Now that it has been a few months into eating from my saved harvest, I think I'll do an overview of what was good and what wasn't. It seems like a pretty boring thing to read, but will be good to have in my records. I'll start with the frozen things:
- Spinach and chard: good, 5 cups of frozen each is probably enough
- Komatsuna: toughened up in the freezer, don't freeze again
- Tomato Sauce: worked great, I've already used half, so need more next year
- Salsa: better canned, I've been using store bought for fresh eating
- Applesauce: only froze because I ran out of jars, not yet used
- Zucchini: as usual great for bread and soup, probably don't need more next year
- Green Beans: good, but don't need more next year as I only use in soup
- Corn: I totally forgot I froze some and it isn't touched
- Serranos and Jalapenos: better pickled than frozen, have just a bit too much
- Raspberries and sorbet: I don't use the frozen berries at all, make it into sorbet instead, as it gets eaten over the summer
- Carrots: almost out, need more next year
Then onto the canned items:
- Applesauce:I've eaten half of what I've made since September, so I probably didn't make quite enough, but we will see
- Raspberry jam: I'm not much of a jam eater, so probably made a bit too much
- Rasberry jalapeno jam: not spicy enough, loses its potency over time, made about the right amount
- Apple pie filling: we haven't been eating it much, only used one, but good, I'll get to the rest before apple season I'm sure
- Applebutter: made way too much, half the amount next year.
- Pickled snap peas: ick, gets mushy in canning, don't make next year
- Pickles: fabulous, need lots more, at least 12 pints, but 18 would be good then I can give away some
And onto the pantry and refrigerator:
- Dried Beans: way, way too little, I need to grow about 15lbs maybe and need to learn how to make a good baked bean dish. My husband love baked beans and so do I, but we both like the kind from the can. Anyone have a recipe that tastes more like canned (I know weird huh?)
- Garlic: I seem to have planted about the right amount maybe a bit too much
- Onions: need lots more, I ran out early
- Carrots: need lots more
- Cabbage: I only need two large heads, I eat it all the time, but I'm the only one and it is a lot of cabbage
So there you have it. The bottom line is that I'm doing OK except for onions, carrots and pickles. Truth be told is that I prefer to buy broccoli and have it over the winter than to constantly eat from my stores. I haven't been doing it except when my daughter comes home to visit, but when she does we have a lot of broccoli, fresh red peppers, and Tasty Tom tomatoes (which are the only tomatoes in the winter I've found worth eating).
If you would like to join Harvest Monday with a harvest or how you are using it, put your name and URL into Mr. Linky below.
We went to a friend's for lunch the other week and he'd made a very nice "baked bean" dish, but it still wasn't the same as the tinned sort! You'd probably have to have all their flavour enhancers and stuff to make them tast right!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It was good to hear what went well with freezing, canning etc.
ReplyDeleteDanged autofill, I don't usually sign my full name! That's what happens when I post on a sleepless night...
ReplyDeleteI found your post to be interesting. It makes me think that I need to dig around in the freezer to see what I've forgotten. There's frozen chile peppers that I haven't touched yet, I've been using the dried ones. My frozen green beans are only used in soup also, but they are great that way.
good to see the preserving works well in most cases. Alas no chard pictures for you this week from downunder, but there is a bit of tomato :)
ReplyDeleteI'm harvesting 16 varieties this week. I posted a photo of all the citrus cut in half so you can see the variety of fruit colors. Also I was pleased with the Arrowroot harvest.
ReplyDeleteI do a similar review every year, before I come up with a plan for our next garden. It's good to know what worked, what didn't, and so on, so I didn't find your review boring at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try and track our veggie harvests this year. It will be a challenge, but we already fo it for some things like asparagus, and all our fruits, so maybe it won't be TOO bad!
I was just doing a similar inventory / taking stock process of the preserved food this weekend. We are getting low on the freezer supplies but should have enough to get us through until the first greens really come on strong. Where I am going to be possibly running short is on onions. I already used up my storage onions, and am fast depleting my frozen diced onions. The spring green onions are still pretty puny so I may have a few weeks where I have to refrain from heavy onion use (bah!).
ReplyDeleteI think this was an interesting post. We freeze and dry a lot of our harvest. I've been thinking we need to do an inventory to see where we stand. I printed a list back in the fall when we filled the pantry and freezer and hung it on the fridge. If we would both mark off what we take, we'd have an accurate number but somehow we (probably more me than hubby) forget! Thanks for the post and a reminder!That needs to be on my list of to do this week!
ReplyDeleteInteresting review, so far I've only frozen green beans, the flat Italian Kwintus freezes well and we like it, I'll be growing more of it this year.
ReplyDeleteJan, which is one of the good reasons to make your own - to avoid those ingredients. Plus avoiding the BPA in the can liners would be good. Maybe some day I'll hit on a good recipe. I've tried so many.
ReplyDeleteTanya, thanks.
Michelle, lol yup. I've been bitten by auto fill too. Usually I end up with the wrong post though.
prue, tomatoes are always great
Grower Jim, Wow 16 varieties is quite a lot. I love all your citrus photos.
villager, last year I had a lot of Komatsuna plants. This year I know not to overplant that one. Sad that it doesn't freeze all that well for me, but at least other things do.
kitsapFG, I'm not using up mine very fast at all. We have been going out too much and I've even been eating the leftovers for lunch.
Lynda, I really need to do a good record keeping of what I started with to store. I really didn't. I did count at the end of December, but by then I'd used a lot up already.
mac, I tend to stick to Kentucky Wonder beans because they tend to do well in our climate even in bad years. They did struggle just a bit with our record breaking bad year last year, but still they produced.
This is really informative. I'm still trying to figure out what I will can and what I will freeze this year. I think I will also purchase a food dehydrator.
ReplyDeleteI just made Boston Baked Beans a few days ago and they were really good. I'd say the flavor was like canned but more concentrated. I used the recipe at the following link:
ReplyDeletehttp://bbq.about.com/od/miscellaneousrecipes/r/bl90123i.htm
The only thing is my beans were kind of tough still after cooking. Granny told me to soak them over night and then bake in just the water at 250f for 5-7 hours. Then add all the other ingredients. Salt and tomatoes make the skins tough if used before they soften.
Thomas, I love my dehydrator. Well I love dehydrators in this wet climate. I really wish I had one of those thermostatically controlled ones instead of my really cheap one. Even with that though I find it invaluable to dry my herbs. I could just imagine myself try to dry thyme last June without one. It think it would have mildewed long before it dried out fully.
ReplyDeleteDan, thanks for the recipe. I've never tried baking them that long in the oven before things go into them. I'll have to try it out on some cold day.
ReplyDeleteLove your record keeping. Not boring at all. It inspires me. I never weighed my harvests before visiting your blog. It has added enjoyment to my gardening, but some frustration as well when things don't grow for me. All that effort, so few ounces. I don't dare keep track of my expenses though. I'd probably quit gardening if I added up what it costs versus what I harvest. (For example, I just placed an order with Cook's Garden that came to $123. ACK! That garden hod that I just had to have really boosted my expenses.)But it really isn't about the money, is it?
ReplyDeleteI figure if I keep track, I'll know how much to preserve next year. My problem is that I didn't count when I made things. I have to keep a tally of my preserved food too.
ReplyDeleteTo follow up on the beans, I made chili the other night and soaked them over night, then simmered them on the stove in just water. They softened in under an hour and then I put them in with the other ingredients.
ReplyDelete