Idaho potatoes

A thought to start off the year

2011-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while......I plan on starting. But i'd like to get a few things straight first.
I write I pretty much mean, at the time. But this doesn't mean that I might not change my mind. I may write about how important it is to weed your Garden and then not weed mine for weeks. Call it what you may But I am not perfect. But if you don't agree with what I say, can't we agree to disagree? We can still be friends ]. Right? Here are the rules. If you read my blog you must agree to disagree. No and I did not vote for Obama...so if you have a problem with that you should stop reading now.

all sorts of things....

2009-07-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

There are so...many things you can do with a dehydrator......

and yogurt is #1

So we buy our yogurt in the large tubs and then pour small amounts into bowls...My kids waste it if I don't. But at a certain point I have left overs that need to be used. Here is my solution. I dry it. I was sorta sceptical about this. But let me tell you that with kids around you won't be able to make enough....

Get started. I would recommend if you are going to be making fruit leather alot that you use the leather trays. You can buy them at any Walmart they are just a plastic smooth tray that make clean up so easy and makes the process so easy....Until then cover your trays with syran wrap.

Spread out your yogurt to about 1/8Th inch of thickness. Or just dollop and spread.

Make sure you still have the hole in the center for the air flow....

As you can see from this picture it will be different thickness in some parts......I used a cake froster to spread out a little better.

Dry for about 2-4 hours...Check often

I have no pictures of the finished project cause they were so good that they were gone to quick to take a picture. Roll backwards making sure roll up only touches the syran wrap they store for up to 1 week in a air tight jar. enjoy!!!

The excetiment starts to build

2009-07-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

As I start to think about the preparation to can I get butterflies....My excitement is starting to build. Oh the hard work, the fun of being with friends and chatting while we work, the reward of pulling those jars out of the "cool" water, only later to put them on my shelf and take a step back to see the benefits of my hard work. Its nice to think that in our generation of living that we can for fun. While back in the day it was a necessity of a way of life. It food was not canned and stocked families would starve.

Now is about the time that I should take a look at what we have consumed over the last year and make a plan to restock and add to my collection!!! I did this around planting season also. I tried to plan my garden around what I might can. I planted a lot of tomatoes. My garden is is full bloom....But I am waiting for those Utah Cherries and peaches to hit! I am still running high on applesauce...But you can never have to much!! I want to try a few new thing this year. More Chutneys and relishes.... I have a huge LIST started already......If you have any new ideas I would love to hear????

Here is a recipe that I plan on trying to can.

Jalapeno cranberry jelly

Ingredients:
3 cups cranberry juice
1 cup chopped seeded jalapeno peppers
1 cup white vinegar
7 cups sugar
2 pouches (3 ounces each) liquid fruit pectin
10 drops red food coloring, optional
Directions: Place cranberry juice and peppers in a blender;
cover and process until peppers are fully chopped.
Strain through a double thickness of cheesecloth.
Pour the strained juice into a Dutch oven; add vinegar.
Stir in sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.
Stir in pectin; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute,
stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; skim foam.
Add food coloring if desired. Carefully ladle hot mixture
into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace.
Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for
5 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
Yield: 8 half-pints.

You can serve the jelly with cream cheese on crackers or use as a condiment with meat
or baste you poultry to BBQ. It is so YUMMY!!!

Note: When cutting hot peppers, disposable gloves are recommended. Avoid touching your face.

The processing time listed is for altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. Add 1 minute to the processing time for each 1,000 feet of additional altitude.

Eating a weed...Not smoking it.....

2009-05-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Its weed time here in Idaho...No I don't mean the weed that you light up, that makes you see the world as roger rabbit does. But the weed that grows along the ditch banks here.

Asparagus.... Oh that yummy weed that me and my kids love! My husband, not a huge fan of asparagus has recently become found of pickled asparagus. A tangy version of pickles. My kids really love these! So I thought since most of us can find this stuff pretty cheap right now or free for that matter, that I might show you a way of cooking it that even a non asparagus lover might end up loving!

