Homesteading: Planning for the future

Remember the fable of the ant and the grasshopper? The ant was busy storing food for the winter while the grasshopper fiddled. Then when winter came, the ant had food and the grasshopper didn't. Well, I've been busy as an ant today.

The potatoes are ready to be harvested. Potatoes grow underground so you have to dig them up. You know it's time to dig them up when the above-ground part starts to look dead. When I was a kid, Mom used to give us a big spoon and send us out to the garden to dig for potatoes. What kid doesn't love digging in the dirt! It kept us happily occupied and saved her from a chore.

We use a fork to dig potatoes. A manure fork. A clean manure fork used only for the potatoes. We got about 20 pounds this time. Add that to the 10 lbs I got last week and we have already harvested about $12 worth of potatoes. In addition, I have harvested about $5 worth of beans and $3.00 of peppers. So I'm almost at the break-even point on my investment. I still have 2/3 of the potatoes left to harvest. The corn will be ready in about 3 weeks and the okra in about 3 weeks.

Here are the potatoes we dug up today.
They are red potatoes. My favorite.

I have already frozen about 10 lbs. I canned about 12 lbs. I saved the rest to eat.

To can potatoes, You need a pressure canner. Pressure canning is the only safe way to can non-acid vegetables.

I first gather all my materials.

Here are the jars, rings, and lids.

You can re-use the rings every year or until they get rusty.

You can re-use jars as long as they do not

get chipped, cracked or broken.

You absolutely cannot re-use lids.

I had to clean the jars then boil them for 10 minutes.

Home canning is wonderful but a lot of work. Everything must be sterile. Botulism is real and deadly. Some people think that just washing the jars and rings in the dishwasher is enough. Maybe they are right. But I take no chances. I wash them in the dishwasher first then bring them to 212 degrees (boiling) for 10 minutes.

I had to wash, peel and cut-up about 12 lbs of potatoes!

Then I put them into the jars, put them into the canner and processed them at 11 lbs. pressure for 35 minutes. I used large-mouth pint jars. If I had used quart jars, I would have had to process them for 45 minutes.

Here is my pressure canner. It has reached 11 lbs. of pressure. It holds 7 quart jars or 9 regular pint jars or 8 large-mouth jars. For potatoes, squash and green beans, I use large-mouthed jars. It's hard to pour large veggies out of small-mouthed jars.

Here is the finished product.

It's a lot of work for just 8 pints of potatoes. But the first batch is the most work. After that, you already have the materials assembled so the subsequent batches are easier. A lot of work, but I know what's going into my food.

Canned potatoes are great in stews or casseroles. Here is a good recipe for a potato casserole.

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes, sliced thin
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1 quart buttermilk
3 tablespoons *kosher salt (more or less to taste)
3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 (16 ounce) package sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x12 inch glass or ceramic dish with olive oil.
Layer 1/3 of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish. Then 1/3 of the onions. Pour 1/3 of the buttermilk over the potatoes and sprinkle with 1/3 of the salt, pepper and cheese. Repeat 2 more times, ending with cheese on top.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until hot, bubbly and golden brown.

*FOOTNOTES
This recipe calls for kosher salt, not table salt. If you would like to substitute table salt, you will need only a fraction of the salt called for; season to taste.
Using a food processor to slice the potatoes will make it easier to achieve very thin slices. Remember, thicker slices will take longer to cook

Enjoy. More later....

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Homesteader's First Fruits

Ahhh...the fruits of my labor are starting to come in.

Here is a handful of sugar snaps that I picked today. Up north they are called English peas. People pick them when they are a little bigger and shell them.

Here in the south, we pick them when they are young and tender. We eat pod and all. Y-U-M! See the spots on a couple of them? That, unfortunately, is a result of too much rain.

This is the apron-full of green beans I picked today. I'm having some of these for dinner. These are Blue Lake Green Beans. A popular brand. I'll clean and freeze the ones I don't eat tonight. I'll save them up until I get enough to can. It's raining again. I hope the rain doesn't spoil them like it seems to be doing with the sugar snaps.

