Nice weather makes everything go faster and nicer on the homestead, especially this time of the year when we’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off. There’s so much to do before snow comes. And, here in northern Minnesota, it often comes at Halloween or sooner. Not much time left! Will’s tuning up the chainsaws, getting ready to hit the firewood again while I’m picking peppers and getting the onions ready to store.
This morning, I dumped two 5-gallon buckets of onions out on the greenhouse table to sort through. Then I picked out the nicely cured onions I’d put on another bench a week ago. With scissors, I cut off the tops and roots and laid them in a crate to eventually take into the house to store over winter. The ones with any green on the tops, I put in another pile to use up soon. We really have nice onions this year, despite the lack of water (no watering in the Wolf Garden this year).
Yesterday, Will dug another bucket and a crate of potatoes, and I picked them up. Like the onions, we are having an excellent crop, despite being in our dry Wolf Garden. The soil there is a mix of sand and clay. It seemed just perfect for the potatoes with a little rotted manure that we mixed in this spring.
With the current world situation, with North Korea joining with Russia in Ukraine, vowing to go to war with South Korea, the coming contentious elections and its follow up, I’m thinking it’s wise to really get stocked up. And we’re very grateful to have the harvest we do.
Last evening, we went to town and bought more half-pint jars. I was only going to get three cases, but Will said, “Get everything they have.” and filled the cart. I guess I’m not the only one who’s worried, huh? (Will is a Vietnam vet.) Kind of a been there/done that guy.
I picked half of our remaining dry beans yesterday and will finish them up tomorrow. Then there’s just the rest of the carrots and potatoes to dig and the gardens are about done, but for the cleanup. In between all that, I’ve been canning daily. Yesterday I canned 13 half pints of Cowboy Relish. I didn’t have time to slice all those jalapenos, so I ground them, instead. I’m sure it will taste very good, despite everything.
I just picked a nice box of nicely mature-colored Sugar Rush Peach peppers from the hoop house. I didn’t know there were so many mature ones! I’ll make a batch of Gaucho Relish from them. (Chopped, seeded peppers in Cowboy Candy syrup.) No, it’s not hot, just nicely spicy and fruity. Then there are literally thousands of peppers left in there. Maybe it’s a good thing Will got all those jars, huh?
— Jackie
one small act of kindness. thank you Jackie for reminding us, we all need to pass it on. umm the carrots and onions are simply beautiful!
People just need to help others…..
So nice of you Jackie
(Giving the lady some gas money)
Is anyone also considering alternative items like coffee to use as trade barter? I feel bad for people I know who do not have the physical ability, or financial means or the space to stock up goods but could perhaps barter the ‘luxury’ items as a way to get by in tough times. The old “bullets, booze and tobacco” idea, that ended up being toilet paper in 2020, ha. Those things can sit under a bed for years and still be valuable, although coffee grounds are better stored in a freezer.
As many in this blog have expressed, we feel this current situation is a house of cards and one more blow can topple us, so preparing in a variety of ways is wise.
Erin, I keep a case or two of everclear to make tinctures and always thought the alcohol would be good barter items. I have a friend who has a smallish stock of cheap alcohol to use for bartering. I’m not waisting space for that rather than canned/jarred food. I also keep bees and have lots of buckets of honey. I think sweeteners like honey, sugar and maple syrup would appeal to lots of people.
We don’t stock up on barter items but concentrate on food we raise. This is also a valuable barter item in hard times! Better than booze or even coffee. Starving isn’t fun.
+We have stocked instant coffee that comes in jars for longer shelf life. This can be used for trade as well as personal use. In addition, we have a substantial stash of dried pinto, white, and black beans for our own use, but also to share or trade. While tylenol doesn’t keep forever, we have extra that we try to rotate, also for personal use, sharing, or trade. Sugar also keeps practically forever, as do bar soap, dish soap, and detergent.
Hi, Jackie:
Keep reminding us to prep. My husband has done the same as your Will: getting a LOT more canning jars than I was going to! My canned goods are in stacks, piled around the house now, because my larder is full. And we have to be proactive growing and raising year ’round, whatever possible.
I totally agree Elizabeth! You should see our basement and all the shelves that Will initially said, “These are NOT for food!”. And I have cases of full canning jars stacked on the floor too. I’ve been hungry in my younger years, and it was NOT nice. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially if there are children involved. It hurts nothing to stock up, other than some forethought and work. Going without really hurts.
Jackie,
Concerning peppers and your Cowboy Candy recipe, I have a whole lot of all different kinds of peppers, I don’t even know the names of them. Some are hot, some mild, some sweet- what do you think? Would they make a good Cowboy Candy? How else should I preserve them?