This is also a great way to pickle green beans too!
You are gonna need a few things:
7 Bunches of Asparagus - I sorta think that for every bunch you have is about one jar (A quart size)

For the brine:
10 cups Apple cider vinegar
10 cups of water
1 cup Pickling salt (not table salt)

For the spice:
1 Tablespoon Pickling spice
1 Clove garlic

7 quart size jars or about 15 pint size
Water bather
Normal canning supplies

First Start the brine. Boil the water, vinegar and pickling salt.

Set out all of your jars, water and sanitize them....or run them through the dish washer on the rinse cycle. Set them out. Start to peel garlic. You can mince the garlic or you can just lightly smash the garlic. You can use more than one I use from 1-3 depending on the size!

Place the garlic and 1 tbs of the pickling spice in bottom of the jars.

Snap asparagus. the bottoms will snap off at the inedible part. Just make sure they fit in the jars.

Take the bundle and shove them in the jar. OK be a little more careful than that! You can use the smaller spears to place in the spots that are open.

Once the jars are filled you can ladle the brine into the jars.

Ladle the hot liquid into the jars. Making sure to leave a 1/2 head space at the top of the jar.

Put on the lids and rims. Put them into a water bather and boil for 15-20 Min's.

Set them out on a towel and don't move for 24 hours!!! Don't eat for at least a week. They take time to feel the love. The longer they feel the love the more you will love them and the stronger they will be!

remember this is a low calorie snack for you to enjoy!!!Try it its super nummy!

Hip chick plans...

2009-01-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

So remember how I was saying that you should plan out what your family will need. So one of my favorite Oregon blogs... http://www.hipchickdigs.com/

Has posted a planning, planting and canning/storeing guide for your family.Pretty cool check it out!

The catalogs keep rolling in....

2009-01-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

I think I am going to order a few fruit trees and few harder to find plants from a catalog (Gurneys). BUT I think the bulk of my Veggie seeds I am going to a local nursery or just plan old walmart.

They are 2 things to know when picking out seeds....What zone are you? and How long is your growing season? We have a VERY short growing season and we are zone 4....VERY COLD where it can get to -30. So because of our short growing season..I will stay away from seeds that take 95+ days to grow....the shorter the better..well for me. If your growing season is longer....then you can go for longer. They are alot more to choose from.

If you know me you know that I have huge love and admiration for older people. This is a perfect time to indulged in my love. THE BEST PEOPLE TO TALK WITH ABOUT A GARDEN is the older people around you...go to Walmart and strike up a conversation with any older person you may see in the seed area. Go visit someone that lives next to you that you see gardening. Most of the time they have so much knowledge and they are willing to share...SOME I SAID!!! You can always get that old cranky person, that wants nothing to do with you. I am in luck where I live...my cup runneth over with old people and ones that are really good at gardening.

So for now my gardening stuff will be on hold....until it gets a little closer to season. But I will keep planning and starting to buy my seeds. I will keep you updated. Soon it will be time to start them inside..this should be fun!!!! Are you excited? I am!!!

Victory garden planning.....Part 2

2009-01-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

Planning your veggie garden is from what I have been told.... the most important thing. (I guess...besides buying the seeds). But I have been having alot of fun with this. Truth be known I had no idea that there were so many different types of plants. I have been just amazed!I love looking through all of the seed catalogs....and browsing online.

Here are some of my favorites:

http://gurneys.com/

http://www.parkseed.com/

http://www.humeseeds.com/

http://www.seedsofchange.com/

or just go to Walmart.....

What does your family eat and what are you going to grow???

Make a list of the things that your family will eat and things that you would like to grow.....Then think about space.....

First of all where are you going to plant everything? and how much space are you going to need?

Even the smallest back yard or porch can produce a crop of vegetables in containers. Planter boxes, wooden barrels, hanging baskets and large flowerpots are just some of the containers that can be used. The container gardener is only limited by his own self. When I lived in a much smaller house, with a tiny postage stamp back yard, and it was only my husband and I, we used the container method. Our tomatoes grew like crazy, our lettuce and peppers did well. You just get MUCH LESS. But now having a family of 7, I need my yield to be greater. Plus now have lots more space.

The traditional method of vegetable garden layout was to plant long rows. Most home gardeners now plant in beds rather than rows. This method allows you to concentrate on the area where the plants are growing rather than wasting time on the paths between the rows.

