So much of our lives literally revolves around the kitchen. We eat all our meals together there, sharing the day’s challenges and successes. It served as the school room and the family room for playing games. Plans for the day and the future are discussed and solidified over food and drink. The bills get paid, records are kept and taxes figured there. Seeds are spread on the table while planning the garden and jars are sorted and filled there at harvest time. Quilts and clothes get cut and sewn on that table. Neighbors and friends are always welcome to share a cup of coffee and baked goods of the day. Wonderful memories reside in the kitchen while delightful new, little people come to add their chapters.
We installed a new battery bank this weekend and I thought that we might share a bit about our off-the-grid power system. Pictures included!
The ability to grind grain is a necessity in a long-term food storage program.
After my last post I realized that maybe I need to back up a little and explain why you should can (as opposed to just throwing your veggies into the pantry) and break down the difference between what needs to be pressure canned and what can be hot water bathed.
For years I used the same apple peeler/corer. My kids loved trying to get the entire apple to peel so they could eat just the peel. Sometimes, for a treat after peeling hundreds of apples we would sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over a plate of apple peelings to be enjoyed as “apple spaghetti”.
Pressure canning is a safe and economical method of preserving low acid foods which has been used for decades, especially by home gardeners and others interested in providing food storage for their families where quality control of the food is in one’s own hands.
Dehydrating is a wonderful way to preserve bumper crops for winter time and beyond. Besides hanging herbs to dry for use in the winter months, I often dehydrate large quantities of onions for soups and breads throughout the winter, and into the summer as we await our next harvest of onions. The smell in the house, is wonderful. It makes the house so warm and cozy, a true signal that fall is in full swing and winter is on it’s way.
A reflection on history tells us doing more to meet our own basic needs ourselves makes survival of tough economic times easier. Oddly enough, this can also be a time of togetherness and an increase in bonding and healthy dependence on one another. Of course I pick one of the busiest times of the year to try to figure out this whole blogging thing. There is so much to do in the Fall, bring in all the herbs to dry by the stove, get the last of the garden harvest in and
I snapped this picture earlier of a White-tail doe standing suspiciously close to my garden. While I would like to believe that her intentions were harmless, years of experience have taught me better than that
As I’ve been working through my harvest this year, I noticed the great variety of canning jars I posses. I’ve always been more of a practical canner than a specialty canner, though I have a few standbys to wow people with. Looking back this doesn’t come as a surprise to me since my vision was always resource efficiency.
In my quest for a greener earth and healthier meals for my family, I have to stoop to a level that the cool mountain air has made me quite accustom to, I will do anything to ensure that I have at least a few truly vine ripened tomatoes. During the Winter the sun is blocked from our property due to the way that our valley faces and the mountain that is determined to drive me to have permanent Seasonal Effective Disorder. We are in our last few weeks of sunshine, but
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