Ulla Bisgaard

Slippery elm root and Marshmallow root (or the whole plant) might work.

I have three rock roses, which technically aren’t real roses. Their leaves make a strong antibiotic tea, that while very effective tastes extremely bitter. I add honey and licorice root to the tea, so it’s easier to get down. I have three different varieties, since they all work for different types of infections including viral infections, but also have other properties. One of them has a sap, that works fantastic for shock.
I also have 2 roses (one is Rosa regusa, don’t remember what the other one is) one isn’t doing too good, I think it’s too hot here, the other one though, gave me 2 quarts of nice sized hips. It’s also taking over the area, so I will have to prune it soon. Also, the one that doesn’t produce hips yet, has edible flowers that I dry and use for makeup or as a food color. I love using roses for cooking and color, and want more, so I can make a nice hydrosol.

Jane Mulberry wrote:Ulla's link for water-bath canned lemon curd wouldn't work for me. I think the Facebook group must require membership before showing the recipe instructions. I found this one from Ashley Adamant instead:  https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-lemon-curd/

Good to know it can be preserved, though she does say it's only good for 3-4 months.

I thought the link worked, but since it doesn’t, I have added screenshots

Kate Downham wrote:.

How long does your lemon curd keep for? All the recipes I've seen have said to only keep it for around a month in the fridge. I'd love to find a shelf-stable recipe.

I use a recipe where it’s canned. The canning process makes it shelf stable.
Here is a link to the recipe Canned lemon curd

Since the link doesn’t work, I have added screenshots of the recipe.

Anne Miller wrote:Thanks for sharing this.

Today I had a discussion with dear hubby about food supplies.

He said that the National Weather Service was advising folks to have at least a 3 day supply of food on hand.  He could not understand why folks might not have a 3 day supply without being told.

I said because most folks use Uber Eats ...

When people call me a food hoarder, and don’t understand why I do this, I tell them about the time my husband got fired and it took 18 months before he found work again. I tell them about staying out of grocery stores during Covid and about all the times, when have come down with winter viruses. I  also tell them about going hungry, as a child because food was limited.
Once I have told them this, I take out my spreadsheets and show them how much money we save each year. This year we saved 10 thousand dollars after expenses were deducted. This isn’t about hoarding, it’s about having food security, about health and peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about prices going up or empty grocery shelves.
We are not dependent on fast food either, which so many people are.
I don’t have a 3 day supply of food. I have enough in long and short term storage to feed us 2 to 3 years.
Now I will go to the kitchen and get to work. Today we are making pumpkin custard cups, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin cookies. All three will be frozen as snacks and breakfast options.

This is a great thread, especially since there are many videos about frozen cube meals going around right now.
I make cubes or squares with: lemon juice, lemon zest, turmeric juice, minced ginger, ginger juice, minced garlic, pesto, elderberry juice, orange zest, pasta sauce, orange sauce, sweet potato mash, breakfast sausage, and meals like Greek rice or vegetable medleys.

Meal Prep for the Pantry, Kitchen, and Freezers
SoCal Growzone 10b.
January and February bring a shift in chores and the rhythm of life on the homestead. All our cold-season crops are in the ground, next season’s herbs are started in pots, and it’s still too early for sweet potatoes and other warm/hot-season crops.
This is the perfect time to take stock: we inventory our food supplies, check for spoiled bags and jars, note what to grow more of next season, and give our storage areas a thorough cleaning.
I’ve just finished organizing the freezers, making space for new freezer meals and upcoming harvests. This year, it feels more important than ever. For the last five years, my son has handled most of the dinner cooking, but he heads off to college in Oregon on March 30th. Around the same time (March 20th), I’m scheduled for airway surgery. The surgeon says I’ll need to take it easy for the first month, with full healing taking about three months.
To prepare, we’ve started batching freezer meals, canned goods, and freeze-dried options so dinners can be simple and low-effort during recovery.
We had about 20 pounds of lemons left in the freezer that needed using up, so my son made a double batch of lemon curd. The leftover zest and juice went into silicone molds for freezing. Once solid, the little pucks get transferred to jars and back into the freezer. I use this method for lots of things: garlic, ginger, turmeric, pesto, single-serve pasta sauce, elderberry juice, and more.
We also made a big batch of Greek-style rice (with lemon juice, zest, chicken broth, saffron, and vegetables). I froze it on trays with dividers, then transferred the frozen squares to storage containers for the freezer.
Next week, when my Azure Standard order arrives, I’ll tackle large batches of meatball mix, meatloaf mix, and pasta meat sauce. Mac and cheese and creamed kale are on the list too. Some will go into casserole dishes for family-sized portions; others will be frozen individually.
I’m also planning to can chicken pot pie filling and Salisbury steak. Plus, I’ll make instant sweet potato mash, hash browns, and breakfast sausages.
My goal is to stock the freezers and pantries with at least a month’s worth of ready-to-go meals. We already have plenty of freeze-dried and canned soups on the shelves, along with lots of broth.
I’ll admit I’ve been spoiled these past five years. My son often brought me breakfast in bed, indulged my sweet tooth, and cooked dinner for the family. I’ll miss having someone to laugh with in the kitchen. Once he leaves, it’ll just be my oldest daughter still at home.
What’s ready for fresh eating right now? We always have something! Currently harvesting: Winner cabbages, Napa cabbages, mustard greens, radishes, arugula, butter lettuce, cutting lettuce, tomatoes, chives, parsley, basil, celtuce, radicchio, iceberg lettuce, spinach, nettles, mint, sage, lemon balm, kale, tree collards, regular collards, broccoli, lemons, and celery. We’re also slowly getting fresh eggs again.
Now I’m off to find a good recipe for crustless pumpkin pie to use up some of the baked pumpkin in the freezer. I’m also planning pumpkin muffins and cookies.
Happy gardening and preserving, everyone!

