How did you preserve your garden?

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there is still some hope here..it only takes some sun and a warm period long enough to save some of this...
 
Heck with all the rain we had this year, I thought some of my garden was a lost cause too. . . Even though I had dug deep trenches, the water filled them up and even began to drowned out my rows, but the rain eventually stopped and the water went down thankfully! I did end up losing the lowest parts of 2 rows, but the rest survived and are doing very well now. I almost gave up hope on them cause it took so long to bounce back. It looks like I will be able to get a good harvest from what is left of my Johnson beans.
 
Today I was able to pick some sweet corn finally. I ended up cutting them from the cob, saving a few for some dinners this week, threw them on cookie sheets and placed in the freezer to half way freeze then Ziploc bags for now. Later when I get more time, I will eventually can them up along with my green beans that are still in my freezer. Other than weeding some, and yes I am loosing the battle this time of year, harvesting and shelling peas to dry, not much more got accomplished other than the norm of housework and laundry, but my sweet hunny brought it in off the line and folded it up for me.
 
Danil54grl said:
Today I was able to pick some sweet corn finally. I ended up cutting them from the cob, saving a few for some dinners this week, threw them on cookie sheets and placed in the freezer to half way freeze then Ziploc bags for now. Later when I get more time, I will eventually can them up along with my green beans that are still in my freezer. Other than weeding some, and yes I am loosing the battle this time of year, harvesting and shelling peas to dry, not much more got accomplished other than the norm of housework and laundry, but my sweet hunny brought it in off the line and folded it up for me.
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Teamwork makes common chores more bearable.
 
I just started picking apples! It starts out as an exciting thing, then the reality of processing them for the next week sinks in! I'm dehydrating, canning and making applesauce so far. Oh, of course I also made my first Apple pie of the season last night. I thru in a handful of blueberries in it for fun. It was a good combination of flavors. Any ways, I'm always looking for more ways and things to do with apples.
 
Jellies, Conserves, Chutneys, Syrup . . . . and lots of different variations of all. Lots of different kind of applesauce recipes out there too, but normally I just like to add in when I have a bowl that way we don't have to have the same ole thing every time. I like to use a jar of Pear Butter or Sweet Potato Butter to make sweet bread and cakes with. I interchange apple and pear recipes all the time since pears are what we mainly grow here. Sweet Potato Butter was something a friend bought at one of the swap meets. Since I found some sweet taters on sale (it was around Christmas time) for 18 cents a pound, I bought about 5 lbs worth. Did my research and came up with a recipe. After making, I asked my friend to come down along with a friend and he brought his jar too so we could compare. His had some kind of ingredient I wasn't certain on, slips my mind now what it was, but it had something to do with making it gluten free. Mine was just plain simple ingredients that most people would have in their cupboards and in my opinion tasted more like a smooth pear pie. When making a sweet bread, I took my Banana Nut Bread recipe made like normal but omitted the cinnamon, salt and bananas and in place used a jar of the butter. Makes enough for 2 loaves at a time.
 
I am currently canning 11 quarts of 10 Bean Soup (Thanks Jim for asking that question on winter comfort foods ;)!) and once that is done, I will be starting on 16 pints of Pork & Beans. I do not normally like to take up space with my jars on beans, but I have been going thru canning withdrawals and it will make it convenient. I also took out a turkey to start defrosting in the fridge for later.
 
Since I roasted a turkey yesterday for dinner, I pulled the meat off the bone this morning and threw the bones into a big pot to cover to start making chicken broth. Ended up with around 20 cups. With this, I made and canned 7 quarts of South of the Boarder Chicken (Turkey) Soup, 5 quarts of Sweet and Sour Chicken (Turkey) and had 2 pints left over of just broth. Yeah, poor hunny was to eat leftovers today. . . but then came home with parts he had ordered and picked up at Kubota (maybe. . . I thought they were to be shipped here) to fix the skid steer (the axle broke when the neighbor borrowed it) so asked for a sandwich to curve his appetite.
 
You guys know how to make a girl blush :oops:. . . Today I put on some beef soup bones to cook up a broth while I was out in the garden. Came in to make up and can 11 quarts of Beef/Veggie Stew and then canned up 8 pints French Onion Soup with the rest of the broth. I like to pour the French Onion over roast while they cook and also make a great gravy. Since the Beef Stew came out to fill my quart jars, I went ahead and did all of it instead of saving out some stew for dinner. Ended up making Baked fish, peas & creamy pasta
 
I somehow managed to get 14 quarts of apples canned tonight. I started working on the sons place at 7am, and just now finished cleaning up the kitchen, at 9:53pm. I'm really beat. I also managed to make a bag of yellow rice and a chicken breast while I was waiting for the timer for the apples.
 
