I debated for a while whether or not to post these numbers because, honestly, I already feel a bit of pressure actually seeing them but putting them on here means I really have to be accountable in delivering. Basically, I came up with the bare minimum canned/frozen/dehydrated foods my family consumes in a YEAR.
I based these numbers on how many of certain items I buy each week, and the actual number of canned goods we use (very minimal ), and what I’d like to have on hand when we switch our eating to local/seasonal. In the real world, I avoid canned goods because of the plastic based lining on the inside of the cans. I’m excited to get away from that by doing a lot of my own canning.
Okay, here goes…..
Diced tomatoes – at LEAST 50 pints. This number scares the little girl inside me. Each pint takes about a pound and a half of tomatoes so I will have to be very vigilant with canning during the tomato season. This is one of the two canned goods I currently buy because I make a lot of salsa at home….yeah, that’s it. I literally use this amount for salsa alone.
Pickled Jalapenos- 8 quarts. Again, this is mainly for salsa. At this time I generally use fresh jalapenos unless I’m out, in which case I do have some home canned ones from last year.
Jams and Jellies or fruit butters- 20 8oz jars. We actually don’t eat nearly this amount. I’ve been buying berry/fruit jams from a local lady lately and it’s been amazing to spread on our banana/egg pancakes or stir into yogurt. I’d like to make my own to have more control over the ingredients (ie, no sugar) and to have it on hand as a replacement for more damaging sweet things.
Apple Products-12 quarts and 25 pints. I have no fear on this one. I always take big advantage of apple season and do at least this. The quarts will be with stewed apples and the pints will be apple butter.
Pickles-12 pints. I’m shooting low on this one since we don’t eat TONS of pickles but I figure the more we have the more we’ll eat. I really do love pickles and am considering doing some of these through fermentation.
Frozen fruit-12-25 quart bags. The variance on this has entirely to do with the season. For example, I tried to go pick blueberries last year but the blueberry patch was picked out after two days and then the majorly intense heat hit and they didn’t really get anymore. I’m hoping to have more success this year but don’t want to over shoot.
Frozen Veggies-12-25 quart bags. The veggies I want to include here are things like green beans, broccoli, peas, and whole tomatoes. The whole tomatoes are basically frozen from fresh in their original state. When I need to use them I just run them under hot water for a second to peel the skin off and then break them up and use them in things like chili, soups, an sauces.
Greens-as much as I can get. I always freeze lots of kale and spinach but since I can harvest my kale all the way through December so it’s not too much of a concern. I like greens A LOT. Dehydrated fruit-not sure to be honest. I want to have plenty and use them as snacks, etc.
So far, that’s all I’ve got as far as fruits and veggies go. Right now I’m getting our meat at a local butcher and milk from a farm but I would definitely be interested (if I have the freezer space) in something like a quarter cow or side of pork.
It’s going to be interesting to see how well I can fill this out. I’m looking forward to the start of the season! I’m itching to get outside! The weather turned and the snow is almost all melted but it’s been raining steadily for two days…maybe the sun will come out soon.
Question: Do you do any preserving? How much?
When you freeze your spinach, do you just take out what you are going to use and refreeze the rest of it? I froze it once, then took it out and refrigerated it, and it all got soaking wet and nasty.
Whatever we grow in our gardens we freeze. Canning is one more thing for me to learn, and since we have the freezer space it is the easiest, most efficient way to keep our produce and I’m not motivated to learn how to can. I also like the taste of frozen vegetables (when cooked!) better than canned. Each year we are usually able to freeze tomatoes, green beans, green peppers, herbs, squash, peas; and some years we’ve been able to add parsnips, carrots and lima beans to that list. Whatever the method of preservation, it’s an awesome gift to provide this for your family.
Oh dear, gross! I actually just wash it, let it air dry and then put it in shopping bags….if I get to a point where that’s a space issue I’ll just blanch, blend and ice cube it for smoothies, soups, etc. But for now I just grab what I need out of the bags and put them back in the freezer.