stocking up.. what have you put back so far this summer?

look if i wanted to talk about that shit i would have started a thread about that shit..

so weve established you dont can things.. or stock up.. so ill just wait for someone else to reply to this threads title..

but thanks for being so intrigued by our personal lives..

 

ohh pictures..

www.feelfreefarmproject.org

theres plenty of photos there..

 

Ever listen to yourself:

 

Actually I do freeze crops like peaches when I can't get others to come help harvest. No I don't stock up just to stock up. What's the point?

 

In my mom's orchard, (2 dwarf cherry, apple & apricot and a dolga crab) we've put away about 14qt of cherries & 6qt of apricots to be turned to jelly when it gets colder.

In my yard, I've got little enough I think we'll probably eat it all fresh.
love,
mom

 

I dunno what's up with gardener's attitude (it could be unintentional, this is just text communication after all) but I'm pretty impressed by what you have going. When I get older (or next year actually) I'm going to garden like crazy. I'm sad that I missed out this year, but being a bhikkhu you can't really stay at a place long enough to stock up. 80 tomato plants eh? jeeesus. You've inspired me to say the least! And I'd wish you good luck on your harvest, but I can see you don't need it haha! Peace be with you!

 

What's up with gardener's attitude?... is considering the work of hirelings or women as just part of the process. Gardening should never be taken for granted. Everyone's work counts and should be applauded. Pests, water and climate control a lot of the success, not the tractor jockeys.

 

At the weekend we froze two kilos of broad beans and four pounds of beetroot tops. We also made a dozen jars of beetroot chutney. We are picking and eating produce on a daily basis.

 

not to sound like a idiot,, but what the hell is beetroot?? is that beets?? if so,, what do ya do with the tops???

 

I have not canned since I was a little girl. I wish I could have a large garden but the weather hear does not allow for it unless you cover the area that you are going to plant it. We I lived in New Mexico we had a huge garden and lived in an apple orchard so we canned all the time. We had apples up until the next harvest season. I miss it a lot. I am hoping that I will be able to have a small garden through the winter here.

 

I'm watching blossoms pop on my tomato & pepper plants, and wondering if I spoke too soon. If everything matures at the same time, I'm looking at about 20 regular tomatoes, 24-30 of those yellow pear-shaped tomatoes & about the same number of cherry tomatoes all turning red about the same time my 24-ish purple, yellow & orange bell peppers mature.

I'm thinking salsa 'til we can't eat it anymore... and maybe freezing some of the peppers.
love,
mom

 

hippyhillbilly, have you thought about doing a few acres of corn & turning it into bio fuel, i am wondering if this is ok to do or if the government would reguard this as moonshine. I mean i assume there is a process that would be to refine the product to the point of fuel quality. I am thinking about buying land & perhaps doing various crops, but corn for fuel would be important.

 

I really messed up with our garden this year. I didn't get out and work like I should and lost a lot.(By lost I mean I can't find it, lol) I do have 3 long rows of potatoes to harvest later and I have taken my onions out and vacuum sealed them for the freezer.(Never done that before but hope to use them in stews and soups this winter) I have started keeping seeds for next year which I've not done either but decided to give it a try. I think it's great how much you've put back already!

 

well heres the latest update,minus the taters,

freezer inventory, 2007
29 qt bags zuch, shredded
13 qt bags spagh squash
11 qt spag. sauce
7 qt gr beans
1 qt okra

Frozen herbs 2007
parsley
lemon basil
basil
Dried herbs 2007
parsley
basil
sage

canned inventory 2007
90 qt tomatoes
3 pt tomatoes
2 pint blackberry grape jam
2- 1/2 pint blackberry grape jam
2 qt pickled jalapeno peppers
2 pint green beans
16 1/2 pints salsa
4 qts salsa
9 pints B&B pickles
6 quarts B&B pickles
16 qts dill pickles
9 pints dill pickles

 

I'm new to stocking up, but so far:

about 2 quarts of frozen okra
3 small jars (packed!) sun-dried tomatoes (in freezer)
6 quarts canned whole tomatoes
10 quarts sumac jelly
1 large ziplock bag, green peppers, in freezer

HippieHillbilly, I hadn't thought of shredding and freezing zucchini. What do you use it for? Squashes around here only last a few months before withering up and dying, (I think it might be fusarium wilt?)(or maybe just squash bugs!)

