Jeff Marchand

Hi I am exploring the idea of preserving as much of my garden produce with a dehydrator (DIY solar or bought commercial TBD) but I am a little concerned that I wont like the dried food.  No point in drying it if I wont eat it.

I'd love peoples feed back on A) cook books featuring dehydrated foods and B) which food staples dry well and taste good when cooked.
My garden staples are tomatoes (OK I know those taste awesome when dried, esp cherries) but what about turnip, beets,  squash and potatoes?
Do you have any personal recipes to share?

Many thanks.

Id want my potatoes, winter squashes & apples to last till May. I dont own a garage and I'd have to heat it if I did.  My woodstove is in my basement so I cant keep my produce down there as its too warm.

paul wheaton wrote:
What if the price of food goes up 10x?

Naturally, if you have a humble home and a large garden, this isn't such a big deal.  In fact, with a humble home and a large garden, all of politics becomes small and far away.

The third leg of the stool that I humbly suggest Paul is missing is storage.  In 2024, I grew a massive garden and had a fantastic yield and watched it rot away as I did'nt have a good way to store most of my produce.  A real bummer, in fact it put me off gardening in 2025.  I share peoples' concerns about food prices in 2026 and 2027    so this year I am biting the bullet and putting in a root cellar. I have seen the MotherEarthNews plans for a new septic tank converted to root cellar and I think thats the most economical way to go.  I can buy a new 2300gallon septic tank locally for C$4800 plus delivery.  If anyone has better ideas for a root cellar I'm all ears as I have nt bought the tank yet.

The other thing I am doing is learning how to bake.  I was that guy who bought too much flour during the pandemic and this might be the time to put it to good use.
If I did nt already have a good supply of flour Id stock up now before scarcity kicks in.  Making your own bread and pasta must be cheaper than buying as you are cutting out the middle men.

I am lucky enough to be in a spot financially where if food prices skyrocketed I'd still be able to make ends meet (was nt always that way--- I have a multi-year war against debt to thank for that) but by providing my own sustenance I reduce the demand and maybe ever so slightly help those less fortunate.  

As a group I have to believe us permies will weather this storm better than most, but I am concerned for those that dont have the physical or informational resources that we have.  

Anyways just my 2 cents.

Interesting thread.  In my area (Canadian Zone 5b) the traditional frost free day is May 24 .  Its often a long weekend here and I normally go nuts trying and failing to get entire garden in. If I can get my potatoes in the ground BEFORE then well thats one less thing to do that weekend.  Im gonna experiment this year inspired by this thread and plant them about a month early under a thick mulch of spent hay.

I grew a large garden in 2024. Great success. I grew far more food than I could eat.  Problem was storage.  Too much of it went to waste. This year because of global events I want to be food self sufficient since I believe food will be scarce and people will go hungry during the winter and spring of 2027. So my big project for 2026 will be a root cellar.  

Bob Hutton wrote:I have no ground cultivated at this point, there are large pasture areas of tall grass type vegetation by the beaver pond.  So I would be basically digging a hole to plant something at this point, are we on the same page with your recommendations? This is where I would start with veggies but can't devote a lot of time to it with so many other things to do.  A lot of the area I need to clear is pulling 3'' +/- aspen stumps. I dropped this acreage (hundreds of stumps) in the fall for clear winter solar panel sunlight. Two birds with one stone I was thinking.   I am sure this work was good for a badge or two Lol.

If I were you I would accept that you wont have a typical garden with nice straight rows for a few years until the aspen stumps rot away.  Luckily aspen rots quickly.  I would plant potatoes beside each stump and cover with 6 inches of soil. If you dont have  enough soil you may have to buy in some topsoil or composted manure.  Rent a woodchipper and chip up the tops of those trees and mulch over the 'taters to keep down weeds and hold water.  Do the same in a different area but put in Jerusalem Artichokes .  They will be there forever.

If fertile soil is scarce in your location, research Joe Jenkins and Humanure.  Be your own source of fertility!.

I dont see why you could nt also make a few bigger piles of top soil/ composted manure and plant in squashes in an area that you cleared.  The squash vines will happily grow through the stumps.

I dont have experience with beavers. I would expect some predation of your crops or at least crop damage.   Put up a fence?

Cheers and Good Luck

Hi Bob, I second Les' recomendations.  I'd add to start small.  Potatoes are great colonizers, they will shade out plants that are already there once they are up.  In the mean time you need to keep em weeded. In the fall plant garlic where your potatoes were. Mulch the garlic  heavily to suppress weeds. Keep following your potatoes with garlic and slowly grow the size of your garden.  Rome was nt built in a day and your homestead wont be either.  If you can find a large heavy  tarp, lay that down flat on a future garden area and in a year it will be easy digging.

Anyways welcome to permies and enjoy the permaculture journey!  

Would nt your chickens eat the flies?

I think we are letting perfection be the enemy of the good here. I cure my firewood from April to November cut split and stacked in a 3 sided woodshed open to the south. It lights easily and burns cleanly. No nasty creosote in chimney.  That is good enough for me.  

Yes kiln dried will be drier with a moisture content of maybe 10%ish vs air dried of 15%ish but how would our lives be better?  

Thank you for your replies . I think the consensus is that that this is a bad idea and that I should build with wood instead. That is what I will do.

Once again Permies to the rescue!