One area of life right now that can try my best to pour some effective nesting energy into is food preservation. It fits together perfectly I think. So over this last week I have been creating and canning and fermenting myself away one thing at a time. I know I most likely won’t be able to get to too much after the baby arrives…so for right now, we take a look in the garden, see what we have, and go from there.
First on our to do list was wild blueberry picking. Wild blueberries are sooooo teeny! We spent a few hours and picked about a gallon. It’s hard to be a serious berry picked with four kids in tow. Our gallon of berries provided a batch of wild blueberry apple jam and one blueberry dream pie for Jason’s birthday. I kept one jar of jam out for tasting. My verdict on the blueberry apple jam…with just a touch of lemon mixed with apple and blueberry all mixed together…delicious!
Next up, I set a three gallon crock full of kosher dill pickles to ferment. I have never made fermented pickles, but am always interested in trying out something new. Every time I lift the towel…they smell delicious. One thing from this recipe that I learned, is that if you put grape leaves or currant leaves in the crock with the pickles, it helps keep the pickles crunchy, which is something that I have always struggled with in my past pickle making experiences, so I added a few handfuls of grape leaves to this batch. I’m interested to see how it works.
Last week we harvested the last of our carrots. Big beautiful orange organic carrots. I don’t think I’ve ever canned carrots before, but using my new (which is quickly becoming my absolute) favorite canning book, Canning for a New Generation
Last but not least…sauerkraut. Lots of sauerkraut. Five large heads, a five gallon crock, and lots of squeezing, massaging, and pressing later…we have it sitting next to the dill pickles where they will sit for three weeks working their magic. I was lucky enough to have two boys to help with all that cabbage squeezing one afternoon…although, truth be told, they really only stuck around for about twenty minutes or so, sporadically coming and going to squeeze some more.
In my opinion, preserving one’s food goes right along with having a big highly productive garden. Every week, Jason and I go out and kind of make a mental list of what we could make and what needs to be preserved stat. My ideas for this week: Classic Cucumber Relish, Whole Jalapenos with Honey and Allspice, Zucchini Bread and Butter Pickles with Ginger, and maybe some Pickled Garlic too. Not saying I’ll get to it all, but it’s always nice to set a goal.
Lisa,
Our kitchens look similar right now!
We’ve got kraut fermenting.
We are making pickles today. And we got some beets to ferment too.
We love fermenting!!
Love, Taryn
This reminds me of myself a couple of years ago while hugely pregnant with Sebastian; I’m a harvest hoarder as it is, but add nesting to it and look out!
I’ve made 12 gallons of fermented pickles so far & everyone has been deliciously crunchy! I love those itty-bitty little cukes. I’ve used grape laves before but I most often use a combination of oak and cherry leaves because that’s what I have in my yard; they work wonderfully. I’ve always used Sandor Katz’s pickle recipe from Wild Fermentation.
I just checked that canning book out from the library a few weeks ago! As a fermenter at heart, it’s hard for me to can anything, I feel like it’s no longer alive.
One of my favorite ferments this year has been kohlrabi with horse radish!
Good to know that Oak and Cherry leaves work the same too. We have grape leaves handy growing up our deck…sadly have no big trees in our yarn…nearby though. That’s the great thing about utilizing what we have on hand.
I have got to get that book!
Yes! I LOVE it!
I’ve had really good luck with the grape leaves keeping my fermented pickles crisp. All of your preserving sounds so yummy! That book sounds good. I’m not really into sugary recipes!
I’m glad the grape leaves worked out for you. It always amazes me/frightens (not the right word) me to try something new. It makes sense though! And it works!
Very impressive. I love the idea that you are eating your own food out of season by pickling. I recently borrowed the Canning for a New Generation book from my library. It’s great.
Pickling, fermenting, freezing, eating, and finding the ways that each thing lasts the longest and in the best way.
Your photos are gorgeous and inspiring! I took a fermentation class a few weeks ago and have yet to be brave enough to try anything. (I’ve got a scoby growing but have yet to make kombucha. Do you make it? If so how do you flavor yours? I am nervous about it! lol) We did make kim chi in class but the top of mine turned brown so I tossed it…:( I’ll try it again tho…
What book are you using for the pickle recipe? I have a few of those crocks and would love to utilize them how they were originally intended…for food! I have one on the porch that must be 10 gallons…it’s huge!
I hope you are feeling well…can’t wait to “meet” the new little one.
Canning for the New Generation (link in the post) is what I have been pretty much been using for everything this year. It focuses on low sugar preserves and some ferments too. Also the book Erin mentions above, Wild Fermentation I hear is great, but I have yet to get it. My first batch of sauerkraut last year turned pinkish at the top. I tossed it, but then heard that sometimes it won’t really hurt it/you…you can just scoop that part off and still use it. I dunno though. It’s all new to me too.
We were making kombucha for awhile a few years ago. then we went away for two weeks…and our scooby died. Whoops. Need to relocate another one. I also dabbled in water keifer making….another fermented drink. I liked that one best. I would make fruit ferments with it…even the kids loved it.
I spent the last seven weeks at my parent’s house in Alaska and am just getting caught up in blog reading… your space looks beautiful! And what a bountiful harvest. So good to see you all thriving in your new home.
xo
~s
Thanks Stephanie.