Imperfect gardens feed you too. (Harvest and Cook a Farm to Table Dinner) | VLOG

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[@ElenaIoanfruity]

Potato bugs and how to get rid of them: what we do, is seeding some flax seeds every 8 foot on the row. Since we do that, we never had potato bugs ever!

[@tracygarns9611]

"DIG SOME DINNER" sounds like a good slogan for a future t'shirt along with a picture of potatoes, etc...!

[@myheartisinthemountains2660]

Along with whoop the cream. 😅

[@napoleonsgarden5162]

That sounds like a great shirt idea!

[@hannahfield1498]

Yaasssssss

[@chayh.6249]

Ohhh…I’m liking that T-shirt idea!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 How about “dig some dinner” arced across the top of a group of veggies and “pick some dinner” along the bottom!

[@nicholaceho9679]

There's a channel called digging for dinner 🥣🥣🥗🥗🥗

[@Fcarmen.s]

Ben is so precious he cracks me up 🤣 I love him in the garden - tastes like magic 😍and he checked how heavy the cream was 🤣 oh jeez I almost died!

[@lisahirschlozano823]

I love hearing about the struggles of other gardeners, only because it makes me feel like I'm not a complete failure when things go to heck. I'm gardening in a new state with temps over 100 almost every day from June-August. Dealing with the effects of heat and pests and having to improvise, so hearing that it's not just my me having these problems really encourages me to keep going.

[@melissasullivan1658]

Hey, remember that we are trying to tame something practically untamable (Mother Nature), and you’ll realize what a totally phenomenal job you’re doing!! Keep up the good work! :)

[@melissacrittenden1008]

Can't tell you enough how much I LOVE that you're wiping your hands on your clothes. That is totally my M.O. 😜 #keepitreal

[@laurac6556]

Jess, I love your channel. I love it more than ever in this special season of transition. This particular vlog was so lovely to me as I have a 2.5 year old boy who has grown up with homegrown food and I just would SO love for me and him to be having this kind of day together when he's Ben's age.

[@samanthaquant7411]

MORE SIMPLE FARM TO TABLE!! I’m here for it!!!

[@heathermacdonald6404]

You are an example of how to do it right because you're willing to do it wrong. Keep failing forward, Jess! We all enjoy sharing your "out loud" life. God bless you. xo

[@vickif1419]

The first tomato of the year! The best thing ever!!😂 I'm anxiously waiting here in Michigan! " It smells good so it might taste good." How fun to harvest with a child!💕

[@d.s.587]

You make my heart happy when listening to you. Thank you!

[@djot1745]

LOL !! "Ya its heavy". I do, so very much, love when Ben joins you in the kitchen. As a grandma of hungry boys.... there are days you can't give them enough food.

[@mskellycareless]

I am so happy that you repeat what Ben says. He has the best one liners! He needs his own mic now he is a young gentlemen, and a fav cast member of us fans. :)

[@heatherrichards3154]

You are such an amazing mom. Your kids are very lucky to have you. You are raising young men that will change and possibility save the world.

[@kathystearns9012]

Girl, my garden is imperfect too, but when I see the chickadee, other small birds, including my little woodpeckers, and the butterflies and dragonflies flitting about, and being able to harvest things to eat, right out our front door is SO NICE !💕❤🧡 There will be all kinds of seasons that come and go, I just got thru a major one myself, but I do believe a garden is a healing place It's also always a work in progress and an experiment 😉 don't stress. Just enjoy what you have

[@dakotasmallie4619]

This type of content might feel simple and plain to you because this is your every day, but these videos contain an amazing wealth of knowledge! When can I harvest that? How do I harvest it? What's a good way to cook it? Priceless knowledge! I appreciate these farm-to-table videos so much!

[@jurgitamotiejuniene9715]

Thank you so much for saying temperatures in celcius

[@reavisstockard5339]

I love listening to you explain things to your child. You seem like a great mother

[@charliehoos9773]

Thank you 😊 I needed this moment to relax, as I’m overthinking a job interview Wednesday. You reminded me to be my genuine self, cook simple meal, reap what you sow, and God will provide what is needed. In this case I have financial issues to meet my needs/dreams at the same time. If I get this job it will be a big help! Thank you 🙏🏻

[@mackenzierobinson3035]

oh precious Benjamin, I'm so happy he is in so many of your videos. He really is a blessing. Those potato beetles can end up eating your ground cherry plants too, that's what I'm fighting with.

[@kathytate2221]

Hi Jess I just Love seeing Ben in the Garden with You and seeing His Joy about The Garden. I also Love that I feel Your Joy about the Garden it makes Me feel like I'm right there with You. Thanks for Sharing. Take Care and God Bless.

[@fareebug8439]

Beauty lies in the imperfections. In all things. 💕💗💕 Such is the journey.

