September 2008 Independence Summery

Things have certainly slowed down now that the peak months of August and September are over. Aside from the peppers and a few straggling tomato plants, the summer garden season is basically finished producing.

Planting, Harvesting & Preserving – Harvested tomatoes, winter squash, pears, herbs and seeds. Still harvesting peppers, some green and a few ripe tomatoes for fresh eating,

Canned 40 quarts of tomatoes in Sept as well as 7 quarts juice, 6 pints ketchup, 7 quarts hot peppers, 6 pints pear sauce, 13 quarts peaches. Froze a multitude of peppers and some additional squash. Dried peppers and tomatoes.

Preparedness & Planning – After a severe wind storm in Sept. causing statewide power outages and a wake up call, we sat down together and evaluated our emergency preparedness and working on manifesting those particulars.

Managing household & reserves – Cupboards were sorted and food and medical supplies evaluated. Looking at more ways to decrease electric consumption (our rates went up nearly 50% in Sept.) and dependence; will be putting up an indoor clothesline and hanger rod for winter clothes drying. Limiting meat purchases. Reasons are twofold - budget constraints as well as freeing up space for upcoming deer season.

Keeping it Local – Bulk and dry goods purchased from local independent merchants, eggs from local Amish, apples from farmers market. Donating excess garden produce to neighbors and friends.

Learned New Skill or Tried Something New – elderberry tincture made, continued research on natural treatments and remedies.

Misc. & Handcrafting – continued work on ongoing afghan project, began working on seasonal gift giving projects.

August 2008 Independence Summery

Well here it is, my August summery, but first things first. I have to share this somewhat fuzzy photo of my largest Brandywine to date.

If you recall the last one I showed you weighed 1 pound 11 ounces. Well this baby came in at 2 pounds 2 ounces! It was darn tasty, too!

Planting, Harvesting & Preserving –

Planted fall crop of romaine lettuce.

Still harvesting garden produce on regular basis for fresh eating and preserving. Harvesting winter squash. Harvested elderberries.

Canned 31 quarts of tomatoes, 15 quarts spaghetti sauce, 5 pints ketchup, 7 pints pickles, 11 pints sweet relish, 12 quarts tomato juice, 21 half pints hot sauce.

spaghetti sauce simmering

Froze 11 very full quarts elderberries, 15 bags squash (some zucchini, some summer squash), green peppers, hot peppers, 19 bags of green beans. I really wanted to can the beans but never had enough at one time to warrant doing that. Baked and froze 4 loaves zucchini bread, excess tomatoes.

Dried 3 pints Amish Paste tomatoes, 1 quart mixed hot [peppers, 1 pint sweet peppers.

Preparedness & Planning – Added purchased canned goods to reserves.

Managing household & reserves – Coop put together a much needed set of shelves in the cellar to store the canned good on in an orderly fashion. He also repaired cellar stairway with new concrete.

Keeping it Local – Eating from our garden daily, purchasing dairy products, fresh sweet corn from local Amish, purchased apples, sweet peppers and melon from local farmers market, sharing garden produce with neighbors and family.

Learned New Skill or Tried Something New – infusing elderberries for tincture as I write this, concocted a recipe for chutney using ground cherries.

Misc. & Handcrafting – yeah right. : ) Working occasionally on that afghan while planning a few projects for fall.

July 2008 Independence Summery

A tad bit late but here's our July Independence summery...

Planting, Harvesting & Preserving – Harvested cherries, raspberries, blackberries. Harvesting garden produce on regular basis for fresh eating.

Preserved 37 jars (1/2 pt) jam (lots of gift giving here!) , 8 pints pie filling, 7 pints pickles, 3 quarts juice, 8 pints beets. Froze 5 quarts cherries, 2 quart blackberries and 9 ½ quarts raspberries. Made 3 quarts refrigerator pickles.

Preparedness & Planning – Added purchased canned goods to reserves.

Managing household & reserves – cleaned freezer of remaining produce from last year to make room for this year’s harvest. Used up the last of 2007’s canned tomatoes by making spaghetti sauce.

Purchased jelly jars on sale, received additional canning jars from friend’s garage sale find, purchased more at auction. I have a surplus of jars at least for now.

