Cold Storage Closet

Last year some of the squash went bad because I just couldn't use them up fast enough. The air wasn't moving around in the basement space, it was damp with a dirt floor and they simply spoiled! We didn't want to have that happen again, so after brainstorming, watching some 'you tube' videos and reading about how other people made their cold storage units we came up with a pretty cool plan!! Pete really is the 'mastermind' to this whole project! I just kept finding more information to show him and gave him some of my ideas, but he's the one who made it all happen!!

Pete had quite a bit of the materials already! Check this out! He bought some plywood and PVC pipe, we had leftover paint from the 'ooops' section of Home Depot from a few years ago, a patio door that would have been taken the dump from an old job, some 1X1 scrap for the shelves, and he found the black tubing at the dump!! (The men that work at the dump love to see him come and swap ideas with him!)

 

Here's the finished cold storage closet!!

It's kind of hard to see the size... but it

is roughly 35 inches deep and about

85 inches wide and tall enough for my

'TALL' family members to stand with extra

space over head so, it's probably 7' tall.

 

The venting system allows for the air exchange!

The long black hose/tubing is bringing in the cold

air from the outside and the PVC pipe allows

for the exchange of warmer air to escape!

(He is also adding a small fan to keep the air moving...

photo to follow when it is installed!)

 

I'm taking pictures from standing in the doorway...

 

Here's a look to the right. The shelving is not totally

finished, but enough for our produce this year.

The back wall is cinder block and we're hoping

this will work to our advantage.

 

There is lots of space to add shelving for

apples, carrots, beets, potatoes etc.

 

Here's a look to the left....

spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes,

butternut squash and potatoes in bins and ready to eat!

 

Now I'm standing outside of the 'closet'. You can see

the black tubing going straight to the right... that

will lead to the outside to draw in the colder air!

The short white tube is the PVC pipe for the warmer

air to rise and escape!

 

And, this is the outside view where the

cold air will enter the PVC/black tubing!!

 

FYI: Yes, there will be some screen added

to the outside of this PVC to prevent

the little furry friends from find the

'banquet hall' that we call our cold storage closet!

 

Next on the docket... 

 

 Doing some research to find out if

certain fresh foods really do cause other foods

to spoil faster! It seems to me, that years ago,

I read 'something' about NOT keeping apples and

squash or apples and potatoes or potatoes and something

in the same area... but, I don't remember the conclusion!

 

I'll keep you posted!

 

I've shared this on Simple Lives Thursday!

Please take some time to look at some of the

other blogger's ideas.

Elderberries

They've arrived!!

 

Our dear friend Petra told us about

elderberries this summer. After doing

some research, and discovering that

they are easy to grow and should grow

quite well around here, we ordered

some, four to be exact!

 

(Two each of two varieties!)

 

They arrived and are bigger then

I thought they'd be! I CAN'T WAIT!

 

I'll keep you posted!

AND THANKS PETRA!!
I wish you were going to be here
this coming summer!

 



Home Grown Sweet 'Taters

Check out this crop of sweet potatoes!

 

 

 Pete dug these up last week and

was thrilled at the size and quantity!

 

The garden is not really this wet!

He sprayed the dirt off the potatoes so

he could take better pictures of them!

 

 

 .... not to mention the flavor!!

DELICIOUS!

 

 

You can see the roots & the top of

what was the plant growing on top

of the ground!

 

 

 

These are a definite re-do for next season!

I couldn't get this picture to turn no

matter what I tried!!

Hopefully, you can still read the

scale: 9 POUNDS

 

NEXT ON THE AGENDA:

Finishing up building a cold storage

that is MOUSE proof and cool enough

to keep potatoes & squash!

Kohlrabi

Have you ever tried kohlrabi?? I tried it years ago... I remember it being an odd vegetable, one that I wasn't too sure what to do with!

This year when we planned the garden and we were looking through the seed catalogs, we decided to try it again! SO... how does one describe this veggie?

I was telling my mom that is looks like a little sputnik and that made Pete & my mom laugh... but it's true, AND we all knew what shape to think of when trying to imagine it! The edible part grows on top of the ground and has large leaves. It has a long root that grows under the ground shaped similar to a carrot!

Here it is.... still growing and here's a bowl of them ready for me to figure out what to do next!! After peeling it, slice it or dice it but definitely taste it raw!! The flavor is a cross between a cabbage, broccoli, celery and has the texture of a cooked potato or turnip!

