Simplifying Life After Years of Decluttering

[@joyindrelie6715]

I love in the beginning when you walked up to the camera with the hose and smiled at us! You're so cute!

[@MinimalistFriend]

I love the idea of freezing pesto into ice cube trays! You always have such great ideas! I think it’s wonderful you bake bread and garden with your kids. Those are memories they will always cherish. My mom made bread and gardened with us and it was amazing.

[@alannahollier2719]

Your children are so adorable! Loved the tomato and blackberry counting!

[@darlenemcallaster3152]

Yum!! That looks so delicious. I love how your hobby of gardening has integrated into feeding and nurturing your family.

[@lesliecastle6791]

On your bread when letting it rise, dampen the towel just a bit. Don’t preheat the oven to rise the dough, just turn on your oven light. I love watching your videos. You keep it real. Thank you!

[@tarabogar4076]

Thank you for inspiring me to garden, be a better mom and pass on what I’m not using. Love this channel🥰

[@estherrivers6164]

Lovely garden. Well done to you and the assistant gardeners.

[@karenstairs8273]

I love that you garden and I love that your children help

[@lookinglassminiature]

Erica, may I say that you are looking fantastic and seem so happy outside in your garden. Thank you for letting us into your day, I am doing your 100 walks but switched it up and am doing it on the treadmill as workout walks. Feeling fantastic and also watching what I am eating. Thank you for continuing to inspire me!!

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Yes!!!!! Keep me posted on your number. You can email me if you want. Helps keep you accountable if you share your number!!

[@lookinglassminiature]

@@EricaLucasLoves Hi Erica sent you an email. Now on Day 23 and feeling so much better.

[@EricaLucasLoves]

@@lookinglassminiature just emailed you back!!!

[@lunagabriella213]

It definitely does! Remembering who I am means getting to be myself again each day ❤️❤️🙏 It's so weird being blessed to worry less, but it's the most calming thing ever.

[@allied8607]

My tomato have split in the past. It is usually from uneven water. When the recieve a lot of water at once after being dry for a while it causes them to split. There is no where for the water to go that fast. You can still use them they might go bad faster. I used mine in sauce mostly cut off the bad parts.

[@joyindrelie6715]

Your family clearly loves what you grow and make! So so sweet to see

[@susanpeterson9947]

I’m a Floridian and grew up on a farm. My Mom always had a HUGE vegetable garden and weeding was my job. We had to give up on growing tomatoes by July because of our heavy summer rainfall. The excessive water the plants would get caused the tomatoes to split. We replanted tomato sets in September when the rainy season was ending and had time for another good crop before our first frost in December.

[@amandalashley3819]

I really enjoy unleashing my kids on our blackberry bush, it's so funny to watch them cram the ripe juicy berries in their stained mouths as fast as they can. Also, it's a thornless bush, so we don't have to worry about the thorns.

[@lorenawilliams4229]

So if you add lime juice and a little powdered chicken Bullion versus the cumin and oregano which is more for red salsa’s the watery kind, it makes it taste much better. Just a little tip from your Mexican neighbor 😊

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Leveled up!!! Thank you! Will try this.

[@stephanienoble2926]

I love your garden! You should do a video sharing how to start gardening and tips for beginners, how to do it on a budget and know what you’re doing. I tried it this year but all my seedlings died it was quite frustrating 😕 I want to try again and be able to provide my family homegrown produce. You inspire me! And you’re looking fantastic!!

[@juanitamayes6329]

The tomatoes will crack from sudden rain when it's super hot.... Just cut the damaged part off. This is extremely common in the deep south.

[@melissapatterson4665]

I love that you garden in pots. I do the same. On a smaller scale.

[@donnagrifford7142]

How awesome! Thanks 4 sharing! 👏👏👏💞

[@lorig.7127]

I enjoy using pesto on a number of things. It works great as a spread on a turkey sandwich,On bake salmon,On tortellini and on homemade personal pizza. All you need is pizza dough, an English muffin or Hang bread, pest and mozzarella.

