This week I was both planting and harvesting. I have a lot of eggs and a lot of greens to bring in each day.
A friend came by and he mentioned his fridge at home was empty. I was able to send him off with plenty to get him going.
Mum came and I had a basket of eggs on the kitchen table. She couldn't believe they were one days eggs!
So I was dealing with food every day but what did I preserve!?
Lemons and eggs went into more Lemon Butter.
I made little cakes and froze a dozen.
The Bay Leaves I picked at Mum's were dry so I packaged them up. I love these packs with windows. I get them at the cheap shop. I think they look really nice for dehydrated foods, as a gift.
I think it is good to know the prices of things. At the supermarket I looked at the packets of Bay Leaves and if was several dollars for just a few. I counted and could see they are around 50c EACH. So my big packs of 30 or more are a good gift. Organic too!
I dehydrated more Parsley and filled another jar and also some more Capsicum.
We have greens everywhere, weeds for the animals, Spinach, Chard, Silverbeet, Celery, Parsley. Also many healthy Stinging Nettle specimens.
Andy is drinking Stinging Nettle tea daily so I better get out there and pick some more.
So, I had Parsley, Lemon Butter, Cakes (also scones), Bay Leaves and Capsicum. Six out of seven.
I must be getting somewhere as when my neighbour gave me all her Mothers vintage Fowlers preserving jars.... most being the biggest size... I had no idea that now they would all be full. I love those jars! Food in jars, lined up, beautiful preserves and dry goods are a lovely sight! Better than money in the bank!
Because our weather is warming up I can start to air dry herbs and not use the dehydrator as much.
What have you added to your pantry and stores this week? It does not have to be food. All necessary supplies are part of our pantry. I have a laundry, bathroom, animal and medical pantry. I love to add to them all! xxx
Hi Annabelle and bluebirds, it's getting to the end of harvest time here in Washington state USA. Today we canned 23 jars of green beans to add to the 147 in the pantry (we share with our children's and older family members throughout the year). Also picked Marion berries with my sister then made the berries into jam so far have gotten 17 half pints. Also froze berries for pies and future jam making sessions. The berries were gleaned from a local farmer who was done picking for the season and allowed us to go and pick for free! We picked for 3 days !! Such a blessing. We will be making MORE jam this next week ☺️ Tomatoes are ripening in the garden so I picked them and made a batch of spaghetti sauce and canned 6 pints. Then made salsa and canned 6 pints too to add to the pantry. The pantry is filling up nicely ☺️ I am not officially doing the challenge but have been working at putting away anything and everything that comes my way. Have a great week 😊 love Gaila in the NW
ReplyDeleteDear Gaila, Well done on all those beans! The jam would be beautiful! Also picking berries is so much fun. I love foraging and gleaning so much, maybe my favourite thing to do! With the salsa you did so much! You are way ahead I think with more than something every day! Your shelves will be bursting with goodness! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteHave enjoyed your blog for years now. This past week I have been dehydrating pumpkin and apple slices. Most of my garden has already been cleaned up for fall, the freezer is full, I've almost used up all my canning jars also. I need to get in and organize as at my busiest preserving, I just started putting things away willy-nilly.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! A full freezer, full jars... dehydrated pumpkin and apples.. these sound very good and you have been busy! xxx
DeleteIt is such a blessing when we can help others with our pantries!
ReplyDeleteWe used a ham bone for soup that fed us three meals. I finally have a good recipe that we enjoy for using up ham bones. We made our 25 pound bag of apple seconds that we bought for $10 into 18 pints of delicious applesauce that was canned and put away for winter meals. We planted the root end of a head of celery and it is growing. Peanut butter chocolate chip bars were baked and 2 dozen went in the freezer and also a lemon cake that we sliced up and froze two slices in a package. We saved a half gallon pickle jar for food storage. We are still harvesting a few tomatoes and banana peppers and green beans here. On Saturday we went to a salvage grocery store that is farther afield that we had not been to before. The deals were fantastic. We bought three packs of 100 disposable plastic cups for $1 each, Chocolate chips 2/$1, gluten free flour .79 a bag, huge bell peppers 3/$1 which will be chopped and frozen for later, we bought 6, huge onions 4/$1, 10 pounds of potatoes for $2, celery 50 cents, 1# bags of tortilla chips were $1, bags of sugar for 1.79. There was more that I am forgetting but we got half a cart full for $30. We will be going back there for sure.
We thought we might have some unexpected overnight guests, and they may still come but I thought through what we have here that I can make meals from last minute and felt really pleased that I can make many meals last minute and have several baked items in my freezers to offer as well. This is what pantry building is all about!
Dear Lana, Yes it is! I notice two groups. I hear even Mothers say that if there is trouble or lack someone will help them and even count on their kids to do it. I see others who live to make sure their kids and grandkids, family and friends are going to be ok because they are prepared. I am in the second group. As long as I am upright and have a pulse I want to be taking care of my family! A ham bone is great! You got a great amount of applesauce from those apples! Celery is great at re growing. Your baking sounds delicious!