It's really rather good!! We'll be growing these guys again next summer! :)

What to do with it???  That's the journey I'm on today....   I've had one amazing dish (THANK YOU PETRA!) called rahmgemuse, which is basically a creamed veggie. Today I'm going to investigate the possibility of cooking then dehydrating!!

SOUPS,  KOHLRABI CHIPS, CREAMED....  etc. Just getting my thinking cap back on for the beginning of the fall garden round up!!

When it was all said and done...   I ended up with 1 1/4 cup of dried kohlrabi! This doesn't sound like much, but it should reconstitute to make a 9X13 baking pan of kohlrabi au gratin using the recipe in my book "Making & Using Dried Foods" by Phylllis Hobson.

'Tis the Season...

... for canning beans again!

I thought I was behind schedule

compared to last year but when I looked it up,

I guess I'm not so far off. Phew...

I have managed to get two pickings into the jars and on the shelf.

Here's a few pictures from the first batch!

Eleven out of the first twelve came out just fine!

Yes, one jar didn't get filled up quite enough,

and....

One jar was an epic fail!!

The glass broke in the canner

and obviously, the beans and jar

was thrown out!! It doesn't happen

often... but every once in a while,

we have to toss one out!

(I did keep the ring for next time!)

End of day today... 23 quarts on the shelf!

Spring Is In The Air

  After a mild winter...  we are looking

at an early spring!

The 'girls' are appreciating the sunshine

and a chance to scratch around outside

of their pen. 

The snow bells have made their appearance,

YEAH.... spring is truly on the way!

AND... the buckets have been hung...

maple syrup will be boiling soon!

Corn

My hands are tired from all the picking,

husking & cutting of corn! BUT... thinking

about the rewards of eating yummy fresh-tasting

corn during the cold winter months

make it all worth it!

I picked three rows of corn and blanched the ears about

8 at a time (roughly 6-8 minutes in boiling water,

followed by immersing the ears in ICE COLD

water to end the cooking). The ears fit into a

medium sized laundry basket and the cut

off kernels fit into two large bowls

 and a 9X13 baking pan!

I packaged the corn in quart and gallon sized

freezer bags... the larger bags will be perfect for

corn chowder or shepard's pie and

 other yummy recipes!

 Roughly, 58 cups of corn all neatly packaged

and ready for the freezer!

Corn stalks cut down and ready to go

feed the pigs!

This has been shared on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays
and Simple Lives Thursday!

Applesauce

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

I love the smells, the cooler night air,

the beauty and bounty of the garden in full growth,

the leaves just starting to turn, ahhhh... 

don't you just LOVE IT TOO!

My husband brought in a 4 1/2 gallon pail of field apples!

(My definition: apples picked from a tree that was not

sprayed or cared for like those in an orchard!)

It's applesauce time!

Applesauce is SOOOO EASY to make and store!

Simply cut up the apples.

No need to peel or seed them.

 Add a little bit of water to the pot and start

cooking over low to medium heat. The apples

will soften enough to mash with a potato masher

and stir around with a big spoon.

 Next, I use my FAVORITE TOOL...  the Foley Food Mill

to take out the seeds, stems & peels and into the bowl

goes smooth and delicious sauce! (It is wonderful to use

when making spaghetti sauce too!)

Back into the pot and add a little sugar (personal taste here)

add some cinnamon if you want to (I don't) and heat it back

up to boiling. Put into pints or quarts and water bath

the jars for 20 minutes!!

Aren't these beautiful!!

4 1/2 gallon bucket = 15 pints of sauce!

I love the way the skins make the

sauce pretty in pink!
(Applesauce is also EASY to freeze!
If you don't want to can it, simle put the finished
sauce into freezer bags or containers after it
has cooled down, seal and freeze!)

IT IS YUMMY EITHER WAY!

PS. If you want to make apple jelly too, you can

peel the apples before cooking. THEN after the

sauce is made, boil down the peelings and hang

them up in cheese cloth or in a NEW white pillowcase.

Use the juices to make jelly!

The jelly has an awesome flavor too!

This post was shared on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays
and Simple Lives Thursday !

Ziploc Vacuum Freezer System

After seeing the Ziploc Vacuum system, I thought I'd

give it a try. The cost wasn't too bad...

(If I'm remembering correctly, it was

only $2.99 for the pump & 3 bags

and maybe $3.99 for a dozen bags!)

and they are available at the grocery store.

The bags are a different texture then the regular or

freezer Ziploc bags and they have a little patch

 in the upper corner.

After the bags are filled, you zip it shut and put the

plunger to the corner. It works like a bicycle pump,
work the plunger until the air it gone!
Wipe off a little bit of juice

and viola... it is ready for the freezer!

