How To Make Fig Preserves - Getting Off The Grid

 

 

A man gave me the tree of figs. I am blown away by this kindness, so what to do? Make fig preserves! 

I made fig preserves two ways, first I did this version : I washed my half pint jars and warmed my lids, set aside.

2 quarts of chopped figs

4 cups of sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

Wash figs in cold water and remove any stems.

Cover the figs with boiling water for 10 minutes.

Drain and chop, I chopped these in big pieces.

In a large cooking pot put the figs, sugar and water in and cook till the figs are tender and a syrup is thick. Add lemon juice and cook another minute.

Ladle into jar , clean rims and apply lids.

Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. 

Make 9 pints

 

 

Second version : Lemon figs

4 quarts of chopped figs

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup water

1 lemon

Wash figs in cold water and remove any stems.

Cover the figs with boiling water for 10 minutes.

Drain and chop, I chopped these small pieces.

Wash and slice lemon thinly, remove the middle membrane and seeds, leaving a little flesh, then chop into small pieces.

In a large cooking pot put the figs, sugar and water in and cook till the figs are tender and a syrup is thick. Add lemon and cook another five minutes.

Ladle into jar , clean rims and apply lids.

Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

 

 

That is how I preserved the figs I received this weekend, I do plan to make them two more ways as soon as I get more.

Figs are a special treat for me since this is the first year my small bush has figs but none of mine are ready, yet.

Friday July 22,2016 I got a call from a man and he asked " do you want some figs?" I answered with a "Yes!" and that is how it began. Getting off the grid is has a lot to do with sharing, the elderly gentleman was sent a watermelon and then not even two days later I was getting figs. So I made fig preserves. Then two days passed and I got the call " come pick`em" so I sent Tony to get the figs and I sent two pints of pickled eggs and that is not the end, his instruction were " come about every two to three days and pick them ALL!"

Caring is sharing. 

By Andria Perry

Photos by Andria Perry

How To Make Spearmint Jelly

 

 

Making jelly is one of the easiest things I have ever done for food storage and you can use it in every meal. You can use jelly for breakfast on toast, or any bread, or you can use it making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch or you can use jelly as a glaze for meats for dinner. Today I made spearmint jelly.

 

 

To make Spearmint jelly you will need :

3 cups of spearmint leaves

4 cups of sugar

1 box fruit pectin

2-3 drops green food color ( optional)

Water

Canning jars and lids.

Rinse spearmint leaves in cold water, gently.

In a large cooking pot bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil, add spearmint leaves and mash/ bruise to release the natural oils. Cover and let set for several hours to make its own tea. 

Clean you jars and lids according to the manufacturers directions.

Measure sugar and put into a bowl, set aside.

Strain 4 cups of prepared spearmint tea in a large cooking pot ( I use stainless steel) and add food color and one box of fruit pectin, bring to a rolling boil.

Add sugar and stir till melted, bring mixture to a rolling boil that you cannot stir down and cook for one minute.

Remove from heat and carefully ladle into jars. 

Wipe rim of jars clean and apply lids.

Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Makes seven 1/2 pints.

Spearmint is a plant that grows so nicely here in Central Alabama, we have a long growing season and it thrives with little care. I started out with a small plant and now its covered the entire bed that I put it in and is creeping into the grass. I really don`t mind this invasive plant because I can cook with it so many ways or add it to drinks. Plus when the lawn mower runs over it the smell lingers for a good long time. I have been told it can be used as rodent control but have not tested this out, yet.

 

 

By Andria Perry

Photos by Andria Perry

How Much Food Is Needed - Getting Off The Grid

 

 

No one ever said life is easy and anyone who is looking for an easy way out  will never find that path. Getting off the grid is harder than anything you will ever do, protection and food are just a couple things I have learned about this year. How much food is needed has been the question in my mind for a while.

For food, How much food would it take to keep you for one year? How about your family?

I asked this question many times and although I tried to keep track of the food consumed here its just impossible to calculate how much food to store for one year. So while I was reading in one of my many Face book groups I got a hint of what to do, or rather how to get the numbers I need.

One is  home canning summer vegetables that you grow, not just feeding yourself during the hot summer months but the rest of the year too. 

Here goes those numbers : One vegetable per day, a pint or quart, for two would be 364 jars. You know you will eat more than one vegetable a day! One lady said " two vegetables a day, can seven different vegetables." For two vegetables a day for one year that is 728 jars! That is 61 cases of food. Making seven different vegetables would be 2,548 jars or 213 cases! 

