Using extra pickling brine
I had extra pickling brine (for bread & butter pickles) from a batch I made 2 days ago. I got called away and had to stop before I did the second batch of cucumbers. Can I reheat it and use it for another batch of pickles today?
Carol Wise
Bourbon, Missouri
You can if you didn’t have cucumbers in it. If you did, make fresh brine. Why? Because cucumbers “weep” juice out into the brine while they’re in it, watering it down some. As we never know how much the brine has been affected, it’s best to make fresh if they’ve been in it, even for a relatively short time. — Jackie
Root cellars
We’ve been receiving the Backwoods Magazine since 2011 and have enjoyed your knowledge and experience on so many topics. Do you have any answers for a quick, easy, and inexpensive root cellar? Carrots and potatoes are needing to be harvested and stored. We live in a pole barn home in the country. There is no convenient hillside or bank high enough for a dug out. Our work/storage pole barn has cement flooring, but mice could be an issue.
Patti Hanson
Gold Beach, Oregon
You don’t have to have a buried root cellar. Although it’s traditional, most folks don’t have one available. Ours is our unheated basement that stays 40-55 degrees all year. You can simply wall off a corner (northeast is best but it depends on your situation) of your home or your storage barn by screwing rigid insulation board to plywood and framing in a “room.” You must have it where it will not freeze even if you need to install a minimal heater or even light bulb. Just frame in a large enough “room,” including an insulated ceiling and door, then add shelves with room enough underneath for bins for your produce. I use plastic totes with lids for our potatoes, apples, and carrots. If the lid gets condensation on the bottom, I just prop the lid open an inch or so for a day or two until the condensation goes away. Simple. And I’ve never had a problem with mice. It’s best to store your carrots in sand so they don’t get soft and wrinkled. A layer of sand, a layer of carrots, etc. It helps hold in the moisture. I hope this gives you some ideas. Good harvesting! — Jackie
Canning diet soup
I wrote to you about canning a recipe for a diet soup, but forgot to send the recipe! Sorry about that! It’s a basic soup, with several variations from goulash to Greek fish soup to red beans and rice soup. I don’t know if anyone would want the recipe, but here’s the link: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/soup-diet-basic-recipe-ghk1007
I plan to make several large batches of it, to customize as desired. Soup/stew is one of my favorite meals! Thank you for your advice on the zucchini and spinach not getting mushy! The more veggies it has, the better.
Barb Mundorff
Youngstown, Ohio
Thanks for the link. I’m sure a lot of readers will head for it real soon. — Jackie
Just a root cellar suggestion. I don’t have a basement, but store my potatoes (and carrots on occasion) under the bed in a downstairs bedroom that isn’t used often and stays the coolest. I wrap the potatoes individually in newspaper (I only have a small crop) and store them in plastic baskets with open sides. I check the potatoes every few weeks to make sure none have gone bad. I keep potatoes this way from harvest in August through planting the following spring. My Yukon Gold variety are good keepers and remain in good eating condition through about February, sometimes March. The rest I let go to become my seed potatoes for the next season. – Margy
In response to Pattie who lives in a poll building. We also lived in one for years. It was in an area (Southern Indiana) that never got harsh winters. We found an old chest type freezer and buried in in the ground with a little of the top sticking out so rain water wouldn’t run in it. We filled it with layers of straw carrots and potatoes. We then covered the top with more straw and a small tarp so we could get to it without having to dig in snow. Hope this helps.
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