Stocking up at the Farmer's Market ~ CSA Week 8

Preserving the harvest is a family affair
on our farm! Farmer Steve jumps in to help
after a long day for the Farmer's Wife.
I'm sooooo blessed!

The abundant harvest found at the farmer's markets this time of year gives many of our customers the urge to stock up for the chilly days that will come with winter.

Carrots 

We've spent a few days this week putting up the leftovers from 4 rainy markets last Saturday along with "The Good, the Bad, and the Uglies" from the past weekend. My pantry shelves are filling back up! I love to look in my "new" pantry and see long rows of different colors of vegetables. It seems that all that was left over from the long winter was white or tan (turnips, applesauce, & apple juice)! This week we added the red of tomatoes, the

Red Potatoes

orange of carrots, and more white in potatoes. It takes a family effort to put up the quantity of food our large family needs, but the memories I hear most often are the tales of the mounds of green beans the children broke, or the piles of mixed greens they chopped, or with busting buttons, which team won the apple juicing contest! I think it helps the children to appreciate their food long after the first frost of the winter.

Pickled Okra & Tomatoes

 For most people though, a blog that inspires them to can a lot of vegetables, dry an abundance of seasonal fruits or at least freeze containers of their favorite vegetable can be overwhelming. I want to help take the fear out of at least TRYING to preserve some of your favorite seasonal foods. That way in the middle of winter you can treat yourself to a taste of summer!

Canning is an "in" thing to do these days. That is amazing to me! I've been canning for 34 summers now and it has always been an old fashioned.. green...oh I mean a sustainable way to save money for our one income family. I'm glad you are interested in doing something to prepare for the chilly and uncertain days ahead.

Seek Wisdom

• When you're at the farmer's market ask the vendors what they do to preserve the harvest for their own families.
• Ask older women in your life if they have experience in canning, drying, or freezing the harvest bounty. Sometimes folks remember what their Grandparents used to do and this can be inspiring.
• I didn't have the Internet 34 summers ago, but you do! There is a plethora of help out there. start with this tried and true website's articles.  Mother Earth News and Pintrest's Preserving Board
• Wisdom from the Farmer's Wife ~  You don't have to have a lot of expensive equipment (though this basic starter set of canning tools would be very helpful.) Water bath canning is the simplest method of canning. To water bath can all you need is a deep pot that will allow 1-2" of water over the top of the size jar you will be using. Perhaps you have a friend that will allow you to come and help her/him can. I've taught several ladies over the years to can this way. It's a fun way to learn.

What are things that you can?

• Green Beans
• Tomatoes (in several forms)

  

  Green Beans &
  Carrots

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Cinnamon Apple slices, Apple Sauce, Apple Butter, & Apple Danish filling
• Turnips
• Squash (only a little for squash casseroles as it gets soft)
• Radish (believe it or not they are great in stew!)
• jams (strawberry, peach, canteloup, seedless blackberry, etc.
•  Relishes

• Apple and Pear Juice
• Butter
• Meat (chicken, breakfast sausage, ground venison, hamburger, etc.)

2. What should I can first?

• Start canning with a high acid fruit or vegetables like tomatoes, jams, or even using a Mrs. Wages or Ball pickle or salsa mix to help you get started. These will be easily processed in a water bath canner.
• Start small, like the fast and easy method I've posted for canning tomatoes. Use them for

  

  Canned tomatoes

  making chili, soups, and lasagna this winter. Even if you cannot find canning tomatoes in bulk, budget to buy some Certified Naturally Grown tomatoes to can each week. Processing a little at time makes the task of winter storage less daunting. 
• Jams are very easy to make, and with the abundance of blueberries, blackberries, and peaches right now may be a great first choice. 

My daughter Hope canned lots
of seedless blackberry jam this week.
This is hers...we just juiced 13 gallons of
blackberries and froze the juice until we have our
commercial kitchen up and running. Look for it this winter
at your local farmer's market or on our online store!

I don't want to can, what other way can I save food for the winter?