What about the freezer? Well getting off the grid would mean no power or solar power so you can`t expect to have a couple deep freezers sucking all the power dry. ( yes I am going solar when I do the final act, I am the NEW off the grid lifestyle) BUT I do have several vegetables and some meat stored in the freezer.

I did a numbers check on the stuff I have canned and I can say it look pitiful! Seems I am receiving free fruits and no vegetables. No one can live on just fruit. 

With this realization I am now fine tuning my goal, I know what I need to accomplish and its going to be a hard road.

No, I have not gave up on shopping at the grocery store but I do want to reduce my spending as much as possible so I don`t have to work my days at a job to please others while doing without myself because the pay is so little. I want to reduce the bills so I don`t have to continue life day in day out in this rat race the world has became.

What I have canned this year : I have 33 pint jars of tomatoes , 12 pint jars of salsa = 2 half pints, 36 pint jars of squash or zucchini products, 5 pint jars of pork n beans, 6 pint jars of chicken broth, 2 pint jars of carrots, 14 pint jars of peaches and 78 pint jars of apple products. I made a batch of chili and two batches of soup but I also eat that regular and its not considered as  " for Winter from the garden."

Just pitiful! 

I have not tallied up what I have frozen this year and I am still eating from last years freezing of food. I still have food canned from last year that I am still eating also, kale and potatoes and beans are a few.

Calculating fresh home grown food is hardest, Giving up ALL junk food would be extremely hard. However I have heard of a few plants that can sub for coffee if that is something one has to have, I am one :)

Now that I have broke the bad news to those who are like me and is seeking a better life, off the grid, can you manage to feed yourself for a year where you live? I am in Alabama and we have eight to nine months warm weather.

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

Repeats - Getting Off The Grid

 

 

I know sometimes it seems as though you are repeating what you have accomplished because getting off the grid is about taking what you have at the moment and preserving it, sometimes the crop that is mature and you are harvesting is more than one days work but many weeks work as the fruit or vegetable ripens. Repeats.

As I mentioned in my previous post :http://getoffthegrid2.blogspot.com/2016/07/finding-balance-getting-off-grid.html  I am into the tomato harvest but after calculating the cost I am now leaning more to what I know I usually buy and maxing out on that for the moment.

 

 

That is salsa. All through the year we have taco salads, tacos, red beans and rice and many more dishes that I use salsa in. The smallest jars of salsa at the dollar stores are one dollar and the pint jars costing from two dollars and more at the grocery store.

With the canning jars being around eight dollars a case, I sowed and raised my own tomatoes and bell peppers and I got the onions extremely cheap it is cost effective for me to make those widely used condiment.

Time consuming? Yes. Most of the time used in canning is the peeling but after that is over the process is fast and easy. I made seven pints in Sunday.

My recipe is here :http://getoffthegrid2.blogspot.com/2016/06/canning-tomatoes-and-salsa-getting-off.html

But its also time to harvest those herbs, for food and medicine. 

 

 

After having a wonderful crop of blackberries this year I also learned the benefits of using the leaves for tea, with the berries gone there is still a use for those bushes, harvesting leaves! I pick a handful and lay them on my pie racks and allow them to air dry and then I store them inside a mason jar whole.

I also sowed seeds for sage this year, it is beginning to get leaves to harvest, I pick, dry whole and store in a mason jar, why whole? I leave all the goodness for cooking that is still inside the leaves, even dried. Same for the basil.

Now for the spearmint, I have so much that its creeping across the steps and blocking entry into the house so I will cut the entire stems filled with leaves and I will hang them to air dry. ( FYI - I grow mint all around the front porch and I don`t have a big mosquito problem, seems they don`t like it) 

What is new on the homestead? Cucumbers! I had planned to put them into the ground but I may leave them in the large flower pots and see how that will work. And more yellow squash was sown a couple days ago. I am sure that it will produce before frost since both are fast growing plants.

 

 

I would like to share something that happened late yesterday.

I walk daily, if possible, and I take the dogs with me because they love to get out of the back yard. One on a leash because he tends to do his own thing and run off, one walks with me with no problems.

As I passed the dried up corn crop I checked on the eggplants and new peppers put in last month to see if I needed to water them but they were fine. The bell pepper plants that I put in last Spring were in sire need of water.

The ground was so dry, seems like what little rain we get dries up quickly in the extreme daily heat that is nearing 100° or more. 

