Challenge To You!

I canned a bunch this fall from our garden, (recipes follow). When I took all those bottles to the storage room, I didn't have room to put them in because it was stuffed to the max. I haven't been able to organize very well and sometimes things get pushed back too far or I get duplicate things when I need other items.

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In October I did something I have wanted to do for a while. I took out all the short term storage items and put them together. I also made a special place for personal care and 1st aid items

I can already see a difference in it's effectiveness and it is all so clean! I am ready to get back into learning, gathering and sharing information again until it time to plant the garden in the spirng.

Challenge To The Reader - Clean Your Storage Room

I went to a food storage class once that the teacher asked what kind of an investment we had made into our food storage. She asked us to put write the amount of money on top of the paper she had given us for an outline of the class. After we had done that, she asked if we had invested that much money in art or jewelry how we would store it and take care of it. After her point was made, she said. "With this much of an investment, including it's benefit, your food storage room should be the cleanest room in your house."

I have tried to remember this, but I had stacked too many things all together and I had lost my effectiveness. I found spiders and dust that needed to be cleaned up and out.

This has been a labor of love over years of time. Our children have learned it well and all are gathering their food storage too. We have empty rooms now so I can be more effective in the storage of our food area. You may not have that option right now. In the past we have stored things under beds, in closets etc. you can store a lot of things in places like that. It is still important to keep them vacumed, in order and inventoried.

MIA and Storage Room Overhaul

Chapter 1 - I Have Had A Crazy Summer!

June - It rained all month - I was able to garden between rainstorms

July - I was sick

August - We had 2 new grandson's on Aug 9 and Aug 15

September - We canned like a crazy person - we did over 400 quarts of food.

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Chapter 2 - Overhaul

October - Time to clean out the storage room. We have had one storage room that is 12 x 16. I have put things in layers in there and as you can imagine, we could barely walk in the walking area. We had another storage area for household items and a large bathroom down there that could have held a hot tub! (In fact before it was a bathroom, we used it for a bedroom for one of our children - it is that big!)

Changes - Main Storage Room
All of these rooms are at the end of the basement hall so the doors all touch. If there weren't walls the rooms would be all connected.
I took out all of the stuff from our main storage area that wasn't long term. WOW! Everything in there is in buckets and cannery cans, these are things that are 40 years + storage items. We can walk around it andfind things.

Changes - Bathroom
I put 2 sets of shelves in to hold all the non food things, vitamins, paper goods etc. (I can find things!)

Changes - Old Storage Area
(Also used to be a bedroom for one of the kids)
Grocery store type items in here. These are all the canned things, pacakges, bottles etc. I can easily rotate and organized these items.

Did Someone Say Peaches!

We canned 4 bushels of peaches yesterday. We got 84 quarts. We would have had more, but the peaches were so great we had to eat some and save a few for eating. Only one time a year do you get fresh peaches and this is it!

FYI - For you new canners ----:>Normal output is 20-24 quarts of canned food per bushel of food.

I also did pickles this morning with cucumbers from our garden. All I have left to do now is tomatoes and finish the corn. It is supposed to get cold here next week so I think I will pick everything on Monday and can next week and then I will be done for another season.

Tuesday
59° F 30° F
Chance of T-storms
40% chance of precipitation
Then it is supposed to freeze everynight after that - I guess it will be October and really supposed to be getting colder.

A Few Pictures of Our Garden Harvest

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I Am So Excited!

I have been working in my garden all summer and we have been blessed with an abundant harvest. I have canned 150 points of green beans, 80 pints of corn, 18 quarts of pickles, and 24 pints of V-8 juice. I still have more cucumbers to do, another bushel of tomatoes, more corn and lots of squash. We are canning cherry juice, apricot juice, plums and apples from our trees and peaches from Utah. Our storage room is looking filled up! WOO HOO!!!

Here are a few of the recipes:

Frozen Corn- This is from our youngest daughters mother in law - Elaine

Ingredients:
$ 6 c. corn sliced from cob
$ ½ c. water
$ 2 tbsp sugar
$ ½ tsp. canning salt - Plain salt
$ ½ cube butter
Bring to boil 2 - 3 minutes
Put in pan to cool. Put desired amounts into zip lock bags. Freeze.