[@michellecekala9833]

Wait till you discover chickens, I love that I now have time for gardening but enjoy my chickens even more.

[@EricaLucasLoves]

I want chickens so badly.

[@tristannatalie7]

Try roasting the jalapeños, garlic and tomatoes whole on the stove or in the oven until its a bit charred, and blend with a tad bit of water, and a pinch of brown sugar with everything else you put in.💖

[@GoingGreenMom]

The black where the blossom was on the tomatoes look like blossom end rot, the splits at the top look like excess water suddenly. Blossom end rot is helped by calcium.... is why some people plant eggs or egg shells under their tomatoes, but I believe also why people plant fish or epsom salts under? I dont know what is actually absorbable for current season. I normally only get the splitting after a period of dry and then storms and rain suddenly because they are sucking u pl so much water suddenly and the skin can't expand fast enough.

[@maureenbrophy7852]

Love ur garden. Lots of basil & tomatoes um

[@socalgal7830]

fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice wakes up the salsa!

[@melanietrester]

Hello from Germany, hi Erica. I make pesto like you...... but with Parmesan cheese on the top

[@pattym2402]

Thank you. Love seeing what you're growing. You can add a tablespoon of lemon juice and some parmesan cheese to your pesto and half as much parsley to the amount of basil that you use.

[@christined2495]

That looks so delicious, I have the kitchen aid on my wish list, I am just trying to see which color I want.. I have a big food chopper and a small one, I’m going to get this size and declutter the other two. This is the perfect size for me

[@lifeabundant1269]

Loved chilling out with you while you cooked from your garden 😊made me hungry. Great content.

[@ashleystewart-wright5050]

You have grown so much and I have learnt so much from you ,so thank you so much

[@catharinabra]

I prefer to do a ’local version’ of pesto with a västerbottencheese (a cheese from the north of Sweden with a lot of taste) and hazelnut instead of the pine nuts, it’s delicious! Your rosemary bread looks absolutely delicious!

[@SharonKBM]

You are so inspiring!! It's wonderful that you have found so much joy in life. Your garden is thriving! The food looked so delicious. It made me hungry.

[@tanyajohnston8262]

I really enjoy your videos. I’m only sad when they are over :(. I could watch for an hour at least ☺️. Are you enjoying that book? I have a bad habit of buying books but not making the time to read them. I am retired too!

[@lhumpy190]

Dear Erica, I feel like you could use a lot more of the onions and tomatoes. I am very frugal with my fresh produce. I will cut around the stems/roots, not just cut if off. Just saying, not trying to be difficult. I love watching your videos xx

[@EveryPeachInReach]

It could be she learned to cut her vegetables a certain way or perhaps she has such an overabundance a little waste doesn't matter. Personally, I always have so many tomatoes that if I cut the way she did it wouldn't matter. Plus I have pigs and chickens who will be happy for any leftover scraps.

[@lhumpy190]

Country Peach, yes totally understand. I was brought up with some great influence from my Nanna who grew up in the great depression. She definitely influenced my cutting skills when it comes to fruit and vegetables 😀

[@vzeimen]

My tomatoes split if they get too much water, it seems like they grow too fast or something. I like to let my tomatoes get pretty dry between waterings and only water a couple times a week.

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Thanks! I wonder if that’s it then. I have been watering extra to counter the heat.

[@catherinecarney2507]

It looked like you made enough dough for two loaves, but only baked one. Did you just wait on the other loaf? I love seeing your older two helping. I love the "idea" of a garden but I can barely keep the dwarf umbrella plant alive that a student gave me three years ago. I would love to be able to grow herbs but feel that I lack a place to do so.

[@daylilyindark]

Erica, for our plants we use Epsom salt to keep pests off.

[@barbaraweber3084]

My garden is the most pitiful it's been ever! We have bunnies. I'm tempted to get a cat again! Nice heart plates, are they new? I had some that size once with a green vine and blue flowers. I still own the three serving platters but the small plates didn't make the decluttering cut.