• Freezing is a fast way to put up vegetables and fruits for the winter.
• Drying is also a popular way to preserve the harvest in a compact space.
• If you have a cool, dark space in your house or apartment you can create a "root cellar" and store root crops, fall apples, cabbage, and other vegetables that cannot be easily bought in the colder months. 

I like the idea of freezing...what are things that you freeze? 

• There are certain vegetables and fruits that I

  

  Cut the kernels
  off into an
  angel food pan.

  think freeze better than they can or even dry. Corn is at the top of my list. Non-GMO corn is a SPECIAL treat for us. I have put up a little this year and the children huddle around to help me taste-test it just before I bag it. I simply cut it off the ear, place it
  in a HUGE cast iron frying with butter. 

  When it turns bright yellow in a few

minutes I turn off the heat and let it cool 
before spooning it into a freezer bag. I press out as much air as possible before sealing. I lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet to insure it freezes flat to save space.

• Another special treat I use in my smoothies and
  
  serve as a special side dish for breakfast deep into a frosty spell is cantaloupe. I simply cut it up and tray freeze it. After a day or so, simply remove it from the tray with a spatula and slide it into a freezer bag. They will stay separated and allow you to pull a little at a time out to                      eat!
• I use the same method to freeze strawberries and blueberries also. I keep one bag near the kitchen to make muffin and smoothie making quick and easy.
• Another staple that we depend on A LOT in the winter is frozen mixed greens (Swiss Chard, Arugula, Kale, Mustard, Turnip, and Asian Greens). These need blanching to stop the enzyme action in your greens. The only changes I'd really make to these directions is that I use as much of the stem as I can. Why throw out perfectly usable food? The other innovation I thought I came up with is using a thin pillow case to blanch my greens in. (My mother-in-love saw me using my blanching bag one day and it spurred a memory from the depression era of using one herself!...and I thought I was smart!?) I submerge the bag into boiling water with a wooden spoon, start my timer for 4 minutes, I work the bag with my spoon to separate the greens, then lift it out, letting it drip. I then carry it with a bowl underneath it to the sink of ice water and submerge it again. The bag is big enough that you can swirl the greens around in the waters allowing them to cook and cool easily. Then when the greens have cooled, I lift it from the ice water and place it in my dish drainer. There I press the extra water out of the greens by pressing on the bag. The water drains into the sink! The last step is to unload the blanching bag into a marked freezer bag. Lay your bag of greens on a cookie sheet and press flat, removing as much air as possible before sealing. You an freeze several bags of greens stacked up together, freezing to form. This will save space in your freezer. When they have frozen solid in a couple days I remove them to a large banana box in the bottom of my chest freezer to store the frozen greens upright like a file. 

Frozen corn, mixed greens, & chopped sweet potatoes

What is your favorite way to store food for the winter?

• We get pretty busy during the final days of fall with farming, marketing and home schooling. My favorite way to store food then takes the least amount of time. I have a corner of the basement that I keep root crops, pumpkins, onions, cabbage, and squash in. I liken it to the root cellar that someday I'd like to have. I use old milk crates to put my vegetables in that stack nicely. There is plenty of ventilation using these, but you can also use wooden crates or cardboard boxes with holes punched in the sides. It must be cool (but not able to freeze) and dark wherever you decide to do this. Under steps, garages, crawl spaces under a house, or even a metal trash can buried in the ground with straw inside can be used. There is plenty of information on this topic on the web, so I'll let you Google it.   

What method of preserving do you use the least?

My Excalibur dehydrator does a great job!
Here I'm removing moisture from corn that
is causing problems in our stone mill.

• Even though I have a top of the line Excalibur dehydrator I use this method the least. I dry gallon jars of broccoli, cauliflower, herbs, potatoes, tomatoes, kohlrabi, carrots, ETC. to make our "schoolhouse soup", but I don't think well enough ahead to dehydrate vegetables for a meal. I also like the texture of frozen and canned foods better.  One thing I do dry a lot of is thinly sliced apples. We use these throughout the winter as snacks. I also rehydrate them and use them in my apple cinnamon rolls...now I've got a craving!