Here is the "Second field of corn. This used to be the pasture where we kept the goats. This year a neighbor plowed and disked it for me. I planted Golden Queen corn. It seems to be doing okay. At least this half of the field is. the other half was washed out by the flood.















Look at the baby tomatoes! My tomatoes are having a good year. They like a lot of rain, though. So maybe they will make up for the loss of the sugar snaps.


















These are the Blue Lake Green Beans. They look "happy."

My "girls" are having fun during their free range day. At right, proud rooster Chaunticleer is with 2 of the Rhode Island Red hens.

A Rhode Island Red hen is making sure that the feather-footed banty cochins don't get anything she doesn't get.

A Celebrity variety tomato plant in bloom.

The corn in the primary garden is doing well. The potatoes, in front, are doing very well.

A better view of the corn in the primary garden.

The result? A nice chicken dinner. No! Not one of my chickens! I just can't do that. But green beans from my own garden and my onions from last year. I could have used my own potatoes but I had 2 left in the pantry that I needed to use.

There is a great feeling of pride in making a meal with the things you grew by the sweat of your own brow. I highly recommend it.

I work in the garden while Trudy, my "watch cat" hides in the tall grass waiting to pounce on anything that passes her way....mostly the dog.

More later......

Homesteading: Welcoming the Spring

Time does pass and spring does arrive eventually. With more activity comes greater chance of injury. I broke my foot. Well, I didn't break it. Bad lighting and a nearly impossible to see sunken living room broke it. While I was writhing in pain, another person confessed that she, too, had stumbled in the same spot but was able to catch herself. Sunken living rooms are lawsuits waiting to happen!

Meanwhile, here on the homestead, we had nearly three feet of rain one week! My roads washed out, the bridges collapsed, and I was a refugee in my own home for 5 days. When I did get out, it was only due to the fact that I have 4-wheel drive in my vehicle. Here's a look at what the rain did to my cornfield!

Some of the corn washed away.

I'm not overly concerned though. Rain is not the big problem here in northwest Florida. Heat is the problem. The relentless summer heat and frequent drought are much more likely to cause crop failure than too much rain.

Yet signs of spring are everywhere here on the homestead.

The peach trees have fruit on them.

Baby chicks have hatched.

The proud papa, my rooster Chaunticleer, is strutting about as proud as any papa can be.

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A Homesteader's Garden: Making it Through the Year

Someone suggested that I plant an awfully large garden. I'm a homesteader. I plant enough to try to get through the whole year without buying vegetables from a grocery store. It has been at least 3 years in most cases since I purchased store-bought canned tomatoes, corn, green beans, lima beans, pickles, jams/jellies, fruit, turnips, peas, okra, or even wine. It's amazing how much one has to can to provide for a family. My family size increased to 5 this year so I have to have even more.

The Ball Blue Book, a canner's bible, has a canner's planning guide based on the US Dept of Agriculture's Daily Food Guide. This is for foods that may be canned and covers a one-year period. It allows for 4 servings of canned meat per week with the understanding that few families serve canned meat at all meals. It notes that 10 other servings of meat, poultry, seafood or eggs are needed weekly, that's 520 annually. This gives you an idea of just how much needs to be grown and preserved.

Amount to Can For a Family of Four for one year

Citrus fruits and tomatoes (includes juices)..............................................252 quarts

Dark Green & Yellow Veggies (spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes)...............144 pints

Other fruits & veggies (apples, peaches, pears, asparagus, green beans, lima beans, corn, green peas, squash, etc.)..........................................................608 pints

Meats, Poultry, Seafood..............................................................................144 pints

Soups.........................................................................................................72 Quarts

Jams/Jellies.........................................................................................160 half pints

Relishes..................................................................................................20 Pints

Pickles, vegetable..................................................................................52 pints

Pickles, fruit.........................................................................................104 pints

This is the amount I work toward. I reach it with the pickles, corn, tomatoes, green beans, and squash. Not with the tomato juice and other things. This does not include peppers and onions and fruit that I freeze.

