Weekend Plans

Posted on 2008-Oct-3 at 06:26

Fridays start my weekends and so last night I planned out what we will be doing over the next few days.  It started raining here and many are saying that Fall is upon us and the nice weather is over.  Before the rain started we hauled in the rest of the ripe and almost ripe tomatoes and picked the peas.  I still need to check if the eggplant and corn can be picked that was left can be picked.

Today our focus will be on grading this weeks school work, planning for next week, and teaching next week's material.  As I am meeting with each student (3) the others will be working on baking and watching the little kids.  In between we will be washing diapers and catching up on some other laundry. 

Tomorrow we will be working on some miscellaneous canning - stewed tomatoes and salsa, applesauce, peppers, carrots, peas, and pumpkin.  After that we will continue working on the sewing that we began last week.

It is belt tightening time around here.  We are unplugging phantom load electrical items, turning off lights, and hanging laundry in the house.  We have all of our food we needs stored away but I would like to bring down some of our other expenses.  DH gasps when he sees how much it takes to run our household, but laughs at trying to cut a few dollars in electricity.

I am working on Christmas plans around here.  For awhile I have wanted to try and make more of the kid's gifts.  This year I think I am going to finally do it.  I have a list of what I want to do and now I need to get started.

Well Johnny (4) just woke up and told me he was dreaming about juice, so I guess it is time to serve breakfast.  We are having pear baked oatmeal.  Lunch will be sandwiches and dinner roasted chicken, scallopped potatoes, pea salad, carrots, and peach pie.

Sunday Supper

Posted on 2008-Sep-28 at 07:25

We just finished eating our Sunday dinner.  On the menu was ham, mashed potatoes, apple cider, corn on the cob, and eggplant and zucchini in tomato sauce.  We had apple pie for dessert.  Our dinner contained the following ingredients that were not from our farm - flour and lard for the pie crust, milk and butter in the mashed potatoes, and salt in several items.  Everything else was from the farm including the ham which we cured and smoked ourselves.  It is satisfying to know that our food supply is from the sweat of our own brow and God's provision in our lives.  We continue to strive to eat as much as possible from our farm.

Our food preserves stand at 93% of our annual food needs.  We have a few more jars of applesauce to put up, many more tomatoes, and hopefully some more corn if the cobs ripen.  Some items like cabbage, peas, carrots, and brussel sprouts will continue producing into the winter.  We have lots of weeding to do in the garden and of course clean-up of the items that are done.  The pigs will love all of the surplus and over ripe items.

DH is working on a new pig house right now.  We expect piglets around Christmas and he is working hard to finish the new house before the rains start.  It is concrete on the bottom, block going up about 3 feet on the sides, and then wood frame.  This should be a nice secure shelter for when the piglets come.  Next to be done will be to finish the barn stalls so that the goats will have a nice place to kid.

Saturday several ladies from church came over and we sewed.  I am working on prairie style dresses with pinafores for my 4 girls.  I did not make much progress, but it is a new pattern for me.  It takes me awhile to work through a new pattern.  Also, the sizing is not very good and I am going to have to make some adjustments.  These dresses will cost me about $12 each with the pinafores because of the large amount of fabric.  I am considering getting another fabric to coordinate with the pinafore so it could be worn over two different dresses.

Lastly, while we are just finishing preserving and still need to clean up outside for Fall, it is time to start Christmas plans.  I am making my list for each of the kids so that I can get started on sewing projects that I think the kids would enjoy.  Most of our gifts will be practical items that we would not normally buy - like dress boots to wear with their old fashioned dresses.  I am planning on a dress up outfit for each of the older boys who wonder why the girls get to play pretty dress up with dresses and they don't.  I would like to make each of the girls a special doll.  We'll see if I can get to it along with the regular dresses, nightgowns, slips, skirts, etc. that need sewing.

Happy homesteading . . .

Still Preserving

Posted on 2008-Sep-20 at 06:42

The kids are excited about the progress we are making on preserving.  They feel such ownership and pride in the hard work they have done this summer.  We still have a little ways to go – we are 85% of our needs for the year.  We have about 50% more to do to meet our goal of maintaining a surplus.  In numbers, we have completed 700 servings of fruits and vegetables and have 500 servings more to go.  We have completed half the pears and apples.  Still to do – the other half of pears and apples, peaches, tomatoes, peas, pumpkin, and spinach.  Peas and spinach did not do well in the spring garden, so we are trying them again this fall.

