In Alabama we are going into late fall, meaning we have a few cold days and nights but we are not into the set weather pattern.
We can still grow many plants without protection. Collards do well in the colder temps as well as turnips and kale. The mustard greens look okay but you can tell the cold has touched them a few nights, the turnip greens are turning purple themselves but it foes not change the taste at all. God blessed me with greens this year.
Since I am not as advanced as some off the grid I do not have a hot house, greenhouse or cold frames, yet. I tried the greenhouse but I was not ready and knew nothing so it flopped. I have A LOT to learn.
I am also still working to make a living, I don`t have it down on how to live free and not have to have some sort of work away from the homestead. I would love to rely on whatever the homestead has to offer as an income, hard work but I would do it any day than to have to leave for work. This is something more to learn.
I still need the root cellar/ storm shelter. not only to store the home canned foods to keep them cooler but to store fresh as well. If we have a tornado warning I can use it as shelter.
I did sort of an inventory a couple weeks ago. I only got the one room, so I know I have more in the pantry to count. But here ya go, this is what I have for now.
Jelly, jams and pastes = 250 half pints
Vegetables = 116 pints
Soup and Chili = 58 pints
Pickles- peppers - relish = 43 pints
Fruit = 37
Total counted = 504 pints/half pints
I did stop at the fruit and did not finish counting, I have yet to count the pears and blackberries. Plus I may get to home can more kale before the year is out.
This is only the home canned, I did freeze some, a lot of okra, but I am trying to get away from freezing to get rid of the deep freezer when I go solar. This is a hard habit to break!
I need to learn how to grow more vegetables. I need to preserve more nuts and mushrooms.
How did you do home canning for the summer of 2018?
By Andria Perry
Photos by Andria Perry
I have never home canned but I have done multi-bakes and frozen. Having stored food, especially tinned or in jars, is very useful whether you are off grid or not, after all there can always be power cuts!
ReplyDeleteYes and that is the main reason for home canning, for me, is that I have lost food in the freezer from power outages.
DeleteThat is an awesome amount of food you have put away! I have not canned for years (decades). And the last thing I did was jelly. I plan to get back to it next year with Jellies at least. And hopefully the year after that I'll be living on my land and growing a garden. Good for you for working so hard at storing food.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I want to cut back on jelly and put up more veggies.
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