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It was Alaska the Last Frontier for me. I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed to admit that. I grew up gardening with my grandmother, but didn't really remember it until I saw these homesteaders in Alaska doing...everything on their own. Then I saw Tales from the Green Valley, Victorian Farm, and all the rest of those series and I watched over and over and over as Ruth, Peter, and Alex toiled. And of course, I visited my husband's family 15 years ago in rural Slovenia and Bosnia and saw what that wisdom and skill look like passed generation to generation, often doing things the older, harder way. I'll never forget the first dish of stuffed peppers cooked in a real wood oven. It woke something up in me that has been guiding me ever since. I am grateful there are people out there who understand that feeling and that dream. Beautiful photos, writing, harvest, all of it! Someone's hands definitely need to know how. Yours are doing a wonderful and important job.

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Ugh yes this!! I 100% agree with you on the desire for HARVEST. I love gardening and I love all the weird fun varieties you can grow because, why not? but i want buckets of garlic and rows of passata. I live in an urban area so I don't have a ton of space, so this year I decided to go full out on paste tomatoes instead of the fun slicer varieties because i just don't have enough space for both. It has been a great tomato year! (but let's not talk about my peppers...)

Forever grateful for this hobby / passion that has the added positive externality of feeding my family healthy food. Always learning something from the last harvest.

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Not a good pepper year for us either - but the tomatoes!!!! Auguri on your harvest!

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Thank you for sharing this! What a fun video of Ruth Stout! Definitely going to try this method with my taters!! 🙌🏻

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Isn’t she a hoot 🙃

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She certainly is! I now currently have something new to obsess over… so thank you! 😆 I think you mentioned the hay method last month… I get it now and am really looking forward to experimenting with it. 👏🏻

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I aspire to rows and rows of tomatoes in the pantry! 5 years in, and only one bountiful year so far 🤪. My Texas weather seems to favor trombocino and cantaloupe. Every year, I push on, hopeful, and excited for the potential that I may have figured out my tomato dilemmas. Lol.

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