Welcome to the Bloom: Meet Your Blogger & Get a Glimpse into What's to Come

Hello friends (or at least, the lovely people who stumbled upon this corner of the internet)! Welcome to my very first blog post! My name is Megan, and I'm the slightly-caffeinated, always-dreaming owner and creator of Bloom & Brine, your local small business here in the heart of Iowa.

Now, let's be real: I never, ever thought I could actually *do* this Bloom & Brine thing, a real life buisness. Well, here we are, so grab a comfy chair, a snack (maybe a pickle?), and let's figure this whole thing out together.

My fiancé and I are nestled right in the middle of Ankeny, IA. Think cozy, think charming, think... not exactly sprawling acres of farmland. Our backyard? Cute, but not exactly the Garden of Eden. We've been here for almost a year, and that year has been a whirlwind of discovery, especially when it comes to the simple joy of growing and preserving my own food.

My canning journey officially began last year. That's why I'm starting this blog and my social media "empire" - so we can embark on this green-thumb adventure side-by-side! The summer of 2024 was a blur of recipe testing and mastering the art of water bath canning. My three little backyard garden beds actually produced enough goodies to experiment with – and stock up our pantry for a few months. Success? Mostly! Recipe exploration had its ups and downs, let's just say that.

Luckily, I have a team of amazing (and hungry) coworkers at the firehouse who were willing to be my official taste-testers. The feedback? Brutally honest, and that’s exactly what a budding canner needs. Some batches were hits, some were misses. (Let's just say a few were… interesting.) But hey, you gotta get feedback from the community, right? Besides, in the firefighter world, we have to keep each other in line.

Speaking of firefighting, the irregular schedule is a double-edged sword. We have big chunks of time off, which allows for side hustles for some people. This is where I started brainstorming the possibility of what I could do with my own newfound interest. I had mentioned my goal of being a vendor at the farmers markets and selling my goods locally. Now, all that was left to figure out was how to get more growing space.

Enter: the in-laws! I'm one of the lucky ones, with the best soon-to-be in-laws a girl could ask for. My fiancé's sister (and family) and parents live out in rural Iowa, just outside of Nevada. With their combined 30-35 acres of land, about 30 minutes away. I asked if they would let me use a plot of their land. My future mother-in-law, being the absolute angel she is, said YES without a second of hesitation. Suddenly, the horizon of possibilities just grew exponentially.

I don't have anything to sell yet, but once those cucumbers start popping and the brine starts bubbling... we'll be in business! I'm so excited to share delicious recipes, connect with local people, and learn from all of you along the way. This is going to be fun, right? Right?! Stay tuned!

The Notorious Tomato Bandits.

**(P.S. If you have any favorite canning recipes, send them my way. My taste testers are always hungry.)**