It seems that I have a bug....
Not a bad one, mind you. I've had this bug before, but its been probably about oh, about twenty eight or nine years ago. OK, I'm being rude, sorry. I've gotten back into canning.
Just after Mouse was born, I tried my hand at canning, and I have to say, I wasn't half bad at it. Mostly it was jams and jellies, and at one point I did some chokecherry wine. Where we (my ex-husband and I) lived was outside of Helena, there was a major over-abundance of chokecherry trees...everywhere. I absolutely loved learning how to can and I loved chokecherry jam! Then when we had to go through everything that we did with Andrea, separating and divorcing, I moved away from it. Literally.
Fast forward to this year. A lot of things have changed. I've changed. I was Born Again; Andrea grew to be a very sweet woman; I've married my Best Friend, have another daughter who is absolutely a beauty, with my temper and her Dad's attitude (or is that the other way around...), a handsome Son-in-Law and two absolutely adorable, perfect Granddaughters (I'm not prejudiced or anything) and this year I decided that we needed to take stock of how we live and eat and all of that nonsense, because, quite frankly I'm not so sure that my fibro triggers aren't somehow food related as well as stress related. So I started reading and applying. Of course, the economy helped out a lot with the way its going and in the course of reading, I'm finding that I'm not liking what is put in our food supply.
I mean, think about this. Technically the public can't be sold any seeds to plant that are GMO's. Technically, hybrids are GMO's...I mean, think about it, a genetic manipulation has to occur in order for the hybrid to work. Its not rocket science, but it is science, base as it is. Anyway, I'm off track here. I decided that I didn't like the way that the food source is being poisoned, manipulated, whatever, and that I was going to do something on my end to get my family healthier this year. In my reading I also found some interesting things about the ways that certain foods affect how we function on a molecular level. Meh...boring for some, pretty fascinating for me.
First thing I determined to do was to fix the stomach issues in the house. There are times that one thing that is fixed is fine, the next time its a time bomb. Rooting out the base causes is part of my mission for this year. Now if everyone would cooperate, this would be easier. Given the fact that I'm just as bad as everyone else in the house about cooperating with this, I am of the notion that this is going to be a long haul to get everyone switched over to as natural as I can get! Ha ha! At any rate, my first step was to obtain some heirloom seeds and plant a garden.
Step one was completed just before I left for Okinawa. When I returned, they were waiting for me in a box on my desk. So, off I went to Home Depot to get a raised garden form, some fencing, soil and bird net to keep all of the pests out. The one pest I forgot was Bailey. Being a puppy still proved to be a bit of a challenge for me and my gardening. I walked out one day to beautiful swiss chard, a thriving couple of bush bean stalks, three snap peas climbing up the corner, a zucchini plant ready to give fruit, spinach, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatillos and two types of tomatoes. I watered and went back in,planning how I was going to store all of my goodies and leaving the puppy outside . The next morning I let Bailey out, sat down at my computer with my coffee and my email and heard a very loud cry of help. I ran outside to see Bailey hopelessly tangled in the bird net.....in the middle of what once was my garden. After untangling her and assessing the damage, I found that I lost everything but the tomatillos and tomatoes, oh and either broccoli or cauliflower...I won't know which until it blooms out. **sigh**
So, "Plan B" is now in action. I've been scouring the grocery stores for organic produce, which I'm not sure is totally free from some sort of chemicals, but that's me, and the farmer's markets in the area. I've found a treasure trove of wonderful fruits and vegetables that I am going to can, pickle or whatever and I've gotten some herbs going in containers that should help out as well. I'm learning how to sprout my own grains and mill my own grains to make flour for bread and baked goods, a dehydrator to help with preserving and soon I will learn how to make jerky and dry food for long term storage. Right now I'm just learning, but its a step that I've been wanting to take for a while. I've always been kind of inclined to do things the old fashioned way, I guess that I don't like taking electricity for granted much. That really came to fruition when Ike hit a few years back. I pulled out my cast aluminum and cast iron and cooked on the grill. If I could have figured out how to keep stuff cold, I would have, but mostly I depended on the knowledge that I gained when we would go camping as kids with my folks, or when I was older and married and did stuff like that with my ex. My mom contends that I was born in the wrong century.
Anyway, to date I have two quarts of spiced pickled beets canned and processed; two quarts of garlic dills processed and four cups of strawberries almost ready to be reduced for jam. In the on deck circle is another five pounds of pickling cucumbers for processing for regular dill pickles, five pounds of zucchini for bread and pickling; pears for jam and corn to store for relish. Soon I will be on the look out for a grass fed beef that I can have processed and a freezer to store it in. Once I have the freezer, then I'll also be able to freeze some of the produce from the farmers markets that I obtain, and maybe I'll take a fishing trip or two to put some fish in there as well.
So far, that's my plan for this year. They say that in case of emergency, you should have at least a three month supply of food and water for each person in the household. When Ike hit, even though it was only a few days without electricity, potable running water, basic food stuff and gasoline, it felt like it was forever. I can't imagine what it was like in other parts of the country where these things were not available for weeks. This year come hurricane season, I plan on being prepared, more so than before, and beside that, I want us to have a healthier life and I think home-grown is where we need to be. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm right, then hopefully some of the ailments and such will be lessened or possibly even a thing of the past.
