Preserving food

[Mary Stetler]

Growing sprouts is something that I do also, @Jacob Petersheim . One of the easiest things to sprout seems to be lentils, and they are cheap to get from the grocery store.
I also like sprouting fenugreek seeds, which are like an alfalfa sprout on steroids.
Once sprouted, I add them to salads, and sometimes into a scrambled egg or a sandwich.
We do not can or dry much foods, except i do dehydrate some of the mullein and also the comfrey for winter use.

I have pretty much stopped regular gardening because it is too hot for me to be out working in the garden in the summer months, and also because I worry about falling in the yard because the ground is uneven and there are lots of roots to watch out for.
Now, I am trying to grow things that come back each year, like the berry bushes, and I think I will try making a dedicated asparagus patch next year, too.

I have scattered asparagus around the property because we turn over the garden periodically. Some I remember where I put them to harvest(food forest) some I find after they are well past picking. I would hope, in times of true need, I would remember and pay more attention with daily foraging instead of staying close to the buildings. I do love asparagus.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I have scattered asparagus around the property because we turn over the garden periodically. Some I remember where I put them to harvest(food forest) some I find after they are well past picking. I would hope, in times of true need, I would remember and pay more attention with daily foraging instead of staying close to the buildings. I do love asparagus.

That's a good idea Mary, haven't thought of it, I know we use to pick wild poke selet, grapes, crab apples etc when younger. I don't see any of those plants in the wild now.
Then again we have lots of deer, squirrels coons here that may be a problem.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

That's a good idea Mary, haven't thought of it, I know we use to pick wild poke selet, grapes, crab apples etc when younger. I don't see any of those plants in the wild now.
Then again we have lots of deer, squirrels coons here that may be a problem.

Maybe you can plant some of the foods that you used to find in the wild, @Marie Mallory ? Since making a garden each year is getting harder for me to do now, I am instead planting shrubs and bushes that will come back each year and give us fruit to enjoy.
Some dwarf trees produce fruit in just a few years, and the berries and bush fruits are pretty fast producing, too. I know you have talked about not having time or energy for planting a regular garden, so maybe this would work out for you, too ?

 

[Marie Mallory]

Maybe you can plant some of the foods that you used to find in the wild, @Marie Mallory ? Since making a garden each year is getting harder for me to do now, I am instead planting shrubs and bushes that will come back each year and give us fruit to enjoy.
Some dwarf trees produce fruit in just a few years, and the berries and bush fruits are pretty fast producing, too. I know you have talked about not having time or energy for planting a regular garden, so maybe this would work out for you, too ?

Thars a good idea Yvonne, also we do have a lemon, fig and pear tree that really produce really well.
I freeze the lemons and can and freeze the pears, figs just pick and eat thru the fall and summer.

 

[Don Alaska]

Thars a good idea Yvonne, also we do have a lemon, fig and pear tree that really produce really well.
I freeze the lemons and can and freeze the pears, figs just pick and eat thru the fall and summer.

Berries as @Yvonne Smith mentioned are the quickest to bear fruit, usually a little over a year if you time it right. Rabbiteye blueberries might grow in your area or some of the bramble fruits.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Berries as @Yvonne Smith mentioned are the quickest to bear fruit, usually a little over a year if you time it right. Rabbiteye blueberries might grow in your area or some of the bramble fruits.

We do have the Rabbiteye blueberries, we just transplanted them since we have two dogs in back and the little fence was not secure we had around the berries.
Now that irs cooling off I do plan to get back to some gardening, I haven't gardened in a few years now.

 

[Mary Stetler]

That's a good idea Mary, haven't thought of it, I know we use to pick wild poke selet, grapes, crab apples etc when younger. I don't see any of those plants in the wild now.
Then again we have lots of deer, squirrels coons here that may be a problem.