Yummy Dill Pickles - Betty my darling friend

6 heads dill
6buds garlic
6 small red dried peppers
6 thick onion slices
1 qt. vinegar
2 quates water
1 cup uniodized salt
small cucumbers
1. wash cuc's
2. pack in quart jars
3. add 1 each of dill, garlic, pepper, and onion
4. combine vinegar,water, salt - boil
5. pour in jars
6. seal as regular pickles

FOR QUARTS WATER BATH 20 MINUTES

Apple Pie Filling - Also from Elaine
Ingredients:
$ 6 quarts apples peeled and sliced
$ 4 ½ c. sugar
$ 1 c. corn starch
$ 4 tsp. cinnamon
$ 1 tsp. nutmeg
$ 10 c. water - Cook above ingredients til thick
$ 3 tbsp. lemon jr
$ 1 tsp. salt - Add to the sauce

You can make sauce ahead of time. Fill jars with sliced apples the cover with sauce. Cold pack in canner for 20 minutes. Use one quart of apple pie filling per pie

Preserving Squash

I am harvesting things out of my garden - here are the instructions for squash.

Cut it up and clean out the seeds, then cook it for 40 min. at 375 with the skins on. Let it cook and then put it in freezer bags and freeze it, I usually put four pieces in a gallon size freezer bag.

3 Month Supply

I know there is lots of talk right now about the swine flu and the possiblities that it could bring. So I am offerening you a challenge -

Could you right now live in your house for 3 months without going out to purchase products, to be entertained or to get some exercise, diversion etc.? What would it take for you to do this?

Please take some time to start thinking about this right now.

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I am In the Garden

Our summers are so short - when the sun shines we are all outside.
Click here to jion me in my garden!

CROCK POT YOGURT - IT WORKS!

I have a yogurt maker but it has always been so complicated, I have to feel really motivated to do it. I tried Debbies recipe - listed at the bottom of the blog and it is great! I just blended my home canned peaches from last fall with a cup of it and it is like eating Ice Cream YUMMM!

Food Storage For 1 For a Year

I just got this from a friend and would love to know the original author so I can give the proper credit where it is due.

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Exactly What Does a Basic 1 Year Food Storage

For 1 Person Look Like?

These are the MINIMUM Basic Amounts of Food Needed for Survival for ONE PERSON for ONE YEAR: BARE-MINIMUM LDS Church Food storage requirements for 1 adult male for 1 year Appx. 2,300 calories per day. (only 695lbs total)

Some people try to rationalize that we "really" don't need to store everything that we have been asked to store. The thought came to actually create a display to show 1) what does that one year basic survival food for one person look like (the amounts the First Presidency has recommended), and 2) how much does that really work out to be per day?

We took all those ingredients and by adding yeast (which we know is not on the basic list – but hopefully we have stored), we were able to make one loaf of bread and 1/3 cup of beans. That would be your food for the entire day.
Don't FORGET water!!!

Yogurt in a Crock Pot

Great instructions in resource articles below to make your own Yogurt - great instructions for preapredness resource - make your own crock pot - I will find the instructions for that and add it. I have done it before and it works!

Zeer Pots

My friend Mala sent me this great link for "Zeer Pots." It is a method to keep things cool without refridgeration. http://standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Food_Water/090320.zeer.pots.html

Food Storage Friday - March 6

This week I am still working on my garden plans.
I bought seeds this week.
I received a newsletter from a local nursery that stated for the first time in 27 years gardening is making a huge comeback and they can't keep in their garden seeds. I decided I better to and get mine. I usually do it in March anyway because I have spring fever by then and it is fun to be in a nursery. I tried to find some herilom seeds because I plan to harvest seeds this fall.

We are in zone 4 so we have warm weather crops and cold weather crops.
The things that will be planted first (sometime in April are:Peas, lettuce, beets, radish, carrots, onions, etc.

The warm weather crops are things like corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, zucchini, and things I buy that are started like peppers and tomoatos.
I like to dry some of these things so I get extra to do that. I also get an extra bag for next year and tuck it in my basement. I also have a can of heirloom seeds that are canned in case of survival situations.

FOOD STORAGE FRIDAY - February 27

I have been planning our garden and yard this past week. I love this time of year to look at seed magazines and decide what is happening in our little garden.