 

shredded zuccinni can be used for breads, cakes,hamburgers,meatloaves.. anything that you can use oatmeal or tofu as a expander for you can use shredded zuccinni for..

my personal favorites are the bread and the fried patties tho. believe it or not chocolate zuccinni cake is yummy....

never slice zuccinni for freezing,as it picks up to much water n becomes soggy,always shred for best preservation.

since im here,may as well give a update.

because of this last month of weather (over 90 everyday with 0 rain) the gardens are done till we get some rain,then we will start in with our fall crops.

we have put back a bit more,but im not gonna fool with updating the list.

all in all bein at the first of the growing season we went 6 weeks without rain,then this last month,its been a successful harvest...

we hope everyone else's was as well

love n light

 

I forgot about the patties! Wow, it's been a long time since we've made them and they are wonderful. Kinda like hash brown potato patties but a whole lot better in my opinion.

Borers long since killed my zukes but I'm sure we've got some shreds in the freezer. Yum.

 

So far this year I've put away lemonbalm, mint, basil & chives... and a 3-cup jar of dried tomatoes.

But THIS is what I've been looking at ALL week long!

9 qts frozen slices, 5 pts dried slices & 2 (still working on this) pts dried leather

These are the ones we separated out for eating... I'm considering drying them though... the kids think they're too tart as-is.

And these are ALL that's left to process... FINALLY I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

This is just my half of one dwarf tree's yield - Mom's got the other half in her freezer. By the time I'm done with the puree & whole apples, I figure I'll have another 3-4 pts of dried leather, 2-3 qts of sliced frozen apples, and 5-6 qts of applesauce (mixed with crabapples for color.)

I know I'll be glad of these this winter, but right now I am so tired of looking at apples! And next week I'm going over to my mom's house to make apricot preserves with the fruit we froze from her garden this spring!
love,
mom

 

If you want to dry something that's awsome, dry some cantelope or melon. Makes one of the fruitiest, sweetest fruit leathers I've eaten and it keeps forever in a cloth bag where it can breathe.

We didn't put back much, but the real winner has been stuffed peppers. I raised some really hot Hungarian wax peppers, top them and seed them, stuff with sauerkraut and put in a jar, pour some vinegar/salt water over them and can. After two weeks the sting of the hot peppers leave, and the things are wonderful. Can't tell you how well they keep, I'm already on my second jar.

 

Those Hungarians are sure into peppers! I have a recipe for peppers stuffed with cabbage ... sounds terrific.

Here is recipe:
6 to 8 sweet red peppers
1 medium sized cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 cup salt
1 quart vinegar
1 oz fresh horseradish, peeled, thinly sliced
3 tbsp black peppercorns
3 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp sugar

Mix cabbage with salt and let stand overnight. The next day, squeeze out any liquid and mix the cabbage with 1-1/4 cups of the vinegar.
Cut round the stem ends of the peppers, and pull out the stems and the attached seeds. Drain the cabbage and stuff it lightly into the peppers. Layer the peppers, stem ends upward, in 1-quart canning jars, placing a few horseradish slices, peppercorns, and mustard seeds among the peppers. As you proceed, cover each pepper with a slice of horseradish, topped with a little of the remaining cabbage.
Add the sugar to the remaining vinegar, bring the mixture t o a boil and use it to fill the jars. Close the jars and process the peppers.
-Elek Magyar
Kochbuch Fur Feinschmecker

Oh yeah, Homeschoolmama, you are lucky you GOT apples this year, we had the big freeze that killed all the apple blossoms. Have you tried making pectin from apples? And yeah, my apples mostly look like the bottom pic ... but they are still usable for lots of stuff ... thanks for posting that ... helps me not to feel like such an apple failure ...