Living Within the Seasons - Buying in Bulk to Preserve Fruits and Vegetables

Where have I been, you ask?
 It's summer. I've been busy!
 Here's why...


Sean and I are taking part in a grand life experiment, in which we eat lots of organic, locally grown food throughout the year. Most folks think that we're a little bit "funny" for opting to live and eat within the seasons. If you think about it, though, living within the growing cycle is how humans survived and stocked their pantry (and ice house, and spring house) for centuries.

Our process is simple.

Over the last few years we've formed great relationships with a number of local farmers and farmer's markets in the Lansing area. All you have to do is be a friendly customer, and you'll reap the rewards! When a crop is ripe for the picking, we buy a few bushels (on average) at a great bulk price from one of these local growers.

There's no way we could eat a bushel or two of cucumbers before they go bad, so Sean and I preserve the over-abundance to enjoy for the rest of the year. It's may seem like a lot of work, but it's well worth it. The food always tastes better than what you'd find in the grocery store, and it's healthier and cheaper.

We preserve our food in a few different ways. The three main methods are canning, dehydrating and freezing. (We also dabble in lacto-fermentation, but that's a story for another day.)

Every vegetable and fruit has a preferred preservation method.

It's easiest to dehydrate squash and zucchini, which will keep for about a year. You can also dehydrate peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, apples, venison and beef jerky and a myriad of other tasty treats. Dehydrated vegetables are great to cook with, and are extra-delicious in stir fry, soup and sauces.

Never, ever try to dehydrate raspberries or blackberries. We learned this the hard way, and they turned into crunchy, crispy little nuggets. It was like eating a bug's cocoon. 

With ample freezer space, you can freeze just about anything. Strawberries, asparagus and corn are relatively easy to freeze, and they keep for at least a year. Another neat trick is to cook dishes and soups in BIG batches, and freeze the left-overs. If you cook a big pot of cream of asparagus soup, for example, you'll have enough left over for soup and sandwiches in the winter.

Blueberries are easy - you just toss them in a gallon-size freezer bag and tuck it into your icebox. Or, you can vacuum seal them. Don't bother rinsing the blueberries before freezing, as that will wash away their natural wax-like coating. (Rinse them before you eat or cook with them, though!)

You can also save food in glass jars, which is called "canning". To be honest, canning is my least favorite method of preservation. I just can't get excited about sweating over a big pot of boiling water. Still, it's worth the hard, hot work. Tomatoes, green beans, pickled cucumbers,  jellies and jams are commonly canned. Meats, homemade soup and other strange things can also be canned, but that requires a pressure canner.

Right now, it's cucumber season.
We've been pickling.

Sean and I have spent many a romantic evening in our kitchen, this month. There were no lit candles, but we cranked up the classical music while we sweating over our cans (and cans, and cans!) of pickled cucumbers.

Also, it's zucchini season. Green pepper season, too. And green beans. It's nearly tomato season, and it would be corn season if we'd gotten more rain.

If you think we're nuts for doing all of this hard work, you're not alone.

Most of our friends view us with a mixture of skepticism and awe (but mostly skepticism) when the conversation circles around to our strange food practices. We're not ashamed of it. In fact, we're pretty darn proud, but we tend to keep quiet about it because we feel as though we're bragging when we list off the benefits of our proclivity to preserve.

We're not the only food savers in town. Today at Curious I talked with my new friend Ken, a fellow pickle lover and novice canner. We bragged to one another about our freezers full of Michigan blueberries and the benefits of a probiotic diet. Bonding with a stranger over the joys of preserving food helped me gain confidence, and convinced me that what Sean and I are doing isn't completely insane.

If you think you're up for a rewarding challenge, I'd be pleased as punch to answer your questions.

If you want to jump in feet first... STOP!

First, do some research. Make sure you're going about this the right way. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll likely lose all of that fresh food you want to save.  

Courtesy of U-Pick.org

Think On This: Friday Edition

Buzzfeed has published their list of 40 of the Most Powerful Photographs, and it's a doozy of a list. Some of these photos are so familiar that I am a bit jaded by them - or was, until today. In this era of heightened information sharing, we're constantly bombarded with pictures of all kinds, from all sides. These images have held their value without need of fancy filters and followers on Instagram. I wonder - are they still worth 1000 words each? We've come a long way, folks.

I made it to #10 before I had to grab a towel (not a tissue!) to mop up tears. What a way to start a Friday, eh?

And now, for a bit of societal observation...

I take pleasure in guessing what the next big trends will be in pop culture. I've been right and I've been wrong. Pirates, who all look like Johnny Depp, were quickly overpowered by vampires. ("Vampirates" will always have a special place in my heart).

Fig. 1. What "sexy" has been lately, soon to be replaced!

Fig. 2. Different sort of vampire, obscurely hip in some circles.

I saw the zombie madness from a mile away, as Sean came down with a case of early-onset apocalyptia. People like stories where the characters are so overcome by horror, they lose their way of life (and oftentimes their moral compass). We like The Walking Dead because it pits "normal" people against against other formerly-normal people, and only a few survive. Plus, we're being conditioned to like gore and respond to it in a positive manner - and that's screwed up!

