Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Harvest Time/Busy Time


Not sure which is a busier time of year, spring planting and babies or fall harvest.  We are so thankful for all God has provided and is continuing to provide for us this year. We are in full swing of food preservation. This year, we are doing drying of herbs, freezing and canning our veggies and fruits. One of the projects we want to add to our homestead would be a solar food dehydrator. I have found plans on Mother Earth News https://amzn.to/2mKGDjC that I want to make and look forward to using.  We will see if time allows for us to add one next year. Our orchard is growing and most of it is doing well. We look forward to having our own fruit over the next few years, but for now are very thankful for the local fruit we are able to pick or purchase to put in storage for this winter. Our vegetables are doing well and we are in the middle of summer squash, beans, peas, potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, and peppers. We are also able to season our food from our garden with our own herbs!


 Garden harvest takes place in many forms. Drying of herbs, canning, freezing, and dehydrating. We have been studying different ways of food preservation and it is recommended to store food in many different ways. Basically the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket. If your power goes out and you loose all your freezer food, what would you do? If you have all your food in glass canning jars and an earthquake hits your area sending your food crashing to the ground, what would you do? So variety is key in anything you do.
 
This year I dried our herbs a little different than last year. And a whole lot easier, lol. This year I picked stems of herbs and then I rinsed the dirt off them, I tied them all with a thread, put a note thru the thread of what it was and hung them on the railing in my loft to dry. I checked the other day and a few are done, but not all are "crispy." Once they are all dry, I am going to crumble the leaves or all but the stems into a jar so they are ready to use as seasoning.  Super excited to have my jars all cute with my seasonings this year.  

Canning is a big project but so rewarding!  Seeing all your jars stacked on the shelf is well worth the work put into it.  Oh and there is the whole eating your own food all year long with such flavor aspect too! So, in my mind, canning requires the most attention to detail as well as the most responsibility. Botulism is a risk with canning. Know the risk, but face it head on and take proper steps to can and you will be rewarded with food that tastes amazing as well as lasts for years to come.  I highly recommend the Ball Blue Book for canning https://amzn.to/2mlDc2p it will tell you how to prepare your food for processing as well as times and type of processing required.  It is important to sanitize your jars before using them. Sanitization of jars is not just washing them or running them thru the dishwasher. It is important to boil them for 10 minutes on a hard boil before placing food in them. After boiling your jars, remove them, pour the water out and if you are running a few batches then cover the jars that just came out so that flies or dog hair, etc. does not find its way into them. Some canning involves raw packing right into the jars, wiping the rims, placing lids (that have also boiled for 10 minutes), and rims onto them and then placing them in either pressure cooker or canner pot for allotted time. Once the cans have processed, follow removal directions per the recipe and then let cool and sit for 24 hours. After 24 hours, check the lids by pushing down in the middle. If nothing happens, great, if it pops down and or back up then stick it in the fridge and use sooner than later. That jar did not seal, no big deal, treat it as a jar you just opened and use it.    Canning opens a whole world of opportunity. You can do everything from simple to complicated. Peaches and tomatoes are a few of the easier things to start on and give you great yield (and pretty color on your shelves). All you do is dip them in boiling water, slip the skins, and take out pits for peaches, shove in jars, pour boiling water or a syrup over the fruit, lid, rings and process.  Jellies and jams
are also great for learning to mix things. Purchase a package of Sure Jell pectin, follow the recipe inside and it will walk you thru step by step on how to process your jelly. It is as simple as that. Once you decide to expand, try relish, sauces, and eventually meat. This is my first time canning meat and I am very excited about it!
Meat has to be pressure cooked for a long time. Chicken is 75 minutes. I must say I would not have considered it had my grandma not said it tastes so good and is such an easy meal to prepare because it is already cooked and ready to warm and serve, that is my kind of meal!


Freezing food is a simple necessity in our household. A good vacuum sealer is a must. I have to admit, I thought it was a gimmick, however once John came home with one for our venison, I saw how easy it was to use and amazing it kept our food longer with no freezer burn, it is well worth it.  We started with a Food Saver https://amzn.to/2mKIuVC and it has been great for the last four years. I think I just wore it out. Currently, I am looking for a new one this year before hunting season. Keep an eye out on our Instagram and Facebook page for what we choose.  I'll give you my opinion and compare the two for you. I like to freeze my food ready to eat. So corn is off the cob and ready to be warmed up. Zucchini is shredded in two cup bags ready to mix into bread.  Zucchini and yellow squash is washed, sliced and packed into bags ready to stir fry. Squash is cooked, pureed, butter and brown sugar added and frozen into family sized bags ready to warm up and add as a side dish for dinner. When freezing food, think of  how you will serve it. How much will you need to feed your family for a meal? How do you want it seasoned? You are already doing the work to store it away, what is a couple more minutes to save you time when you serve dinner? It is completely doable to not have huge dinner prep and yet have an amazing home cooked meal simply by putting your food away during harvest in a way that you use as a family.

Another way to preserve your food is dehydrating. I hope to have more on that next year.  As mentioned before I want to build a solar dehydrator next year. I did a little of it last year but I have more to learn and experience before I share too much on that.

Food preservation is a lot of work, but it is rewarding work. It is a great feeling looking at your shelves at the end of harvest and looking in your freezer knowing you did all you could do to plant, grow and preserve the food God has provided through the work and effort you put forth. It is good knowing what your family will be eating the next year. I feel it is a responsibility that I have to fulfill. I ask God at planting for a bountiful harvest, I need to faithfully put away and use what He has given me. Have fun, be creative and enjoy your food knowing what is being put into your families bodies.  


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