Oh, Shoot!!

Folks,  I refigured my budget for the month and had to call and cancel using the tiller on Saturday.  I'll have to wait and see if any gifts come in and then reschedule the tiller...

Woo Hoo!! Saturday's the Day!!

Well, I've got the tiller reserved for Sat. from 10 am to 1 pm.  It will be the first day in the garden this year.  At $20 per hour, we will have to get as much done with the tiller as possible.  This old grandma lives on soc. sec. so that's a LOT of money to me.  I'll take pics and post them in here so you can all see them.  We are going to try some different things this year than we did last year.  Back to basics will be the main theme I think..  I'm getting excited.  Time to get my mobility scooter charged up as it's a couple of miles each way to the garden and back.

Can't Wait

Hi Folks,
I've been pretty sick so haven't had our family meeting yet.  I think we will rent a tiller soon to start gettting the ground worked up.  I can't wait.  Need to see some things growing.  :)
Suzanne

More Sweet Potatoes??

We haven't had our formal garden meeting yet, but we have talked a little about planting waaaay more sweet potatoes this year. They make an excellent survival food. They are easy to store in a root cellar or basement, or you can can them. They are high in nutrition. As a child, I even liked to eat a piece of sweet potato raw.. :)

Suzanne

Getting Garden Fever

Hi Folks... I'm beginning to get garden fever already.. :) Our family is going to hold a garden meeting soon to decide what we'll do this year. I think we may double the garden space and use a tiller to break and maintain the additional ground. I'll be in DIRE need of a good tiller.

We may even take a few videos along with the usual pics this year. :)

God bless you,
Suzanne

10-25 Jessica's Squash & Apple Soup

For those who have never tried squash soup.. you are in for a real treat with this recipe.

I will post the recipe at the end of this. Here Jessica is pouring in apple cider.

Here's some of the cooked and peeled butternut squash.

Squash getting pureed.

Pureed squash getting poured into the pot.

Squash Soup Recipe:

• 
  
  1 cube butter
• 
  
  2 granny smith apples (diced w/peels on)
• 
  
  1 large onion (chopped) Saute these items with the butter then puree
• 
  
  add sauted items to pot and add:
• 
  
  3 cups apple cider
• 
  
  1 quart chicken broth
• 
  
  add 8 cups cooked peeled squash puree
• 
  
  1 tsp. cinnamon
• 
  
  1 tsp. salt
• 
  
  1/4 cup brown sugar
• 
  
  simmer and serve or can

Canning Meat Pics

This is Kate's Garden.
It's named after the person who made it possible.
My name is Suzanne. This will be a record of the garden to feed and bless many. We hope to take you through the entire process of planting, canning, and drying fruit and veggies.
~God Bless This Garden~

My daughter, Jessica is cutting up chicken and her friend Crystal, is adding water to the canner. This is Cyrstal's first time canning. All the meat was on sale and was less than $2.00 per pound.
Cutting more Chicken.

Pack the chicken very tightly in the jars. We're using skinless, boneless, chicken breasts, here.

Packing more jars of Chicken. About 2 pounds of meat fits into each tightly packed jar.

Cutting up pork.

This is some really nice pork.

Pack all jars of meat really tight. We used a heavy plastic foot long ruler to pack the meat tight and get all the air bubbles out.

Time for the beef.

Cutting the beef into chunks.

Making some good progress.

We added 1 tsp. each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Plus, added a touch of A-1 to the beef and a little Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce to the chicken and pork.

Add lids and bands and finger tighten after all your seasonings are added. Don't add any water or broth. The meat makes it's own gravy. Then process according to your canner instructions. I processed 90 minutes at 10 lb.s pressure.

Here's the first batch of beef. Mmmmmm. You can see the broth it made. All the flavor and nutrients are trapped right inside each jar. Wonderful!! For a quick and easy meal, make some mashed potatoes or biscuits, or noodles, and pour heated meat and broth over. Add a salad or coleslaw and you have a meal fit for a king. :)

Wow! Just look at all this delicious meat!

It sure makes a body feel good to sit back and look at the end product of all your labor.

Canning 20 Quarts of Meat

I have the first 5 quarts of meat in the pressure cooker right now. I will post some pics later tonight. I am canning chicken, pork, and beef. All the meat was on sale and I paid less than $2.00 per pound.

Time to Can Meat

Well, Folks, the garden is done for this year. We not only had fun growing all the food, but were able to bless others as well. Now it's time to start canning meat. Beef, pork, and chicken. There are some really good meat sales right now, so I plan to go shopping this weekend. I will take pics of the canning as usual and post them here. Blessings.. Suzanne

How to Can Meat, Veggies, and Fruit

Hi Folks.. I personally ordered this DVD set on canning your own food. I truly think it is the best teaching aid I have ever seen. Even if you have never canned before, this will guide you right through the process.. Suzanne