The children will be off school this week and probably on a minimum schedule – math and reading only for the following week.  We started early knowing that we would have a fall preserving break.  They have a long list of preserving to do every day to meet the last of our needs.  They are so proud of the fact that they are helping put food on the table.

I think we are all excited to take a break from the garden in another month or so.  As we head into October, our focus will shift to sewing – nightgowns are first on the priority list.  I hope this fall to spread my sewing wings and maybe make some shirts for the boys.  I also have a quilt to finish and the girls are planning to start one.  By then we will also need to make some more soap.

It is time to head to the forest and start collecting wild herbs, berries, and mushrooms.  We collect several medicinal herbs as well as elderberries for making cough medicine at this time of year.  Our favorite mushrooms to collect are chanterelles and we dry saute them and freeze them for the winter.

Our hope and prayer for the fall is a milk cow.  We know that in the fall people start getting rid of their animals for fair prices because they don’t want to feed them through the winter.  My husband is not so sure as he does not want to get stuck milking.  The girls are very excited to try milking.  We believe our milk goats are bred so we will start getting some milk this winter either way.  We believe the sow is bred also, so we’ll have Christmas pigs.

We transitioned to our new menu and have had very little to purchase from the grocery store.  We have stocked up on local honey that was collected by a friend on the property adjoining us.  We of course are purchasing wheat, oats, and rice.  I will at some point have to purchase baking supplies - baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, etc - but for now I am well stocked.  We are making all snack items from scratch.  This has gone lots smoother than I thought it would.  We have been making something almost every day.  We keep out what we need and put the rest in the freezer.  When we need it again, we take out what we need.  With snacks not just sitting in the cupboard, they are not just slowly disappearing.  LOL.

I hope you are enjoying the abundance of your homestead . . .

Family Identity

Posted on 2008-Sep-5 at 07:17

Every night we share the most special time as a family – devotions.  We sit around the kitchen table and we read from the selection for the evening.  We are reading through the New Testament right now and are in Acts.  The children that are too young to read, repeat after Dad as he reads a scripture.  Then each family member who can read takes a turn.  We discuss the reading and then close with prayer.  Some nights we focus our prayer on our family, other times we rotate to pray for our church, friends, extended family, missionaries and other topics.  Occasionally we will also enjoy a time of signing before or after our devotion. 

The time we do devotions is 8:00 PM and it is a wonderful way to wind down the little ones before bed.  The children also get to practice sitting quietly, closing their eyes during prayer, and saying prayers.  As parents, this is a time as a family that we can offer spiritual direction but also correct our children’s behavior.  This is one of the ways we are establishing a family identity.

If you have followed my blog for long, you now that our six children are adopted.  We also have a niece that we are raising.  Our goal for our children is to be more influenced by our family than by others that may enter their lives.  Therefore, we want to create a strong family identity.  This is who we are. 

When my niece came to live with us, my 8 year old daughter told her, “we are a hard working family, we raise our own food, make our own clothes, we don’t watch television, we wear dresses, we go to church, this is just who we are.”  At 8 she already knows some of the core ideas of who we are as a family.  We have family sayings like, “Makaleas never quit!”  We have funny names that we refer to our family as, like the Makaneeta Monkeys. 

On this blog you read lots about what we accomplish on our homestead as a family.  This is all done as a family unit.  It is building our identity.  It is part of who we are and it connects us.  We don’t live this lifestyle just to have done it.  We live this lifestyle because it is a core belief that it enriches our family in so many ways. 

Jars, Jars, Jars

Posted on 2008-Aug-28 at 04:22

Today we canned.  And canned.  And canned.  We completed corn, green beans, zucchini, enchilada sauce, beets, and applesauce.  I may even squeeze in the last of the blackberry jam.

This weekend my husband is having about a dozen people at our house that are coming in from different states and another country.  We are hosting these people starting tonight until Sunday.  I found out on Monday that I had to be prepared to feed all these people meals during their stay.  DH had previously told me he had it covered. 

Thus the reason we are canning as fast as we can.  Tomorrow morning we will have to start baking for the various meals.  With our family, we are cooking for 21-25 people for the next 3 days.  We also have to finish our cleaning tonight and finish preparing linens.

Busy, busy, busy on the homestead.

