Great Expectations - The 2013 Garden

Or, trying my best to (somewhat)

replace the grocery store.

During the last few weeks I've become interested in an idea that I discovered on the Our Simple Farm blog. The concept is simple enough - replacing the grocery store with your own home-grown, homemade items.

As prices continue to go up on food, fuel, nearly everything, the idea of saving money on groceries has become extremely appealing. And, living on a gravel road outside of a prison town certainly has its good points, but the evil necessity of driving at least 20 minutes to do even the simplest things can become such a frustrating timewaster, not to mention gas.

 

So, I've been noting some of the ideas and plans posted on Our Simple Farm - up until The Math Part (cue scary music). For a couple of reasons, I can't really compute how much of each vegetable/fruit we would need to subsist without too many trips to the supermarket. First, much of our garden contains perishable produce like lettuce - not much I can do about preserving lettuce except for eating it in abundance in fresh salads, or sharing with others (if there's a way to use dehydrated lettuce in something, please post your ideas!). Plus, I have only really had experience with freezing and my only foray into canning has been making pickled things. Also, there is a bit of a time constraint as I own my own business, Lonesome Road Studio (and Lonesome Road West), and summers can be a little hectic with shows, markets, etc. Oh, and I decided that I was going to be making our own soap in my spare time. *wink* Did I mention the guitar that I'm going to learn how to play, too?

 

So, I will work on what I think is relatively feasible for us and our garden, which is usually freezing some vegetables to use throughout the winter when a taste of the summer garden is so nice. I also put up lots of my amazing homemade pizza sauce made with fresh tomatoes, peppers and herbs from our garden, and I plan to plant some new varieties of herbs this year to dehydrate to replace expensive store-bought jars of herbs with questionable shelf life, and for use in some of those soaps I've been dreaming of creating.

 

Stay tuned as I periodically update everyone on the garden's progress, and I promise to share more recipes and ideas with everyone, as I hope you will too!

 

 

"Buried Treasure" heirloom carrots reproduction, Lonesome Road Gallery.

 



sunday dinner redux - love on a plate with a twist 3 - pickled!

At left... my awesome kosher dill pickles and bread & butter slices!
What to do with all those cucumbers? Well, there's really only one thing you can do: make pickles (or try to pass them off on friends and family who have an overabundance of cucumbers as well).
My favorites are the kosher dills; hubby likes the sweet bread & butter variety. Fortunately I make both... and they totally rock!
I'm sharing the kosher dill recipe because it's my personal favorite... don't rely on those "easy" pre-made seasonings; it's just as easy to gather some simple ingredients and make your own from "scratch." Check it out:

Per quart of pickles:

1/2 lb. small pickling cucumbers (or trim larger cucumbers to a comparable size)
2 tablespoons dill seeds
1 clove of garlic, peeled and halved
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, if you like
2-1/4 cups water
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon pickling salt

Pickle Crisp, use as directed on package

Carefully clean and trim cucumbers; be especially sure to trim blossom ends. Pack loosely into prepared, hot canning jars leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Add dill seed, garlic (and pepper if you like).

Prepare the brine with the water, vinegar and salt and bring to boiling.

Slowly and carefully pour hot brine over cucumbers in jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and adjust new lids. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes (start timing when water returns to boil). Pickles are fabulous in about a week!