Frost Advisory!

I can tell the seasons are definitely changing in our neck of the woods. The trees are becoming more colorful, the tomatoes are finishing up (yay!), the days are getting shorter and the farmer's are beginning the big harvest. Top that off with our first frost advisory. The low is expected to be around 34 degrees tonight. Time to cover the tender garden plants!

We started our outdoor wood burner for the first time yesterday evening. Works great! No more indoor mess and there should be alot less dusting on my part! One cool thing about this wood burner is that it also heats our water.

Since the weather turned cooler this week, I needed to pull out our light-weight bed comforters and Audrey's footed pj's. Those pj's always look so comfy!

We also started wearing jackets this week. Looks like I better make sure our heavy coats, overalls, hats and mittens are clean and ready to wear!

I canned the last of the tomatoes yesterday. (HUGE sigh of relief!) I will pick whatever is left today and they will be dehydrated this week. I will not try to save the tomato plants from the frost. They have blessed me beyond expectations and anyways, I don't have enough sheets/blankets/anything! to cover all 24 plants. I will try to save the greenbeans, jalapenos and raspberries. The carrots and onions can handle slight freezing so no worries there.

With the major canning done (unless I find a great deal on apples) I will concentrate on getting the remainder of my pantry stocked. This would include things like oils, seasonings, baking supplies and toiletries. Here are some great links that have helped me stock my pantry.

Food Storage Made Easy

Food Storage and Preservation

and a great yahoo group called food-storage:LDS(and friends) Food storage

All three sites are extremely helpful to those wanting to start their own food storage and explaining why alot of us believe in doing so. In my opinion, it just makes sense. I look at it as another form of insurance.

Time to go stir my simmering chili soup and curl up with some sewing and enjoy the quiet while Audrey is still napping!

Dry Your Own Oregano

I use alot of oregano. Instead of paying an insane price at the store for sub par herbs, I grow them. I recently took my first spring cuttings of my oregano. Once planted, it comes back every year(so far). It grows like crazy. It gives more than what we can use in a year, and that's alot! You need to cut the herb before it flowers so that you can experience the full flavor of oregano. I cut it with sharp kitchen scissors and place the cuttings into a paper sack.




I fill it about half ways.

Then I fold the bag shut and put in a dark dry room to dry. I usually have several (or more)bagfuls by fall that are dry. Once dried, I take the stems and pinch it between my thumb and finger. Then I slide my hand down the stem. This releases the dried leaves from the stem. It's helpful to do this over a bowl or newspaper to catch the leaves. At that point, I put them into an old large canning jar that is no longer usable for canning. I use spent canning lids to close them. Label the jar and store with the other herbs. It's that easy. I have one oregano plant that grows about 12" tall and probably 12-16" wide and it provides for us well. They do get woody stems, so you should prune them at the end of the season. That way, they have nice supple fresh growth in the spring.
Here's a site I found with some more oregano info for those interested.

Making Fruit Leather

I've been making fruit leather again. This time its apple-strawberry. I puree a gallon bag of my home-grown strawberries (thawed from the freezer) and add a little (home canned)applesauce to help thicken it a bit. I then add about a 1/4 cup of sugar. Not absolutely neccesary, but it does help reduce the tartness. Pour onto the trays and dry!
I only have one fruit leather tray that came with the dehydrator. So what I did to be able to make more than one at a time is use wax paper cut to fit the trays. Works really well! I tried using plastic wrap, but didn't really like it. With the wax paper, it's easier to wash it and re-use. I'm all for reusing and eliminating waste and cutting costs! Plus, the wax paper I have is the wax bags from boxes of cereal. I always save those bags, they are so handy! I can't tell you the last time I bought wax paper! On that note, I also haven't bought foil, plastic wrap or plastic baggies in several years. I always wash and air dry what I use and reuse, reuse, reuse! Sounds like a good start to another installment of Disposing of Disposables!

Stocking the pantry from the garden 2008

Canning, I love it and I hate it. I love the independence it gives my family. I love looking at the beautiful colored jars in my basement, just waiting to be ate. I love that I don't have to buy everything at the grocery as long as I can some foods. I hate the long hours standing and making my feet, legs and back hurt. I hate the time not spent with my daughter because she is too young to help me. I hate how tiring it can be. Thank goodness I don't do the harvest-type of canning year-round! All in all, I really do love to can my foods. Like I said, I love the independence it gives us! In 2008, I did more canning than I have ever done before. I had alot given to us, and we made our garden larger. Some other foods I froze, dried or kept in a dark cool place.
Here is what I did:

Canning-
11 qts green beans
42 qts tomato sauce
11 pts carrots
7 qt mater soup
5 pt apple butter
31 qt apple sauce
7 qt pear sauce

Dried-
28 apples
lots of parsley, oregano and lavender
all onions (189)
1 pt maters
1 head sunflower seeds

Froze-
4gal strawberries
12 bell peppers
1gal blackberries

Keeping fresh-
15# carrots
5 pumpkins
5# taters

Key to my abbreviations: qt=quart, pt=pint, gal=gallon, mater=tomato, tater=potato

Notes:
I did not personally grow the apples, pears or blackberries. The apples and pears were given to me. I bought the blackberries from a local farmer.
The peppers did very poorly this year, hence only 12. Then they ended up getting pitched because they had such a horrible taste to them. Don't know what happened there.

Make your own dry minced onions

Many people dry their own bananas or apples, but did you know it is very easy to make your own dry minced onions or dry onion powder? I wait until I find a good sale on onions and buy lots of them. It's even cheaper when you can grow your own! I can only speak from experience with an electric food dehydrator, however I have read where you can dry things outdoors or in your oven. Do a web search and I am sure you can find instructions as to how to do this without spending money on a dryer. I have had mine for many years so it has paid for it's self many times over. This is how I do it...

First, cut the ends off your onions and peel away the dry, papery outer layers. Second, slice your onions to about 3/8" thick. Now lay them onto the dehydrator and turn it on. It takes 12-14 hours in my dryer. Yours may vary. Just follow the instructions that came with your dryer. After they are dry, they should be brittle. You do not want to store them with moisture in them, it will ruin the whole batch.

Next I put them in the blender and whir them to the desired consistency - chopped or powdered.

I store them in old glass jars or chipped canning jars - anything I can't use for canning. I also give used canning lids a second life by using them to seal these jars of dried food. That's all there is to it, it's that easy! Just use as you would normally use the store-bought kind. Only this way they are far cheaper, and if you grow the onions yourself, it is very frugal and self-sufficient!

One tip that I recommend is to place your dryer in your garage or outdoors because it will make your house really stink to dry onions.

I plan on doing this to my garlic this year. I have never done it before, but I am sure it will be the same as the onions. Have fun drying your own onions or garlic!