Danil54grl said:
This week I have made up 24 pints of Chow Chow, 9 quarts whole Dills pickles, 9 quarts & 1 pint Marinara Sauce, froze 3 gallons of green beans ( I am waiting for a slow time to can them, but at least the prep is done for them), candied pineapple, made Hot & Spicy Cucumber Chips, Sour Cream & Onion Cucumber Chips, tried Candied Cucumbers, but wont to that one again. Wanting to try out a BBQ style, we'll see. Got tired of canning up pickles so dehydrating chips for awhile seems like a good alternative and they are ones even the veggie hatin hunny loves.
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God, you're good! :)
 
Itakfule said:
God, you're good! :)
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Thank you, but that is what you do when you have a bumper crop of cucumbers! And it was last year. . . this year was a struggle for my cukes so I am thankful I still have jars leftover now cause that will hold us over till next year. Now just praying for a good crop next spring. I did get some cukes when I replanted this year but those were only enough to eat fresh. This year has been so different in weather. I normally am eating cantaloupe by July, this year didn't happen till the end of August. . . those had to get replanted too.
 
Danil54grl said:
Thank you, but that is what you do when you have a bumper crop of cucumbers! And it was last year. . . this year was a struggle for my cukes so I am thankful I still have jars leftover now cause that will hold us over till next year. Now just praying for a good crop next spring. I did get some cukes when I replanted this year but those were only enough to eat fresh. This year has been so different in weather. I normally am eating cantaloupe by July, this year didn't happen till the end of August. . . those had to get replanted too.
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I had a rough year too. Hardly any okra or cukes, and no squash, melons or eggplant. The canning is great though as what does produce well gets put away. I still preserved enough to eat over the winter even if we had no grocery stores. Potatoes were my bumper crop this year, and will always be planted from now on. They produce a lot and are easy to grow.
 
Maverick said:
This was not a good year at all, almost half a tomato crop didn't produce good tomato's, peppers done bad, corn not so good, our beans ok but not the best year, our cabbage, potatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers and carrots done super. Overall a disappointing year. The weather confused our gardens.
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I think the weather is changing regardless of the cause. We are all going to,have to keep changing to,adapt to it. The greenhouse helped a lot, but it's not ammune to the effects of it either. My best suggestion is plant as many different things as you can. This alone increases the odds that at least you'll produce something to eat over the winter. I'm stuck on bed rest at the moment, but am allready itching to go out and plant some more fall stuff! In a couple days I will plant more carrots, beets, sunflowers, spinache and peas.
 
Brent S said:
I think the weather is changing regardless of the cause. We are all going to,have to keep changing to,adapt to it. The greenhouse helped a lot, but it's not ammune to the effects of it either. My best suggestion is plant as many different things as you can. This alone increases the odds that at least you'll produce something to eat over the winter. I'm stuck on bed rest at the moment, but am allready itching to go out and plant some more fall stuff! In a couple days I will plant more carrots, beets, sunflowers, spinache and peas.
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Things certainly are changing, even the birds, tree rats, rabbits have all been confused that's totally out of sync, the humming birds have been in unusually low numbers, one butterfly and only a handful of dragonfly's seen this year. Least I have a full pantry from last years crop, diffidently have a lot of beets and peas.

I was looking into an indoor garden using artificial lighting that's temp controlled according to growing season temps something in the order of 100' x 100' but the cost would be prohibited.
 
Maverick said:
Things certainly are changing, even the birds, tree rats, rabbits have all been confused that's totally out of sync, the humming birds have been in unusually low numbers, one butterfly and only a handful of dragonfly's seen this year. Least I have a full pantry from last years crop, diffidently have a lot of beets and peas.

I was looking into an indoor garden using artificial lighting that's temp controlled according to growing season temps something in the order of 100' x 100' but the cost would be prohibited.
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You can literally spend tens of thousands of dollars on a greenhouse, or you can do like I did and scavenge some leftover materials and get one for two or three hundred dollars. I do want to upgrade the roof on mine to an acrylic or lean panel as it will last a lot longer than the plastic sheathing. The beauty is you can start with something, and upgrade a little as you can. If ever possible, go to the builtmore mansion in Asheville N.C. and check out the greenhouse. You can probably find info online about it. I don't even want to know what it would have cost in today's dollars. 100x100 ft would be awesome. I can produce a lot in 20x20 even.
 
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