[@sovereigntindall1442]

I love how much little Ben loves the garden

[@brendapoole6917]

Okay Jess you just don’t know how happy I was watching you and Ben wandering the garden and harvesting dinner. I’m old enough to be your Momma but I’ve learned so much from you. I started tomato’s from seed this year (for the first time ever) and had my first tomato blessing yesterday! Oh my I was so excited! I’m in Texas zone 8b and we’ve had so much rain that I was sure my little kitchen garden wasn’t going to make it, now heat advisory days are here! 🔥. To say all of that just to say thank you for what you do. God bless y’all!

[@Sailingvoodoochild]

I also like to cook onions and squash together with butter. I like to put pepper jack cheese on mine. Sometimes I'll do foil packets on the grill with them.

[@lcostantino7931]

Ben becoming a big boy.... Thank him 4 helping you, nice Job getting BIG muscles....

[@Aubrey.strawbrey444]

You guys are such a sweet kind blessing.

[@lynnebeattie4829]

Love watching your interaction with Ben! He is so cute! Fresh and simple is the best!!

[@esthew76]

My Benjamin is 8 and when you called your Benjamin over for the first tomato, mine said, "what did I do??" Like he was in trouble. 🤣 I've never had a garden before but have definitely taken the plunge into being a gardener. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@shill4]

My dad called it graveling. And he would steal little new potatoes to cook in with the spring green peas. He would also add tiny dumplings to stretch the peas. I’m assuming it’s how his mom did it during hard times.

[@PoliteTeeth]

My daily dose of wholesome goodness and comfort right here. 🥺❤️✨🍃🍅

[@rawilson7768]

Ben knows how to wax poetic about home grown food too, just like Mom. “It tastes like magic!”

[@barbarahurford6538]

I just love your attitude to gardening . It’s a breath of fresh air. I’ve been watching you since I stumbled on your channel ages ago and love following you and your family. I’ve learnt so much. Thank you 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@emilysstoddard]

My poppa (from arkansas) made the BEST blackberry cobbler + vanilla ice cream. he also used the term "hollow day" when i was growing up. thanks for resurfacing sweet memories!

[@amandarimpel6198]

Keep doing the dinner videos! I love them!

[@JesiDavisBuildingaSimplerLife]

😍 that basket! Where did you get that?! Today I pulled off FOUR great horned caterpillars off my tomato plants. Yikes scoob 😱 next year is Love to venture into potatoes. Can I say I can’t wait for you guys to be so close! I want to learn so much from you!

[@Alexis_9339]

If you mean the wooden one it’s a Hod basket.

[@AB-ol5uz]

@@Alexis_9339 do you mean Hoss brand basket?

[@alystodola]

Called a “garden hod”, many different brands sell them. Hoss Tools or Gardeners Supply Co are two popular ones

[@JesiDavisBuildingaSimplerLife]

@@Alexis_9339 yes thanks

[@JesiDavisBuildingaSimplerLife]

@@AB-ol5uz yes thanks

[@loracarmichaelwhite]

Colorado potato beetle larvae. The eggs are yellow, the larva is red and the beetle is yellow with stripes. They attacked my potatoes last year and headed to the tomatoes after the potato harvest. Already seeing them this season.

[@melissablundell5047]

Hi jess I've never commented before but I've been watching for years now. I just finished your book and I loved loved it! But I think the very simple farm food you make for you family would be a fantastic cookbook!!

[@miriantalbot6772]

Jess blessings to you and your family! Are you taking the pink door to the entrance to your garden ...is kind the signature to Roots And Refuge Farm !

[@Cerridwyn1st]

Matsumoto Fukuoka would be proud. Wild gardens can be the best kind.

[@melissamiew4056]

We as kids would go out every day to squish potato bugs between rocks. Random farm kid story. :D

[@melidamaldonado3636]

Ben is so precious 😍

[@ElephantsRusify]

Swimming to the garden 🤣💯 Changed my clothes 3 times yesterday because I was so soaked from humidity and heat and then AC after 🥶 thank you for terminology swimming in the garden!!! So accurate.

[@sharismith6742]

He is the best!! Ben is the cutest kid!

[@jaynemar1]

Wilder Still, Baby!

[@dr.rev.lindabingham]

Blessings to all!

[@emckeon4659]

Love it! Harvest for your season & "maybe dessert" . Always dessert ❤️

[@silentthunder2108]

Love these harvest to dinner vids. And did I blink n Ben turn into a big boy? Feel like I missed a video. Lol

[@donnaesposito4084]

What a great garden buddy. Ben is adorable.

[@sallysoon6709]

I like the term 'imperfectly perfect ' that's how gardens are. Yet they grow and feed us just as well .God bless you .