Burpee, the seed company, claims that just a backyard garden can save a family over $1,000 per year. A small patio garden with a few containers of tomato plants and pepper plants are said to save around two hundred dollars per year.

More later....

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A HOMESTEADER'S STIMULUS PLAN

I'm stimulating my personal economy again this year. I'm planting a garden that I hope will feed my family and me until harvest time next year.

Come along and let's track how well my "IRA" (In-ground Roto-tilled Allotment) performs compared with the ones that the banks sell. The banks are giving about a 3.5% return on the dollar. I think I can get at least 100% return on my investment. Here's how....

Today I bought seeds for my garden. Of course, my time is free, so I can't count that cost. But I do know how much one can of green beans costs so I can compare the cost of the green bean seeds and how many "can equivalents" I get in return.

Here's what my garden has cost so far:

Potatoes $6.00

Corn $4.50

English Peas $0.45

Okra $0.28

Butter Beans (Lima Beans) $0.50

Green Beans $0.68

I haven't bought the tomato plants yet or the bell pepper.

As I see it, I spent the equivalent of 8 cans of corn on the corn seed and 12# of potatoes on the seed potatoes. I should harvest about 120-150# of potatoes and the equivalent of 40 cans of corn...more or less.

The rest of the garden was $1.91...the equivalent of less than one can of each vegetable. The entire garden, so far, has totaled $12.41. I think I'll get much, much more than that back.

We'll see

More later......

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FORGOTTEN NOTES IN WINTER COATS

It's the little things that make a happy marriage. It's the little things are missed when someone is gone. It's the little things that make me cry.

It has been very cold here lately. So I pulled out the heavy winter coat to wear to the beauty shop for a much needed haircut. I haven't worn that coat since about this time last year. After my haircut, I pulled my coat on and stuck my hands into the pockets. There was a note from my Ronnie. Not a love note or a personal note. Just a list of farm stuff he had checked the prices on.

But it was in his handwriting. And it was from a time when he was alive and we were happy. A time when my life was complete.

Apparently we had gone to the co-op together and he had written down the cost of some items he was interested in buying. Then, I guess, he handed me the list. A lot of good that did. There was the list of goods and their prices in my coat pocket, not having seen the light of day for at least a year.

Did we need the list later and couldn't find it? I don't remember. Did he have to go back and get the prices all over again? Did we ever buy any of those things? I don't know. This was a little thing. Not even significant enough for me to remember.

But the sight of his writing made my heart leap. And tears stung my eyes. As I pulled it out, I said aloud: "Oh look. A note from my Ronnie. I haven't worn this coat in over a year." I looked around and everyone had that "awwww" look on their face. And I had tears in my eyes.

As I do now.

It's the little things that make up life. A whole bunch of little things.

Awwww.

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Roses Will Come

It's cold. I mean really cold. Officially it got down to 17 last night. Now that might seem warm to people in International Falls, MN, but to those of us in Florida it is totally ridiculous!

I'm thinking of tearing out the gas log fireplace we have and putting in a real fireplace or wood burning insert. When we built the house, my beloved, may he rest in peace, and I did not know that gas log fireplaces are FOR DECORATION ONLY. I was shocked when I read the paperwork on it a few months after we moved in. If you are building your dream house, discuss fireplaces with your contractor!

We knew we didn't want the mess of a wood burning fireplace, having just moved from where we had one. It's more than just: carrying ashes, getting burn holes in the carpet, having to have the chimney swept annually, buying storing and carrying wood; it's also having to stack the wood in a place where termites won't enter the house when they invariable get into the wood! We had that happen once. What a pain termites can be! But I do love the ambient heat of a fireplace and the coziness.