Lots Done

Posted on 2008-Aug-24 at 07:42

Yesterday morning we went out early to the garden and gathered all the produce to preserve.  We gathered our tools and headed to the canning kitchen.  We put up 7 quarts of corn, 7 quarts of green beans, salsa, zucchini in tomato sauce, and broccoli.  We finished freezing our summer sausage we made.  

We also did a little more organizing in the canning storage room.  We realized that we will need 35 quarts of pumpkin for baking so we needed to make room for those jars.  We looked at our preserving list and although we are only at 36% of what we need to preserve, mainly it is just the big items left.  We have apples, tomatoes, pears, and peaches left primarily.  Since these are water bath items, they'll go quickly once items ripen.  We'll make significant progress in the next few weeks.

I am anxious to get back to some sewing and other projects, but all my time is dedicated to food preservation.  I have to look for another freezer so that I can finish vegetables and have room for chickens that need to be butchered.  We have a new menu plan starting in September that is based on all out own meat, fruit, vegetables and baking.  I am looking forward to having a plan in place.  During the summer we kind of make it up as we go along.

Another Day on the Farm

Posted on 2008-Aug-22 at 07:38

Today we awoke early and canned some corn and blackberry jam.  We rotated homeschool time with home cleaning chores.  We went to Grandma's house in the late afternoon for a little while.  Bread got made, beans got picked, bathrooms were cleaned, and laundry was washed.  It was just another day around the farm for a homeschooling, self-sufficient seeking family of 9.

This is Why . . .

Posted on 2008-Aug-15 at 07:26

This is why people butcher in the late fall.  Here I am trying to preserve for a family of nine and now I am making sausage too.  We really needed the meat, but I wanted to make my own summer sausage so I know what's in it.  Sausage making takes hours - which I know - and there are other things I would rather be doing especially in 105 degree weather.  We are about 1/2 done.

We are hibernating in the canning kitchen in the basement, but it is still warm in here.  We canned a batch of green beans and froze some broccoli.  Summer squash is in the dehydrator.  I bought some peaches and am planning on making jelly and peach salsa.  The guy I got the peaches from said he'll have plenty for canning at a decent price of $1.10.  That's good news.

My oldest and I are planning on going to bed shortly and then working in the middle of the night.  We have to cook the apples for applesauce and can't do it in the heat.  We'll get up later and start cooking and cutting and peeling for apple pie filling.

I'm tire just thinking of it all.

Abundance

Posted on 2008-Aug-13 at 09:23

By the grace of God we started our home school year on Monday.  My hectic schedule means that I have to prepare, grade, and teach on Fridays.  The 3 school age girls are then doing their assignments Monday through Thursday.  We'll have to cut back to 2 days a week for school when we kick in to high gear for preserving, so they started a little early.

Yesterday we spent the evening carefully packing our largest freezer with our beef we got back from the butcher.  The heifer weighed in at 842 pounds hanging weight!  We had our first steaks tonight and were pleased with the meat.  The cutting by the butcher could have been better, but it will feed us for the next year.

Tonight we had a lot of preserving and prep work to do.  We grated zucchini for freezing and we diced zucchini, blanched it, and laid it on a baking sheet to freeze.  I have not had good luck freezing zucchini to eat in the winter as a veggie, but I am hoping the diced will work to throw in a soup now and then.  If you have any tips on preserving zucchini I would love to hear them.  They are one of my most favorite veggies.  I will can some with tomatoes when the tomatoes are ripe.

We also canned green beans and froze some whole.  We froze some blackberries.  We also ground some pork shoulder roasts to mix in with some ground beef to make summer sausage tomorrow.  I found a recipe that calls for mustard seed, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper.  After you mix it and put it in the casings, you smoke it for 4-5 hours until it is cooked.  I am pretty excited to try this as we have had good success making our own pork sausage, bacon, and hams.

I was asked to share about making sauerkraut, so here it goes.  I slice the cabbage after washing it and mix one medium to large size head with 2 tablespoons of sea salt.  I then push it down in the bowl with a wooden spoon so it releases some of it's water.  I pack mine is 1/2 gallon canning jars, continuing to press it down as you put it in.  I use plastic screw on lids to cover the jars tight and leave them on the counter for a week.  I leave on the counter for longer if I am planning to eat it without canning it first.  However, for canning I pack it in wide mouth pint jars after one week.  I pour some of the juice into each jar.  I heat 4 cups of water with 4.5 teaspoons of sea salt and add it to the jars until there is 1/2 inch of head space left.  I process the pints for 15 minutes in water bath canner.  If you like your sauerkraut stronger, leave it on the counter longer before canning it.