[@TerrieAllred2023]

That dinner looks magical :)

[@alimajoy1]

Potato beetles coming! That's what those are. I have never seen my chickens eat them. They always leave them. Maybe yours will!

[@halfcenturyfarm607]

Heavy Cream! Ben- "Yeah, it's heavy"! ❤

[@josiahbowden2267]

A lot of plants

[@terriebrecheisen1875]

Colorado potato beetle. I learned what they are last year. And they will destroy a potato patch fast.

[@cindye5467]

Oh my Ben is so adorable and heart melting😍and dinner looked delicious 💯👌

[@shellieodom7744]

The next shirt design.... Benjamin, "it tastes like magic"

[@camicri4263]

Yummy! In that humidity, you don't have mosquitoes? Man I can't step outside, day or night without becoming a mosquito smorgasbord! I hate that to the point that I don't go in the garden at all😞

[@jeffengel2607]

I keep telling my wife that failure and humiliation are inevitable parts of life - you take them, learn what you can, repair what you can, and move on. She thinks I'm getting too friendly with failure and humiliation and being hard on myself; I take accepting the inescapability of failure and humiliation as liberating.

[@morganbailey3357]

Do you have a video on things you supplement with from the store (seasonings and such). I’d love to know!

[@jenniferh851]

Ben: "It tastes like magic." That has to make it on a future sticker!

[@KeithandPamBilyeu]

Benjamin Minutes….Or. mini Benjamins!…he could do some mini videos to put on youtube kids to learn about gardening! He loves working with you!

[@lisaburns235]

We call it Tickling the potatoes 🥔

[@therusticranchgarden]

Love it.

[@angel6185029]

Loved this video!!

[@mollierolin5389]

I got me some black hollyhocks too!

[@katarinabrooks6290]

Are you taking any of the plants with you to the new place??

[@nancygood6444]

Those are lady bugs. They are good. They eat the bad bugs, tick eggs, aphids and more.

[@karenstairs8273]

I think Ben is a Gardener!

[@kCI251]

Imperfect gardens are the best and dinner will be better for it Just my freckles and red hair, they don't define my perfectly imperfect life.

[@cwuerp]

Even a neglected and imperfect garden gives...

[@lisanowakow3688]

Baby potato beetles.

[@patriciajacques7653]

Are those fingerling potatoes? I would love to grow potatoes, and I like how small those are! The family of squirrels in my yard would love them too 🤦‍♀️

[@RootsandRefugeFarm]

Yes Australian crescent fingerling

[@JMK_Fam]

My everything is catching blight :'( Thankfully I am in Eastern NC, so I am just re starting EVERYTHING. It has rained for three weeks now :/

[@mattpeacock5208]

"You can only eat 2!" As she slyly tosses 4 into her mouth! Who can blame her, she planted all of it!

[@kaitlynglenn4658]

We need a "tastes like magic sticker"

[@HeyShayShay]

Red bug with black spots.. like a lady bug? 🐞

[@devynrowe7492]

Potato beetle?

[@augustagootee6254]

That looked like the larva to a potato bug

[@futurehomestead1263]

yeah its heavy 😂

[@alissagilbert7847]

you said heavy cream, and he said yeah it's heavy! as he lifts it in his hands kmsl

[@joanmackie6906]

Are they lady birds 🐞

[@jeanniemiller4040]

They look like lady bugs. They are actually beneficial and eat garden pests like aphids.

[@graftedin3]

sounds like harliqun bugs , my spelling is not good

[@susankoutnik5616]

I so appreciated your statement about having seasons in your life that may not make for the best gardens. I spent last Feb-June of 2020 going through Chemo. (blessings to your dad) and could not spend more than about and hour in the early morning or after sunset outside. Between sun sensitivity and fatigue that was it and the garden showed it. I still did what I could and enjoyed my time and the fruit of my labor. This year the garden is healing me so much. I feel mentally normal again and that is magic. We have enjoyed Spinach (under a cold frame through the winter) and all through the spring. I grew kohlrabi for the first time and love it. I have harvested 10 lbs of rhubarb. My greenbeans and cantaloupe have flowers and I have baby tomatoes, zucchini, and potatoes. My garden is my happy place.

[@melissasullivan1658]

I have Fibro and last year I had near constant flares with everything that happened in the world. I had a very similar experience - this year is like an entirely different garden...and me. Glad you’re feeling better. 🥰

[@suehinson1629]

😇❤

[@stephanier1336]

I appreciated so much what she said about the seasons as well. I am not going through something hard like cancer and I hope you will have full healing! but a harder 4th pregnancy that has my energy and my motivation low. I also just moved to a 10 acre homestead on June 1 so I was hoping to do so much more than I have been able to. Blessings on everyone who tries to garden even in the hard seasons of life!

