#everybitcountschallenge. Week 3.
I am trying to preserve or put up food every day and Spring clean every day as well! I did ok! Spring has really kicked in and I am working in the garden and planting and planning lots to harvest in the months to come.
I wrote down each thing I did but not what days I did them so I will start from today and work backwards. Today I went exploring and looking for more nettles to pick. I came back with a lovely basket full.
There is an endless supply in the sheep yards. Dogs are not bothered by them evidently!
The only limitations are harvesting all I want before they die down in summer. Also I want to pick them while they are so fresh and good. So my dehydrator is full of nettles. I also plan to harvest more and make a tea/garden fertiliser with them.
I baked scones and muffins and added some of each to my freezer supplies.
More celery was harvested and dehydrated. I was able to give Mum a big jar as she uses a lot of celery in her soups.
Spinach, Silverbeet, Chard and Nettles went into my greens jar. The smaller jar is just nettles for tea. As I add to the jars it is crammed in some more and becomes more and more crumbly.
Several capsicums were also dehydrated and I got a bunch of Parsley from the swap tables and dehydrated that as well. It turned out so nice and bright green.
So how am I doing? Nettles, greens, Capsicums, Parsley, Scones, Muffins, Celery. That is 7 out of 7!
Now I am bringing in about 24 eggs a day. In winter we went through quite a few weeks where the hens moulted and went on strike. This is normal and they deserve a break but I think it went on a bit long. So next year I am going to feed them extra and build them up as much as I can before winter.
To be prepared for times without so many eggs I am thinking to freeze some in muffin trays then pop them out when frozen into containers. What are your best tips on keeping eggs when you have plenty to spare?
The challenge has me making much better use of all the greens in my garden. Next I want to blanch and freeze Spinach as I have a fair bit. Every bit really does count!
I saw a terrible headline in the news. Well, actually, I saw a lot but this one "Starve or freeze to death: Millions of elderly Brits fear grim choice this winter." This isn't confined to the UK at all it is widespread with dramatic energy costs at the same time as high food costs. Add to your shelves. How did you do this week? xxx
I remember my mum picking nettles in Italy and cooking it like any greens , delicious with beans or minestrone
ReplyDeleteI first discovered they were edible from German friends who used them all the time! But it took me a long time to get used to the idea! xxx
DeleteThis is great, I didn’t do the challenge as I’m putting up all sort of thing everyday. I going to do it in March as I would like to do nettles and green veg to make green powder.
ReplyDeleteI have damson, elderberry and blackberry on the stove and later will make jelly with it.
Have a good week
Your jelly is going to be beautiful!
DeleteI've not long finished up a small batch of strawberry jam. Katie, Jared and Spencer visited a strawberry farm and picked as many as they could before Spencer ended up covered in squished strawberry. I've made five small jars of delicious jam.
ReplyDeleteI've been planting out seedlings, that I started from seeds, or were given to me, most days. I am drying off calendula flowers as they open on the plants. This is ongoing.
I have spinach, nasturtiums leaves and flowers, and celery in the dehydrator.
This week I have been saving seeds from Rocket, Coriander, Bak Choy and Chinese Celery.
I have worked out a plan of attack for my Spring cleaning and will be getting on with it. I have already cleaned all the windows and pressure washed the veranda. A little everyday will see things getting done.
Dear Jane,
DeleteHow nice to get fresh strawberries! Yum! All the planting is going to give you a lot to harvest down the track. I havent had much success with Calendula so I am trying again... I want them so I can dry the flowers.
With dehydrating and seed saving you have a lot of beautiful ingredients. A bit every day is the way to go, the jobs you have done so far are big ones! Windows are on my list still. But everything seems so much better with clean windows. Also pressure cleaning is hard work but the results are fantastic! You did a LOT! With love Annabel.xx
In the UK we are warned not to pick nettles after the beginning of June as they then have a laxative effect. I know that doesn't affect anyone right now, but I thought it worth mentioning.
ReplyDeleteThank you Su! xxx
DeleteI made 6 pints of pear preserves, 8 quarts of pear pie filling and 5 pints of muscadine jelly this weekend. This past week I filled the dehydrator with apple slices.
ReplyDeleteMamaHen, Good work! Pears are beautiful. I am hoping I get a good pear harvest this year! You added loads to your shelves! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI continue dehydrating herbs and vegetables on a daily basis. We have well over a bushel of cucumbers that need processed this week. I gathered all the recipes and wrote down step by step directions, plus all spices and equipment needed, for future use.
ReplyDeleteI have a canning notebook and, if I am not around, anyone in my family can take care of what produce needs processed. I include all forms of preservation in the notebook for reference.
I dehydrated four pounds of carrot shreds to use for soups, muffins, cakes and breads going forward. It is easier and more versatile than canning carrots. I don't pre-blanch the shreds, but I do spritz them with a bit of pure lemon juice and they stay beautifully orange.
The dehydrated section of our food storage room is growing. We continue to take advantage of sales and availability of items we use. As bulk dry items come in, I divide the food into glass canning jars and vacuum seal.
Have a wonderful day.
With love,
Glenda
Dear Glenda,
DeleteHow amazing to have so many cucumbers! We are the same having our dehydrator running constantly! I had not thought of shredding carrot and dehydrating that... this is brilliant! Thank you for the tips on the lemon juice. Im thinking zucchini would be good this way too. You are working hard and you have a good variety of foods. I love putting up dry goods. I like my glass jars so much! I have filled a lot of jars this year!
