Author Topic: Are you a squirrell as winter approaches..packing food away? (Read 2807 times)

Jeannine · « **on:** August 16, 2011, 20:34:21 »

Sometimes I thin k there is a little squirrell in me..I start to get that need to start packing stuff away for the winter. One would think it would go away after the kids flew the coop but nope it goes in and on.

42 jars of blackcurrant stuff last week,(jams , and pie filling) today I have 47 jars of Sockeye salmon in the process as we speak. Thew salmon heads are in there waiting to be used as crab bait.

I will be canning (UK bottling) shortly my lima beans and blueberries are coming, beets to do, pickled onions, then the green tomatoies to deal with, some chutney and some made into sweet pie filling like apples,red tomatoes to process..hopefully Spring salmon will arrive which wiull be smoked. Then I always have a pie making day so that I can freeze them raw for busy days and so it goes on and on..

The freezer gets full of meat etc as pre Christmas offers start appearing in the shops,full legs of pork at less than $1 a pound cannot be turned down.

Peaches are ready to be processed, swetcorn is everywhere and cheap as chips, and crab apples coming soon for jelly. Brambles are almost ready for picking, zuchinni for breads etc is going well and the winter squash are coming on fine and I found three hazelnuts trees last year..so maybe I am part squirrel after all.

Is there any squirrell in yoiu too ?

XX Jeannine

Spudbash · « **Reply #1 on:** August 17, 2011, 10:19:26 »

Yes, totally - yesterday I picked up the first ripe-and-ready hazelnut from under the tree in the garden. Last year, I shelled and froze 3 kgs of them. (If I leave them in the shells, I never get round to using them.) In a bid to use up last year's stash, I'm eating hazelnut and raisin loaf for breakfast and there's hazelnut and banana cake for later. OH and I thinned the tree branches a bit, in the hope of not too big a crop. Time and the kitchen scales will tell if it has worked...

I don't do much bottling, but I have a freezer empty and ready for blackberries and apples; the other one's already full of other stuff.

I think squirrelling away food for the winter is an instinct - one that I scarcely bother to rein in! But I could do with being a bit more focused on quantities: How much of which fruit/veg/herb to grow or forage? That said, I do love the challenge of a glut - it makes me a more creative cook.

Thanks for reminding us, Jeannine, of all these harvests waiting to be tackled - it's so exciting, seeing how different crops have turned out. This is my top time of year in the garden. Like most people in England, I don't bottle fish or meat, but like most A4Aers, I'm always ready to celebrate these fantastic opportunities to live well. Even if it means an overdose of daytime telly while I shell all the hazelnuts! ;D ;D

petengade · « **Reply #2 on:** August 17, 2011, 12:19:19 »

Found this site handy for reference when freezing veg, scroll down for tips
.
http://www.pickyourown.org/freezingqa.htm

ACE · « **Reply #3 on:** August 17, 2011, 17:50:14 »

I don't do winter ;)

Jeannine · « **Reply #4 on:** August 17, 2011, 18:27:51 »

Ace, I am not surprised if you run around places showing your underwear !!

Spudbash, I envy you the nut tree, the one I found is very small and I have to fight the squirrels to get some.

There is also a wild plum close by which I have my eye on.

I used to like to forage too but the walking is too hard now.

thanks for the link PetXX Jeannine

1066 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 17, 2011, 19:12:12 »

what a great description! and yes another squirrel, but with a difference. The freezer is full of green beans, peas and carrots. The fruit bushes around the plot are being plundered and will be frozen. If the tomatoes put on a spurt they will be frozen of bottled. and thanks for mentioning bottling Lima beans - I plan to try than with some borlottis.
The real storing season is just about to start with sweetcorn, borlottis, and drying beans, and then there is the squash ;D
But this year's added extra is that we'll be off to France for most of the winter, so I'll have to figure out what and how to take our produce. yes, I have images of the car being full of squash, bottles of beans, strings of garlic, you name it!

Squirrels anonymous !!

Jeannine · « **Reply #6 on:** August 17, 2011, 19:22:59 »

Great and think of all the foraging you can do in France.

Don't forget your beans need pressure canning!!

XX Jeannine

1066 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 19, 2011, 12:33:58 »

unfortunatley the snow will (should) cover most of what I could forage. Never mind I've just remembered it will be Sloe season soon

Jeannine, knowing me, I'll be on A4A asking for help the day I get round to bottling ;) As ever all advice is appreciated :)

Off to freeze more beans....

cambourne7 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 19, 2011, 12:38:51 »

I do what i can however my husband is very funny about food being kept will not eat anything out of the freezer if its been in there more than a month and refuses to eat anything i have put into a jar. Even throws out fresh fruit and veg after a few days :( i have tried over 16 years to change him but not going to happen.

sunloving · « **Reply #9 on:** August 20, 2011, 09:09:04 »

Wow as ever i'm amazed at your work Jeannine all those blackcurrants and pies wow. Reminds me that i have fruit empire to build after all!
I struggle to feeze fruit becuase its so delicious that i eat it instead of dinner! ;D but my trees and bushes are only young yet so hopes for the future!

I have been freezing yummy roasted tomato mixes and french beans but not enough room to have a true glut yet!

Cambourne poor you! hope you still freeze yummy things for yourself and baby.