When considering building your homestead house, you should think long and hard about fireplaces vs. stoves. We thought we had the equivalent of a space heater with a hearth around it. We had done that before and got great warmth for the money. But this was just one of a few things that did not turn out to be what we told the contractor we wanted.

In the first winter at our homestead, I kept smelling gas. Why do women seem to smell things like that before men do? Finally I convinced Beloved to call the gas plumber. Watch out! We had two different plumbers assure us that they were "gas certified" only to call back and cancel because they were not! Finally we got a wonderful certified gas plumber who not only found the leak, a cracked pipe, but also informed us that the gas log we had was designed for natural gas. Our house uses LPG! Our contractor subcontracted it out and never even checked to make sure that the correct thing had been put in. Most gas appliances come fitted for natural gas. A little adapter kit has to be used for LPG. No one told the subcontractor that we did not have natural gas available to us. I wish we did have that availability. I love cooking with gas. But gas lines do not run out this far. Not much does!

Life is moving forward for me. I miss my Ronnie of beloved memory very much. However many things keep me very busy.

I have new chicks to take care of and the older hens are laying again after what seemed like the longest molting season in history.

L@@K at the baby chicks! The larger one is 2-1/2 weeks old and the little one is 5 days old. The big one is about 6" tall. They are Rhode Island and Old English mixed. I hope they are both females!

In less than one month we plant potatoes, the first crop to be put into the ground. Then follows the remaining crops.

The dance of life continues with or without my participation. I might as well participate. Even if I dance alone.

More later.....

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS

May your dreidle always land on Gimmle.

May 2009 bring peace to the world.

May we all know joy and love in the coming year.
May whichever holiday you hold dearBring fulfillment of the promise of your faith.

--Yvonne

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OH YEAH, LIFE GOES ON. LONG AFTER THE THRILL OF LIVING IT IS GONE.--JOHN MELLENCAMP

I made kumquat marmalade this morning. Wonderful how doing something that homey can fill your mind. And my mind needs to be filled. Some friends came by yesterday. They are a wonderful, caring couple. They have lovely things in their garden: kumquat trees, satsuma trees, grapefruit trees, pear trees, as well as a regular veggie garden and a host of wonderful flowers.

They brought me a bag of kumquats, satsumas and grapefruit. I immediately ate several kumquats and a couple of nice, juicy satsumas (Y-U-M to both) and thought I was going to pop. Then I decided I'd make marmalade. So I chopped up the remaining kumquats and most of the satsumas and let them soak overnight. This morning, bright and early (for me) I was up making marmalade. I hope it turns out good.

I try to keep busy. There is a business about death that must be attended to: papers to be filled out and signed, bills to take care of, people to contact, headstones to be ordered. That keeps me busy.

But there is also other business that goes on.

Mortgage companies do not care if you are going through an emotional crises. They must be paid. So, too, must the phone company, the power company, and other utilities. The car note still arrives along with all the other bills with no regard to what else is going on in your life. In a way, it can keep one tethered to the real world.

So, I still muddle on. And I make marmalade.

More later....

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This morning I awoke to the sound of cultivation. The field across the road was planted in soy beans this season and they are cutting them. Life does go on. The cycle of birth to death continues. It is ever so present on a homestead. But one can see it everywhere.

In the hospital where my Ronnie died there is a "birthing" floor. When a baby is born a few bars of a lullaby are played on the hospital's public address system and sound throughout the hospital. At the very instant that my sweet husband died, that lullaby trilled through the speakers in his room. My angel had left for heaven at the same moment that another life began. I was struck then by it and now it somehow helps me muddle on. If you can call the fog I am living in muddling, then that is what I am doing.

I cannot believe that at this very minute 2 weeks ago my beloved Ronnie was alive and joking with me. Then suddenly 9 hours later, he was gone from me forever.

I go to my own blog to "visit" him. It hurts. But it helps.

Friends and family help also. I am touched by the out pour of love and support that I have received. Most of it comes because everyone loved my sweet husband. He was a treasure for everyone who knew him. But most especially for me.

More later....

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