This coming weekend I expect we will being canning applesauce and apple pie filling.  The kids have been eating windfall apples for weeks, but I have been waiting patiently for them to be perfectly ripe for canning.  The tops of the trees look ripe so we will pick there to get started and should be able to spread out the canning as they continue to ripen.  We will also be drying apple rings. 

I am researching planting wheat this winter and spring and hull-less oats in the spring.  If we are going to do it, we will want to turn the soil once or twice before the weather is yucky.  Now I know that lots of people say it is not worth it because of the amount of work it takes, but I still want to try.  With wheat and oats, we are only a milk cow and beehive away from food independence.  Sure there are a few little things here and there like baking soda and salt that we would need to purchase, but it would be extremely minor.

DH is seriously talking about starting my greenhouse.  We got a false start last summer and it didn't go anywhere.  He has been able to salvage some sliding glass doors to use for the roof and walls, so now he has a vision.  Before I had a vision and he had the know how and muscles.  Somehow it was not a winning combination.  Do I dare order some seeds and start some greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes for the winter?

Daily Work

Posted on 2008-Aug-9 at 10:44

Today we have finished our canning for the weekend.  Yesterday we did jam and got green beans ready.  Today we canned the green beans and some sauerkraut.  I have had the hardest time getting some jars of sauerkraut to seal this morning.  I think the Kerr lids just never seal for me like the Ball lids.

We also did our weekly cleaning list.  This is a short list of items that we have to do once a week – dust, wipe window smudges, water plants, empty trash, and vacuum.  We are also doing our weekly room which is the laundry room today.  Cabinets are being decluttered and organized and everything gets cleaned and wiped down.

Of course we have our standard two loads of laundry to do, but something has happened I don't recall in recent times.  ALL THE LAUNDRY IS DONE!  Yes, I did say all done, which for a family of 9 is a small miracle.  At some point laundry got caught up and when I went around today to look for two loads to do, I had to gather from everyone's room.  A little part of me thinks, is it possible that we could maintain this. 

Hopefully we will also get to some baking - bread, cookies, sweet bread, and dessert for dinner.  I told the kids I would take them on a surprise adventure if they finished their work.  I have the county fair in mind.  We love to look at the sewing, quilting, canning, baking, veggies, animals, etc.  We may not get to it all, but it is good to have goals.

Happy homesteading. . .

Extra Perserving for Difficult Times

Posted on 2008-Aug-8 at 12:14

In the garden, the fall peas are poking through the soil.  It is so much fun to see another round of vegetables coming up.  We are harvesting green beans right now along with the last of the cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.  We ate our first tomato and zucchini is beginning to inundate us.  Blackberries are just ripening and the children have picked three times this week.  We got 4 gallon bags frozen and 14.5 pints of blackberry jam with honey made. 

Are total preserved this year is 27% of our annual food needs and we have 53% of our food on hand.  The difference is the carry over from one year to the next.  Someday it is my hope to have 2 years of food on hand and be at 200%.  I have no idea though where I would store it all.

This is a perfect reason why I wish I had two years worth – I can’t find peaches.  Apparently, our local peaches were frozen in a late frost and they are few and far between this year.  One place was embarrassed to tell me that they are selling for $2.50 per pound.  Even though I said I was willing to pay that, they doubt they will have enough to sell for canning.  She so kindly told me not to can them this year and can twice as many next year.  Well, that will do me no good this year.  I am still on the hunt.

Apples and pears are in huge abundance this year and I should be trying to can as many of them as possible.  I think it would be impossible to just can two years worth at once, but I would like to increase my reserves from 25% to 50% this year.  I will need to consolidate some shelves in order to make that happen and have the room that I would need.  I have read lots of blogs and postings that people have had a difficult gardening year.  I certainly want to protect my family from a year where we are not able to preserve enough to see us through.

Fall Gardening

Posted on 2008-Aug-1 at 05:09

We spent the last few days on vacation and had a grand time.  There was lots of swimming and the pool we were at did not have any issues with us swimming with dresses on.  We are probably much better off than all those that were over-exposed to the sun. LOL! 