DeleteI am so glad you were able to get so many great deals! You are right, with a well stocked pantry we can whip up a meal without needing to go to the shops. Guests are no problem! You had a great week! With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel
ReplyDeleteMost of this week was spent harvesting from the container garden and then sifting the soil to remove the roots so we could use the same soil next year. We harvested carrots, chard and 20 pounds of sweet potatoes, some of which I traded with a friend for butternut squash. The carrots were used to make no'mato soup which we had with grilled cheese sandwiches and the remaining two quarts were frozen for later use. I also added fresh ginger slices to the freezer.
Dear Cookie,
DeleteYou had a fantastic harvest! So good having enough to trade as well! The soup sounds beautiful, I love soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Ginger in the freezer will be very handy also! A good week! With love Annabel.xxx
ReplyDeleteI found 28 limes and 11onions in a markdown produce box for $2, so I went to work slicing and dehydrating the limes as RoseRed showed in a YouTube video about dehydrating lemons. When they had dried, I ground them up into a powder and got these 2 jars that I vacuum sealed. https://pin.it/4XXWOa3. The onions are dehydrating currently and I will add these to my pantry shelf. And this is a photo of my “huge” potato harvest! https://pin.it/zBtSMPi. It may look tiny, but I added more potatoes from the store to them and made a tasty pot of loaded potato soup that fed us for 4 meals!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Dear Gardenpat,
DeleteThe limes and onions were a great deal! The powder would be beautiful!
The soups sounds beautiful! I love the small of dehydrating onions and how handy they are to add into recipes! You did well! With love Annabel.xxx
I canned zucchini relish last week and overdid. Hence, the muscles in my shoulders and neck froze up and I am on Prednisone for a bit.
ReplyDeleteI did get, before that, more cherry tomatoes dehydrated, some lemon verbena, some lemon balm and some calendula. I dehydrated chives and ground it into a powder.
There was more that got added, but my typing is extremely limited due to my neck and shoulder muscles. Hopefully, next week, I will have more to share.
Your eggs and bay leaves are impressive, Annabel. What kind of papers are around your delicious looking cakes?
With much love,
Glenda
Dear Glenda, Oh no I am sorry it is awful to have shoulder and neck pain. For my little cakes we call these patty pans or cup cake wrappers. They come in several sizes. They are so good. You have brought so much goodness in from your garden! I hope your neck is improving! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteGlenda and Annabelle,
DeleteI have used castor oil packs on many ailments in my body and I am told they work great for frozen shoulder. You need a thick pad of layers of cloth and you apply castor oil to the cloth and lay it on the affected area during your quiet time. You can reuse the cloth many times.
Much love, Patti in California
Your cakes and lemon butter looks so yummy. And your bay leaves look like a gourmet brand of food. Anxious to head over to Gardenpat's links to see her chive powder and potato harvest. Sorry to hear of your muscle pain, Glenda, I'll be praying for your healing.
ReplyDeleteI had severe back issues in the Spring, and was forced to plant a small garden. God is good! Several friends have blessed me with extras from their gardens. And I was able to glean a lot of apples from a tree on public property...3 bushels.
My days are full with: homeschooling, driving kids to work shucking corn, taking my 14 yr. old daughter to cross-country practices/meets, and picking up my eldest son from work. So I felt blessed to stay home today and get some preserving done. I canned a huge batch of applesauce, made blueberry kombucha, made Greek yogurt, baked bread and made a large batch of pigs-in-a-blankets (sausage rolls).
Blessings to you all,
Leslie
Dear Leslie, I hope your back is heaps better now. How I remember driving the girls around in the teenage years especially! You did a lot with the applesauce and baking, yoghurt and kombucha! A good week! With love Annabel.,xxx
DeleteOur local grocery store had russet potatoes on sale, so I got 25 pounds, which I am canning up right now. Looks like I'll get 18 quarts. I have gone around to all the herbs in my yard to harvest them and get seeds for next year. The seed heads are in labeled paper bags hanging on pegs in the laundry room. I need to repot some of the herb plants and move them to a sheltered spot in the garden until next Spring. We are enjoying the cooler weather here in southern U.S.. It makes it much easier to do the yard/ gardening work.
ReplyDeleteThis week we returned from our trip out west and are now playing catch up on chores. I cleaned out the garden beds yesterday and collected the remaining tomatoes. The red ones I have cooking in the crockpot to make bbq sauce. The green ones I will fry up tonight to eat with our bbq pork sandwiches. I had a lot of cherry tomatoes so I just added them with the others to make the sauce. Every little bit does count. I also harvested 14 pie pumpkins which will be processed in various ways this week. I bought a bushel of apples from the local farmer down the street for $20 (US). I am dehydrating these. I have lettuce, spinach and kale growing in the garden. I made a hoop house over the bed to try to extend the season for a few more weeks. When I went to the grocery store yesterday it was very disheartening to see the prices. I have decided we will eat from our freezers and pantries the rest of this month. I saved green bean seeds for next year's garden.
ReplyDeleteI added to my freezer this week: leftovers made into fresh dishes, meats bought on sale, soup, etc. At the grocery I picked up spices on sale. I got pepper, cinnamon, coriander, seasoning salt, and several others for pennies that were being clearanced out. I went in to pick up a prescription and passed by the clearance area. Did the same at another grocery, rain in to pick up sales items, looked for clearance priced items and put them into the freezer. I may not have a garden but there are ways to make every little bit count!
ReplyDelete