I have spend the last 10 years building a thriving food forest in Southern California. Though we are in a different grow  and heat zone than you (10b), I still think you might find some of what I have learned useful.
1. Start with the soil. While starting with the plants that take the longest to grow, it’s better to focus on your soil first. This does depend on how good/bad it is. We have added a lot of compost and mulch to ours.
2. When planning what to grow keep these things in mind: will you and your family actually eat it?, will it grow here?  Will you have food all year round, as in what can be stored in a root cellar or grown fresh during winter?  Will what I grow give our family the nutrients we need. Do we need a greenhouse or tunnel to extend the season?
3. I grow raspberries, blackberries and many other berries in micro climates around our food forest. Do your research. There are plenty that will grow in zone 8.
So, start with your soil, then add large and small trees and slow growing shrubs. Once you get to berries, mark out zones in your garden where they will be protected. Pay attention to when each berry/fruit will be ready for harvest, and pick varieties that stretch out over many months. One thing you don’t want, is for all of your fruits and vegetables to have the same harvest window. It makes preserving the crops a nightmare, and you will end up buying produce the rest of the year.
Look for dual purpose crops. That is crops that will give you two different crops. For example raspberries and blackberries are grow for both their berries and for the leaves. The leaves taste great and raspberry leaves are good for period cramps. Rooted parsley is a vegetable where the top is a herb and the root a vegetable. With peach trees, you can both harvest the fruits and the sap.
Try and make a circle calendar and write in when you can harvest things. It’s a great visual aid, when making crop decisions.
Good luck with your food forest. Here is a link to my blog Building a food forest on the edge of the desert

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:I experience that the genetics of the plant matter more than soil fertility. By planting crops known to produce higher nutrient density, we can expect to harvest crops containing more vitamins and minerals.

Plants that grow better in local conditions produce better tasting plants. I believe that better tasting strongly correlates with higher nutrition.

Best practice for me involves tasting every plant, every year, before saving seed from it.

I haven’t done a lot of seed saving yet, but I do get most of my seeds locally, and if a plant fail 2 years in a row, I stop planting it. For example delicata and Acorn squash. Those always get sick and don’t produce. In comparison crooked necked squash will produce 50 to 100 pounds pr plant in a season, and can be used a summer squash when young and winter if left to fully mature.

Doug McEvers wrote:This link will give you information on plant tissue testing normals.

https://agsci.psu.edu/aasl/plant-analysis/plant-tissue-total-analysis/interpretive-nutrient-levels-for-plant-analysis

Plant tissue testing is designed to tell us what is plant available from the soil. If it is in the plant tissue, the soil has made it available. I did a plant tissue test in 2024 on tillering volunteer oats, the test told me my soil was in quite good balance after the first season of our transition to biological farming. My former soil lab said I was short of nearly everything. A $22.00 test gave me peace of mind and a new path forward in understanding our soil here. Plant tissue testing is as much as is possible, a real time test, giving one the opportunity to make fertility corrections while the crop is still progressing.

I do test my soil. I used to do it twice a year, but the company I used went under, so I haven’t tested the garden the last two years. Right now I only test ph, temperature and humidity. I have never done testing on the plants, because they in general need more material for testing than what we have.