Showing posts with label Food Preservation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food Preservation. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Garden Goodies!

We've been gardening for several years now with mixed success. Our very first garden was amazing, and it's what got us hooked to begin with. Tasting those home grown tomatoes and cucumbers was heavenly and addictive! Nothing from the store has been able to match up since!

When we moved to our home six years ago, we had to start everything from scratch. Our soil was terrible, but we didn't realize how terrible until we tried to grow stuff in it. Then there was the matter of the weed field behind us. It makes for a nice view (strange that it would, but it really does), but the seeds blowing constantly into our garden area made for poor turn out in crops. There were so many weeds growing at once that it was impossible to keep up the large garden area we'd planted.

Some of our neighbors, upon learning of our troubles, told us about a product called plastic mulch. It's not really mulch, persay, but a very thin sheeting used for agricultural purposes that keeps the weeds from growing up, but lets your garden plants thrive. Last year we used it with great results, though our soil still wasn't up to par (but it was much improved from throwing in our compost and yard clippings).

We continued to condition the soil and used the plastic mulch again this year and the results have been amazing!!! I've canned a lot of salsa and have the makings to do even more.

I've got enough cucumbers that I've started giving them away by the bag. We had about thirty or so melons, and even though our family loves and eats them like crazy, I've not had to buy any for quite a while and don't think I will have to for the rest of the year because I'll be able to cut up and freeze all the extra we have.

I've made a lot of tomato sauce and will be canning even more due to our enormous crop of tomatoes (we did multiple varieties and have lots for snacking too).

I'm thinking of doing some vegetable juice in the next week or so, since it will give us more of a variety in the pantry.

Our pumpkins have really taken off too. I have more than enough for all those pumpkin cookies and pies I love so much. I'm going to have to figure out some more uses for them! We did the Orange Smoothie variety, which like the Sugar pumpkins, are the best for baking needs because they aren't as stringy and are more dense than the carving pumpkins used at Halloween.

We also jumped into growing our own herbs this year with gusto! We've got sage, chives, oregano, and basil. We plan to do even more next year, since we discovered how easy and delicious it is to grow our own. I dry the leaves in my dehydrator and then grind them up. It's better than store bought and it's much cheaper too!


Besides all of that, I've been making peach, apricot and berry jams and syrup. We go through a lot of that around here, so it makes sense to make it so we don't have to buy it. Plus, we know what goes into it and it's much tastier than anything on the market.

Though I feel extremely blessed with the bounty the Lord has given us, I have to admit that I'm more than a little overwhelmed at times. Believe it or not, it was easier to do the canning when the kids were out of school because 1) I had helpers who wanted to learn 2) I had someone to talk to during the long process of seeding and chopping all those peppers and tomatoes 3) I didn't have to worry as much about schedules.

I've gotten a lot of my canning recipes for free on  Pick Your Own and The National Center for Home Food Preservation. Then I also have Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and Canning and Preserving for Dummies for even more recipes, procedures and ideas.

Anyway, I am thankful for all that we've been given and for the ability to be able to preserve so much and save my family money in the long run!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Crash Course in Canning


My hubby came home with four ready-to-burst grocery bags of apricots from his dad. While I love apricots, and some would say we're a good-sized family, I have to say that there was no way we could eat all of those before they started rotting. I set them all on the counter while I contemplated on what to do.

We were leaving for a five day camping trip in four short days and had much preparation to do there, but I couldn't just ignore this bounty bestowed upon us, could I? I was tempted though--that is, until I woke up the next day, moved the bags out of the way so I could make breakfast and saw that they were already beginning to spoil. I got out all my books, gave my good friend and neighbor a call and made a decision. I was going to learn how to can, and I was going to learn FAST!

My friend and I did two double batches of canned jam, 4 batches of freezer jam and two batches of canned apricots in syrup and even some homemade fruit roll-ups. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, and thanks to my mother-in-law for giving me lots of jars years ago (in hopes that I would use them, I'm sure) and to my grandma Artheta who gave me her canning bath a few years ago (also in hopes of me learning this great skill) and also to my mom who gave me a dehydrator over a year ago (lots of people wanting me to preserve!) I didn't have much to buy (lids, seals and pectin--I already had tons of sugar in my food storage). Two days of canning later and I have a quite a bit to show for it :)

If you're interested in canning, check out this site to learn the benefits, acquire the know-how and get some recipes. I'll definitely be doing this again! It's a great way to build food storage and to save money!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Saving with Knowledge and Waste Less

Are there days when you go through your kitchen cabinets and refrigerator and just shake your head at all the food you're throwing out? What a waste! You're not alone. There is, however, something you can do about it, all by changing the way you store your foods.

I found this great site that gives information on what foods should be stored where. Some of this stuff I already knew, but I did learn a few things I didn't know, like the fact that potatoes give off a gas that ripen onions faster. And did you know that honey is one of the only foods that doesn't go bad? I knew it had a long shelf life, and that I could heat it when it starts to crystallize to get it running smooth again, but I had no idea I never have to throw it out. Cool! Where did I get this information? I found it in the article How to Keep Foods Fresh Longer. Be sure to check it out and learn how you can keep your food longer and waste less.

On another note, we've learned a lesson about our gardening. We found that the fluorescent light we bought, coupled with our warm closet where we ended up growing our garden seeds, worked very well--in fact, a little too well. I think we really should've held off planting some of the seeds until this weekend. Here's what I've learned:

Tomatoes and bell peppers should be started early, so the end of March or Early April, when you're planning on doing your outside planting in Mid-May is a good time to start those seeds.

Cucumbers, carrots, watermelon and Cantaloupe can all be started the end of March too, but they grow faster, so can even be done in mid-to-late April for mid-to-late May planting.

Peas grow fast! They are cold hardy and so can be planted directly in the ground as soon the soil is workable. Lettuce is also in this category. Because of this you can plant them directly in the ground, or if you're wanting to do starters, don't start them too early. A few weeks is plenty of time for the peas especially.

Corn, I've read, doesn't much like to be transplanted. We've done some starters for them (before we did all the research) and they did very well at first. But they're growing so fast that the roots are going outside of the containers. Also, they don't much like their roots to be wet, and it will cause them to rot, so you don't want to over water. It's best to just plant corn directly in the ground after the danger of frost has passed--which is mid-May here.

We've learned a lot in our first experience starting seeds. We'll do even better next year, I'm sure. I'm happy with what we've got so far though, and am excited to get our little plants out in the garden.

As for the compost, if you remember, I told you we were considering two landfills and the local sewer district. I did my homework before making the choice, and though the sewer district was much cheaper, I wasn't convinced of the safeness of using it in our vegetable garden. Expert opinions on this is mixed, but one common consensus I found was that vegetable plants where the roots are eaten (like carrots, radishes and potatoes for example) should not be planted in biosolids. Makes sense to me! If you're needing compost for your ornamentals though, you may want to consider biosolid compost as a less expensive option.

So we got our compost from the Bountiful Landfill for $30/truck load. It looks great! I'm impressed with the quality of it and have high hopes for our garden this year. I know I'll be grinning when I bypass the produce department at the grocery store! Haha!

Anyway, read up on your perishables and lessen your waste. And if you haven't already, think about doing your own garden this year. It's the perfect time to get things started. For tips and resources, go to my other garden articles.