For Food Storage Friday I have been studing what type of herbs I want to plant and that can live in a zone 4. Here is my list so far:

Basil - bite pain, cramps, nausea, indigestion, headache, fever, calmative

Dill - sedative, insomnia, gas, cramps,stress

Marjoram - nausea, toothache, sprains, joints

Mullein - skin irrations, burns, antiseptic

Parsley - blood sugar, bites, swelling, nerves

Peppermint - headaches, antiseptic, sinus/bronchial congestion. digestion, gas

Sage - depression, yeast or blood infection, congestion, diarhea, fever

Plants

Alfalfa - minerals, detox, builds blood, joints, diuretic (May plant along outside fence area)

Cayenne Peppers - antiseptic, sore throat, bleeding, ulcers, pain

Onion - sprins, respirtory congetsion, diabetes

Garlic - antibiotic, anti viral,adust blood pressure,

Dandelion - digestion, liver, blood sugar

There are other plants as well, but they can't be grown here, so I will need to either have ahouse plant or stock up on the herb.

Aloe Vera - speeds healing, antispetic, digestion, burns, skin ailments

Cinnamon - antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, diabetes, ulcer, nausea, ulcers, cramps

Cloves - toothache, nausea, gas, mild depression, insect repellent

Ginger - great to take baths in when sick

Nutmeg - diarhea

Oats - nervous exhaustion, depression, shingles, eczema

Olive Leaf - antibiotic,anti viral, enerby, lower blood pressure

Headed for St. George, Utah

This weekend our #2 daughter is blessing our #3 grandson. We are leaving snowy Idaho to find the sun! It is 14* right now here and 43* there. I post again on February 23. See you next week!

FRIDAY - Disaster Education - Brush Fires in Australia

This article is from a friend in Australia. It is tragic. It gives you a feel for the situation and how fast something like this happens. I always think this information is good to tuck in the back of my mind to recall if I ever need it to keep my family safe.

The end of the world reached the Victorian mountain town of Kinglake on Saturday, February 7.

Burnt out cars, many containing charred bodies, litter the road leading up to the town which now consists of a handful of still standing shops and hundreds of blackened piles of ash which used to be home to Kinglake's 1,500 residents.
As Victoria burnt on Saturday, a raging inferno raced through the state's central highlands, killing at least 12 in Kinglake itself and 10 in Kinglake West, leaving the once-idyllic community a charred ghost town.
Among the tragic stories to emerge from Kinglake were of a young boy and a girl burnt alive inside their home.
"The kids perished, their mother got out but she couldn't get the kids out," Kinglake resident Mary-Anne Mercuri told AAP.
Ms Mercuri also spoke of sisters in their 20s whose bodies were found in the front of their rented house.
"Two young girls around the corner from me were found in the front of their house. There's no way they could have got out. They would have tried to escape but there was nowhere to go."
The mother-of-three said that when the fire arrived it felt like exploding red burning bullets were being shot horizontally at them.
"These big burning chunks started falling from the sky, there was a lot of power behind them. I guess they were exploding parts of trees," Ms Mercuri said.
"We are lucky to be alive."
Her friend, Mandy Darkin, described the terrifying moment the fire arrived at Kinglake without warning.
"I was working at the local restaurant and we were all carrying on like nothing was going on but then word came that we should go home," the mother of five said.
"Soon after, I looked outside the window and said: `Whoa we are out of here, this is going to be bad'.
"I could see it coming. I just remember the blackness and you could hear it, it sounded like a train.
"I raced home in my car, straight into the driveway, placed all the kids in the house and within two minutes it was here and it was as dark as midnight at 4.30pm."
The 25km journey by road from Whittlesea to Kinglake is a cross between a trip into a war zone and a natural disaster zone.
The typical sunburnt landscape of southeast Australia gives way to a fire-burnt one with black scorched trees and earth.
Property after property is destroyed, burnt out cars line the side of the road, some sit stranded in the middle of the street, while a dead horse, carcass still smouldering, blocks the sporadic traffic.
The remains of two cars which collided head-on in their frantic bid to escape the blaze lie mangled on the road, and a five-car pile-up reveals the desperation of residents fleeing for their lives when the fire arrived.
It is believed six bodies were found in one car.
A media convoy being escorted to Kinglake was delayed at one stage as emergency crews removed another body from one of the burnt-out cars.