Found a good cotton blanket at a garage sale for $1.

Received a supply of candles from our daughter, another garage sale find.

Received an entire wardrobe of clothing from a generous neighbor whose wife had passed away last year. As a result I kept what I could use for myself and gave away the remainder to others who could make good use of them. Sizes were varied so several people benefited nicely.

Keeping it Local – eating from our garden daily, eggs and milk from local Amish. Sharing garden produce with neighbors and family.

Learned New Skill or Tried Something New – made homemade castile soap successfully. Learned to use a pressure canner. Made calendula infused body oil. Now making my own butter. Tried a new zucchini cake recipe.

Misc. & Handcrafting -

Sold a jar of relish and a jar of jam as well as a beaded necklace.

Finished a crocheted shawl and it’s already reserved for purchase!

Crocheted cotton wash cloths.

June 2008 Independence Summery

Planting, Harvesting & Preserving
Planted additional rows of green beans plus four tomato plants (2 black heirloom, 2 white heirloom) and 1 spaghetti squash that were given to us. Mulched garden, made tomato stakes and staked all tomato plants. Harvested & dried herbs, dried bananas, preserved 7 pints and 23 half pint jars of various jams, froze 15 quarts strawberries, two gallon bags of bananas and 2 ½ quarts black raspberries.

Preparedness & Planning
Purchased a few good reference books on organic gardening, root cellars and seed saving to add to our sustainable living library. Discussed ways to cut back on expenses by eliminating certain things from our diet, lowered our electric usage a bit more by using power strips more places.


Managing household & reserves
Still working on eliminating unnecessary goods…donated items to local thrift store, sold a few items on ebay.

Keeping it Local
Purchased strawberries, eggs, milk from local Amish as well as lye for soap making.


Learned New Skill or Tried Something New
Successfully made home-made yogurt and yogurt cheese.

May 2008 Independence Summery

Inspired by Carla Emery’s version of Independence Days, Sharon at Causabon's Book has challenged others to be more food independent.

I agree with Carla Emery when she said, "People have to choose what they are going to struggle for. Life is always a struggle, whether or not you’re struggling for anything worthwhile, so it might as well be for something worthwhile."

Sharon says in an article from May of last year found here that, "Americans tend to believe that hunger could never come their way. They forget that just two generations ago, during the depression, as many as 25% of urban school children were malnourished, and people stood in bread lines. They forget that the experience of privelege we've known in these wealthy nations is very odd - a historical anomaly. That pretty much all human beings starting with our grandparents and going back knew periods of food insecurity - and that the majority of people in the world know hunger at some point in their lives. Should we bet the farm on the notion that this magical immunity to the plague of hunger will go on forever?"

Although Sharon suggests keeping a weekly update, I've decided to blog about it in a monthly format from time to time, since I already keep a handwritten journal on my growing, preserving an harvesting efforts.

Planting, Harvesting & Preserving Heirloom gardens planted with a variety of tomatoes, peppers, peas, beets, green beans, zucchini, spinach, midget melons, a variety of winter squash and pickles, basil, onions. Planted dill patch and lettuce patch. Potted 11 citronella plants for the patio, 3 small cherry trees on old barn bank. Planted zinnias, lily bulbs, transplanted a sedum as well as several volunteer sunflowers.

Harvested & dried herbs, strawberries

Preparedness & Planning Purchased additional green beans for late summer crop. Bought pinto beans in bulk, divided and packaged for storage. Added storage containers to and organized reserve food storage area. Purchased additional toilet paper for reserve as well. Bought used sheets at Goodwill to use as garden covers during frost warnings. Made 2 gallon of liquid soap for laundry and dishes, made cloth napkins from materials on hand and purchased some used at thrift store to eliminate the need for paper towels. Discussed the details and likely purchase of a Rhoades Car with husband to lessen our dependence of petroleum.

Managing household & reserves Inventoried freezer, used up items nearing the end of freezer life, made croutons from old bread, used last of the winter squash from 2007 garden, donated unnecessary household goods and clothing to freecycle.

Keeping it Local Purchased butter, eggs, milk from local Amish, put in order for 20 quarts of strawberries for jam making from another Amish acquaintance. Purchased flour, sugar and additional staples from neighborhood bulk food markets.