"Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure."
- John McConnell, founder of International Earth Day
RIGHT NOW, and then again tomorrow and then again the next day and on it goes day after day,
1/2 OF THE WORLD lives on LESS THAN 2 DOLLARS each day.
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Do all you can and don't worry about the odds against you. Wield the miracle of life's energy, never worrying whether we fail, concerned only that whether we fail or succeed we do so with all our might. That's all we need to know to feel certain that all our force of diligent effort is worth our while on Earth.
Carl Safina, Voyage of the Turtle

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Bursting at the seams

When I was growing up we practically raised all of our food. Our garden was easily a 1/4 of an acre, and yeah, we preserved most of what was grown. The rest we ate fresh. My sister and I helped my Mom all summer long (this was in addition to the farm work we had on a daily basis) with the weeding, picking, cutting, canning and freezing. My Mom actually had most of our basement converted into preservative central. A huge table occupied the middle of the basement and it was surround by a stove and oven, freezers, sink and of course a washer and dryer. The crock sat in the corner just waiting for the cabbage to be turned into saucer kraut.

Once I was grown I forgot all about the preservative process. One of my brothers and sister continued to garden, but not me. I was was too busy traveling the world and working with wildlife. BUT, now that I am raising a family AND have a big productive garden, I feel the need to preserve all we can. So this summer I started my safe route, froze all I could, then I still had extra, so I made refrigerator items. Problem is my refrigerator isn't big enough to hold it all, so now the last few days I have pushed myself to learn to can again. I have been calling my brother, sister, step-mom and sometimes Kiki for answers and recipes. I feel proud to be able to say that in the last 3 days I have canned 5 quarts of peach sauce and six quarts of pickles (this isn't counting the 5 huge jars of refrigerator pickles occupying space in the....fridge.) Thankfully so far my girls love the pickles that I am making and will continue to make since the vines are still loaded with wee cukes. I have attached pictures of my finished products so far. Oh yeah, if you are wondering if they sealed. I will tell you happily YES!!! I heard the POPS!!!!!!






How many more photos can I show you of the great strides I have taken to preserve fresh food for my family...sorry for the glow and smile in my words. I am quite excited about all this new learning. My only regret is that my Mom & I didn't have the time for her to pass on her age ole' recipes and techniques before she passed on.


Posted by Aves @ Call of the Phoebe at 11:12 AM

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