Just a little insight for y'all inside this mind that doesn't always slow down enough to sleep! Ha ha!
Be safe and have a blessed week, y'all!
Just after Mouse was born, I tried my hand at canning, and I have to say, I wasn't half bad at it. Mostly it was jams and jellies, and at one point I did some chokecherry wine. Where we (my ex-husband and I) lived was outside of Helena, there was a major over-abundance of chokecherry trees...everywhere. I absolutely loved learning how to can and I loved chokecherry jam! Then when we had to go through everything that we did with Andrea, separating and divorcing, I moved away from it. Literally.
Fast forward to this year. A lot of things have changed. I've changed. I was Born Again; Andrea grew to be a very sweet woman; I've married my Best Friend, have another daughter who is absolutely a beauty, with my temper and her Dad's attitude (or is that the other way around...), a handsome Son-in-Law and two absolutely adorable, perfect Granddaughters (I'm not prejudiced or anything) and this year I decided that we needed to take stock of how we live and eat and all of that nonsense, because, quite frankly I'm not so sure that my fibro triggers aren't somehow food related as well as stress related. So I started reading and applying. Of course, the economy helped out a lot with the way its going and in the course of reading, I'm finding that I'm not liking what is put in our food supply.
I mean, think about this. Technically the public can't be sold any seeds to plant that are GMO's. Technically, hybrids are GMO's...I mean, think about it, a genetic manipulation has to occur in order for the hybrid to work. Its not rocket science, but it is science, base as it is. Anyway, I'm off track here. I decided that I didn't like the way that the food source is being poisoned, manipulated, whatever, and that I was going to do something on my end to get my family healthier this year. In my reading I also found some interesting things about the ways that certain foods affect how we function on a molecular level. Meh...boring for some, pretty fascinating for me.
First thing I determined to do was to fix the stomach issues in the house. There are times that one thing that is fixed is fine, the next time its a time bomb. Rooting out the base causes is part of my mission for this year. Now if everyone would cooperate, this would be easier. Given the fact that I'm just as bad as everyone else in the house about cooperating with this, I am of the notion that this is going to be a long haul to get everyone switched over to as natural as I can get! Ha ha! At any rate, my first step was to obtain some heirloom seeds and plant a garden.
Step one was completed just before I left for Okinawa. When I returned, they were waiting for me in a box on my desk. So, off I went to Home Depot to get a raised garden form, some fencing, soil and bird net to keep all of the pests out. The one pest I forgot was Bailey. Being a puppy still proved to be a bit of a challenge for me and my gardening. I walked out one day to beautiful swiss chard, a thriving couple of bush bean stalks, three snap peas climbing up the corner, a zucchini plant ready to give fruit, spinach, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatillos and two types of tomatoes. I watered and went back in,planning how I was going to store all of my goodies and leaving the puppy outside . The next morning I let Bailey out, sat down at my computer with my coffee and my email and heard a very loud cry of help. I ran outside to see Bailey hopelessly tangled in the bird net.....in the middle of what once was my garden. After untangling her and assessing the damage, I found that I lost everything but the tomatillos and tomatoes, oh and either broccoli or cauliflower...I won't know which until it blooms out. **sigh**
So, "Plan B" is now in action. I've been scouring the grocery stores for organic produce, which I'm not sure is totally free from some sort of chemicals, but that's me, and the farmer's markets in the area. I've found a treasure trove of wonderful fruits and vegetables that I am going to can, pickle or whatever and I've gotten some herbs going in containers that should help out as well. I'm learning how to sprout my own grains and mill my own grains to make flour for bread and baked goods, a dehydrator to help with preserving and soon I will learn how to make jerky and dry food for long term storage. Right now I'm just learning, but its a step that I've been wanting to take for a while. I've always been kind of inclined to do things the old fashioned way, I guess that I don't like taking electricity for granted much. That really came to fruition when Ike hit a few years back. I pulled out my cast aluminum and cast iron and cooked on the grill. If I could have figured out how to keep stuff cold, I would have, but mostly I depended on the knowledge that I gained when we would go camping as kids with my folks, or when I was older and married and did stuff like that with my ex. My mom contends that I was born in the wrong century.
Anyway, to date I have two quarts of spiced pickled beets canned and processed; two quarts of garlic dills processed and four cups of strawberries almost ready to be reduced for jam. In the on deck circle is another five pounds of pickling cucumbers for processing for regular dill pickles, five pounds of zucchini for bread and pickling; pears for jam and corn to store for relish. Soon I will be on the look out for a grass fed beef that I can have processed and a freezer to store it in. Once I have the freezer, then I'll also be able to freeze some of the produce from the farmers markets that I obtain, and maybe I'll take a fishing trip or two to put some fish in there as well.
So far, that's my plan for this year. They say that in case of emergency, you should have at least a three month supply of food and water for each person in the household. When Ike hit, even though it was only a few days without electricity, potable running water, basic food stuff and gasoline, it felt like it was forever. I can't imagine what it was like in other parts of the country where these things were not available for weeks. This year come hurricane season, I plan on being prepared, more so than before, and beside that, I want us to have a healthier life and I think home-grown is where we need to be. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm right, then hopefully some of the ailments and such will be lessened or possibly even a thing of the past.
Just a little insight for y'all inside this mind that doesn't always slow down enough to sleep! Ha ha!
Be safe and have a blessed week, y'all!
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