I saw in this months gardeners world a recipie for fruit leathers - I make a lot of squash with rhubarb and plums and im going to try to use the pulp to make this. Just involves having the oven on for a long time though might be cheaper to buy it :)
x sunloving

Digeroo · « **Reply #10 on:** August 20, 2011, 09:28:16 »

I admire all your efforts. But I eat my own fresh fruit/veg until end of January and then have a few months boughten stuff.

I froze some french beans last year and I think they are still there.

Though might squirrel away some blackberries to add to yogburt.

luckycharlie · « **Reply #11 on:** August 20, 2011, 09:41:27 »

I freeze everything even cakes and scones Have two freezers full and DH refuses to buy me another one :(. Also have turned the garage into a storeroom for pickles and jam.There are only two of us!!! Probably could last a year out of my store so what am I doing today? of course I am of to the allotment the beetroot need picking so does the beans etc etc!!!! Squirrel !! DH thinks I am a whole family of them ;D ;D

Duke Ellington · « **Reply #12 on:** August 20, 2011, 09:46:33 »

I think it's such a natural thing to want to preserve the produce that we spent so much effort on growing over the past few months.

This year I have been making loads of soup for the freezer with the veg I have been growing rather than freezing the veg. I am not so keen on frozen vegetables but I do freeze my sweetcorn. Yesterday was carrot and coriander I will add the coriander once reheated. Last week I made a huge batch of mixed vegetable and barley soup. I was thinking of making some pesto with the basil I have grown ...does anyone know if pesto is okay for freezing?

Duke

goodlife · « **Reply #13 on:** August 20, 2011, 10:58:34 »

Gosh..Jeannine..you do get some stashed away..
Part from few berries I freeze I don't preserve anything else...anymore..I've got my honey if I need something sweet on my toast..we hardly use any jams.
As for veg..roots/tubers I store for sure..but any fresh stuff we need I've got growing in lottie..unless under snow.. ::)
And..there is all dried beans and peas to use as well. Next year I'm planning to grow some for drying in much larger scale...I like lots of those sorts..
I have shed full of apples and pears packed away and covered with old duvet to keep worst of the temperature affecting them.
I go for wild forage to Finland (soon) and bring some mushrooms (pre-cooked) and berries into freezer.
Other than that I bake some amount to keep us going during winter and shops are 5 minutes drive away for what we should need.
There is only 2 of us and dog and chickens so our needs are not that great..and still the tummy is not as 'flat' as GP would like it to be.. ::)
At the moment I'm packing lots and lots of fruit and berries away into my tummy..I'm growing my fat reserves for the great hibernation..this grumpy bear is already growling away.. ;D

Jeannine · « **Reply #14 on:** August 20, 2011, 16:26:16 »

Great comments from all of you, so it seems I am not the only squirrell..

Fruit leathers are great, I haven't done them in years, I must try again.

You know I think it comes down from My Mum and wartime plus that very strong urge to be self sufficient, at one time we almost made it and the urge is still there.

A aquired a whol;e heap of carrotts and beets a couple of days ago from an abandonded plot that we were going to clear out and again I sat with very small carrotts, scarping away watching TV, it took ages but I ended up with about 5 pounds and 9 jars of pickled beets.

I moss foraging though, although I guess bramble picking is foraging.

Oh and I would love bees.

I prefer canned/bottled beans to frozen ones and the filet beans are great for this.

I miss sloes though, I can';t find any here. I was thinking about doing something with elderberries or rowans.

Well have fun, I would like to see your recipes for leathers,

XX Jeannine

1066 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 20, 2011, 21:20:24 »

well, talking of Sloes, we went for a walk today, and some were ripe, so the small bottle of water we were carrying was soon drunk and re-filled with sloes. Need to get some cheap Gin and sugar in tomorrow :) Happy Days ;D

pigeonseed · « **Reply #16 on:** August 21, 2011, 22:37:40 »

I'd read of North Americans talking about canning -I thought they had some kind of specialist machinery and actually put stuff in tins! I didn't realise it was jars.

So you definitely off to France for Winter then, 1066? How exciting and lovely. And sort of inconvenient as well!

queenbee · « **Reply #17 on:** August 21, 2011, 23:22:49 »

I too have this squirrel instinct, at this time of year I am constantly going through cookery books, freezing and pickling books and baking using my produce. In spring I only have to smell the earth and some kind of hormone rises. I think this is a kind of primevil instinct and in some of us it is more prevalent than in others. Quite honestly at this time of year I just want to gather in everything and get it in storeage. I am not a winter gardener and my satisfaction comes from the fact that I can store my potatoes and onions for at least 9 months of the year, the rest is in my freezer or pickled in bottles. Do your hormones rise in spring when you smell new cut grass and soil?

Jeannine · « **Reply #18 on:** August 22, 2011, 03:38:15 »

Absolutely, actually it starts when the seed catalogues start coming through the door, I think they are impregnated with manure tea.

Pigeonseed, we do can in cans too and use a machine to seal them but I personally have given up on that and only can in jars.

Now if someone could give me an idea to use up 2 cases of salmon size new cans and lids LOL

XX Jeannine

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Author Topic: Are you a squirrell as winter approaches..packing food away? (Read 2807 times)