[@ontariogardening]

Your strength is inspiring. I am so glad you were still able to enjoy a little bit of happiness while going through such a trying time. I hope you are able to stay strong and healthy for many more gardening years :)

[@marygrott8095]

Ben: "I don't even know what that is, but it sounds delicious. " He is so sweet, and his love of gardening definitely mirrors yours!

[@fridomsnowbird5398]

Hey Jess, plant half of the black Hollyhocks in the fall when you get to your new homestead and plant the other half the next year. This way you will have black Hollyhocks every year

[@karenm5681]

Ben made me laugh several times in this video. I especially loved when he checked the “heavy whipping cream” by lifting it up. “Yeah, it’s heavy,”😂

[@justinemcguire4926]

I caught that too 😂

[@RachelBayati]

I was just about to comment this if someone else hadn't. Such a cutie. ☺️

[@GoldenAfternoonHomestead]

fastest and best fruit cobbler recipe is called 'cup, cup, cup, a stick and a dash'. you use a cup of self rising flour, a cup of milk, a scant cup of sugar, and a dash of vanilla. put the stick of butter in the pan in a 350 oven while you measure and mix the rest. when the butter is bubbly and the pan is hot, pour the batter into the pan and cover the top with fruit. the batter will rise up to the top and leave the fruit just peeking out. bake about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your pan. the middle can be a tad under done- especially if you're using juicy fruit. :-) this one has been the stand by of my family for generations and you can size it up or down depending on your needs.

[@gelwood99]

My stand-by uses 3/4 c milk with the cup self-rising flour, a cup of sugar, no vanilla, mix well and pour over the melted butter. Top with the fresh fruit or a qt of canned fruit with the juice do not mix it together and it bakes for 1 hour. I have been making it since I was 12 and I turn 67 this year.

[@milissaleatherwood6837]

I love that Ben is so into the garden. He's like a kid in a candy store but it's all healthy!

[@amberkeever8565]

I was coming to comment the same thing! Such a sweet sweet spirit in him. I hope my boy grows into my garden helper too 🥰

[@JenniferSmith-jw3dw]

"Tastes like magic" sounds like a wonderful new sticker idea!!! Ben is so stinkin adorable!! Thank you for sharing all of your hard work and beautiful farm with us. You inspire me!

[@elizabethhopper3439]

I'm gonna need a "tastes like magic" sticker for sure!

[@melissasullivan1658]

Ha! I just requested it as a tshirt!

[@juliereis146]

Absolutely and with a likeness of Benjamin with the sparkles in his eyes 🥰🥰🥰👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾

[@juliereis146]

Absolutely and with a likeness of Benjamin with the sparkles in his eyes 🥰🥰🥰👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾

[@iheartambersky]

Ben is becoming the sweetest little gentleman. He's just too precious.

[@BoldlyGrowHomestead]

He somehow makes an excellent video even better. Always lots of laughs =]

[@ginadisalvo5186]

I am so ready for your cook book one day... called "Just Wing It" lolll..totally my kind of cooking

[@sarameulenaar2339]

I'm also a just wing it cook.... Best way to be

[@thewholenesshome]

His little face when he smells the tomatoes in his hand. My mama heart melts for you that you will forever have those faces on film.

[@BecauseHeLovedMe1st]

No, dear one, you're supposed to be the example of realness, and I think you're doing it well. Have a great day... Much love ❤️

[@diannamc367]

Amen!

[@MsMelvira]

I was thinking the same thing when watching

[@wintyjerome]

I can honestly say I wouldn't have been able to fall in love with gardening like I did if I wasnt learning from people who show that yes gardens have weeds. Gardens have sickness and loss....and that's ok 🙂 Giving myself that kind of grace has helped me grow my most epic garden yet 😍

[@BecauseHeLovedMe1st]

@@wintyjerome exactly ❤️

[@emilynichols8810]

“Tastes like magic” - another t-shirt candidate!

[@bravegirlarise7672]

Yes! So cute!

[@mariamillett4609]

I was thinking the same thing!

[@meloniemurillo2885]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@turretlizardinthesun957]

Jess: "Isn't it cool how much we are able to feel." Me: Dang, I am having feelings about having feelings.

[@ThyBookie]

“Isn’t it cool how much we are able to feel?” 19:20 Amen to that

[@jessicareynolds424]

I second this! I thought the same thing

[@shodson314]

Mister Rogers had nothing on this momma!!

[@mrsjuliasmith3433]

Now you need a strawberry sticker that says "Tastes like magic." 🍓😂

[@debzyj376]

Strawberry fields forever 🎶🎵🎶🎵

[@tammytammy3521]

New T shirt quote by Benjamin. "It's a harvesty day" 😆🤣

[@erin2535]

YES!!!!!