A home-cooked dinner underscored one of the pleasures of growing food at home for one gardener: Almost all the ingredients came straight from a harvest just outside the kitchen.
There was one thing missing, though. After collecting a basketful of goodies, she forgot to use the tomatoes.
What happened?
A gardening creator shared a video of herself gathering produce for dinner.
As Earthbound Gardening (@earthboundgardening) shared on TikTok, dinner featured tri-tip seasoned with mustard, a salt-pepper-garlic mix, and fresh herbs, while the garden provided a side of eggplant, squash, zucchini, peppers, and onion.
The post's caption pointed to a mistake plenty of home cooks can understand. "It's dinner time! I'm so bummed I forgot to add my tomatoes," the creator wrote.
@earthboundgardening It's dinner time! I'm so bummed I forgot to add my tomatoes 😩#garden #gardenharvest #gardening #beautiful #thankful ♬ original sound - earthboundgardening
The clip also highlighted a common gardening reality: Sometimes vegetables are harvested later than is ideal. "It obviously got too big," the creator said of a butterstick squash. "I don't like them this big, but they're still edible."
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One commenter wrote, "You can make a whole bunch of soup with that giant squash."
Why does it matter?
Even a modest home garden can cut grocery costs, especially for ingredients people buy often, such as herbs, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and squash. Produce picked minutes before cooking is often more flavorful and aromatic than food that has traveled long distances before reaching store shelves.
Gardening can also support mental and physical health. Planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting provide exercise, and time spent outside can reduce stress.
Using vegetables that are a little too big but still perfectly edible can help households waste less food and get more value from what they grow.
What can I do?
The easiest way to begin to grow your own food is to start small. A few containers on a patio or a simple raised bed can produce herbs, greens, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini.
It also helps to harvest regularly. Summer squash and zucchini are often best when they're small and tender, but bigger ones still have plenty of uses. They can be roasted, turned into soup, chopped and frozen for later, or used in breads and casseroles.
Growing ingredients you already use in weeknight meals can make gardening practical and affordable. Herbs alone can save money, while fresh-picked produce can make cooking at home easier and tastier.
One commenter had another idea for the harvest too, saying, "You should try making Brazilian lemonade with those limes."
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