing two dollars and you don’t even want to here about the cost of bell peppers! Yet, I’ve found a way to make these items really stretch.

I will admit that I am a salad junkie! Have been for as long as I can remember and it’s not unusual for me to have a salad with most every meal. But, since economic times have gone down hill and what with the job market all but non-existent, I’ve really had to watch my spending patterns. Trying to save is most felt when I shop for food these days. Not so long ago, a can of corn was under fifty cents. Now you can easily spend over a dollar. Vegetables were downright cheap, back then, and I can remember friends asking me why I even bothered to garden. I would always come back with the fact that my produce was at least pesticide free. Now, in 2010, I don’t have to use that excuse any longer.

So, how do I save money? If you look closely at the picture for this blog you will see that I have a pretty happy salad going here. There’s lettuce, romaine, parsley, celery, radishes, green onion and even a little bit of ham mixed with leftover peas going on in this dish. Because about half the ingredients came from my garden, the cost of this great diet meal is under a quarter! (At my last visit to a restaurant a small dinner salad was $4.99). Also, by creatively using leftovers from other meals, I am making use of ever bit of purchased food while enjoying the benefits of fresh produce from the garden. Now that’s a great way to save.

An April Salad

Even though I do not have a lot growing in the gardens at this time, with a little mixing and matching of veggies from the store I can still have a pretty decent salad. In the picture here I have assembled a salad using a little bit of iceberg lettuce, olives and celery to which was added romaine lettuce, green onion tops, chives, parsley and carrots all from my raised beds. Total calories was about 250 and the taste fabulous.