Hey ya’ll, I’m Jess from Roots & Refuge Farm
Welcome to a place that feels like home. A small farm with a big family. We hope you’ll pull up a chair, grab some coffee and visit awhile.
There was a time that all I wanted in the world was a little farm where I could raise my family and grow our food. Now, that is exactly what exists outside my door. In watching it unfold, a new dream was formed in my heart – to share this beautiful life with others and teach them the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Welcome to our journey, friend. I am so glad you’re here.
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– Our Website: https://rootsandrefuge.com
– Sign up for our newsletter: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-signup
– Join our Patreon to get early access to podcasts and other information, plus monthly LIVES with me and Miah: https://patreon.com/rootsandrefuge
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– Order my first book, “First Time Gardener”: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-ftgbook
– Order my second book, “First Time Homesteader”: https://rootsandrefuge.com/first-time-homesteader-yt
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– Email Us: rootsandrefuge@yahoo.com
– To drop us a line:
PO Box 4239
Leesville SC 29070
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– To support us through PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jessicasowards
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42 Comments
My mom would grate and freeze zucchini on sheet trays then bag up , it went into everything to help bulk it up, make a pound of burger feed our family of 6, went j to cakes/squats and cookies we never knew , could you Grate squash and either freeze or freeze dry and add to everything ?
My Dill from last year I didn’t pull it out fast enough and this year I have 8 gazzillion plants . I have done 3 dehydrator full 10 trays , and still a tin out there .
Love watching you in your garden. ❤️
You should try making red curry eggplants with the little ones! It's so good over rice!
Beautiful garden. So full and wonderful ❤
Every year, I look for the infamous silver slicer cucumber seeds. I unfortunately can not find them for sale. Where do you get your seeds?? If i had to guess, I bet you've saved the seeds for years 😊
I love eating fresh from the garden, it just feels so much more nourishing knowing how clean and fresh it is. I hope my basil bush out soon. Cool, then hot and dry have left them a bit slow to take off. My scapes are coming in and scape pesto is amazing.
Jess love your idea🥒🥤😅 cucumber with a straw to suck up water🫂 you are a 💎❤
A garden also can teach us how to accept "failure", learn from it and try again.
Beautiful garden! I was super slow getting ours plants this year so I don't have anything to harvest probably for another month- but we're headed to Idaho in a few days to see you, I can't wait!
So happy for you that you are getting cukes this year. my struggle has been yellow squash. i love it, but I haven't been able to grow it in 3 years, and it's usually my most prolific veg. So crazy how that works.
I dont have a freeze dryer. Can I dehydrate my basil and it turn out as good??
All I could Say is woooow.
Such a beautiful garden. Love your harvest.
I love this ! So helpful as the abundance comes in 😍
Dice your squash or zucchini, toss in flour and then freeze. Yes it is still "mushy" but think more hash browns or morels. Oven roast or oil in a saute pan, delicious!
Oh my God it is so hot. I can bring Breeze here in Southern California. Get out of the car yet so far. I love watching you get out there and get it all done. You are amazing.
Do you fertilize you basil plants once you have harvested?
I used to love harvesting with my wheelbarrow or my 4-wheeled garden cart, even for relatively small amounts. Those darn baskets get so heavy!
The Farmer's Table is not linked in the description. You might also want to add it to the links in the main R&R YouTube page.
I need more videos on how to harvest without things going bad. I've harvested lits of produce that looks sad and rubbery after a day in the fridge. Sometimes even when I soak them.