Levi (8) poses by his end of the year project
display. Each child made a tri-fold display to present.

Schoolhouse Soup

Line up all school age children (including the toddler that makes school days so "interesting") and let each child chooses a jar of their favorite dehydrated vegetable to hold. Mom gets the soup pot and goes to each child in line allowing them to put a handful of "their vegetable" into the pot. Line the jars back up on the shelf. Have the children gather school supplies and sit down "quietly" while you go to the frig and find any leftover meat that just happened to evade the search of your hungry teen. Include this if possible into the soup pot. Fill the pot of with broth (or water and bouillon) to the level you will need to feed your family. Add a spoonful of minced garlic to the broth. Let simmer allllll morning. 

At noon, pour any leftover rice, pasta, or our favorite sliced cabbage into the pot to finish cooking while the schoolroom gets cleaned up and the lunch table set. Taste and tweak the seasoning. Slice the bread, and serve. Thank God while you pray that nap time will soon be here...our favorite time of our wintertime schedule!

With the uncertainty of the world around us it's a wise time to stock up. Becoming self-sufficient is a growing process. Slowly it's become our lifestyle to produce as much as possible, preserve the harvest, and buy and store in bulk what we cannot produce. We love to barter our produce for services and products we do not produce or have the needed skills or time to perform. Someday this may be everyone's lifestyle if the world economy keeps spiraling downward. The Lord is coming soon, and we do not know how bad the situation around us will get before the Lord appears for His own. 

One thing I feel we will all need is to be strong...physically, emotionally, and especially spiritually. 

•  To prepare physically we need to get up and MOVE. Put aside the remote control and pick up a hoe or shovel. There are many things we could do to prepare ourselves physically, but preparing a small garden bed is a great start! In a small way you can begin to provide for your family's needs. It doesn't have to be huge garden...a boarder garden to your house can be transformed into a salad garden NOW! The first weeks of August are the perfect time in our area to plant for the fall and early winter!
• To prepare emotionally we must take a realistic look at what the world is like and where we are heading. We're all so distracted by our busy lives to realize that yes, it may be 100 years from now until our nation collapses, but more likely we are heading there at break-neck speed. Decide that you will take personal responsibility for you and your family, making any sacrifices needed.
• I feel the most important preparation needed by all of us is spiritually. Why is the world heading for major changes? God's plan for the ages is winding down and the havoc ahead is part of His plan. As Christians we do not know when His appearing for the saved will be. Until then we must "be strong and of good courage". Joshua 1:6. By studying the end times in the books of Daniel, Matthew, Thessalonians and Revelation you will get an overall picture of where the world is heading. God's plan is for all to be saved and come to a knowledge of His redeeming love. But the sad reality is that many, no, most will reject it as fanaticism. 

    Christian, now, more than ever we must be a      light to those in the world. We can not do this if we are caught up with the world's latest "toys", reality show, or sports teams. It's time to focus on Jesus Christ! Read Scripture each day, pray, and "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." James 4:8  God's plan for spiritual strength is plain and clear.
    Also while we still have the freedom of worship it's important to gain as much spiritual strength as a body of believers as possible. Worshiping together with other Christians will provide the support we all will need during the uncertain days ahead. I extend an invitation to visit our church, Victory Baptist Church  anytime! You will find the Bible based teaching of Scripture and support you are longing for there.

    So, what will you stock up on this week? 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Matthew 6:33

Abundant Blessings,

The Farmer's Wife

Val Colvin

Scenes from the farmhouse(s) this week.

Hope canned for her family this week!

Seedless Blackberry
Jam

She uses a steam
waterbath canner
to can her tomatoes.

     

Canning Corn
with me in the "big house".

After cutting it off the ear
Cook it lightly in a skillet with butter
and a light sprinkling of sea salt
until it reaches a bright yellow.
Cool, bag, and freeze flat.

