Rebekah Harmon

Today I am harvesting and weeding at the same time! I am expanding my Asparagus patch, but it already has Orach growing in it! And grass and other weeds.
Orach is like lambs quarters' burly cousin. It has thicker leaves and stems. Its yummy at this very young stage. It can be purple or green, depending on soil nutrition.

The orach got washed for packing/eating. The other weeds went to the rabbits. They LOVE dandelions and alfalfa.

I have only ever frozen this/other greens in plastic freezer bags. This year, I am trying to use freezer paper (one side is waxed. It feels just like butcjer paper.)

Anyone else use a plastic-free method for freezing greens?

The bees are home and happy!

I harvested 2 gallons of honey from a dead-out hive so I could re-use the frames for the new carnelian packages.

That's 92,000 calories, y'all!

Wow, Ulla! No, I haven't tried salt-preserving yolks. I will have to try that now! 🥰 thanks for sharing the recipe.

I did freeze dry a batch of eggs! The greasy-powder is strange!

Ive got several chapters sorted now, on page 40 out of 120. A third of the way through!

Specifying tone and character is engaging! I love it 😀  deleting stuff that isn't necessary for the whole story arch is.... more difficult than I expected.

Anyways! Time to hire a content editor soon, I expect. Any favorites to suggest?

Last week, I harvested and dried spearmint. Maybe mint in the greenhouse was a bad idea. 😏

I also pulled up loads of dandelions as I weeded garden beds last week. Getting ready to plant things this spring.

But this week, my kid broke her hand! So a lot of food preservation is waiting.....

In the meantime, I'm pulling salads out of the greenhouse, giant spuds from the root cellar, a sunchoke a day and a couple green onions a day on my salads.

I'm also picking up a packet of bees tomorrow!! So far, I've ordered them twice and they havent made it through the winter. I took a bee keeping class to try and learn what I'm doing wrong. I've got new ideas this season!

Sarah Joubert wrote: I'm willing to change my diet to build a better world, but I can't see a nutritional reason to force someone to eat sunchokes every day!

HAH! Sarah! Thats hilarious! And I totally agree with you. They aren't bad on a salad. I could eat a little one every day on the side somehow. But they aren't a delicious way to fill a plate.

If food prices went up times 10, my family literally couldn't afford food from the store. I would stock up on these staples that help me preserve food:
Sugar,
Salt,
Glass jars and lids (lids can be reused, but they do get bent/scratched sometimes)
Spices I cant grow, like black pepper, that make a big difference in taste,
Butcher paper,
Oil and cooking fat.

I would get more scrappy, harvesting and using food thats inconvenient, like wormy fruit and milkweed I have to hike to.

I have a feeling my kids would be more open to eating fish and rabbit and squash and nettles!

I would grow more oil crops.

Other than this, my food systems already in place, along with all the preseeving tools and gadgets I've gathered, would cause me great peace of mind. I have no doubt we could do it.

The seed library I made, the herbalism classes,  and all the community around me would figure out a way to take care of ourselves again.  I have friends with stockpiles of freeze dried meals they protect with boobie traps. Thats not my jam. If its gets so bad that you've got food-or-pharmaceutical-deprived zombies in your city, leave and come be a part of my community. We are ready.

Joe Gill wrote:

My next question is what are you top quicks for your food forest for those of us who live up north in Zone 4 or lower. ;-)

Hey Joe! I live in zone 4, USDA. Are you in Canadian zone 4, or US?

I planted these and they've done really well:
Apples,
Pears,
Apricots,
Currants,
Gooseberries,
Cane fruits,
Strawberries,
River grapes,
Crabapple,
Bush cherries,
Seaberries,
Autumn berries (or silver berries)
June berries (aka service berries)
Black walnuts,
Shagbark hickory

A few others I have to "baby" by putting in a sheltered space microclimate, giving extra water, etc:
Contender peaches,
Sweet cherries,
Arctic kiwis
Hazelnuts,
Dwarf almonds

Jason Tuller wrote: is there somewhere in here that talks about cooking what we can grow in a way that is palatable to picky eaters?  

I hear you, Jason! My family eschew sunchokes, but they would eat them if they were hungry! In the mean time, I try to grow what they WILL eat.

I have two threads about what I grow/raise and feed my family. Check them out :)

Homestead Nutrition and

Preserving 1 million calories at the harmon house.

paul wheaton wrote: But I am always confused by the idea of a full court press in the fall - it is exhausting!

🤣 love the basketball language! 🤣 our permies friend, Julianne,  has always impressed me with her long season of food production. She told me once that she has fruit from May to October. Its a prodigious spread that I've been trying to achieve ever since she taught me that.

However, that leaves a 6 month hungry gap in Idaho/Montana, unless we extend season and/or preserve food.