Before we left we were able to put in the fall garden.  This is the first year that our garden has been full for all seasons.  Here is what we have done to make this happen.  We put in many things early so that we are already harvesting them and making room for new things.  Harvested items include - peas, spinach, broccoli, potatoes, beets, turnips, and carrots.  We have succession planting going on carrots so I have been able to use the first ones for canning and freezing.  Potoates were harvested early due to a pesky gopher family getting fat off of my hard work, but still we harvested 185 pounds of them. 

After harvesting many of the items we have replanted items which includes - broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, onions, peas, spinach, carrots, beets, chinese cabbage, and potatoes.  We had room for most of these items and some were interplanted amongst established crops.  We will put in garlic later in the fall.  If the majority comes up, were we used seeds, then we will continue to harvest and preserve well in to the late fall.

Before we left we picked green beans and zucchini.  Upon returning we have grated zucchini and froze in 1/2 cup portions, canned carrots, picked and snapped green beans and put in the canner, blanched whole green beans for freezing, and blanched carrots for freezing.  I find that frozen green beans are great for stir frys and the frozen carrots are being frozen on a baking sheet so I can grab a handful to flavor dishes as I need them.

We have completed about 20% of our preserving for the year, but have about 45% of our needed food supplies.  This is due to items remaining at the beginning of this year's harvest.  We also took a cow in to be butchered so we are looking to add some variety to our diet.  My 4 year old lectured me the other night on how it is not nice to kill cows to eat them and that it is our job to protect them.  He went on and on with some really complicated thoughts on the subject.  I said, "do you like hamburgers?"  He said, "Yes."  I said, "They come from cows."  "Oh."  We had hamburgers for dinner and he has had nothing more to say on killing cows.

Little Pesky Varment

Posted on 2008-Jul-25 at 04:37

A stinky gopher is eating my garden.  It seems that it has been a particularly difficult year in the garden with more bugs than usual, seeds not germinating, and things eating the plants that do come up.  I know that I am not alone as I have read of others having difficulty.  We had to dig up all the potatoes already to save what we could.  The gopher may have won the battles, but I won the war.  I would have liked to hear his little sigh of frustration when he couldn't find any more potatoes.  He headed to the carrots.

The potoates are curing in the garage and we are considering planting more.  I canned some carrots, beets, and turnips.  I am considering pulling all the carrots and canning or freezing them to keep them from the gophers' jaws.  I must have some fat and happy gophers!

We harvested our first green beans, summer squash, and zucchini.  We have save most of the squash and bean plants from bugs, but they got the cucumbers.  This is a year when I am happy to have plenty of pickles canned.  This is the reason why people talk about having two years worth of food put away in case you have a bad harvest.  I preserve extra if I have the produce and the room to put it, but we need so much each year it is difficult to get ahead. 

Next week is our family vacation and we are really looking forward to it.  I am off of work now for 10 days and I can't wait to spend some time at home.  The girls and I are working on aprons, bonets, and nightgowns on the sewing front.  We figured out our sow is not bred so we will need to get a piglet or possibly go without pork for a few months.  As always we are keeping busy and enjoying our little homestead. . .

Gardening and Preserving

Posted on 2008-Jul-14 at 10:44

Every other night now we walk the garden to see what needs to be picked and harvested to preserve.  Soon it will be every night.  A few potatoes here and there, some lettuce, peas, broccoli, turnips, and cauliflower is what we get these days. We watch the squash, cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers that will be ready soon.  A few of the fall items are planted, but we need to make room for more.  There are some places where we will tuck in things.  We have to consider which items need safe places to winter over. 

Carrots will be thinned in the next few days and blanched and frozen for winter soups and stock.  They need to make room for the others to grow.  By cutting only the main broccoli crown we have gotten good side shoot growth and I continue to harvest the same plants.  Every other night we blanch and freeze a few more packages.  I choose to freeze mine in 2-cup portions with a vacuum sealer.  The bags are labeled on the top above the seal so that they can be easily reused later when the seal is cut away.  The are progressively used for smaller and smaller items.  Having just blanched vegetables stored in them, they are easily recycled.

Herbs are being cut weekly and dried a little at a time – tarragon, mint, lemon balm, sage, and thyme this week.  It changes each week.  I dry these on their stems and then take the leaves off when they are dry.  I store these in recycled mayonnaise jars that aren’t safe for canning and put a recycled mayonnaise jar lid on top.  We’ll keep about 1 quart of each culinary herb on hand for winter.  Many herbs in my herb garden will be available in winter, but a pinch of this and a smattering of that in winter cooking is easier and more likely when dried herbs are available in the cabinet.  Large quantities of lavender were cut, are now drying, and will be available for winter projects.