God sent me an angel to help
me can 72 quarts of tomatoes
on Monday. With Cerina and the
children we got the job done "quickly".
Thank you everyone!

Our next project was canning an abundance
of carrots on Wednesday!

         

Levi helped me by washing
the carrots for me to chop.

     

We put wet carrots into
our jars and seal. There is no
need to add water to vegetables
to can them! The vitamins and minerals
leech out into the water and are wasted otherwise.
Carrots are low acid and must be pressure canned.

                                               

Faith Anne washed potatoes
 for us to can next.

Noah willingly chopped
potatoes in hopes that
we would eventually
feed him.

An open faced BLT
with farm fresh ingredients!

Tea with Miss Charity and her
family of dolls.

"Fast food" farmhouse style!
Fresh whole wheat biscuit, our pastured
eggs, and fresh pork sausage!

The easiest way to sterilize jars for water
bath canning! Wash jars, place in a 250 degree
oven for 25 minutes. Done!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, CSA Week 7

Greetings from the farm!

We've had another busy week here...harvesting the last of the onions...readying more ground for planting, and more planting for the early fall crops we'll need. A few of the boys planted the LAST PLANTING OF SQUASH FOR THE SEASON in the greenhouse today! Time sure is flying by!
There are harvests daily that bring lots of

vegetables to the porch packing shed...the good, the bad, and the ugly!

This week I've been able to experiment with some of my "uglies" and created some really fun meals. One of our family favorites

was the zucchini crust pizza I made for one lunch picnic out under the trees. When you shred zucchini it really doesn't matter if you use the bad, or the ugly. In fact this will be my "go-to" pizza crust this summer! It's quick, healthy, and YUMMY! Thank you Pintrest!

              Zucchini Crust Pizza

                   Crust:

1 large egg or 2 small ones

3 small to medium zucchinis

1.5 cups grated Parmesan, Cheddar, or Mozzarella Cheese. 

(I combined Parmesan and cheddar.)
1 t. Italian Seasoning

salt

Toppings:

This is what I did...you can choose for yourselves.

Sliced tomatoes, or mild tomato sauce

Swiss Chard, thinly sliced and sauteed with garlic

Onion, diced

mushrooms, sauteed with chard

leftover grilled chicken thighs

bacon, crumbled

mozzarella cheese

Grate the zucchini and sprinkle it heavily with salt in a bowl. Let sit at least 15 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini as dry as possible. Next combine all the ingredients listed for the crust. Mix gently. (If it looks too wet as mine did, just sprinkle some flour over the mixture until it is                       drier. The crust is very forgiving!)              

      Pour onto a parchment lined pan. Mold into a circle. Bake in a 400 degree oven until the crust is just set. Remove from the oven.

Next put your toppings on...Pizza takes on a different feel around here in the summer. Gone is the heavy tomato sauce and chopped or sliced tomatoes are in its place. I added sauteed greens and mushrooms, chopped bacon and chicken, along with diced onions.  It was a yummmmmy meal!

I like to make side dishes that I can keep in the refrigerator all week to draw from quickly. I pack lunches on the go as men leave for markets, or when we return home from church late in the evening. Having side dishes ready helps even on less hectic days, leaving me time to do the important...like go to Charity's tea parties! Like usual I've used very little good vegetables this week...mostly I work with the bad (very ripe or have visual imperfections) and and a few uglies(These have spots that need to be cut out to be used.).  They all taste the same, but the condition of a vegetable will tell me how long it will remain in edible condition.

This colorful pasta salad was really easy to make...and I made it from 100% uglies. While the vegetable spiral pasta was cooking to the al dente stage I cut up 8 different ugly vegetables from my frig to go into it. Cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, radishes, a pepper, all went in raw. I lightly steamed the carrots and kohlrabi before adding them to the bowl . Lastly we made Ranch dressing and poured it over the mixture and gently stirred it in. In the past I've also used our Italian dressing, so use your favorite dressing to moisten. This lasts all week in your refrigerator for a quick side dish. 

