I’ve not had a lot of time to write posts this summer because I’ve been doing this:
Fresh tomatoes
Apples from July through October unless the weather changes drastically!
In years past I’ve not had much luck with green peppers but this year I’ve frozen 30 packs of peppers in small dices, strips and large chunks. They are like onions in our kitchen, we use them in everything!
Yellow onions grew and grew. We got a sack full of them and have them hanging in the smoke house until the weather starts to freeze. At that point I bring them in my laundry room (cool spot) to use all winter.
One crop failed miserably this summer and we’ve never had this happen before. We got one egg basket of white potatoes. Thankfully I canned all of those from last year so we won’t have to buy many!
We had some type of bug that bores through the roots of cucumbers and squash. Our cucumbers were used mainly for fresh eating and in salads this summer. I had plenty of pickles left over last summer and with the help of two very special friends we got18 pints of pickle relish and then they were gone.
Fresh peaches and first crop from our young trees. I canned 21 quarts!
The squash faired better than our cucumbers and I froze 12 packs of sliced put in the freezer. We ate fresh squash all summer.
Fresh raspberries gave us 12 quart bags full and the blackberry crop was non-existent due to the weather again.
Dicing green and banana peppers
Canned cabbage
Squirrel season came in two weeks ago and I’ve froze over 12 bags so far. We love squirrel and rabbit meat!
I froze over 40 bags of fresh corn and everyone that we’ve shared it with says it’s the sweetest corn they’ve ever eaten.
Green pepper strips
I’ve tried just about every apple in our orchards in the last two months to find the best for apple pies and fried pies but all of them are great for fresh applesauce every meal!!
While I was canning tomatoes I was also canning cabbage and freezing it. I canned 14 quarts and froze 24 quarts. We’ll use both in vegetable soup and cabbage is a great favorite side dish at our house with pinto beans, fried potatoes and cornbread!!
Our tomatoe crop wasn’t the best because of the rains coming in when they were ripening. They split, cracked and had hard black spots on the outside. I did manage to can 18 quarts of tomato juice. This winter when it’s cold outside I’ll make pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce from what we preserved this summer.
We raised some of the sweetest cantaloupes I’ve ever tasted this year and their my favorite of all the melons.
This wooden crate is full of all types of apples we have on the farm. They’re all somewhat tart and we will buy sweet apples from a nearby orchard to make our cider in the coming weeks.
We didn’t grow a lot of watermelons this year but got good return on the seed we planted.
The crate is filled to the brim with cider apples from our orchards. We think it holds about 15 bushel of apples.
Of course we also had green beans this year but I didn’t can very many because we had a lot left over so about four canners (28 quarts) was enough to fill up the shelves.
You will never starve as long as there’s green beans on hand!!!
Left-hand side of the cellar shelves are overflowing!
Right-hand side of the cellar is catching the overflow! I normally store all of the empty jars on that side.
Then to sum it all up we have these:
Canned white and yellow peaches
Frozen broccoli
Frozen corn off the cob
Yellow summer squash
New white potatoes-This was the most we got from the first plants!!
Onions drying for winter use.
Wonderful pickle relish that we use in pinto beans, on hotdogs, and in tuna or chicken salad. Hubby loves it on peanut butter sandwiches!!!
Our favorite pizza sauce of which I only made a few half pints and one pint. I’ll make more throughout the winter.
Two crates of sweet potatoes. One of the potatoes was the size of a football. We’ll have several meals from that monster!
Gorgeous canned peaches, I can’t wait to open the first jar!
HOLY MOLY Lady!!! You have been super busy! That’s awesome!!
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wow what a haul!
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THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The seeds arrived today! I am heading out to plant them this afternoon!!!
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“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”–Henry David Thoreau
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OMG, Rita, the quantity of your produce processing is astounding! Wow. Have you thought of starting your own grocery store?! 😏
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Goodness – amazing! You certainly won’t starve.
However like Carol above I would be drawing the line
at indulging in squirrel meat…………no way Hosa and Rita!
We have here on TV now two shows – one I watch religiously
on self sufficient farming – the one I watch has a young
chef who has purchased a farm and is growing fruits,
vegetables, raises pigs, goats, a “herd” of three cattle
ducks and chooks…………now has added bees.
It is educational and has got an amazing following.
It is an amazing show. Maybe you and Eddie should
get a TV channel to do a series on your farm.
Let’s see: ” At home with Eddie and Rita on a Virginia
Farm”.
I will apply to be your agent.
Cheers and e-mail on travelling family and my “Spots”
soon. I now waddle – ha ha. Hopefully not for too long
with this bloody sore and podiatrist shaved heel!
Colin
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I would love to see the show you are talking about, what’s the name of it? Don’t think the Mister or I would enjoy being on a TV show.
I was so hoping you would be up and doing quite well by now. How long before the spots are gone and feet tend to heal quickly if you take care which I know you are!!! Great hearing from you!
Rita
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Beautiful! And a LOT of hard work! Love it!
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Oh no, colds are going around over here too but mostly with kids and hard-headed men (son_in_law). Hope you feel better soon and come when you can!!!! Miss you so much!
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Holy Cow!!! What does squirrel taste like? I am trying to come out to see you. Every weekend there seems to be something going on. But right now I’m fighting a cold and hope it doesn’t win!! Love you
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Next visit I will have to fix a smorgasbord of meats for you to try. I would hate for you to visit right now. My house is tore upside down preparing for the painters that I hope will be here next week. I’ve been living in turmoil since beginning of September waiting for them. I’m having the bedroom ceiling painted, the entire living room and kitchen painted as well and the entry doors on the front of the house. Everything (almost) is off the walls and small pieces of furniture are all piled in the family room and you know how much “stuff” I had hanging on the walls. The curtains and deer mounts still need to come down and several things in the kitchen. It’s a royal mess and looks like I’m moving in or moving out!!! Hope to see you very soon!! We’ll be making cider this year but probably during the week!
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