Morning everyone

yes,sweetie, I AM making jam and preserves....... strawberrie is first.... want to come help pick?
I need 8-10 quarts! Pieheart and I have been talking about going together..we'll have a blast!
I am going to dry, can and root cellar as much as I can......
( SO SEND ME used CANNING JARS GUYS.....I need over 1500 of them! email me ok?)

Kim dear, I am probably going to get the vacuum sealer..
but maybe not for using with the freezer, as I am trying to get more food into 'not electric' dependant storage.

Last winter I accidently left the freezer door unlatched and it partly defrosted.
it scared me as we had our quarterly stock up of food in there.
so this year I am determined to make sure something like that, if it does happen, won't threaten what we stored.

now that bernie has been down at this new job over a year......I found their slow time is from the end of january to ( actually it is still slow) probably august

so I need to change the way we stock food
normally we restock 4 times a year.
that is the amount the freezer will hold ( which is why for all these years I did it that way)

now that we are going to have slow times for 8 months....... I have to make sure that I am stocking about a year or so worth.

it is a bit mind boggling

( yea that is an understatement)

do you know how much FOOD bernie can eat in a year?
oh man................

ok I learned to pressure can..... from the people on a great yahoo group that is for canning

And as an aside.. The Mormon's really do know what they are doing, if you need to learn to stock a years worth......... go and read their information. And they are nice folks

so this is where I'm at now.

I have put together a sort of rough plan that is an adaptation of how I normally stock our pantry.
I am adapting as much as possible to the whole canning thing.
which means figuring how certain parts of recipes we eat are silimar to other things.....
ie: I usually make and freeze about 20 pounds of mini meatballs to use later in a couple different ways.....
well I am going to can them..........with a slight variation.....
some will be in tomato sauce
some in red wine with mushrooms, garlic and onion....
that takes care of the two 'bases' for meatballs
and I will use them in at least 7 different ways........

I am doing the same with chicken

then as I make other things such as ham........I will can parts of that just like I would ordinarily freeze it

the garden is either going to be dried, root cellared or canned..
and in some cases all three
I intend on drying potatoes as well as root cellaring them and CANNING THEM

I will still use the freezer but not be as dependent on it for the bulk of my pantry anymore.

Ok today,
I have a customer coming for soap
and I have to go to town to the po and the pharmacy........
I teach tomorrow
( great class in beginners lace knitting)

I am hoping for some time out in the garden today...... but it looks like the rains aren't going to let me.
I wanted to get some beds fixed
I would also like to put in a small worm farm out there.
to directly compost the kitchen scraps. Kittchen scraps are taking alot of time out in the regular compost to decompose, as I don't have much green matter to put in there yet but the worms will have a blast getting to it in their own seperate sunk in the ground bin.

in house and trying to move news
well again the kitchen remodel is stalled.................. as is the siding and windows for the studio.
i know we will take a huge loss on the house if we try and sell like that
(it's also a buyers market right now..........so we wait)
I expect that if I am still here next year there is going to be a good reason that I am
sort of like the universe wants me to be here cause I am so ready to move

the chickens are well..................
I wish they could be out in their chicken palace.
the cats are well......... although thaddeaus was sneezing a bit this morning..........he does that in the rain.
The roos' are doing great and I do have pictures to post
little violet is growing well and sturdy

I am feeling better...... ( that damn fall down the stairs didn't help things however)
I am also due my period.......... so I hope I can say that in a few days......

I did learn a few things........
I need to eat yogurt EVERY day.......and take fiber with it...............( SO we've reached THAT stage have we..? where prunes are our friends?????)
I also learned that I need to take my thyroid meds daily................. amazing huh!
here I thought I could take them weekly .........( gees...................)
hahahahahah
oye
til next time

vi