Learning to be more Self Sufficient for your Family Part 2
Hi Everyone! So if you are reading this, you must have enjoyed Part 1. Now that you have an over all idea of what this series is going to be about, let me help you with what you can do RIGHT NOW. Gardening season is almost over, so you may not want to jump into putting in a big garden right this minute. But... If you would like to try your hand at some fall/ winter crops here is what you can plant right now!
Potatoes. They will grow anywhere. Just make sure your soil is soft and ready so the potatoes can get big.
Brocolli- It's so easy to grow. It loves cool weather.
Cauliflower - Same thing!
lettuce - Yum! I plant mine in a raised bed, but you don't have to! Plant it anywhere!
Bush Beans, cabbage, carrots.............
there is so much you can start in the Fall. Look it up online. http://awaytogarden.com/what-to-plant-now-for-a-fall-vegetable-garden/
I find that just blanching your vegies and freezing is easy to do for the first timer. Be sure and use freezer containers, or my favorite ZIPLOCK FREEZER BAGS. lol
Also, you can skip the garden and just buy your vegies by the box from a farm! Ask around, people will know where to go to get them. Bring them home and preserve them same day or next day latest. You will feel so great about it.
Now........... another thing to consider this time of the year is heat. Do you have a wood stove? If you have a fireplace, you can buy a more efficient wood insert! It goes right inside your fireplace and heats the house up so much better.
This time of the year, we are putting in a minimum of 2 cords of wood. We let the young bucks cut them up and we buy them delivered to our house. We stack it in the shop, to keep it dry, but in the past, when I didn't have a shop, we stacked it against the garage and tarped it down tight to keep the rain off. We absolutely love wood heat and there is nothing like it to feel warm and cozy in the winter.
Another thing we do this time of the year is dehydrate fruit etc... and freeze our blackberries. My husband loves picking the berries, so I let him do most of that, and I do the preserving while he relaxes and watches his favorite show on tv.
We also make any runs to the dump, etc... to get everything organized and ready for a cold winter when we don't want to do that kind of stuff.
Some notes: Winco is the best place to buy bulk food. Check the bins........ buy your spices (they are so expensive otherwise), flour, sugar, soup mix, biscuit mix, pancake mix, rice............ and even treats out of the bins.
Buy your meat from from a rancher. We have a pig coming real soon! It runs about $3 a lb to buy it, and have it butchered and cut and wrapped for us. They run about 200 lbs hanging. Oh, and be sure and tell the pig farmer you want a BARROW. not just a hog. Barrows are cut male pigs.......... they don't taste as wild and they are delicious, just like the best cuts from the store, only better. Seriously. Yum!
Beef from the ranch runs about $2.50 -$3 a lb and about 800 lbs hanging and another $1 a lb to cut and wrap all that burger, steaks, roasts, etc... for you. But it is so good. and didn't come from a feed lot full of cow manure!
So......... better get busy........ you have about 2 months to get this all done before winter............. Ready to be Mom or Dad of the year? Be the smart, self sufficient one? Well, get on it!
Best Regards,
Cat!
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