Food preservation is in full swing up here in Iowa. Drought not withstanding. I’ve noticed that it doesn’t really matter what the weather is doing, as long as your food shed has enough variety, there will be food that loves whatever the weather is doing and produces a bumper crop. Possible exceptions include tornadoes and wild fires. :-D Sorry.
In the past I’ve really focused my food preservation around the thinking that I should preserve enough to see my family through until the next year’s harvest of that crop. So, a year’s worth or slightly less. Most of the time, that really does make sense. Most of the time, that thinking makes for a nice concrete number that I can use to do some math and decide on amounts. Last month for sweet corn canning, I figured I use 2 pints a month, times it by 12 and I know I want to shoot for 24 pints before calling it quits.
You know where I’m going with this of course, the years where that crop doesn’t produce, for whatever reason, enough to preserve. I made the tastiest Spiced Plums a couple of years ago from a wild plum windfall. Since then, late frosts and dry winters have severely impacted stone fruit in Iowa. I’m really wanting more Spiced Plums, but I’ll have to wait to try again, maybe next year? Maybe the year after that? It makes me sad just thinking about it.
Now, plums are of course, not essential for my survival. As much as I may have thought differently during the last trimester of my pregnancy. A lot of crops have one or two other crops that could be substituted without much adjustment. Plums will likely be replaced with a few more batches of peaches, which we can find this year. One type of squash may not do well, but another could great; even summer versus winter squash, they fill a lot of the same meal niches. (Side veg, soup filler…)
For crops that don’t have an easy substitute, how do you know when you have enough? There are plenty of stories and records of long lasting food disruptions. The 7 year drought in the bible comes to mind; some pests and diseases can lead to a multiple year hiatus on growing that crop in the area; wildfires and tornadoes can cause damage to fruit trees that takes years to recover from.
So what’s a prepper to do? On the one hand I try to keep my eye on the variety of foods available in my food shed. If something isn’t looking good for the year, as long as I know there’s an alternative that’s likely to come through, I don’t worry. Additionally, I do try to encourage that variety. I make sure and purchase a variety of things from the farmer’s market, so they’ll have financial incentive to continue to plant that variety. Plus, it keeps me on my toes in the kitchen, giving me practice at cooking more than the basic green beans and potatoes. For things that I do rely on and don’t have a locally available alternative, I’m thinking I may try to push myself to a 2 year supply of preserves, as long as it’s safe. Sweet corn would be fine for a 2 year spell in a glass jar in my basement. Field corn could be dried and would last for a lot longer than 2 years if kept away from light and air. Canning 2 years worth of tomatoes would be quite a challenge… drying them could be doable though.
Chime in if you’ve had any thoughts lately about how much to store and for how long.
Also, I pulled 6 giant watermelon out of my community plot this weekend. What on earth can I do to preserve watermelon? I’ve juiced one, that can probably freeze… I’d welcome any advice on watermelon preservation. :-D
- Calamity Jane
We have dried it. Kids and adults love it.Tastes very good,nice fruit snack
You said, “Canning 2 years worth of tomatoes would be quite a challenge… drying them could be doable though.”
Do both. Just as you have multiple varieties of squash and all, you should preserve your crops in multiples ways. Canned whole tomatoes, canned salsa, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.
You can pickle watermelon and watermelon rind.
All excess fruit, or fruit that is a little too ripe for your liking, can be pureed, dehydrated, and turned into fruit leather. This can also be done with vegetables, just less tasty. This all stems from my love of jerky; fruit jerky is pretty good too!
Most hunter-gatherer societies used some form of fruit leather to maintain vitamin and mineral requirements. This was often done on an annual basis allowing these groups to meet vital nutrient needs, during times when fresh fruit/veg was not available.
None of these societies had any modern preservation technology. The fruit was usually crushed, strained, then dried. Add in some of our crazy modern day techniques (mylar bags, nitrogen flushing, and vacuuming sealing oh my!) and I’m sure these leathers would last well over a year.
I haven’t tried watermelon yet, let me know if you try it out!
No idea of what to do with watermelon. We won’t have any this year, but I’ve wondered how to preserve it in better years. It’s so good! I notice someone mentioned rind pickles which is an option, except we (our family) hates them. There’s nothing better than a slice of cold watermelon when you’re overworked, tired and hot, but it may have to remain a seasonal treat. Same with lettuce.
My husband and I both recently went on a serious diet. We’ve lost weight, particularly my husband, but I’ve gone off it due to taste fatigue. Am trying to re-plan our stores to take this into account. My stores rely heavily on dried beans, rice, cornmeal, tomatoes and canned bacon (for flavor). Due to this diet, I discovered just how tired you get of a really monotonous diet. I’ve always liked broccoli and cauliflower, but if I never see another bite, it will be too soon. The diet consists of a moderate amount of really lean meat and way too much of a limited number of vegetables, no sugar, no dairy, no grains and no fats. I just can’t do it and don’t want the children to become ill because they’re just sick of what is offered. Seriously, children can do that. Taste fatigue looms as an unexpected threat in preps, so I’m trying to widen the scope. Any ideas are welcome.
I have a lot of canned chili, fruit, pasta, and tomato sauce. I would try growing micro greens in the house. We have done this. Also even a small window sill herb garden will really help with flavors.
l’ve been noticing wild purple grapes everywhere lately. l’ve been trying to get some cuttings to get a grape arbor growing here in the yard. Will be great in late july august, but how do can l preserve these besides jelly? l know fruit cups always have grapes and what not in them, but the other fruit trees here won’t be ready for months. Any suggestions?
I don’t care for grape jelly. I’ve always preserved my grapes as a juice concentrate. Cook them down, strain them, then just can the juice.
Then there’s always raisins, my family eats their weight in raisins every year. :-D
A thought, if possible,k gather with other preps for a swap/trade fest, bring your abundance and see if one has what the other needs, easier said then done I supose since so many are opsec minded, but a thought…..
Jane, have you canned boiled or other potatoes? Is so, how do these work for you and your family?
Watermelon jam:
http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/2010/08/how-to-make-watermelon-jam/
Potatoes can be canned using a pressure canner. I tried some in a water bath out of curiosity, but they spoiled within a couple of months. I have also dried sliced potatoes. They did well, but I’ll do chunks next time as they are more useful for soups and stews. I tried frying the dried ones (after soaking in water for awhile) and they didn’t work so well. I think you have to waste a little food sometimes to figure out what works and what doesn’t.