[@mariasuncar4633]

I thought of you and wondered why you were not uploading.. I then see that KZbin is not putting your videos on my homepage! 🤨 I turned on the notifications so this does not happen again 👍🏽.

[@EricaLucasLoves]

I love this! Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your day with me.

[@anitachopping]

If you go out at nigh with a flash light you can sometimes catch bugs at your plants

[@GoingGreenMom]

Black light works for tomato hornworms too.

[@anitachopping]

😁

[@ulrikalin5207]

I really like your channel! Would love to see more vegan recipies since I'm vegan. I'm intermittent fasting too and eating whole food plant based diet.

[@frogleymom]

My husband would totally eat all of that jalapeno salsa and love it. I'm going to try that bread recipe. Looks great. The pesto looks yummy! I like to add pine nuts and parmesan to my pesto, but that makes it more expensive too.

[@gingerpunk916]

New gardener here but based on research (epic gardening and grow veg channels on youtube) usually the splits in tomatoes have to do with with watering...it might be they were dry and then got loads of water all of a sudden, so the skin can't hold in the new water

[@jennylhenry78]

It all looks so yummy! 😋

[@ellielizhavenofbless945]

I *think* that the tomatoes split when they get too much water ....but I could be wrong

[@karenharris3123]

I add pine nuts to make pesto. A bit more protein!😊 yours looks delicious 😋

[@EricaLucasLoves]

I don’t like it with pine nuts but that is how you usually make pesto!

[@keyisme1356]

I like to add pistachios because pine nuts are so expensive.

[@joannafoster3423]

The tomatoes crack because of surges of water causing the fruit to expand too quickly for the skin. When I know heavy rain is coming, I pick my tomatoes early and let the ripen in a paper bag. Tomatoes actually turn red in the dark, not the sun.

[@joannafoster3423]

Also, if you remove tomato leaves, you remove their shade. Direct sunlight on tomatoes for too long can cause sun scald.

[@keyisme1356]

7:48 didn't your hands start to burn? I always have to wear gloves when I chop hot peppers. I love growing perennial herbs like oregano, sage, and lemon balm. I also have some annuals like basil and cilantro. It's a lot cheaper and they make every dish special!

[@keyisme1356]

3:24 but if you let tomatoes ripen on the vine, their flavor is 20x better. For me, that's the entire reason I grow tomatoes rather than purchasing them at the store.

[@ap85jp87]

Do you like Fried green tomatoes? We love them here in the south.

[@EricaLucasLoves]

One of my FAVeS!!

[@rowboat8343]

Love your video. I'm struggling so much lately. I stopped watching for a while as I have been so overwhelmed with everything. Any tips for getting back on track? Especially when kids and hubby don't give a crap?

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Oh no. I am so sorry things are hard right now. Times like that are hard. What motivates you? What do you need that you can ask for? Time alone? A break? Help?

[@darbyh.8255]

Heavy rain/watering and then a dry spell will cause tomatoes to split. I think wayering on a regular schedule is what tomato plants love.

[@pattyburkhart3270]

I think the tomatoes split because of water amounts.

[@kaycee625]

Your cracked tomatoes are having a moisture issue, the level of moisture must not have been consistent. Too much water after a dry period will cause this. Nevertheless you can pick them and let them continue ripening indoors, or alternatively make chutney with them in their unripened state.

[@lambsauce1468]

You might need to grow some companion plants to keep pests away.

[@sheilak4493]

Too much water cause to crack

[@conniecline201]

Have you tried pine nuts in your pesto?

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Yes but I don’t like it. :)

[@BrendaJBarNett]

I think it is great for kids to learn gardening. Mine helped seed start, plant, hoe, water, pick and process our garden 40 years ago and still have a real love and respect for where their food comes from 🍉🍅🥕🍆🌽🌶🫑🥒🥦🧅

[@EricaLucasLoves]

My kids are more willing to try vegetables they grow.

[@GoingGreenMom]

@@EricaLucasLoves mine are also more willing to eat what they cook too.... they found garden snacks later. Lol.