 I store my tomatoes on the counter on a wicker tray. This allows the air to circulate around the tomatoes so they won't stay damp

and mold quicker. It also allows the tomatoes that are still a bit unripe to finish up the ripening process without rotting. Being in a single layer is also important. The tomatoes we raise are not the same varieties you find in the store...they are .... for shipping. They stay hard and last a long time for that reason. Many of our tomato varieties are heirlooms that have interesting names like Cherokee Purple, (Our farm lies in the path of the Cherokee
 Trail of Tears.) our award winning Lemon Boy, and Pink Beauty  that are very tender.  I arrange my tomatoes upside down on their shoulders on this tray by how ripe they are.(Slightly green ones to one end, while working towards the "must eat now" ones at the other end of the tray.) We eat from one end of the tray and slowly move the fruit as it ripens to the ripe side. I cover this tray with a pretty towel to slow the fruit flies down. It really helps.

We are alllll spoiled to the beautiful produce that is displayed in abundance at the grocery store...piles of super-straight cucumbers, carbon-copied peppers, tomatoes that look like they've

Carrots are laid out to be hosed down before
bunching them for shares.

been uniformly molded into a specific shape, and oranges in the prettiest shade of bright orange! My, my, someone must be a GREAT farmer to produce such nice produce! NOT...there is a widespread problem of food waste...We know the pressure to produce the food that you the consumer are used to. Can our tomatoes be odd shaped? Can a cucumber with a bit of "scab" sell? Do local consumers understand that cauliflower that is not sprayed with preservative upon harvesting will end up with little black flecks on the florets within hours, and that a simple cut with a paring knife will rid the heads of it and be PERFECTLY EDIBLE for at least a week when refrigerated? Did you know that more than half of the colored peppers grown in the field are wasted in the process of producing those beautiful colored peppers, and that slight imperfects should be overlooked? 

There were years while raising our family on a

Okra has begun to be harvested!!
It sure is pretty!

"small" one acre lot with a single income that I longed for an abundance of produce that my small raised bed gardens built on a rock ledge couldn't grow. I didn't know then what I know now and worked hard to can everything the Lord sent me! We lived in a farming community that raised LOTS of tomatoes. We were given seconds for many years, but as the regulations have been getting more strict over the years we are now unable to glean as we did for YEARS. Along with the stricter food "guidelines" comes a growing problem. The problem is not one somewhere far away...it's a problem right here in East Tennessee as well as all over the United States. In our nation alone there is an ugly problem of food waste! Our homes, our schools, restaurants, and especially within the farming community the percentage of food waste has risen to an alarming 40%! While our government spends millions on how to figure out how to feed a growing population, the problem could be solved by personal accountability within our homes and communities. 

(One of our Facebook followers linked us up with this video that shows an amazing solution! WATCH IT HERE. Another great article on the problem can be FOUND HERE.)


I read an interview with a large farmer that hires large dump trucks to haul his waste produce off! There was no mention of food pantries, homeless shelters, or even composting! I've seen the waste first hand and we're trying to be very careful about our use of the bad and the ugly here on the farm. Our family lives on leftovers from markets and the bad, we have needy families in our area that regularly get the surplus free of charge, and we participate in Second Harvest Food Bank's produce round-up. One more way we're planning to help us all out in this is to open our own commercial kitchen where we can freeze, can, or dry the good, the bad, and the ugly for year round sales, prayerfully further reducing food waste on our farm. Look for an announcement this fall and winter on that front!
  

A peek at our traditional Sunday dinner
after church. Getting the meal ready is
a family affair.

Levi (8) scrubbed a dutch oven full of
carrots for us. He was so proud
to be a help!

These hens will feed us for dinner, and
provide sandwich meat during the week.
We put almost 300 pounds of chicken in the
freezer last year. What a blessing!!

Our dessert came straight from the field the day
before! Soon cantaloupe will prayerfully be in
all the shares!

Sunday dinner...sliced heirloom tomatoes, multi-colored carrots
sliced raw squash, cold pack pickles, farm raised baked chicken,
brown rice, (the only dish made from off farm ingredients)
and 100% Whole Wheat Baguettes.

