Using sound judgment to be more self-reliant.
Each year we buy a couple of cases of peaches from the local Knight's of Columbus fundraiser. Some are eaten fresh, but quite a few are preserved for later. These low sugar peach jam recipes are an annual tradition. (We also enjoy Peach Raspberry Jam.)
We make up at least one batch of each peach jam – usually two. Peach jam is also a great way to use up peaches that are too soft and ripe to be canned on their own.
Perfectly ripe strawberries are yummy, but strawberries also top the “Dirty Dozen” list for highest amounts of pesticide residue. We're lucky enough to have an organic strawberry farm nearby that uses no pesticides, so when strawberry season comes around, we stock up! In this post, I'll share how to store strawberries 12 different ways, plus how to keep strawberries fresh. We cover freezing, dehydrating, homemade fruit leather, strawberry kombucha, freeze drying, strawberry jam (regular and low sugar), and strawberry wine and mead.
In “The Natural Canning Resource Book: A guide to home canning with locally-grown, sustainably-produced and fair trade goods“, Lisa Rayner answered nearly every canning question I've had since I started canning. Such as: [Read more…]
My youngest loves peaches, so we make sure to preserve peaches for year round use. We always get a case or two of peaches for a local fundraiser. We're still working on trying to get peach trees to survive as part of our permaculture food forest. We're right at the edge of peach friendly territory, but our place gets a lot of wind, which the trees don't like very much.
Each year I use a variety of peach storage methods, stashing some for us to enjoy and some to use as gifts. (I have yet to find someone who does not appreciate homemade peach jam.) In this post I'll cover the easiest way to peel peaches, as well as canning peaches, dehydrating peaches, freezing peaches, peach jam and freeze drying peaches. [Read more…]
More than one group of experts are talking about increased risk of soaring food prices and economic instability. With recent droughts and other natural disasters around the world, our food production and delivery system is under a lot of of stress. If you can, I'd highly recommend stocking up on non-perishable food items.
provides freeze dried food storage that is free of GMOs, MSG and fillers (unlike some other brands such as Wise Food Storage). The food tastes like good quality prepackaged food – not overly salty or metallic. We've stock up on some of meals as an easy to prepare option for emergencies such as an extended power outage. [Read more…]
