Baby Food Garden
If you have a green thumb and don’t want to spend a lot of extra money on organic baby food, you may want to try creating a baby food garden in your backyard or balcony container garden. Babies will eat a variety of foods from the garden, so why not try making some homemade organic baby food!
When growing a baby food garden, make sure you grow everything organically, meaning you shouldn’t use any pesticides to kill unwanted bests. Stick to organic pest-control methods such as soapy water for killing or deterring bugs. Just remember that even some organic methods may not be ideal for your baby, including pepper pesticide sprays.
Great Foods for Babies*
Apples
Apricots
Blueberries
Butternut Squash
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cauliflower
Corn
Grapes
Green Beans
Peaches
Pears
Peas
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Spinach
Squash
Sweet Potatoes
Watermelon
Zucchini
And much more…
*Remember that if you are growing in a small container garden, many of these plants (e.g., watermelon, fruit trees, etc,) will be too large. For plants that you can’t grow, buy locally grown organic fruits and vegetables from your local farmer’s market and use those to make your own baby food.
Preparing the Baby Food
Once you’ve harvested the food in your baby food garden, lightly steam the vegetable or fruit, and puree it in a food processor or blender. Don’t worry about buying a special Baby Bullet or anything. Freeze the puree in ice cube trays (you can also leave some food to serve fresh for a couple of days). Once the food freezes, seal the cubes in freezer bags and label them. Don’t keep frozen food for more than three months. When you want to feed the homemade organic baby food to your baby, defrost the cubes before serving!
Check out different baby food recipes and try different blends that your baby will love!
You may also want to read “Home-Grown Salsa.”