I don't know how these bags will compare to other

freezer, air tight bag systems. But it was easy

to use! I'll let you know....  

Purple Plus Green Equals... Green!

If you've ever taken an art class... you know this

is just NOT going to work out on a palette..

but, in the garden & canning world,

it's a different story!

We planted green & purple bush beans and no,

I don't remember the specific names... but they

are fun & pretty to watch grow!

(FYI: Green beans have white flowers &

purple beans have a light purple flower!)

We've picked & canned quite a few already, but

Sunday afternoon they were ready to pick again!

I don't know how many this is... maybe

1/2 to 3/4 of a bushel or so.

 Toby LOVES veggies from the garden!

He is intently watching Pete's hands

just waiting for him to toss a tail or two his way!

He's such a funny dog...  lucky for him, there

were some beans that were just too big!

Here they are

 all cut up and in the jars!

Aren't they pretty!

Now, off to the canner they go.... 

 25 minutes in the canner at

10 pounds of pressure for quarts!

(20 minutes at 10 pounds for pints)

The cool thing about the purple beans...

when they are cooked, they turn green!

They are tasty & tender and hard to

tell the difference once they are cooked!

ENJOY!

From this pile of beans we canned

12 quarts & 9 pints!

This post shared on Healthy 2day Wednesdays
and Simple Lives Thursday!

Kale... It Isn't Just For Decorations Anymore!

About three years ago that I discovered how delicious kale really is! Up until this time, the only thing I knew it was used for was to decorate a plate with a couple of slices of twisted oranges in restaurants! How wrong I was! It grows pretty hardily here in the north east... maybe it grows well everywhere, I really don't know.

I was invited to a friend's house for a visit and lunch one day....  she made Portuguese Soup. I'd never tried it before but basically it has a clear broth with white potatoes, mild but spicey Portuguese sausage and kale as main ingedients. It was VERY good! But KALE... ??

Well, I decided to buy some and to try my own hand at using this new, odd veggie! I came up with my own version of Kale Soup. It has been a HUGE HIT at our house ever since!! I've shared the recipe before... check out KALE SOUP if you want to check it out it!

After purchasing the kale and making my soup, we decided to try growing it...  viola! We discovered it grew VERY WELL! Still being on the learning curve, I wasn't sure how well it would 'freeze' or 'dry' or 'can'...  I did try to freeze it and it was... ahhhh, ok. THEN... I pulled out the dehydrator to try that method and can now say, it is totally amazing! The 'queen of green' has found its way into our hearts! :) 

Last year I dehyrated a few batches... enough to fill up a 60 oz. plastic 'pretzel container' that I get when I buy bulk and then I crushed some to fill a quart sized canning jar. (An easy way to add the nutrition to spaghetti sauce or other sauces!)

THIS YEAR... I have already picked three times! My newest discovery is that the more often I pick, the more I'll get! It keeps growing back ... like spinach! I am already almost done filling my second LARGE plastic container and I have at least a couple months left!

Maybe you already know all this .... but just in case you didn't, I wanted to share with you! Plant kale, pick often, try new recips and methods of food storage! You'll be glad you did! Oh and by the way... check out the nutritional value too!

Sharing this on Simple Lives Thursday!

Basil... It's A Wonderful Herb!

I planted three plants of basil this spring. I grew some last
year too, but I didn't realizethat I could have harvested
MUCH more then I did had I picked it every few weeks! 

Just so you know, you pick the individual branches just
above the bottom 2 sets of leaves closest to the ground!
I read that by picking more often I should get
about 20 cups of leaves PER PLANT!

Here is a picture of the plants this afternoon
prior to my picking it!

And... here are the plants afterwards!

The harvest....

 Add the basil leaves, some minced garlic, olive oil

and Parmesan cheese to the food processor...

Press the 'go button' and VIOLA!!

FRESH, DELICIOUS PESTO!

And now it's ready for the freezer!

Oh, and one more thing, some people add
pine nuts or pecans when they are making
pesto. Personally, I like to add fresh
slivered almonds when I am
making a dish calling for pesto!

At this rate, I'll be able to make a few batches of pesto,
dehydrate some and even freeze some leaves whole in
ice cubes for that 'close to fresh' flavor in
spaghetti sauce later in the winter!

SERIOUSLY....  the hardest part of making pesto...
picking off the leaves and
getting the food processor off the back shelf to use!

Sharing this post on Simple Lives Thursday ...
a fun and AWESOME place to visit!