Hey 👋🏻👋🏻 Jess 🤗🤤 What a Great harvest Sweet Lady 😍👍🏻, NaNas here for the Veggies yummy 😋❣️ Makes Total sense to give the veggies a "Straw" to Drink from n 🚫 Thought 😉💭 that give the crispiness we Wanting 😮😅❣️…. I just ❤ your rationale 😊😅So now I know 🌱🌞🌱 at 52 yrs of Age 😅😂❤❣️… I am cooking up some Zucchini n Squash, With terriaki Chicken, n Lettuce Kale I Got, it's smaller n tender like lettuce 🥬 so I'm excited to have It 🤤😋❣️… I'm going to the community Harvest again Tuesday evening ❤😊 n I'm just finishing up my fresh eating veggies I have, I'm growing cilantro, Basil, n onions n tomatoes 🍅🤤 for salsa n some fresh Salads n eating on taco's 🌮🌯 Meals 🤞🏻😍❣️… I ❤the tase of Summer n the smells, I have chives n butter 🧈 for new potatoes 🥔🌱🌞🌱🥔, n corn 🌽 too, so much goodness 🤤😋❣️ Thankful for you n the garden tips, It's Life ❤😅, Bunches of 💞💖💞 Love n Blessings 🙏🏻to ya Beautiful Jess 💫😇💫❣️…
❤
Jess try freeze drying grated squash it’s an easy add to baking , meatloaf, soup, chili etc. gets some extra nutrients into every day foods
Awesome 👏🏻
PLEASE include some of your squash recipes, that you’re making for dinner, on the Farmers Table. THANKS!! 🙏🏻
@RootsandRefugeFarm can you please tell me the name of the eggplant variety
Love your channel and fun garden. I'm in the Columbia area. Would love it if you did more "what to plant when" videos… Or seasonal garden task videos for this area.
love these videos!
You can add the eggplants to your ratatouille as well 😊.
I have found that french frying eggplant is wonderful…..just like potatoes…..
Squash, zucchini, banana brrad. Black frozen bananas are best. How to use. It's all yummy
Red basil makes really good red basil vinegar
Yep, every time my husband asks for herbs when he’s cooking I think “that’s $4 towards the garden paying for itself”
I love to hear about your simple meals. I watched 1/2 of this video of you talking about squash. I had nothing planned for dinner. So I went out, harvested a several perfect sized zucchini, sliced them and some very small red onions. Sautéed them in some good pastured raised butter with Celtic sea salt and semi-blackened them. Ate it while I finished watching you harvest goodies from the garden. I know that wouldn’t fly with your large family but for me it was delicious, fast and simple.😊Can you tell me the difference between zucchini and squash? 🤷🏼♀️I always thought it was all squash, zucchini, patty pan, yellow crookneck, spaghetti, acorn, butternut etc. But I constantly hear gardeners say they’re growing squash and zucchini.
As always, from CA🏖️take care.
Question: how do you know what to blanch before freezing?
I’ve had trouble with keeping carrots after harvest. They turn limp within a day 🤷🏻♀️
I buy a freeze-dried basil that costs me nearly $6 for like 5 oz
you have talennt in video making
Great harvest!!! I leave my zucchini get very large because they will keep on the shelf longer – and besides, you can do more baking with them…plus Zucchini Marmelade…so good and it's really good on vanilla ice cream too! LOL. I also pickled some zucchini spears last year and they turned out quite nice. Last year, I did a full monetary analysis of what I harvested from the garden – it confirmed what I thought – saves big money….added benefits aside. Great video Ma'am!
Yah I gotta do that with my basil plants. Some of them are getting pretty tall. Picked a bunch of cucumbers today and yesterday. Mostly because I keep wanting the cucumber plant to produce. Been super busy with taking care of kids. I need to process the cucumbers asap.
14:00 – I ALWAYS DO THAT TOO! XD I always try to calculate how much it would cost to buy everything I picked. And it's all organic too.
Absolutely nothing beats the fresh tomato sauce I make from the garden. I thought the Italian certified San Marzano canned tomatoes were good…. Nah. The tomatoes I grow from my garden make the sweetest tastiest tomato sauce I've ever had. 100% organic. I know everything I put into the soil. I know how often I watered them. I grew the plants from seed. I don't know if it tastes better because I did all that but I think it's because it actually really does taste better fresh and fully ripe from the garden. My husband is really hoping we have a good haul this year so I can make more tomato sauce. We ran out earlier this year in late winter and it just hasn't been the same since haha.
Does fertilizing negate organic status?