Lunch Lady Ninja

Lunch Lady Ninja Yes I really am a former Lunch Lady🍎

🌱Sharing our journey of learning how to homestead, preserve food and self sustain in the suburbs.

Workouts and fitness tips for longevity, real life and functionality.

I literally worked all season long to get my huckleberry plant to stay alive and give me SOMETHING and this is all I got...
09/02/2026

I literally worked all season long to get my huckleberry plant to stay alive and give me SOMETHING and this is all I got 😂 best believe I’m saving them for something...

09/01/2026

Y’all 😳 the tomatillos went crazy.
All the credit goes to my son and husband who grew these.

We love salsa verde and I love that tomatillos are part of an alkaline diet, which helps to balance the ph in your body and prevent disease. So bring on the tomatillos!

08/30/2026

Umm…why did I think okra was like a little pepper bush? She’s like 5 feet tall and still growing 😳

08/29/2026

So okra has definitely earned a permanent spot in my garden!
I like to try a few new things every year and I’m so happy I chose okra. Watching it grow has been SO fun and it’s been a really rewarding plant to have.

Reasons to love it:
Okra is really great for digestion (fiber 💩) and your overall gut health. I am forever trying to improve my gut health so having this as a staple in the garden is going to be such a great thing for me. Some people don’t like the slimy texture, but the slime (mucilage) is such a great source of soluble fiber and improving your digestion. I personally love the slimy texture 😂

If you grow okra what are your fav varieties?

Have you ever heard of a Bumble Flower Beetle?? I met them for the first time in my garden this week!My toxic gardening ...
08/28/2026

Have you ever heard of a Bumble Flower Beetle??
I met them for the first time in my garden this week!

My toxic gardening trait is that I see every bug in the garden as a potential threat…and that’s what I initially thought of this gal. She was under the row cover of my broccoli that I am trying SO desperately this year and I’m ashamed to admit that I killed a few in my panic to save my broccoli. I told my husband it looked like a bumble bee with no wings…like it’s actually fuzzy!

I took a picture of it to research and found out it’s called a Bible Flower Beetle and for the most part is harmless and actually quite beneficial. They act as pollinators and mainly feed on dead or composting matter.

In all my years being outside I have never seen one of these before. Now kind of love them. Fuzzy little beetles that look like bumble bees 🥹

So this is just your reminder that not all pest in the garden are there to kill all of your hard work.

08/28/2026

Learning to preserve food has been an adventure and if I’m being completely honest I have fu**ed it up on more than one occasion.

There have been tears. Wasted food. Frustration. And lots of learning.

When you come from a family who didn’t pass down these skills it seems like an uphill battle trying to teach yourself.

And in this digital age it’s been even harder for me because I’m a hands on leaner and there is TOO much
information on the internet and not enough granny’s in the kitchen teaching it.

So through trial and error I finally have two of the most
beautifully preserved (I think?) jars of food on my shelf.

So my advice to you is this: Do it. Figure it out. Mess it up. Learn through mistakes and figure that s**t out so there are granny’s in the kitchen to teach the next generation.

08/27/2026

Tomato Hornworms 🤢
If you grow tomatoes you know the struggle. One year they were so bad I just ripped all my plants out and gave up.
This year I took a tip from a fellow gardener and companion planted basil. A TON of basil. And I’m never going back. I’ve tried this in the past, but o planted a *few* basil plants. This year we went full steam ahead and planted them EVERYWHERE.
I credit this tip to me only have 2 so far this season. That’s unheard of! And believe me I’m looking deep for them every day and they just aren’t there.

This can obviously get pretty pricey if you use starter plants, but we grew them from seed so it was basically a free deterrent and now we have enough basil to last the entire winter. We have quite a bit of basil seed from last year so on top of the intentional starter plants we sprinkled seeds all over and have random little volunteer basil too.

We used sweet basil and purple basil, but I’m sure any variety would work. Next year the goal is an entire hedge of basil 😂 Let me know if basil has worked for you!

What hacks do you use to keep hornworms away?

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