Saturday, October 11, 2008

Drumroll, please...Harvest Tally 2008

Before you read on, if you haven't read Why We Do What We Do, please do so now. I don't want someone stumbling across this and thinking we also have a bomb shelter or anything like that. Not that there is anything wrong with having a bomb shelter, I guess....

Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to share with you the culmination of all our hard work this spring, summer and fall. A few things are missing: 8 chickens we have yet to harvest, our green bell peppers and our swiss chard. All will be frozen once we have freezer space. And, thanks to some very kind neighbors, we may be borrowing some of their freezer space until we eat our way into some space of our own.

pantry

Here's the list for you detail-oriented folks. Unless noted, we grew it ourselves.
What we've put up this year, in no particular order:

~ 50 bulbs of garlic, braided
14 jars strawberry freezer jam
13 jars strawberry rhubarb jam, canned
11 pints strawberry rhubarb pie filling, canned
7 (4 cup) bags chopped rhubarb, frozen
4 quarts and 8 pints crushed strawberries, frozen
12 quarts peas, frozen
17 (3 cup) bags pitted sour cherries, frozen
3 pints dried pitted sour cherries
11 quarts blueberries, frozen (local farm)
21 (2-3 cup) bags chopped zucchini, frozen

another pantry view

21 quarts green beans, frozen
11 cups and 9 ice cube trays worth of pesto, frozen
8 quarts and 19 pints pickled beets, canned (about half from friend's garden)
8 pints plain beets, pressure canned (from friend's garden)
28 loaves zucchini bread, frozen
16 quarts sweet and sour cucumber salad, canned
26 quarts Basic Tomato sauce, canned
3 quarts and 17 pints Barbara Kingslover's tomato sauce, canned
6 quarts red raspberries, frozen
3 gallon bags red/yellow/orange bell peppers, halved, seeded and frozen (mostly from local farms)
11 jars peach jam, canned
7 pints peach pie filling, canned
25 (2 cup) bags chopped peaches, frozen
28 quarts peaches, canned (all peaches came from a local orchard)
26 pints stewed tomatoes, canned
10 pints corn, frozen
a copious amount of onions, count them for yourself

yet another pantry view

7 pints Barbara Kingsolver's BBQ sauce, canned
7 pints and 3 half-pints BK's sweet and sour sauce, canned
6 pints and 10 half-pints BK's chutney, canned
5 quarts and 27 pints salsa, canned
5 pints catsup, canned
4 pints bruchetta in a jar, canned
18 (3 1/2 cup) jars roasted tomatoes, frozen
30 quarts concord grape juice concentrate, canned
21 pints grape jam, canned
11 grape pie fillings, canned (all concord grapes came from our neighbor)
sweet potatoes (you can count these, too)

our upright freezer

144 quarts red cortland applesauce, frozen (orchard in PA, near my parent's)
7 quarts and 17 pints sliced carrots, pressure canned
15 eating pumpkins
26 butternut squash
23 acorn squash, assorted varieties
13 quarts pears, canned
4 eggplants, sliced, breaded, frozen (from a friend's garden)

our chest freezer

I've written about a lot of these projects. If you are interested in something, go to the very top, left hand corner of this page and do a blog search and it should pull it up for you. If you can't find what you are looking for, post a comment and I'll do my best to answer any questions.

Can we go put our feet up now? Pin It

13 comments:

  1. Very, VERY impressive. Makes me want to go do my own tally, though I think you got me beat by about twenty different foods. At least.

    Pat yourself on the back. And stop cooking.

    -JJ

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  2. wow, and I thought I was doing good. Looks like I have a goal to meet next year... :)Great job, though. It all looks beautiful!

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  3. Absolutely SPECTACULAR.

    What an accomplishment. Your family will be definitely eating well this winter.

    Kudos and job well done.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Super impressive - thank you for posting this. I aspire to be you! =)

    I've got a long ways to go but at least I'm on the right path!

    Because I'm new to canning and other food preservation, what tools do you prefer? I would love to know because you obviously do an extraordinary job of canning!

    PhoenixJen

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  5. downtownjen,
    Thanks for your comment. In terms of what tools I prefer...I don't use anything fancy. I use an old 8-quart jar canner to hot water bath most of what I can. That and some good knives, lots of canning jars, ziploc bags, freezer space and a handful of recipes. I borrow a food dryer and pressure canner when I need them. It helps to have a few girlfriends who also do a lot of preserving. They are good moral support:-). You mentioned you have a long ways to go- just three years ago, we lived in a townhouse without a garden and I wasn't canning anything. It won't be long- once you start, it's hard to stop:-).

    Good luck and let me know if I can answer any other questions!

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  6. Wow! As I read this, I found my face getting closer and closer to the computer screen in awe to study your amazing pantry. What a cool testimony about what you value, and your dedication and hard work. Yes, put your feet up. Is there a home schooling lesson on foot massage?

    ReplyDelete
  7. And by the way...Barbara Kingsolver is my hero...I LOVED Animal, Vegetable, Miracle...quite possibly my favorite book next to the Bible.

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  8. g, holy cow!! i got tired just reading about it all. then b asked why i don't do all that!! HA! in his dreams!! makin' your little seester proud, once again!! xoxoxoxo

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  9. It feels good having company in this canning venture. I always thought my mom, sisters, daughter and I were the only ones so crazy. Today I'm making saurkraut. Very easy and as Zoe (my daughter) says "unbelievably good).
    -Valerie

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  10. Valerie (I feel like I should call you Aunt Valerie!),
    I'm sorry I missed meeting you on Sunday. I love saurkraut and wish I could try some of yours!

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  11. I was very sorry to have missed meeting you. As for the saurkraut, p. 300 in the More With Less cookbook. Use flake salt (otherwise too salty) and the jars must be full to the very top.
    -Valerie

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  12. I stumbled on your blog from a comment you left on the Little Homestead in the City blog and am so happy that I did. You are an inspiration! I have been canning like crazy all summer as well, but now I see I have a long way to go for self sufficiency. I was done for the season, but then you posted that green tomato recipe and I feel the overwhelming need to go wrangle some green tomatoes from a neighboring farm.

    Enjoying reading your site. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete

Just a friendly reminder, if you know me personally please try to refrain from using my name. There are those who may try to locate me, break into my pantry and steal my pickled beets. Thanks:-).

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