The Season of Harvest

I love this picture....

Of course I love it because it's a picture of my 2 little darlings...

But that's not the only reason.

This is a picture that shows the grandkids enjoying summer....

and at the same time....

if you look closely....

you'll see hubby...

raisin' potatoes.

We're in the process of  transitioning from 

the season of 

SUMMER FUN

to the season of 

HARVEST.

Around here,

you can easily recognize 

Harvest Season.

For one, we're busier than a one armed paper hanger!

(It's been especially challenging this year since we are living in 2 locations.)

But also, our house begins to explode with food stores.  

Everywhere you look is a new cache of food

preserved by either canning, freezing, drying, or being ready to be stored in the root cellar.

Check it out.....

I know this looks like a lot of potatoes for 2 people....

but we'll share :)

This (picture below) is one of my secrets when I pickle beets.

 Using the (twice strained) beet juice in place of the water,

I  freeze extra pickled brine to use when making pickled eggs. 

Pickled eggs are super easy to make once you've pickled your beets.  You just add hard boiled eggs to a jar of beets.  However, more brine is always needed.  That's when I just pull out a jar of frozen brine.  Easy!

Here is my recipe for pickled beets.

(I cut back the sugar to about 3 cups or less to make the additional brine)

Pickled eggs are a staple around here.

I often have them for a fast breakfast!

frozen pickled beet juice

Two pantries are filled...

We ate all our homegrown onions.

Many of them ended up in our tomato sauce.

So we purchased some in bulk at a local farmers coop.  

These will last all winter...

Did I mention we like onions!!????

Do you dehydrate.....

My dehydrator seems to run non stop with veggies for soup as well as herbs, 

like oregano, cilantro, basil and more .....

We still have pumpkin and squash to harvest, 

as well as a few sweet potatoes.  

And hopefully....

I'll be able to get my hands on some apples for some homemade applesauce

and some

PIE!

So there you have it!

We're ready for winter....

How about you???

Trying to Keep it Simple..

Tammy

Stocking up for Winter

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since my last blog post.  I have such good intentions to post on a more regular basis. But it seems that there is always something vying for my attention.  During the month of October,  we were busy putting our garden to rest for winter and securing our food stockpile for the cold winter months ahead.  

We put an addition our chicken house so we could take a vacation.

  This little overhang allowed the chickens to have a

  SAFE place to hang 

during the day, and at the same time, they can let themselves in and out as they please.  That way, we only needed someone to feed and water them, and  gather the eggs once a day.  

Ugly, huh?  We repurposed some wood removed from someones basement,

 so now I have to paint it.  Always something to do, right?  Sometimes, I think these critters are more trouble than they're worth! 

So.......we did have a chance to get away for some much needed R&R.  Here's a sneak peak of our  little getaway.  I PROMISE to share more pictures SOON!

Gorgeous, huh? 

Okay, so back to the purpose of today's blog.....

Today, I thought I'd share with you our food stores. It's getting easier to put food away since the kids have flown the coop!    At this point, I have nearly everything put away.  Everything that is, except applesauce, which I will probably get to next week.  

My husband thinks we garden because it saves money.  But I don't think we save that much money, especially since there is only the two of us.  But what we do gain by growing and preserving food is peace of mind.  It gives me peace of mind to have a cache of food.  And it gives me peace of mind to know where my food comes from and how it was grown.

 It's organic,

 non-gmo, 

wholesome food!

Here's a peek....

Freezing...

Canning....

Drying...

crushing red peppers

dried beans

I dried several veggies for use in soups.
This is zucchini.

 SALSA ANYONE? 

POTATOES !  

We also raised sweet potatoes about 2 weeks ago. 

 They are still "curing."

IN MY PANTRY....

salsa, tomato juice, pears,beets, relish, pepper jelly, sauce, homemade vanilla (yum yum) and some dried herbs.