Medicinal herb quantities are stored based on need.  I have a ½ gallon of plantain dried.  I am working on feverfew this week.  I also need to visit the river bottom to see about some nettles.  Elderberries are my must have, but that is still many months off.  I have had great success with making elderberry cough syrup that is preventative.  I extract the elderberry juice from the dried elderberries with 100 proof vodka.  This takes several weeks.  I then mix it with a good amount of honey until it is a syrup.  I add some homemade apple cider vinegar and some echinacea and goldenseal tincture.  A tablespoon of it stops my sore throats from progressing in to a full-blown cold.  I have been very pleased.

The heat is supposed to taper off a little this week so we will try and get the fall garden planted.  Already planted are broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, and carrots.  We need to plant peas, spinach, lettuce, onions, and potatoes.  Onions will winter over and we’re going to try for a second harvest of potatoes this year.  It is fun to experiment. 

Already thoughts and plans for next  year’s garden float in our head, but the reality is that there are nearly 4 more months of tending to and harvesting from this garden ahead of us as we enjoy God’s bounty. 

Keeping Busy

Posted on 2008-Jul-10 at 08:15

Things have been in a whirlwind around here.  We are battling a bug around here.  It is quite nasty and the doctor is a little puzzled by the symptoms.  We have been going to the hospital and doctor quite often.  In between that we did get both raspberry and strawberry jelly made.  We have freezing peas and broccoli.  We enjoyed our first turnips from the garden.  Okay, enjoyed is maybe a little much.  This weekend we'll put up about 56 jars of cherries and dry the rest.  Next weekend is blueberries.

We have been drying both medicinal and culinary herbs.  Tonight I put a lot of them in jars.  Old mayonaise jars that you should not use for canning are great to store dried herbs, dried beans, dried corn, etc.  Also made today was some horehound candy with lemon and honey.  This will get stored away for sore throats and coughs this winter.

We had a lovely 4th of July.  We had people over from church and had a nice BBQ and time of fellowship.  We went to a Civil War reenactment on the 5th.  It was fascinating and the kids really enjoyed it.  It was lots of fun to see everyone dressed up from the era and get to see how they lived in addition to the battles. 

Busy, busy is the story here.

Up Close and Personal in My Garden

Posted on 2008-Jun-29 at 05:14

The Big Picture - My Garden

Posted on 2008-Jun-29 at 05:12

Work and Play

Posted on 2008-Jun-27 at 09:48

We had both a busy day and one filled with play.  We cleaned out all freezers (5) in the house and re-organized them.  We cleaned them all out and sorted them again.  We inventoried all of the items and entered them in our spreadsheets.  We were also able to figure out that we will need to butcher pigs again in November.

After taking care of the freezers we headed to Wal-mart and picked up some swimsuits, towels, and a life jacket.  We are dress wearing but we do swim with dresses over swimsuits in the rivers in the summer.  Then off for a picnic lunch and a little swimming in the river.  It was a nice treat on this very warm day.

Later we headed home and whipped up a birthday cake.  Little Morgan, my baby girl, turned two.  She isn't the littlest still but she is my baby girl.  I can't believe how quickly she has grown.  Dinner was her choice - hamburgers and potato salad.  We then had a nice cake with fresh strawberries and ice cream.  She got a doll and a ball for her special day.  The ball was liked the best but right away was taken over by the boys.  It must be hard being 2 with two brothers 3 and 4 so close to you in age.

Tonight we sat outside and cut out three dresses.  We will begin sewing tomorrow some dresses for the 4th of July.  We also got some fabric today for 3 more dresses each for our upcoming family reunion.  They always seem to have getting dirty dresses and nice dresses for church, but never enough middle of the road, presentable in public dresses.  With only 3 or 4 each in the latter category, I would like them to have a couple more to make it through a week away.

I put up some peas and some broccoli today.  We still have some more onions to plant this weekend.  I took a count of the number of onions planted versus how much we need for a year and I am short still.  We'll see if we are able to get enough grown.

Canning and Preserving

Posted on 2008-Jun-25 at 08:38

We have been canning away and freezing some too.  I did a little spinach and broccoli.  I also have done 36 pints of jam between raspberries and strawberries.  I thought it would be helpful to show a little piece of two of the spreadsheets I use to track what I need and what I am preserving.  This first one is where I calculate how many of each item that my menu requires for a year. 

