When we moved here I had a dream. I had been picturing land, animals, gardens, raising our own food and being able to breathe. I won’t say that there were no Disney style cartoon birds and woodland creatures helping do the work while I sang, in my mental picture. I will say that Bill probably would describe my ideas and also use the word mental.
The only place for sale with land at the time we were looking was this place. We were in love from the moment we started up the driveway. When the forest cleared and the ground opened up, I saw a Clerestory style horse barn. I knew I was a gonner. I’m sure Bill was thinking shop, I know I was thinking I AM GETTING A HORSE!
Sam and I had started shopping for farm animals before we even moved here. It was only a matter of time before he and I were left unsupervised in the farm store. No chicks? That’s fine. We got ducks. My thought was we have a pond, er um swamp at the end of the driveway. Once the ducklings get big enough we can release them and they can live there! Did you just hear Disney music? I did. Once we had the ducklings home Sam convinced me he could keep them in his room, on his white carpet. I know, I know, you can just feel the bad decisions piling up, can’t you? After we had the ducklings home I discovered you can’t just release them, it’s not a great idea. Now we had ducks which I had never planned on.
It seemed like everyone we meet here had gardens, grew their own food, and canned it. I had no idea how to do these things but I liked the sound of it. First issue no flat land or sunlight, did that stop me? Well yeah. Second issue I have only canned grape jelly, once, Bill helped, no one died, it was a success.
I bought the book. I bought the supplies and then I had to actually buy stuff to can. All I kept thinking was, “This is expensive, why do people do this?” It must be because they love their families and that $20 jar of peaches proves it.
My first attempt ended up boiling over and getting on the glass inside my oven door. This was a brand new oven when we bought the house. It now had permanent goo on the glass top and inside the glass door. Did I let this bother me? Yes, it actually drove me nuts because I could not get it clean again. Lastly every time we opened a jar of something I was positive people would die. I mean I had no clue how to do this, no training, no license, and certainly no self confidence in my ability to make food rather than science projects.
For years my canning tools stayed safely hidden and any garden produce we did get, well if it could not be eaten right away it was wasted. The people around me were like, “I just canned enough xyz to last my family for the year, whew that was a lot of work. I had baskets neigh truck loads of xyz that I needed to get out of my garden.” I would go out and look at my Charlie Brown tomato plant with it’s one fruit hanging from the top and think, “There is enough here to even look for that canning kettle.”
Over the last 6 years we have been learning how to garden here, what we like, and how to just grow food. We have had enough grapes to make grape juice from. For sure tomatoes we can do. Peppers are a yes. The only way I knew to put up anything other than grapes was to freeze it. That’s what I did, till last year when I started canning tomatoes. Then we got the dehydrator and if something didn’t move quick enough I was cutting it up and drying it out. This year we are hoping to do even more with what we are growing and it’s exciting. Knowing how to save that food and not waste it, maybe more importantly knowing how to use what I’ve saved feels good.
Right now the black raspberries are ready for harvest. In years past I would pick as many as I could and then freeze them. Black raspberries, at least these, seem to be more seed than berry and we were not enjoying eating them. Which meant I was not great about harvesting them, many went to waste. The birds support this waste because they love berries too. This year, I decided to gather as many as I could, berries not birds, and make jelly. I went with jelly because we have enough berries to produce the juice needed and all of the seeds get filtered out. After only two pickings I had enough berries to make 10.5 cups of juice. Which turned into 18 jars of jelly. That’s just the start and as I sit here listening to the jelly jars pop as they cool it feels happy. Also when I was at GFS I saw jars of jelly the same size as the ones I just canned selling for almost $9. While you can find jelly for less it hit me that finally I was understanding why people can. Maybe a quart of peaches does not have to cost $20 and a major appliance when you can it yourself, just maybe.
In addition to the berries I picked peas and broccoli. The pea pods that had gotten too large were shelled and frozen as fresh peas. The pea pods that were still young and tender were vacuum sealed and frozen as pods for stir fries. The broccoli that was not used immediately was vacuum sealed and went straight to the freezer. All the bits that were cut off or left over from shelling went into a stock pot with some chicken trimmings for broth.
There is something about being connected to your food. Not to lie it’s a ton of work, time and even money. I took two days to make that jelly. Does it have to take two days? No. We also don’t get baskets and baskets of produce and do all of our canning at once. I go out and pick what is ready then come in and process that. Maybe only 5 cans of tomatoes at a time just about everyday for a week. For most people around here that would be stupid but it’s working for us. When I buy groceries if I get mushrooms or peppers in bulk and we don’t eat it quick enough I’ve been cutting them up and putting them in the dehydrator. Mushrooms are great for this for the earthy flavor they bring even if you only use the water that you rehydrate them with and then pick them out. You can also grind them into a powder and add them to dishes that way. Peppers, especially when cut up into small pieces, are amazing added to all sorts of foods. All the unusable scrap pieces go into baggies in the freezer where they will be used to make broths. Now that I think about it I wonder if I could dehydrate those, grind them into powder and then add that powder to stocks I’m making. Anything that can’t be canned, frozen, or dehydrated can go on the compost or to the chickens. Yesterday after I had finished extracting juice from those berries I had a pulp left over. Rather than throwing it out or putting it on the compost I took it to the chickens who were very happy to have the treat.
I just found out you can can broths if you have a pressure canner! I’ve been freezing the broth we don’t use right away and the freezer is full. Adding a pressure canner looks like it is on the horizon, specifically the Presto 01781 because it is large and safe for our glass top stove. Along with the adjustable pressure regulator. I heard about this canner from The Purposeful Pantry. She is the reason I became brave enough to start this journey, that and our gardens were expanding and we had more food to preserve. Because she also has a glass top stove and she uses this specific canner I feel more confident with the purchase. We bought the dehydrator based on what she uses as well as reviews from other sites and have been very happy with it. I use these dehydrator silicone sheets on my trays and have been very happy with them as well. Also bought this little hand held vacuum sealer for jars and I’m really happy with this. Also based on what she uses we purchased a safer version of mandolin. While we have had a mandolin for years, I like this one especially for dehydrating and canning. Our counter top vacuum sealer was something I fought Bill about for a long time. When he needed to use some gift cards he received from an employer and we had “money” left over on them after he got his flat top grill he finally got his vacuum sealer. I have to say I love this thing and use it all the time. We buy in bulk, then break it down and portion it out into bags and seal them. It has greatly reduced the amount of freezer burn we normally got when using freezer baggies or containers. You can even freeze things like soups if you put them in a baggie and lay them flat in the freezer. Once frozen you can then vacuum seal them.
I guess the point is when we look at a meal and we see things from our garden that meal hits us different. For a long time neither of us thought this was a thing we could do. We don’t do it like so many around us do. I’m not even sure that in every stage of our lives this would have been a welcome addition. When life is busy and then you have to take 2 days to make 18 jars of jelly that might be a bridge too far. What I’m saying is don’t be afraid to try. You might end up with all of your canning supplies hidden in boxes for 10 years but then one day you might dig it all out and start using them all the time. I am still fearful every time I open a jar but then I think about some of the people I know who have canned for years and their families are still alive, mostly. Let’s just say none of them was the sharpest knife in the drawer. If they can do it certainly I can too. I need to hear you say that, please say it, even if you don’t mean it, just go ahead say it!