(Walking between the rows also ruins the soil structure, so beds can be better way to go.)

Beds need to be small enough so that you can easily reach in to weed and harvest all the plants without stepping on the bed itself. Also, if you raise your beds about 8 to 12 inches, you will have improved drainage and the soil will stay warmer in colder weather, such as early spring. Last year I tried raised beds. The problem that I found was that our soil is so hard and rocky pass that 4-6 mark. So once my carrots got through the good soil they were stubby Plus I ran out of room fast!!! Not enough to feed 7 people.

This year I have chosen wide row gardening.....Here is some information.

This is taken from Ed Humes web page http://www.humeseeds.com/

Wide-row gardening may be a practical solution. It is a way to produce an abundant quantity of vegetables in limited space. Wide-row gardening means grouping several rows together, rather than planting in single rows. This reduces the amount of walking room between rows. In addition to saving space, it saves time, increases yield and makes harvesting easier.
I want to utilize every inch that is available, we have used this method in our garden for several years. With the rising cost of produce we consider this to be especially important. Vegetable beds are about four feet wide and 20 feet long. Here is an example of how much space this conserves: In one wide-row bed two feet long I can plant the equivalent of a 48-foot single row of garden carrots.

Put another way, a bed four feet wide and 20 feet long seeded with carrots is the equivalent of 480 feet of carrots planted in a single row. Wide-row planting also means I can expect to harvest up to six times as much produce per foot.

I find that this method of gardening saves me a lot of time and it is important that I use my time to best advantage. Watering time is cut down because the lower foliage tends to shade the entire area and reduces evaporation. Also, because the crops are planted closer together, they tend to crowd out weeds. Fertilizer is conserved, too, because all the soil that has been prepared is utilized.

Using the wide-row method, more than one row is planted of a particular crop. For example, instead of planting a single row of bush beans, two are planted close together. To make the wide-row even wider, plant three, four, five or more rows close together. Spacing of plants in the rows will depend entirely on crops grown. Directions on the back of the seed packet will specify how close together that crop should be spaced.
I plant in four-foot-wide beds because it is easy to reach across this distance from each side for weeding, watering and harvesting purposes.
As in all vegetable gardening, the key to success is proper soil preparation. Take extra time to properly till or spade the soil to a depth of six to 12 inches. Mix in ample amounts of compost, if available, processed manure, well-rotted manure and an all-purpose vegetable garden fertilizer. After mixing these soil additives with the existing soil, rake the area level to eliminate low spots where water night collect and keep the soil cool. By mounding the planting area you will find the soil dries out and warms up sooner and crops reach maturity at an earlier date.

Plan the layout of the garden before you start planting, keeping in mind that tall-growing crops should be to the north. Otherwise, they would shade lower-growing plants.

A Location & layout.....Do you have a spot in mind?????

LOCATION (Ed Hume)
Choose the sunniest, brightest spot in the whole yard. If there's not such a spot, choose the next sunniest spot, avoiding any areas that are too shady, as leaf-crops are about the only thing that will grow in limited sun. If you are limited for space or do not have a bright, sunny spot in the yard, then you can grow some vegetables in containers on a sunny patio, deck or lanai. In fact, you'll be amazed at how many vegetables you can grow in a really limited space, such as a container. A few years ago my neighbor, who had a very small yard, grew all his vegetables in the sunny part of his garden, amongst his summer flowering annuals. Being a Montana farm boy, knowing what he was doing, he harvested a fine crop. Of course, in such situations one would not use harsh chemicals or pesticides.

A LAYOUT

Or just draw something up on a piece of paper....

There are lots of web sites that you can plot up a garden for free or a small charge. Some people swear by it. But I just draw mine out on a piece of paper and it never is the same anyways....I follow what it says to a point....but mostly I just switch things up a little bit and correct it as I go. But it serves as a good guide.

NOTE:

There are some plants that, when planted close together, will benefit each other. Likewise, there are certain combinations of plants that will inhibit the growth of one or both types of plants. Here are a few combinations to avoid:
Potatoes – inhibit growth of tomatoes and squash
Beans – inhibit growth of onions
Broccoli – inhibits growth of tomatoes
Carrots – inhibit growth of dill
This isn’t to say that you can’t grow these plants together in the same garden, just don’t grow them right next to each other.