	Item	Description	Breakfast Month	Lunch Month	Dinner Month	Total Per Month	Number of Months	Total Needed	Current Count
Canned and Frozen Preserving
f	Apple	Cider				0	8	0
f	Apples	Apple Butter				0	10	0
f	Apples	Dried Rings	1	1	1	3	8	24
f	Apples	Fruit Leather		2		2	10	20
f	Apples	Pie Filling – Dry		1	1	2	10	20
f	Apples	Pie Filling – Thick			1	1	10	10
f	Apples	Sauce	3	2		5	10	50
v	Beets	Regular Canned			1	1	10	10
f	Berry	Conserve				0	10	0
f	Berry	Syrup				0	10	0
f	Blackberries	IQF	2			2	10	20
f	Blackberries	Jam	0.5	2		2.5	10	25
f	Blueberries	IQF	2		1	3	10	30
v	Broccoli	Frozen			3	3	10	30
v	Brussel Sprouts	Frozen			1	1	10	10
v	Cabbage - Kraut	Canned			1	1	10	10
v	Carrots	Whole			1	1	10	10
v	Cauliflower	Frozen			3	3	10	30
f	Cherries	Bing Canned		4		4	10	40
f	Cherries	Pie Filling				0	10	0
f	Cherries	Regular Canned				0	10	0
v	Corn	Frozen Cobs			2	2	10	20
v	Corn	Regular Canned			2	2	10	20
v	Eggplant	Frozen			1.5	1.5	10	15
f	Grapes	Juice		2		2	10	20
v	Green Beans	Regular Canned			5	5	10	50
v	Green Beans	Whole			1	1	10	10
v	Kim Chi	Canned			1	1	10	10
f	Peaches	Canned - Elbertas	4		3	7	10	70

This second sheet show I how I track what I have already canned.  The desired quantities don't match up because this second sheet is based on my historical experience and not on a menu.  It is a work in progress.  Both of these are not all inclusive of all items because they would have been too long so I just cut them off at peaches.

Date	Fruit/Vegetable	Food Product	Process	Size	Quantity	Source	Count
	Apple	Cider	Water Bath	Half Gallon	40
	Apples	Apple Butter	Water Bath	8 oz	6
	Apples	Dried Rings	Dryer	Tray	12
	Apples	Fruit Leather	Dryer	Tray	12
	Apples	Pie Filling – Dry	Water Bath	Quart	6
	Apples	Pie Filling – Thick	Water Bath	Quart	12
	Apples	Sauce	Water Bath	Pint	50
	Apples	Sauce	Water Bath	Quart	50
	Beets	Regular Canned	Pressure	Pint	8
	Berry	Conserve	Water Bath	Quart	5
	Berry	Syrup	Water Bath	Quart	5
	Blackberries	IQF	Freezer	Gallon	6
	Blackberries	Jam	Water Bath	Pint	15
	Blueberries	IQF	Freezer	Gallon	6
6/24/2008	Broccoli	Frozen	Freezer	Cups	30	Garden	2
	Brussel Sprouts	Frozen	Freezer	Cups	20
	Cabbage - Kraut	Canned	Water Bath	Pints	24
	Carrots	Canned - Sliced	Pressure	Pints	10
	Cauliflower	Frozen	Freezer	Quarts	40
	Cherries	Bing Canned	Water Bath	Quart	20
	Cherries	Pie Filling	Water Bath	Pint	8
	Cherries	Regular Canned	Water Bath	Quart	20
	Corn	Frozen Cobs	Freezer	Gallon	20
	Corn	Regular Canned	Pressure	Quart	30
	Grapes	Juice	Water Bath	Half Gallon	60
	Green Beans	Regular Canned	Pressure	Quart	50
	Green Beans	Whole	Freezer	Cups	20
	Peaches	Canned - Elbertas	Water Bath	Quart	100

Weekend Update

Posted on 2008-Jun-22 at 08:47

This weekend I was able to get some additional garden starts and get most of them planted.  I now think I have enough of everything.  I am not sure that I can fit any more in the garden until some of the harvesting is done.  We picked 40 pounds of strawberries picked and 19.5 pints of jam made.  I got almost all of the girls' homeschool materials purchased.  I am now ready to do my prep work so that we can start school in July.  Today we had friends over for Sunday supper.  It was a full weekend spent away from home much to much, but it was full of accomplishments.