Ulog 131: The Ever Growing Garden Pantry

With the never-ending current to-do list, you would think I wouldn't come up with new projects around the homestead. Between keeping up with the gardens' harvests, preserving every other day and the daily chores, I didn't think I had it in me to rearrange, expand and start a new pantry.

But I Do Have It In Me...

Our current walk-in pantry is getting... well, overloaded; and I fear the shelves may not be able to hold up under the weight of all the canning I plan for this season.

While I had been busy earlier this year with canning beans (kidney, pinto and baked) and meats (chicken soup, pulled pork and chicken broth/stock), I still have tomatoes, corn and cucumbers to add to this already over-stuffed pantry and its shelves.

So instead of waking up one morning to a crash with a shelf giving under the pressure of all this food I painstakingly took the time, sweat and love to make, I knew it was time to venture out and make a new pantry area in our large kitchen.

A quick trip (yeah, right) to a semi-local big box home improvement store provided me with a selection of shelving units. I decided on the same one I have in the homesteading and gardening/grow room where I store all my empty canning jars and supplies.

It holds up to 1700-pounds, so that should do it... I hope!

This weekend while Mr Golden D worked the ten and twelve hour shifts, I set to work getting some bread and butter pickles canned, as well as starting in on my pounds and pounds of tomatoes to preserve for salsa, marinara sauce, chili sauce and pizza sauce.

First up... bread and butter pickles!

Tomatoes were next... I am still exhausted from all the canning even two days later.