There was this one dark cloud in the sky with the evening sunshine and I looked up and I said " Please God let it rain here" and I continued my 30 minute walk with the dogs. I put the dogs in the back yard, cleaned their water buckets and gave them fresh water and dog food. I drug the water hose down to the garden area, the bell peppers are in the first section and I can water them by hose, and began to water the wilted plants.

I heard something behind me and looked over at the tin shed. I did not see anything and turned back to my watering.

But then it got louder and the next thing I know it pouring down rain! Sunshine and rain. My garden was getting water from the heavens. I looked up into the rain while standing in the garden with a watering hose in hand and said " Thank you!"

The rain felt good on my hot skin and I stood and enjoyed a mid July rain.

 

 

By Andria Perry

Photos By Andria Perry

Finding Balance - Getting Off The Grid

 

 

 

One day I do see myself as working less out in the world for money and working more at home, getting off the grid and working is not easy at all times, I am finding a balance.

 

 

 

With a nice early crop of squash and zucchini they are finally spent so the first row in the field, which was zucchini, was mowed down and then plowed up. My intention is to replant yellow squash and get another crop before our first freeze. (Our first freeze can be anywhere from late October to late November.) With the tilling finished I have NOT had time to actually rake it down and plant.

With little rain, till this week, the grass has been at a stand still but it will be mowed soon. Seems the only place it did grow was in the vegetable garden.

I did skip one day picking what is left growing after the month long dry and hot weather, tomatoes and bell peppers, because we are in the evening storm pattern and the lightening has been the threat that runs you inside for cover.

 

 

Daily I have been canning what I have harvested, making salsa for the most part because I got the onions very cheap and I grow the bell peppers and tomatoes. Although fresh is healthier it is more expensive to home can plain tomatoes than it is to buy them. Right now I am thinking about restocking with factory canned tomatoes. ( The math: My canning jars cost around $8.00 a case, around .66 each, I grow and pick = time but little money,I wash them = water= money, The power I use to home can = money. Just a couple days ago I seen at Aldi grocery store the canned tomatoes are .60 each so I will switch to making something that is more cost effective)

 

Due to the invasion of my privacy I had to spend an entire morning upgrading security in my small piece of this world, my homestead, I am a minimalist and I don`t own a lot but I do have a nice stock of food, people should ask and not take because I would share my food. So I fell behind but I will catch up.

Having to go to work and tend to the homestead is not always easy, some days I do both, other days I do one or the other. Finding balance for me is getting easier.

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

5 Ways To Home Can Apples - Getting Off The Grid

 

 

Apples, apples and more apples! Since apples has a short shelf life what can you do with so many apples? Home can them for later! This past weekend I made apples five different ways and its not as difficult as you think.

Putting apple products up for the Winter is more than just applesauce and apple jelly, what about an apple pie from apples that were ripe in July? Or something spicy and different to add to the dinner table? 

 

 

First-  I began with the payback for the free apples, three five gallon bucket filled to the top, by making apple butter. I made 24 - 8 oz.  (half pints), one batch heavy with spices and very sweet, another milder with less spice and less sugar and last I made a batch of sugar free, or rather I added Splenda for those who cannot eat sugar. You can get the recipe here : http://getoffthegrid2.blogspot.com/2016/07/making-apple-butter.html

Second-  I was thinking about a warm applesauce cake on a cold winter day so I went for a batch of applesauce, why not its a classic!

I washed the apples and peeled them, removed the core and chopped them into pieces. I only added one half water to the cooking pot because the apples make their own juice. I cooked the apples till tender and drained any excess juice off. I then put them into the food processor and pulsed until smooth. I returned the applesauce to the cooking pot and added sugar a little at a time till I got it right to my taste.

Pour into clean sterile jars and seal with new lids. Process in the water bath for 15 minutes.

I made 10 - 8 oz. jars (half pints)

 

 

Third- Hot Apple Pies with snow on the ground, natural air freshener, I made apple pie filling. With this being my first time to can apple pie filling I talked with my canning group because all I could find in my books were the freezer version  and I used this recipe : http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/can_pie/apple_filling.html

Pour into clean sterile jars and seal with new lids. Process in the water bath for 15 minutes.

I made 2 - 8 oz. jars (half pints) and 13 pints

Fourth- Apple chutney. I have never made chutney before, never tasted it but since I seen a recipe in every cookbook I own I decided to make chutney. I followed the recipe in the Ball canning blue book, This is the recipe:

 

1- quart chopped apples

12 oz. dark raisins

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons of mustard seed

1 tablespoon of ginger

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon of curry ( I used 1/2 teaspoon because curry is powerful)

1 teaspoon ball canning salt

1 chopped hot pepper ( I was out and used one Tablespoon of red pepper seed)

1 minced clove of garlic

2 cups of white vinegar

 

Mix together in a large cooking pot, bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Allow to cook till the apples are tender and its made its own syrup.