 In the "butler's pantry".......dried tomatoes, cabbage, beets, zucchini, fruit mix, peppers, mushrooms, herbs and more!

IN THE FREEZER.....

We eat a lot of our produce fresh and uncooked as much as possible.  Even so, it's good to know the freezer is filled....corn, beans, peas, pumpkin, blueberries, horseradish, corn soup and more...

In our extra fridge.....

PICKLES

So there you have it. 

We're ready for winter.  

Are you ready?

Do you put food away?  

What do you have in your stash?   

linked to http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2013/11/from-farm-blop-hop-and-diy-glass.html

The Joy of Winter

Hello....and thanks for stopping by!!

You're always 

WELCOME

here!

We are in the chill of winter around here.  

Do you like winter?

I like winter in small doses.

Just give me a white Christmas and

one good blizzard.  And I'm good to go.

While I don't especially enjoy the cold, never ending days of winter...

I do enjoy the extra time it allows me to do some other things I enjoy.

Allow me to explain!

Have you noticed that it seems that we spend all year preparing for these wintry days?

Around here, preparations begin early  for our yearly garden, by planning the garden and ordering seeds.

(Coincidentally, that's exactly what I did today. )  

We order the seeds and start the seedlings.

As soon as the soil is dry enough, Hubs begins working the soil. 

He calls it work, but let's get real-

He's having a good time! 

We sow....and reap.....

We Can....

and dry...

and freeze.  

The pantry and freezer are filled to the gills.....

Our makeshift cold cellar is loaded with potatoes....

Hubby dug a hole and buried an old deep freeze
 in our woods to serve as cold storage..clever, huh?

And last but not least....

the wood is brought in so we can stay toasty and warm all winter.

Enough of all that work....

Let's get back to what I love about winter...

What I love is having a break from all that work!

It gives me a little extra time so

I can enjoy doing the things I love to do.

This year, I painted the main living space of our house.  The day after Christmas, as soon as the decorations were tucked away, I took everything off the walls and got started.   

While some of you are surely saying, "you love to paint?"

Well, not exactly.

But I do love to redecorate (on a shoe string budget).  

I love change!

And I love to CREATE!

I have been enjoying the redecorating process even though it has been a ton of work.  But you'll have to wait to see the fruits of my labor until my next post!!

Sorry :(

I hope the suspense doesn't kill you!!

On snowy days, I enjoy  putting a puzzle together or baking. My favorite snow day recipe is this recipe for making sticky buns.  Yum!

Nothing like watching it snow with a cup of coffee in one hand and a warm gooey sticky bun in the other.

Baking is enjoyable...But crafting is my passion.  

And so, I have been spending these gloomy, dreary winter days, crafting.

My friend Barb nudged me to invest in a Cricut.  

This is the Cricut Expression 2..
A Cricut is a cutting machine that cuts paper,
fabric, and vinyl.

I have to admit, at first I wasn't all that thrilled with  my pricey purchase.  But after some research and a few you tube videos, I feel like I am finally getting the hang of this piece of machinery.  

So I made some cards....

And then I decided to get brave and give cutting vinyl a try.

It was scary at first, but oh...what fun!!!!

 I vinyled everything!

Check it out...

 First a few candles...

then a glass vase.....

Cut out the word love with a
 very delicate font!

All of this was just practice for ...

The word family for on the wall.

And the piece de resistance.....

Our family name on a frame with
a burlap background.
(I have a fetish for burlap!)

Wow...this post has turned out to be quite lengthy.  But I hope I've inspired you to get crafty, whatever your craft may be. But even better would be to inspire you to make the most of the winter blahs.

For me, 

Crafting is the best way to spend a winter day!  

How do you spend your winter days?  I'd love to hear what gets you through the winter.

Linked to: 

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/02/clever-chicks-blog-hop-20-and-lollipop.html

http://thismindbeinyou.blogspot.com/2013/02/farm-girl-blog-fest-18.html