I hope you still will get more harvest before the growing season is over. With much love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel.
ReplyDeleteYou achieved a lot this week - 7 out of 7 is extraordinary.
I am glad you harvest so many nettles - they are good to eat only fresh in Spring. You can cook them green as well, like any other greens - I do this exactly like spinach, with a bit of garlic and cream, served with omelette or fried eggs.
The liquid fertilizer does wonders in container gardens! Mine were growing and producing almost over night when treated them to nettle tea. I keep the nettles on buckets filled with rainwater for 4-6 months and after straining I add half liquid/half fresh rain water - the smell is terrible though. But as I do not use any chemicals, my boy eats tomatoes right from the plant this tea helps the plant a lot.
I was glad you already planted tomato seedlings - let them have a few sucklings and after removing them keep in water until roots are developed and plant them in soil. Free plants with good quality! - I did this for the first time this year and manage to multiply to over 50 new plants just out of 10 seedlings bought at the market. I will definitely do the same next year.
Lots of eggs there - say hello to your chickens from my golden ladies. And hello Molly!
On the bad side - we have the same headlines here, and we know the reality is always worst than the news on the papers. They say today gas price jump with 30% higher because of Russians stopping one of their gas pipes to Europe. We have to prepare the best we can. Have a nice and productive week ahead,
Love from Laura_s_world from Romania
Sorry, I meant 4-6 weeks, not months....
DeleteDear Laura,
DeleteI am going to try this to get more tomato plants. I knew knew this before! I get a lot of free basil plants every time I harvest basil I re grow the stems and get so many! If I can do this with tomatoes it will be amazing!
Also thank you for the information on the nettles. I have dehydrated so many now and also started the fertiliser tea.
I am so glad you are getting lots of eggs! This is wonderful!
I heard about the pipeline. Things are very concerning for winter. I am so glad you are preparing. I hope everyone is but I know they wont be. I am doing my best though to encourage being ready. What I think will happen is just as the weather starts to really cool there will be panic on stocking up and alternative ways to keep warm... and things will sell out. So whatever you may need please get as early as possible.
I am also getting a lot of eggs! It is fantastic. Also a joy as chickens are so happy and lovely! I hope your week is going well! With love Annabel.xxx
Last week I canned 7 pints of apple butter and 21 pints of applesauce from our apple tree.I still have 4 gallons of apples that I'm going to peel,slice & freeze for crisps and pies.My husband helps me as he's retired now so that helps a lot ! I'm going to dry radish leaves today also for my greens jar. I also need to dry some raspberry and strawberry leaves for tea.Whenever I find eggs on sale I freeze extra,I just break them into my ice cube trays and pop the yolks with a fork and when frozen pop them out and store them in freezer bags.
ReplyDeleteAll that apple is just beautiful, well done! It is great your husband helps you with all this processing! I did not think of radish leaves but of course! Good idea! I am pretty good at growing radishes too! Raspberry and strawberry leaves for tea are wonderful. Thank you for your tips on how you freeze the eggs. I need to be doing this while I have so many coming in! Thank you! xxx
DeleteHello Annabel
ReplyDeleteSorry I don't write much when I write, but I just wanted to comment on your stinging nettles. Did you know they are one of the most potent anti-histamine? Funny because the stings make the body release histamine! I only say this because I thought of Lucy and her migraines, they could be related to histamine production. My son has recently worked out he has histamine reactions, it's amazing the list of symptoms. He has stinging nettles tea to help.
Thank you for this information on the nettles! Thank you for thinking of Lucy too! I am going to do some research on this! xxx
DeleteI should have also said, I've read not to pick the nettles if they're seeding as they can be an irritant.
ReplyDeleteYour basket of nettles is just beautiful! Isn't it amazing what can be done when we look around to see what we have? This week you've inspired me to be in my kitchen, making and baking. I'm practicing to make pretty cookies for gifts this Christmas! Also, I'm dehydrating some mushrooms to make a powder for flavoring different dishes. And parsley is going in the dehydrator as well! I spent a few minutes last weekend reading on your old blog, and I learned so much! Thank you for writing to us! It's a blessing to me!
ReplyDeleteStacy 💕
Dear Stacy,
DeleteWhat a good idea about the cookies! I like your plan! Mushrooms are really good for flavour and also thickening. I am glad you have been on my old blog too! It is like the lead up to the next step which is farm life! Our journey here was so exciting! Thank you for your kind words! With love Annabel.xxx
I am still busy canning green beans. They are such a great vegetable for the cold winter and all my children love them. I also have dehydrated spinach, chives, basil, sage and lemon mint. I have tomatoes to use up next and more beans to pick! It's time to start our homeschool year again but everything is learning so I'm counting all the help the big boys do as school!
DeleteI first thought that was mint...I have plenty of peppermint and chocolate mint to pick and dry plus other herbs. I feel behind every day. So much to do before frost. I'm also doing fall cleaning as well...its good to be busy.
ReplyDeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI haven’t kept chickens in a while and would love to have some again. When I was keeping my Australorps, I kept them laying double yolkers all through winter by feeding them hot layer mash. I just added boiled water from the kettle to their regular layer mash, allowed it to cool, then gave it to them for breakfast. They then could free range all day and have their corn, pellets and fresh fruit and veggie scraps for dinner. It gets down to minus 5 regularly in our region and I reckon the hot mash set them up for the day, just like porridge does for us. Love, Jennie💚💚