I’ll swear I’m growing webbed feet! It’s cold and wet outside, but we still have plenty to do. It didn’t help that I was under the weather yesterday and didn’t do much but lie down and rest. However, today, I’m much better and got busy this afternoon and canned up the last (for me) batch of Cowboy Candy. I’ve given the rest of the jalapeños to our friend April, to can up.
We went out to the North Garden and pulled several Big Max pumpkins. I gave three of the biggest to son, David, and his family, for Halloween. He’s saving me the seeds, of course. Even these small ones average nearly 100 pounds. Yep, they’re big!
Will’s been working on getting smaller wood for our kitchen range cut up and split. It’s now in a big pile next to the old pig house/woodshed, waiting to dry and stack. As it’s so very wet out, he’s in our big woodshed, stacking the huge pile. It’s shocking how few cords are actually in a huge pile, but once it’s stacked you know for sure. Fortunately, we have lots of firewood yet to split up and get in.
I’ve been worried that the deer might get in the Wolf Garden and eat up all of our carrots, as they had nibbled quite a few of the tops already. Yes, I left the gate open to make it faster and easier for us to get in and out. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea? Fortunately, the carrots were fine. Will pulled half a 5-gallon bucket full of big, perfect Kuroda carrots, as that’s about all I can put up tomorrow. They keep better in the ground than a bucket, so we’ll pull as I’m canning, and then pull a bunch to store fresh.
Have any of you noticed the bare spots on grocery shelves lately? Like only one 10-pound bag of regular sugar, very few eggs and many canned goods spots empty. But then I filled up my car with gas this morning and was shocked to pay $75 for the cheapest octane. It would cost Will $200 to fill up his big Dodge one ton pickup! Look out guys, this is getting ugly very fast! I feel bad for my sister, who heats with fuel oil (diesel). Her heating bill is going to be horrendous this winter! I’m so very blessed to have dependable wood heat. — Jackie
Stores here do not have empty shelving, but perhaps because of larger population, they stay supplied. I have read that some trucking companies are considering closing down instead of going broke.
It is a good thing that a quiet segment of society is doing more to grow and preserve food and consider alternate ways to care for the family. Thanks to Jackie and other homesteaders who love to teach by example, we are less affected by outside forces.
The important thing to remember is that the canned foods on the shelf are often raised last year so the diesel expense of raising and trucking has not yet hit the shelves. I’m canning all I can this year, especially, as I foresee this getting worse. I hope I’m wrong.
Our carrots did so well I called the neighbors (who have 9 kids) to come and harvest half and take them home (about two five gallon buckets). I gave another family a bucket. We don’t use many canned carrots because my wife had a bad experience with canned carrots as a child. We had this huge harvest out of two 12 by 24 hoop houses as well as18 pints of beets, 12 pints of pickled beets, about 40 pounds of onions half a bushel of rutabagas, lots of cole crops for fresh eating and odds and ends fresh eating!
Wow, it sounds like, despite the weather, you had a bang-up harvest! I still have to pull in our cabbages, celery and some onions. It’s too bad about your wife’s bad experience with canned carrots. I had the same thing with lima beans.
First frost is forcasted for tonight, it’s clear and calm so I’m sure it will happen. Our daughter came today to help with yard & garden cleanup, that was a blessing. Store shelves here in east NE are stocked so far, just much higher prices like everywhere else. Your carrots & apples look great! Very little fruit here due to a late spring freeze. For me the nearest farmer’s market is over 50 miles away, nearest small produce stand is over 30. So what God blessed my little garden with I’m grateful for!
That first frost is always a game changer. I feel panic every time it comes, regardless of how much we’ve already pulled in. I’m so glad your daughter came to help you. That old saying “Many hands makes light work.” is sure true. Besides, it’s more fun.
🌿💚🌿
Back at you!! : )
Jackie, over time I’ve noticed a comment, once in a while, about your seeds. Are some of them for sale? If so, by any chance is there a catalog?
Well, we did have an heirloom seed business for 14 years. But, as we are getting older and have a few health concerns, we decided to transfer the business over to our friends, Lynn and Jesse in Wisconsin. They have all our seeds and if you contact them at [email protected], Lynn will be happy to send you a catalog.
+ Over the years, Jackie and Will have done an incredible job of growing and offering for sale the heirloom seeds grown on their farm. With the acreage required, it’s an astounding undertaking for two retired people! So, just this past August, Jackie and Will have passed their life-work on to another homesteading family, who are continuing their business of growing and selling heirloom seeds. Their website with seed catalog (and most descriptions of each fruit written by Jackie and Will) is:
https://www.liferootfarm.com
Thank you, Jackie and Will, for your incredible work and the wisdom you continue to share in your blog.