I actually found poke seeds on Amazon! I have a few plants started to put in this fall (seeds from a more expensive placed). I will spread these around the property and see if they come up next spring. Lots of things I have put in have definitely been eaten by rabbits and deer. Poke is 'poisonous' and I was hoping that would deter some. But the plants I have have been snacked on by bugs.
I love wild plums but sometimes they have bad years.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I actually found poke seeds on Amazon! I have a few plants started to put in this fall (seeds from a more expensive placed). I will spread these around the property and see if they come up next spring. Lots of things I have put in have definitely been eaten by rabbits and deer. Poke is 'poisonous' and I was hoping that would deter some. But the plants I have have been snacked on by bugs.
I love wild plums but sometimes they have bad years.

Mary Poke salad aka sallet, pokeweed, , is poisonous if not prepared well, I've eaten lots of when younger. I haven't seen it is the woods in decades.

 

[Don Alaska]

Poke is toxic when mature, and the berries are reportedly very poisonous, but young leaves are fine to eat, and are used as a spring green in many areas of the country. It doesn't survive here, though.

 

[Mary Stetler]

Mary Poke salad aka sallet, pokeweed, , is poisonous if not prepared well, I've eaten lots of when younger. I haven't seen it is the woods in decades.

I was thinking that the poisonous aspect would save some of it for me. We eat lots of stuff with 'poisonous' aspects.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I was thinking that the poisonous aspect would save some of it for me. We eat lots of stuff with 'poisonous' aspects.

Mary, I don't feel lucky, so I am more paranoid now than when I was younger.

 

[Mary Stetler]

Mary, I don't feel lucky, so I am more paranoid now than when I was younger.

Marie, the point was that it's being 'poisonous' I thought that it would be safe from deer and rabbits. I have heard that the stem, cooked correctly and very flexible when picked, is the best part. I am looking forward to trying it next year.
I just thought ,since you knew how to cook it, that you might like to sprinkle the seeds about to bring it back to your area. Amazon had them which surprised me.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Marie, the point was that it's being 'poisonous' I thought that it would be safe from deer and rabbits. I have heard that the stem, cooked correctly and very flexible when picked, is the best part. I am looking forward to trying it next year.
I just thought ,since you knew how to cook it, that you might like to sprinkle the seeds about to bring it back to your area. Amazon had them which surprised me.

As I said ,I think it is a good idea, and thanks you for it. I think I use to just boil it once then pour off the water then finish cooking it. Does this sound right to you?

 

[Mary Stetler]

I would boil it twice, pouring off the first water. But I have heard it both ways.
Just a fun thing to think about waiting for spring.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I would boil it twice, pouring off the first water. But I have heard it both ways.
Just a fun thing to think about waiting for spring.

If it springs back up I will.

 

[Mary Stetler]

If it springs back up I will.

Just sprinkle a few seeds in your food forest.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Poke is toxic when mature, and the berries are reportedly very poisonous, but young leaves are fine to eat, and are used as a spring green in many areas of the country. It doesn't survive here, though.

If I remember right, you have to boil it first, pour water off, fill it back up let it cook then its ok, although I may be wrong, we ate lots of it in Georgia.

 

[Jake Smith]

Berries as @Yvonne Smith mentioned are the quickest to bear fruit, usually a little over a year if you time it right. Rabbiteye blueberries might grow in your area or some of the bramble fruits.

See Don, now I know where the "canning threads" are, thanks to a little help from my "friends".

Pintos.

 

[Krystal]

See Don, now I know where the "canning threads" are, thanks to a little help from my "friends".

Pintos.

View attachment 1755

Those beans look great! I always thought canned goods looked so pretty sitting on the shelves or in a pantry. I have a very old picture of some canned goods that I made years ago. Peaches, Dill pickles, Tomato juice, tomatoes, relish, green beans, blackberry and strawberry jelly. I use to make lots of canned goods.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Those beans look great! I always thought canned goods looked so pretty sitting on the shelves or in a pantry. I have a very old picture of some canned goods that I made years ago. Peaches, Dill pickles, Tomato juice, tomatoes, relish, green beans, blackberry and strawberry jelly. I use to make lots of canned goods.


View attachment 1756

Krystal, I rthink canning is a good idea, young people don't much care about it though.
My younger daughter just bought a canner, she's in her mid 50s now and wants to learn.