Fig. 3. Zombified Occupants

 Fortunately, the "Next Big Thing" is coming - and it's not Sexy Bankers. (Sorry, Dad.)

Fig. 4. What a "Sexy Banker" might look like.

For months I've been running my mouth, talking about the great Western Americana resurgence. America's identity and belief that it is exceptional largely reflects the romance and independence of The West. With Western Americana comes the idealization of guns, guitars, loose morals, deserts, tribal life, dust, extreme conditions, horses, hard work, ranches, rugged independence and ingenuity, cowboys, fringe, leather, mustaches, big hats, whores, gambling and a determined irreverence for the system. What's not to like? I was certain that the resurgence of the West was nigh.

Fig. 5. American Cowboy

After seeing the Les Miserables trailer I am rooting for a new fad - Revolutionaries! Some historians (and whoever paid close attention in high school) will knock down your door in a frenzy of nerdy excitement for the chance to talk about the intricacies of the French or Russian revolutions. I've heard the suggestion that the American Revolution (which was driven by markets!) has never ended, or at least carried on until the Civil War. History is blanketed in revolutions. That's what history is: one big, revolving power struggle.

Fig. 6. Tank Man, the peaceful protester in Tienanmen Square

The trouble is that Mass Media will NOT be featuring revolutionaries in a good light. That's what they say, right? "The Revolution Will Not Be Broadcast." They don't want you to see that kind of inspirational, fact-based stuff that might confuse you. They don't want you to see gore, real gore, and realize that it's not appropriate to clap and cheer when someone gets brained. They want guns in the hands of Bad Guys and Keepers of the Peace, not normal people. And they certainly don't want you brushing up on your history. Then you might realize that most revolutions are caused by food shortages, and that we're staring down the barrel of Peak Oil and all of the joys that come with it. You might stop wasting your money on their poisonous crap that belittles and imprisons you, and everyone else. Your family, classmates, friends, neighbors, your boss, even all of the strangers on the street you ignore while staring at your phone.

I'm telling you this because I care about you.
Everything runs out, and the rate we're
consuming things it's gonna be sooner, rather than later.

Don't waste time in a panic, all in a tizzy.
Don't be fearful. Just think.

Do yourself the favor of taking 15 minutes
to learn more about Peak Oil and what's to come.

Or, take 15 minutes and figure out how you're going
to cope with increasingly higher gas prices, food prices and debt.

If you think you'd be happy enough living off of MREs, buy a case.

If stocking up on Kraft Mac and Cheese
(why is it that color?!) and hotdogs
is your fall-back, it's time to go to Costco.

If you really want to help yourself out, though,
plant a few seeds in the dirt and see what happens.

You have you lead yourself to happiness.
You have to teach yourself what you need to know,
if you don't want to be one of the Sheeple
waiting blindly for a cataclysm.

I hope I don't sound insane.
I swear, I'm not.
I'm not on a soap box,
I'm just sharing information with
whoever wants to listen, and think.

In the last few years I have experienced
a gradual lifestyle shift, and I truly think
I'm better off now that I'm off the merry-go-round.

Do a few simple things this weekend to help yourself.

Stop watching so much damn television,
 especially those cable news shows!
Drink more water.
Drink less milk.
(It's for babies. Seriously.)

Don't eat at restaurant chains.
Applebee's is no better than Arby's.
If you don't want to cook for yourself,
then go to an independent restaurant that uses
fresh ingredients, not frozen meat patties and "special" sauces.

If you're already doing these things, good on you!
But don't stop there.

Take a look at what you slather all over
yourself and your stuff every day.
Shampoos, lotions, cleaning products.
What's in them?
Who manufactures them?
And who owns those manufacturers?
Proctor and Gamble, probably.

You could go to the farmer's market and try hand-made soap.
You could try making your own laundry detergent, like we did.
It works great and costs about 20 cents a gallon, if that.
There are various recipes with different ingredients, so take a look.

Buying soap isn't some hoity-toity hipster thing.
Soap is soap. It has been for centuries.
The oddly scented, colorful liquid stuff in bottles
is the new and disturbing option for 1st Worlders.

Once again, I recommend reading
The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living.
It disgusts me to link to Amazon, but it's for the greater good. :P

I'll call it a day, here.
If living better interests you, let me know.
I'm thinking about doing a series of posts
showing what we're doing as an example.


"If  the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." - Thomas Jefferson

Step away from the screen, now. 

Stretch.
Go outside, rain be damned.

Photo Dump

I've decided to give NaNoWriMo a go,

so I may not continue to post as often as I have been.

I might as well try, though!

Here's what we've been up to, this week:

We hit up the East Lansing Farmers Market - the last of the season! We've only missed a handful of these Sunday markets since it began a few years ago.
We get most of our shopping for the week is done here,

and we've made some good friends along the way!

With the colder weather, most everything in the garden
has been frozen to death.
Last flowers of the season!

And, as requested, here is my awesome Halloween costume.

I realize that this post is mostly pictures, rather than words.
Normally I would apologize, but...
Whatever, it's NaNoWriMo!