You’re very welcome, Nancy. We love what we’re doing and connecting with all of you here!
sorry to hear under the weather yesterday, maybe the body just needed a break. Hope you stay healthy. Crisco is GMO? how many more items must we delete from our diet! nice lookin carrots. I have heavy clay soil would you recommend Kuroda carrots? these are nice! Jackie you are so helpful we all appreciate what you write and DO! Will is sucha worker You make a good pair.
Yep, unfortunately, most shortening and oils are. Crisco has soybean oil, which 99% of commercial soybeans are now GMO. Anything with corn, soybean or soybean oil is pretty much guaranteed to be made with GMO ingredients. Boo Hoo!!
Kurodas shine in heavy soil. They are so blocky they shove down into the soil, unlike thinner, longer varieties.
Thank you for your kind words!
Thanks Jackie! You are so welcome
I picked up a few things yesterday prior to taking hubby to VA for platelet injections in his knees, 4 small bags$100.00 in central Arkansas. Kroger’s shelves were not well stocked and many items they were out of. The produce and some of the fruit sold there looked like it came out of a dumpster. No mild jalapeno slices, 2 jars of bread and butter pickles, and other various canned goods were empty spaces on the shelves.
I bought several of your books a few years ago and so glad I did. I still have canned bacon sitting pretty in my pantry!!!!
Thank you Jackie for all your hard work and sharing your knowledge with others!
At 72 I am still learning and working to be independent. Hubby is 78 and we just cut , split and stacked 2 huge oak trees for next year as we heat only with wood. Your a most Excellent teacher of how to get things done!!!!
Teresa
Aww, so nice. Thank you! Yep, I went to Walmart the other day and needed a couple of green bell peppers. Then had zero on the shelves! I mean nada. I had to run to Aldi to get them. Holy cow! The other time I went a couple weeks ago, hardly any eggs. Of course I didn’t need eggs, thanks to our wonderful chickens, but others do.
Costs are rapidly rising-nothing we can do about. I think it’s funny that you can buy pumpkin seeds for around 5 dollars and grow several pumpkins which sell for 5-6 dollars. Even if you have a small garden you can save. I’m putting in a transfer panel for a small gas generator. You never know when/if the power grid will go off. Many will suffer with the higher prices and interest costs. We all “get too soon old and too late smart”.
Yep, we do the math every single day. Just like you buy a pack of tomato seeds for $4.00, raise 20 tomatoes, which have 20 pounds each or more. That’s 400 pounds of tomatoes you can process into many different tomato products, which would cost way more than that initial $4, plus you get to eat all those fresh tomatoes too.
Instead of buying a couple flavorless store bought tomatoes for the same $4, and that’s that. It doesn’t make sense to us.
Good idea to plan for a generator. Just in case the power goes down, even for a couple of days.
It is butt ugly everywhere. I can absorb these government inflicted costs but I am in the minority. I fear so many people will put off turning on their heat until they have no choice but to do so. Elderly folks and young children are at risk due to cold as well as heat.
Better half did a grocery shopping trip today. The person in front of him had a really full cart – $300. He didn’t mention any empty shelves but we are centrally located geographically. What he has noticed at some stores is less variety.
We kind of cringe when we see folks with those heaping full carts, usually full of processed foods. I can’t imagine what they are spending there. I’m worried, too, about the children and elderly. Winter can get ugly when you can’t afford to keep the heat on or have it turned off, due to unpaid bills.
As we raise most of what we eat, the grocery prices aren’t affecting us much. Thank God! But we’ve worked for years to get to this point. Just today, I noticed the price of Crisco, which long ago, I used to buy for baking because Mom did. I bought it for $1.99 a can for the big can. Today, it was $9.79. Wages haven’t gone up to match, either. Wow!!! Now we use lard or peanut oil as they’re not GMO.
Linoleic acid content of peanut oil is 34%, while lard is 10%, and tallow is way more healthy at 2%. Linoleic acid is the amount of content of omega 6 in an oil.
We use what we have. Peanut oil for some things, because of the flavor, lard and tallow for others, for the same reason, plus we always have them at hand. No store involved.
My state does not allow utilities to be cut off during the winter months. Nor if a disabled person lives in the dwelling. Not enough states are like that.
Better half didn’t state the cart was full of UP foods, just heaping full (and no cases of pop/soda/cola whatever one calls it).
I understand that. I just meant that when I shop, I see a whole lot of folks with heaping cart loads of frozen dinner, ready-to-eat and deli foods.