The life you live makes ME smile. I am living vicariously :)
You two are so productive! I can’t garden so I watch you seemingly work together in sync! Stay safe 😊
Oh, we will, Pam. Sometimes we work together, like splitting firewood or harvesting crops, other times we work at separate projects. The thing is that by slowly keeping on, we do get a whole lot done.
I’m getting ready to mix some of my cowboy candy with cream cheese and stuffing mushrooms with the mix. Addicting in a good way.
Oh, that’s so good! I also add bacon bits. Yum!! (I just discovered Cowboy Candy relish, being in a big hurry to get more canned up. That turned out very well and quick, as I coarsely chopped the jalapenos.)
It’s all great. I love having plenty in the house especially with the holidays coming up. I’ll add bacon next time because bacon makes everything better!
Goodness! I am beyond amazed at the productivity of your efforts. The onions are so nice. I tried planting candy onions this spring/never planted winter onions before and had only about a third that did any good. Maybe I watered too much?
I’m trying to stock up as much as I can from the store. It’s just me now but I’m feeling good about the things I canned this summer.
Praying we get rain. Here in central Oklahoma it’s seriously dry.
Hi, Sheryl,
Where are you from in Oklahoma? I went to college in Tahlequah, got married in Tulsa, and had a child there, too, before we all moved to far north California!
I’m in Pawhuska.
We are finally getting rain. Whew, it’s been a long time since we had any measurable. The trees and shrubs looked very stressed, and we were worried about fire danger. Try onions again. Potatoes and onions seem to always go together in various recipes.
I’m 80 years old, arthritic with heart problems. I am so envious of what you are able to do. Above all, do not stop spreading the word to plant,produce, preserve, and prepare. It is even more vital than when you started.
You can bet I’ll keep on, God willing, for years to come.
Every time I go to grocery store, I pick up canning lids to replace the ones I just used. “Get them while store has them”.
I keep feeling that I need to stock up more, don’t know if I feel panic coming on are just remember how it was during COVID.
Talking to a friend in NC, she ran out of food and water after three day. Luckily for her a neighbor did give her a little food until she got power back on after more than a week. She told me she will stock up more than one weeks worth of food from now on.
Beautiful onions. I just canned onion pickles.
I’m not feeling panic now, just caution as I look around. I’m so glad we have what I’ve put away for years now! Stuff happens and emergencies are not announced. I’m canning today.
I’m shocked how lid and jar prices for canning have shot-up!! Even here in far north California. Eighteen dollars for a case of half pints. Lids about 5-7 dollars per dozen.
All your pictures, dirt and all look so beautiful. I can just about taste that sweet crunch of those carrots…just like in my Dad’s garden so long ago…..
I’m so happy to have those carrots. I can actually taste chemicals in store produce! Yuck!!
What kind of carrots do you grow? I have poor luck with them, most do not get big like that. I’ve used Tendersweet, Danvers half long, and Nantes.
In our hearts and being realist, I venture to say most, if not all, of us who post on this forum know the supply chain we once knew no longer exists. Greed and tax laws sent far, far too much of our manufacturing out of this country. Which puts us at the mercy of others. Add in those who do NOT understand how tariffs work to make the trifecta of potential hard times.
I have not yet planned PTO to use up by the end of the calendar year. I will be using this time to shore up supplies. I’d love to use auto-ship for pet food but monthly does not work out for me. I also plan on suggest a neighbor who feeds more pets than I to think about getting ahead. I think she already is given the supplies I saw when I pet sat for her a couple weeks ago. Dad is pretty well stocked up. Having storage space is so comforting.
Even for local suppliers, I fear the lure of money might put them in a bind with their suppliers.
So good call by Will to buy the canning jars while you are able.
I am a firm believer of sand in soil when growing potatoes. Reminds me that we should pick some up to amend the area where we’ll plant taters come spring.
Growing up, I knew a few families/people who struggled. As an adult, it seems there are even more.
With all the corporate greed since COVID, I wonder how some families can even get by. I look at full shopping carts in the stores, then ours. Quite a difference!
Last week I was at a gas station and noticed a young woman crying at the pump before she put gas in. I’m shy but asked her what was wrong. She said she’d bought groceries and didn’t realize she didn’t have enough money to put gas in her car to get home. I gave her what I had so she could fill her tank half full. I felt so bad for her….and all the others in the same boat.
You have what a lot of folks lack these days – empathy. Yes, it could have been a grift but if it was, bad karma will descend on the woman.
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