I've been waiting a few weeks to introduce my new kitchen gadget. It is sure fun to use this vegetable spiralizer, but I'm still in the experimentation stage. Steve and I really enjoy the lighter and healthier pasta that we can make quickly for our private meals. I've not used it on a grand scale yet for the entire family as pasta is a great "fill 'em up" ingredient that I use for the boys and young men. So, Farmer Steve and I have been enjoying

zucchini spaghetti over the past few weeks when a private meal is convenient after church. There are two different sizes of pasta depending on which end you use. Levi (8) and I also made a raw carrot salad last night for a movie date with Charity (6). I found that spiralizing our carrots was much more difficult to do, but still a yummmmy option. I plan on

experimenting more with some Pintrest recipes in the near future and will report on my success or failures! (The link on this page is to a spiralizer that is identical to mine. I could not find my exact brand on Amazon anymore. It is probably the same thing with a different label stamped on it.) Here is a demonstration of the product...with another name on it. Video Demonstration

Vegetable Spaghetti

1 medium zucchini per person

Your favorite Pasta Sauce

(We used up leftovers from a spaghetti night.)

Quickie Version: Spiralize the zucchini onto microwaveable plates. Top with pasta sauce. Cover the plate well with plastic wrap. Microwave for 2 minutes per plate. Let sit for a few minutes to finish cooking. Pour off any extra liquid. Serve! 

To help remove the liquid before making the meal, simply sprinkle salt on the spiralized zucchini and let sit 15 minutes. Pour off any liquid, then proceed to the directions above.

For a few weeks now the words, "the good, the bad, and the ugly" have been ringing in my mind. The Lord prompted me to make a list of the "good, the bad, and the ugly" in my life. I challenge you to prayerfully do this too! 

First I looked at my home, and how it was managed. We do well over 40 loads of laundry a week around here counting the farm linens. Keeping up with Mt. Saint Dirty Clothes is a daily challenge that we conquer so it doesn't conquer us! We also have made a family closet this year that has taken A LOT of pressure off keeping rooms bedrooms tidy. So, on my list I wrote:

Good                   Bad                         Ugly

Family Closet    Not dealing with    Overwhelming       
                      the daily muddy    pile that dis-
                      Jeans and other       courages
                           laundry.

Then I proceeded to my spiritual life:

The good: A desire to help others.

The bad:  I step in when I should pray first.

The Ugly:  I go ahead of God's will.

After I was "still and knew He was God" I learned to celebrate the good God was doing in my life in the "good" column. "Being confident of this very thing,that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Then, against my flesh's will I looked at the bad column...again and again each issue I had listed had me going ahead of the Spirit's leading. This was a BIG caution to me.

In the ugly category there were strongholds of pride and slothfulness that needed to be torn down with the Spirit's power. I didn't have what it would take on my own. No more would the excuse of, "I'll try to do better." work....These areas were ugly in God's sight. 

I challenge you to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in your life. It may be the way you look at vegetables at the farmer's market from now on. It may be the way you look at the problems you face in your home. If you are bold enough to have the Spirit's light illuminate your spiritual life, you'll see the bad and the uglies that need Jesus Christ's blood to cleanse them. 

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

1 John 1:7

Abundant Blessings,

The Farmer's Wife

Val 

This week we've been laying more plastic for fall crops.

Okra blooms are sooo beautiful!

It's hot pepper season! 

Bundling kale for mid-week
markets.

Charity (6) has a special relationship with her lifelong assigned
buddy. Now that Caleb is in a courtship with Shelby Bennett
she feels a need to "stake her claim". ;)

Hope (our 4th to the oldest) and our second
grandson Josiah stopped in and helped me
freeze corn for the winter.

One of our best "hired hands" here on our Certified Naturally Grown farm. This Praying Mantis eats lots of bugs...even small mice, hummingbirds, and lizards!
Kids, check out this link! 

A video on raising praying mantis!