 

 

Pour into clean sterile jars and seal with new lids. Process in the water bath for 15 minutes.

I made 7 - 8 oz. jars (half pints)

Fifth- Well you know someone will ask for apples jelly, never fails! So I did a twist on this old time favorite and I made more of a jam but I will refer to this concoction as jelly/jam.

I washed the apples and peeled them, removed the core and chopped them into pieces. I covered the apples with water to the cooking pot, plus the apples make their own juice.  I cooked the apples till tender and falling apart, and the pot as filled with juice. I removed the cooking pot from the stove top and I measured out the amounts for what is called for on the sure-jel box for " pear preserves." So its apple jelly with a few apple chunks, jelly/jam :)

Pour into clean sterile jars and seal with new lids. Process in the water bath for 15 minutes.

I made 16 - 8 oz. jars (half pints) Note: 16 is two batches.

 

 

Now that I have 72 jars of apple products I am sure to have a sweet apple winter, oh, and I paid back my elder that provided me with these delicious apples. ( Yes I did get in a few jars of tomatoes :)

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

Making Apple Butter

 

 

When you talk about getting off the grid and living on the land you also have to learn manners and not to be so closed up that people don`t like you, being nice does pay off. Today I am making apple butter, first is how I make it and then how I got the apples free.

Apples was one of the first fruits I ever canned because its so easy!

 

 

This is how I made the apple butter, the old fashion way:

Apples - whatever you have

Sugar

Ground Cinnamon

Ground cloves

Half pint canning jars and new lids.

Peel and core the apples, as you chop the apples make sure you put them into water so not to turn dark brown. There is not need to use fruit fresh because the apple butter will be light brown anyways.

Drain and rinse the apples and add only one half water, do not cover all the apples with water, they will make juice.

Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often.

When the apples are soft and you see that the water is now thicker with the natural syrup from the apples, remove from the stove and cool to lukewarm.

 

 

In a food processor pulse till smooth, like applesauce, put back into the cooking pot.

Sprinkle the applesauce with cinnamon and a little of the cloves, be careful the cloves are strong and will overpower.

 

 

Now add the sugar, a little at a time. Taste, if it needs more add more, a little at a time till you get it right to your taste. Same with the cinnamon and cloves, its all about how spicy and sweet you want this apple butter.

Cook over medium heat to melt the sugar, stirring. Do not leave this it will burn! Let cook for around five minutes, scrapping the bottom of the pot.

Pour into prepared canning jars, put on lids and put into a water bath for ten minutes. 

 

 

That is exactly how I learned to make apple butter before I was twenty one.

The story behind this apple butter: 

I was given an apple tree, not the actual tree but all the fruits that was hanging all over it! And this beauty from the heavens was full and they are all huge hand size apples. "McIntosh" the elderly gentleman said. Before I picked one apple I stood beside him staring at the apple tree and I said " that looks like a lot of apple butter, do you like apple butter?" without hesitation he said " yes I love apple butter! the apple is my favorite fruit." 

I was picking the lower apples while he talked to us, me and Tony, about his fruit trees, how some were bearing fruit and others starved for water because of this drought we are in and about his small medical problems.

He had Tony to shake the tree and make most of the apples fall, after a minute Tony sat down on the ground, I knew he was having the " heart flutters" but the man looked puzzled so I said " He has afib and he has to rest when it flutters." The man said " you know what you can do and can`t" and let it go, I continued to work, they talked.

I managed to get three five gallon buckets filled with huge delicious McIntosh apples, we did leave some for the gentleman to eat.

Now the shocker was this man showed me around his property, all the tree`s and shrubs are fruit or nut bearing, he gave me random growing pecan trees ( go back with a shovel) , I have to get those for sure! But this was what shocked me the most, he told me he would sell me his place. Of course I don`t have that kind of money but if I did I would buy it! Grapes, pecans, peaches, pears and apples. I am sure there is more but that is what I seen.

But for now I make apple butter, I will make some strong, some medium and some sweetened with splenda and take back to this man for his generosity, he told me to only bring one small jar but that is not going to happen! He will get apple butter and many more apple products from those three five gallon buckets of apples.

By Andria Perry

Photos by Andria Perry