My Victory Garden....Part 1

2009-01-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

During World War I and World War II, the United States government asked its citizens to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. Millions of people planted gardens.

In 1943, Americans planted over 20 million Victory Gardens, and the harvest accounted for nearly a third of all the vegetables consumed in the country that year. Emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort -- not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty.

Times were alot diffrent back then....But imagine the money that you could save by planting a garden....

Why plant a victory garden?
Today our food travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to table. The process of planting, fertilizing, processing, packaging, and transporting our food uses a great deal of energy and contributes to the cause of global warming.

Planting a Victory Garden to fight global warming would reduce the amount of pollution your food contibutes to global warming. Instead of traveling many miles from farm to table, your food would travel from your own garden to your table.

Our current economic situation is other good reason to start a Victory Garden. Every time that food is shipped from the farm to the store and your table, gasoline is used. As gasoline prices rise, food costs rise.

How can my actions make a difference? I’m only one person.

Each one of us may only be one person. However, we each have an impact on the environment and can make changes to reduce our impact.

I have no backyard, what can I do?

You can combine vegetable plants with flowers in your frontyard.
You can plant containers on your porch, patio, or balcony and can grow sprouts indoors. Or Check to see if you have a community garden available. Perhaps a neighbor or friend without time or ability would let you garden their yard, in exchange for some produce.
If these options are not available, you can also choose to purchase foods which are grown close to home by visiting your local farmer’s market or joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

If local foods are not available to you, choose foods which use fewer chemical pesticides - such as organics, are in season, or have minimal packaging.

For more information go to http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/

They have alot of great information and sites to further help you.

This is the start of my step by step plan of my garden....and yes, in January.... I have started to plan out my garden. I have started just by looking at my seed catalogs that have been arriving in the mail soaking wet, daily. For right now I am just planning....soon I will start plotting, and figureing out what I want to plant....

But for now its just so much fun to look at all of the types of plants and veggies that available. A little over whelming to the begginer.

Stay tuned tommorrow for more....

Self Reliance in 2009

2009-01-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Self reliance used to have a different meaning to me before I had a family of my own. I have recently found that it has nothing to do with the fact that I could make hamburger helper with out reading the directions, or that I could buy cookie mix and just add milk, slap them on a tray and call them "homemade". I have always had a love for cooking....although not always super tasty....my husband/Guinea pig.... dare say has been spoiled Rotten in more ways than one......With my Love of "homemade" I have sorta taught myself to just do things by taste and have learned by watching and experimenting.

I grew up as a only child in a family where my meals were prepared, served to my room and eaten in front of the Television. There were no dinner tables, conversations or the chance to help and learn. It was easier and faster for my Mom to just get it done herself. My mom went to the store just about every day to pick up the current nights meal and some of the "this and that's" that she may have needed. The store people knew her by name.

But as I have had a family of my own I have often thought how would you take care of a family of 7 if a emergency were to happen? If there were no grocery store to go to... and what if my husband lost his job and food sky rocketed and became scarce. Some time in my life I made a decision that my kids would grow up differently. That each of them, would learn the art of cooking, cleaning, gardening, canning and sewing.

I have recently come to the realization that canned foods just won't cut it. We will all die from sodium content.....My kids love FRESH fruit and veggies which happen to be the most expensive things to buy at the store. Meat..eggs, milk and water are things that we need to sustain a happy and healthy life. How do we get these basic things without being dependent upon stores and others?

In order to be personally prepared, I think there are a couple of key things that you need....Knowledge, of growing,preserving,sewing and preparing. I am working on my skills with most of these, but mostly the sewing one. I am a beginner...This is why I have started this blog. To share with you my trials of learning to become self sufficient in a world that we are very dependent.

My goal with this blog is to share my goals about gardening, cooking, canning, sewing, home food storage and our families personal preparedness. These are my opinions, ideas and thoughts....Feel free to comment and give any friendly advice and or ideas. My goal for 2009 to become less dependent and more self sufficient, saving money and teaching my kids a different way of living.