Food preservation 2009 by the numbers:
11 bags frozen carrots
16 qts green beans
11 qts frozen applesauce
19 qts whole tomatoes
7 pints & 3 qts chili sauce
4 qts spaghetti sauce
5 qts tomato juice
17 bags frozen broccoli
6 bags frozen red peppers
6 bags frozen edamame
5 pints blueberry jam
3 pints strawberry/rhubarb jam frozen
3 pints wild raspberry jam
11 pints & 1 qt frozen corn
4 bags dried green beans
21 bags frozen blueberries
4 bags frozen spinach
18 bags frozen strawberries
5 bags frozen cauliflower
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
eating locally is HARD WORK (and rewarding too)
It's been an educational spring, summer and fall, with numerous lessons learned, oftentimes the hard way, with hands in a bowl of produce or a sink full of mountains of dirty dishes, with aching backs and feet. Here is a short synopsis of a few of the more memorable ones.
A. Don't start plants in the spring indoors in a house with practically no south facing windows
B. Don't grow vegetables outdoors in cement-like soil with no full sun
C. Don't wait until Oct. 2 to try to find peaches to can or freeze
E. If one starts making applesauce at 5 p.m., one will still be working at 12 a.m.
F. You get about 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce out of 1.5 pecks of tomatoes. And every large container you own will be dirty
G. Real butter is real easy and real fun to make. So is real ice cream
H. It takes an awful lot of wild blackberries to make 3 lousy pints of jam
I. Those cheap Ronco food dehydrators are cheap for a good reason; they take FOREVER to dry anything, and then only if you move the trays about every 2 hours
J. It is possible to overcome fear and use a pressure canner again (a pressure cooker "blew up" on me 25 years ago, and just last week I used one again for the first time, with nary a hint of danger)
K. I have a long ways to go to mastery of mozzarella
L. I remember now why I gave up canning years ago (I already have a full time job)
Given (L.), why did I decide to attempt, this summer, to: 1.) grow vegetables, 2.) preserve the local harvest, 3.) learn how to make various milk products, and 4.) make all our bread?
This last point deserves a bit more elaboration. Why indeed would we go to all this trouble? We didn't do it to save money, although I suspect we will if we keep this up. There was an upfront minor investment in food preparation materials, canning and food storage equipment. But the savings is likely offset by the potential value of our labor, if we had used the time spend on food production to earn money. So it wasn't about the money. We could say that it was for the environment with little transportation costs for our locally produced food. Or that it was because factory farm foods are less nutrient rich than locally produced food. Or that we objected to the unethical treatment of both animals and the people who work in these industries.
While all this is true, and these reasons did cause us to change our food habits, there is a more fundamental reason I have persisted. As I began to shift to using more local foods, I became aware of a subtle sense of connection that was absent in the preparation of supermarket foods. I began to feel I was doing something of real value. After years spent working in the business world, I craved doing work that I could see and experience a result, and hold in my hands, something I could offer to others that I was sure would nurture and heal them. I want to see a direct result of my efforts. I want to nourish us, our family and friends. I want to eat food that tasted good. No, more than good, food that tastes fabulous, alive. I want to be a part of the dance of soil, rain and sun to hands that nurture plants to hands that pick, prepare and preserve. I want to know the animals that lay their eggs and create the milk. I want to know the men and women who milk and gather eggs and feed the animals. I want to feel connected to something, to some place and know that I am a part of a larger dance of creation and re-creation.
We are planted at this point in time on this piece of earth and we have a choice, to either bloom where we are now or wither and die slowly of nutrient and visceral connection starvation. I chose to bloom where I am planted. To be present to my world and to the work of my hands and life.
Bloom here now.
A. Don't start plants in the spring indoors in a house with practically no south facing windows
B. Don't grow vegetables outdoors in cement-like soil with no full sun
C. Don't wait until Oct. 2 to try to find peaches to can or freeze
E. If one starts making applesauce at 5 p.m., one will still be working at 12 a.m.
F. You get about 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce out of 1.5 pecks of tomatoes. And every large container you own will be dirty
G. Real butter is real easy and real fun to make. So is real ice cream
H. It takes an awful lot of wild blackberries to make 3 lousy pints of jam
I. Those cheap Ronco food dehydrators are cheap for a good reason; they take FOREVER to dry anything, and then only if you move the trays about every 2 hours
J. It is possible to overcome fear and use a pressure canner again (a pressure cooker "blew up" on me 25 years ago, and just last week I used one again for the first time, with nary a hint of danger)
K. I have a long ways to go to mastery of mozzarella
L. I remember now why I gave up canning years ago (I already have a full time job)
Given (L.), why did I decide to attempt, this summer, to: 1.) grow vegetables, 2.) preserve the local harvest, 3.) learn how to make various milk products, and 4.) make all our bread?
This last point deserves a bit more elaboration. Why indeed would we go to all this trouble? We didn't do it to save money, although I suspect we will if we keep this up. There was an upfront minor investment in food preparation materials, canning and food storage equipment. But the savings is likely offset by the potential value of our labor, if we had used the time spend on food production to earn money. So it wasn't about the money. We could say that it was for the environment with little transportation costs for our locally produced food. Or that it was because factory farm foods are less nutrient rich than locally produced food. Or that we objected to the unethical treatment of both animals and the people who work in these industries.
While all this is true, and these reasons did cause us to change our food habits, there is a more fundamental reason I have persisted. As I began to shift to using more local foods, I became aware of a subtle sense of connection that was absent in the preparation of supermarket foods. I began to feel I was doing something of real value. After years spent working in the business world, I craved doing work that I could see and experience a result, and hold in my hands, something I could offer to others that I was sure would nurture and heal them. I want to see a direct result of my efforts. I want to nourish us, our family and friends. I want to eat food that tasted good. No, more than good, food that tastes fabulous, alive. I want to be a part of the dance of soil, rain and sun to hands that nurture plants to hands that pick, prepare and preserve. I want to know the animals that lay their eggs and create the milk. I want to know the men and women who milk and gather eggs and feed the animals. I want to feel connected to something, to some place and know that I am a part of a larger dance of creation and re-creation.
We are planted at this point in time on this piece of earth and we have a choice, to either bloom where we are now or wither and die slowly of nutrient and visceral connection starvation. I chose to bloom where I am planted. To be present to my world and to the work of my hands and life.
Bloom here now.
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