Stocking (and managing) the pantry

[Chicken lady]

The jam is a little soft at room temperature, but the jar in the fridge is quite good, so I will gift it.

three half pints of pesto today.

[RedSpruce]

I’m currently working on stocking up for winter. I have a full chest freezer and a mostly full upright freezer. My cupboards are behind. It’s just Hubby and I now, but we have 2 adult children nearby, one who might need help in a food shortage or situation of increased prices. We help surreptitiously by inviting them to supper every now and then and giving them leftovers to take home. The other doesn’t need as much help. Still, I can and freeze as if they might. I don’t have a dehydrator or a pressure canner, so I’m limited to freezing and hot water bath canning for the most part.

To date I have 6 dozen jars of jams, jellies and pickles of various sorts. I barter some with friends and family for wild blueberries, honey, and garden produce. My freezers are another matter. They are loaded! I hope we don’t have a power outage…because we don’t have a backup generator.

[Chicken lady]

Hi RedSpruce!

What is in your freezer?

I started making little jar cozies from scrap yarn today to keep my jars of frozen pesto from knocking around and breaking in the chest freezer.

I also made three more pints of frozen custard. Yesterday was three more half pints of ground cherry jam. I have a dozen now.

[RedSpruce]

They are both small freezers. The chest freezer has buckets of flour (to kill bugs), poultry, beef, fish, pork and freezer packs. The upright freezer has fruit, vegetables and miscellaneous. Things like sliced strawberries, wild blueberries, tomatoes (30 lbs!), grated zucchini, yeast, unsalted butter, chicken stock, turkey stock, cauliflower rice, leftovers made into freezer meals, kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, green beans, yellow beans, herbs from the deck garden, bread products…. Basically, anything that’s cheap/free that we can’t eat right away hits the freezer.

We have limited space to work with, and could only fit small freezers in. Our upstairs fridge freezer houses ice cubes for blanching food for the freezer and a soup scrap bucket…soon to be two. I want to make stock some day soon. Also extra blueberries, my 3 1/2 cups of basil pesto, and nuts.

[flowerseverywhere]

As we eat less and less animal products we need less cooled or frozen space. I have slowly increased our dried food area and each week expand our repertoire of recipes to use them.
does anyone grow microgreens? An area I want to explore.

[herbgeek]

does anyone grow microgreens?

I do, sorta. I say sorta because the sprouts I grow are about 10-12 days old, and microgreens are typically harvested a couple of weeks later. Check out my thread from 5 years ago: http://www.simplelivingforum.net/sho...ighlight=salad

I highly recommend this book- very detailed and exact on process: https://www.amazon.com/Year-Round-In...2139297&sr=8-5

[happystuff]

herbgeek - I remember reading about this method, although the website I ultimately ended up at had way more "stuff"/details that were done - not as simple as your described method. I may have to try this!

I also am trying out "garbage gardening". My friend's method - I cut the end off my romaine lettuce, then just sliced/trimmed the very bottom (for a "fresh" bottom). I placed in a little container of water and new leaves are starting to grow! Not sure how big it will get but it's still pretty cool to watch. LOL.

[flowerseverywhere]

I do, sorta. I say sorta because the sprouts I grow are about 10-12 days old, and microgreens are typically harvested a couple of weeks later. Check out my thread from 5 years ago: http://www.simplelivingforum.net/sho...ighlight=salad

I highly recommend this book- very detailed and exact on process: https://www.amazon.com/Year-Round-In...2139297&sr=8-5

thank you. Reading the five year old thread made me realize how many good members we have lost.

I’ll get the book. Gardening outside is hard in Florida. Too hot and buggy.

[Chicken lady]

RedSpruce, that is quite the freezer! I’m impressed you have so much variety with what you say is little space!

[RedSpruce]

RedSpruce, that is quite the freezer! I’m impressed you have so much variety with what you say is little space!

Thanks! It’s nearing the end of the growing season here. Harvest is in full swing. We have one more month, max, before frost. I have been working hard to fill them. Also, increased prices in the grocery store has made it imperative to buy local, fresh and in season.