Hello, my friends. Our family has been so busy with the homestead and life that I haven’t taken the time to write.
The garden is slowing down and we are nearing our first hard frost. Having labored through the past 8+ months, I am so ready for the slower months. I love the garden, but I’m never too sad to see it go at the end of the season. Then, February rolls around and I am itching to get my hands in the dirt again. It’s a beautiful cycle.
The last several weeks have been full of preservation. Through the summer, we decided to freeze our tomatoes so that I wasn’t canning on 90 degree days and heating up the house even more. Now that it has cooled off, we’ve been pulling them out and processing them. I only make tomato sauce with our tomatoes. Tomato sauce can be used to make pasta sauce, ketchup, etc. We don’t really enjoy stewed tomatoes. Preserve what YOUR family eats, not what you think you should preserve. It takes far too much time and work for you to end up dumping your food years from now.
Every year, we get a buschel of seconds apples from the local orchard to turn into applesauce. We got 15 1/2 quarts of sauce this year! I’m really considering trying to pick up another to make some more to make it through a year without having to buy any from the store.
In the years past, I have missed out on so much preservation because I felt like I didn’t have enough to make it worth the work. This year, I have truly embraced “every bit counts”. My dehydrator has been running quite often. I’ve actually taken to preserving clearance grocery store produce. I have 24 pints of grape jelly (that cost me $10!) , tons of dehydrated mushrooms, potatoes, etc. all snagged from the markdown section at the grocery store. Bargain bin preservation is nothing to sneeze at. I reach for things that I cannot or do not currently grow on my own farm. This is a great option for those of you who want to preserve food, but don’t have the space or ability to garden.
Our preservation game has changed completely since we added a pressure canner to our toolbox. This was a huge priority for us to get since pressure canning is the only safe way to preserve low-acid foods. I’ve been able to can green beans, bone broth, meat, etc. Filling up the shelves with shelf-stable, nourishing food for my family has been such a gift.
We are working on expanding the garden again next year. Each year, we evaluate and expand or stay as is. We’ve been filling the garden up each year, and have expanded again and again. We also have been given permission to do some pretty exciting things. But, we are prayerfully considering what is best to do. Will you pray with us? I know how vague that is, but God knows.
We have worked like dogs this year. We have loved it. We will eat like kings this winter. Homesteading is such an incredible way of life. Digging in the dirt and seeing tiny seeds turn into huge plants that bear so much fruit shows me how incredible God is. He designed all of these things. I also understand even more what the Bible means when it discusses pruning. (John 15:2-6 for example) I know that it will never make sense to those outside, but the gardening and homesteading have brought me so much closer to the Lord. Remind me of this during our first ice storm when I’m layering up and going out to break up the ice for the animals to have water. š
**Note– I remove the rings on my jars after they have cooled; before putting them on the shelf. This allows for me to know right away if we have a false seal.
