As I mentioned earlier, the fam and I headed out to a local you-pick farm along with my sister and some friends this weekend to, as I so delicately put it on my Facebook profile, pick a crap-ton of vegetables. :)
The kids enjoyed the hayride, picking veggies, playing with their friends and eating fresh corn on the cob on the hayride as we made our way to our next vegetable stop.
We walked away with quite a bit of food – potatoes, carrots, onions, eggplant, green beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, basil, peppers, okra, cabbage and kohlrabi (which I didn’t even know what it was until Julie identified it) – though not nearly as much as some people on our hayride (cough, cough Melissa).
Here is our bounty:
Not bad for $30, eh? It certainly made for a busy rest of the weekend.
On Saturday night, I blanched 25 ears of corn, then cut the kernels off 20 of them and had two bags full to freeze. Ava and Jody snapped all of our green beans in preparation for them to be frozen the following day. And I prepped a box full of potatoes for Jody to carry down to the basement.
On Sunday, I blanched and froze two bags worth of green beans. I also made three quarts of spaghetti sauce, two of which I canned (but the whole thing was such a comedy of errors, I’m off canning for a week or so while I recover), and one of which I used for our dinner that night (along with fresh eggplant from the farm and corn on the cob). I also strung up around 10 onions (in old pantyhose) in the basement.
As I’ve been preparing, over the past month or so, what has definitely been the most food preservation I’ve ever done, it feels like such an accomplishment. I love knowing that I have bags of veggies, sauces, broths, etc. in the freezer that I did myself. I love seeing my cans of jam and sauce as well and knowing that I did that too. And knowing where pretty much all of those fruits and veggies came from since we picked them! It’s empowering to know that if push came to shove I don’t have to rely upon the grocery stores to feed my family. Yes, I’ll still be buying a lot of my food from the grocery store this winter, but knowing I have some reserves here at home is a good feeling. It just feels right. :)
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Food preservation feels so right | 101 Articles says:
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September 23rd, 2008 at 2:35 am
chelle says:
AMAZING! You so rock! That is quite the haul. Isn’t it wonderful to experience this with our children, to go local and see where the veggies are grown!?!?
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:05 am
Abbie says:
The best part is that now you’re prepared and won’t have to run to the grocery store next time there’s a storm/blizzard, etc. You’ll be able to make it for a while on what you’ve got!
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:30 am
Tracey says:
I love preserving, too. What have you found to be the best way to preserve potatoes and onions? Do you put them in the basement right out of the ground, or do you wash them first?
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 am
Halloween Doll Clothes Gal` says:
Wow – that’s fabulous. I love the bounty for only $30!!
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 am
Colleen - Mommy Always Wins says:
I definitely need to make another batch of spaghetti sauce for the freezer! So nice to have them handy…
I can only relate to the self preservation feeling with regard to the fish we caught in MN this past summer. We still have an entire shelf of fish in our freezer. It was so cool to know I caught a fish, cleaned it myself, then cooked it for my family for dinner later.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:27 am
Adventures In Babywearing says:
Oh my goodness- that is an awesome bounty!!
Steph
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 am
Camille says:
That is alot of veggies for $30. WOW.
I wonder if we have something like that here?? DO you know how I’d go about finding out?
Your kids are cute as always!!!
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 am
Miriam says:
Isn’t canning addictive? Just wait until next summer. I bet you’ll need a new storage solution for all your jars.
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 am
Valorie says:
How awesome is that!! This is my first year in the country, and I am Learning. I should say the curve is STRAIGHT up..but we did have some things in our garden, now I have a fridge full downstairs, awaiting canning. I had NO IDEA it took so many tomatoes to make sauce..
I will be planting more plants next year. AWESOME!!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:27 pm
fruitlady says:
Great job you! I applaud you and I am secretly jealous!
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Penny says:
Gorgeous pile of veges!!! I love it! It is a real feeling of accomplishment to have all that bounty dealt with.
Baba ganoush is a good thing to make with those lovely eggplants you’ve got there. ;)
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
phyllis says:
this reminds me of some of my favorite scenes in the little house on the prairie books. good for you!!!! i need to find me a good pick-yourself place around here…hmm….
plus i got a csa winter share. so psyched.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Dina says:
Yum! Great pictures. :o)
P.S. I’ve given you an award, so check out my blog!
September 24th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Janet says:
You are amazing. You are such an inspiration to me. Keep it up!
September 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am
erica says:
I’ve been putting up food too. Not so much as you, but I need a bigger freezer! (and cupboard)
October 1st, 2008 at 5:57 pm
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