→ 2010-06-23 08:43:28 (65 Comments)
July 28, 2010
On the preservation front this week: pickling beets, apple pie filling, apple butter, elderberry jam, peaches in syrup, zucchini pickles and pumpkin butter (going to use those gorgeous pumpkins!). Next round should be tomato sauce and pickled peppers.
June 23, 2010
The canning season here on the urban homestead has started with gusto! Though I have to admit I got a bit too enthusiastic and that caused the pickled garlic to turn a out of this world green/turquoise – not to mention turning me slightly red with embarrassment!
June 22, 2010
Learning practical food preservation has been something I’ve looked forward to every year and have come to enjoy. Looking at the colorful jars that are stocking the cabinet you get a real sense of food security …
February 23, 2010
Though winter is still lingering (there’s a huge storm set to pound the LA area this weekend!), it’s canning time again!
What’s in season is citrus and what’s on the stove top is marmalade! Thanks to a local, organic supply of citrus from Sergio’s farm we gals are back in the kitchen – jammin.
With the versatile [...]
November 18, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
The Jr High School “Harvest Homesteaders” canathon finished up today.
This time around we made up a batch of peach jam and spiced apple sauce.
Peeling and cutting the apples. I told the girls they should get extra credit for peeling and chopping the apples with an eco-plastic knives!
One piece for the pot, one piece for me, [...]
November 17, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
Jordanne & I gave a hands on canning workshop at a local girls high school today. Seven enthusiast girls made a batch of delicious strawberry jam which will be donated to a local food bank for the holidays.
The girls chop up the strawberries they got from the local Farmer’s Market
Using the handcranked food processor
MASH! MASH, [...]
November 9, 2009
Come into the urban homestead’s kitchen this time of year and there’s blood splattered everywhere – pomegranate “blood”
Getting to their tangy delicious fruits sometimes causes some uncontrolled spurts (got a direct hit in my eye the other day, stung for a bit) – not to mention staining one’s hands a lovely red color (wonder if [...]
November 4, 2009
Canning can become an addiction – seriously. Once you mastered the art, canned your own homegrown or local foods well it’s the end of tin cans in your life.
I started canning over six years ago and I’ve been a canning addict ever since. Well you gaze on a well stock pantry of food that you [...]
November 3, 2009
Jordanne finished her first batch of mead and, boy, it’s it a beauty, not to mention very delicious.
Now, I am not a drinker; but, this stuff–this stuff I could definitely guzzle down.
Mead, also known as honey wine, the oldest — and easiest to make! — fermented drink in the world!
As soon as our citrus ripens [...]
September 25, 2009
A “getting caught up” posting with a little bit of this, that and this thrown in for good measure!
Though we are a few day’s into fall the temperatures are more like summer and thanks to a mild santa anna wind it’s not only turned up the heat but as if someone’s turned on a blow [...]
September 10, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
It’s a messy, sweaty, steamy and sometimes sticky work; but the fruits of our labors are certianly worth the hours of labor.
With summer winding down, canning efforts have increased so that our cupboards will be stocked for fall and winter. Here on the urban homestead we try not to purchase any canned food products – [...]
August 27, 2009
Thanks to the hotter weather our tomatoes (and peppers) dried in a jiffy. Though there may be a slight smoky flavor due to the unfortunate wildfires that are raging all around us.
A reader commented how much she LOVES her FOOD PANTRIE but had troubles with molding tomatoes.
Sun dried tomatoes and peppers (below)
Here’s a hint from our urban [...]
August 26, 2009
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
Following in an age old tradition here at the urban homestead we’ve been busy in our preservation efforts – canning, drying and brewing.
Canning
Made a batch of jalapeno jelly (first time trying this recipe and was quite pleased with the results)
After straining the liquid for the jelly, saved up the leftover chopped peppers and added it [...]
August 14, 2009
by Anais in Goats, Homestead, Kitchen, News, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts
We are on a canning spree here on the urban homestead and it looks like it won’t let up anytime soon. Today we put up some tomato sauce and sweet pickle relish (pictures coming…. probably Sunday)
This week the peaches have ripen and peaches means jam and a few (er bunch) eaten raw. Covered in sticky [...]
August 13, 2009
Like I mentioned in the last post we are reviving our mother, scoby that is and she’s ready to roll. Thing is with these live cultures – they are live and if you neglect them well, then, their toast. So that’s what happened with my previous batch. I had about 25 “mothers” was fermenting up [...]
August 9, 2009
“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” –Laura Ingalls Wilder
Canning season has begun in earnest here on the urban homestead. Slowly the empty kitchen shelves are being filled with blessings from the urban homestead. On days like this with garden [...]
August 3, 2009
On the preservation front
Now that your summer garden maybe overflowing with fruits and veggies check out our online store for all your urban homestead supplies preservation supplies
New on the wagon is Ball’s FRESH PRESERVING KIT which contains all the essentials for you to start canning your garden’s bounty.
“For someone who has never canned by [...]
July 9, 2009
Pickling is one of my favorite methods of preservation. It’s easy and the results are a treat for the tastebuds.
The 50 lbs of elephant garlic has cured for over 2 months (in the garage) so some of the cloves were ready for pickling. This is my first go around with picking garlic (never really had a surplus) [...]
July 7, 2009
Keeps us busy here at the urban homestead kitchen. This low chill variety (Anna) does well here in the heat of Southern California and we have been pleased with its productivity.
Apple butter is one of the ways we preserve the apples. Also drying a few on the solar food pantrie – and with the hot [...]
June 23, 2009
Wild fermentation is the opposite of homogenization and uniformity –Sandor Ellix Katz
On the preservation front
Now that I got some beautiful cabbage heads (thanks to a local Freedom Farmer) I made a batch of sauerkraut – using Sally Fallon’s recipe. I did just plan cabbage for one batch and for the other I mixed a bit [...]
May 18, 2009
Tomato time! On Friday we harvested our first handful of tomatoes which automatically went into making homemade spaghetti sauce. After a fall and winter of homegrown/canned tomato sauce it was a treat to once again taste a fresh, homegrown tomato. And on Sunday we enjoyed a ALT sandwich – local/barter avocados, homegrown lettuce and tomato [...]
May 15, 2009
Made another batch of veggie kimchi (aka Korean Sauerkraut) yesterday (recipe courtesy of Nourishing Traditions Cookbook)
I can’t believe we ate almost the entire first batch. I first thought when I was putting the fermented kimchi into jars for cold storage “this stuff should last us for awhile.” Alas I was mistaken. Thankfully we still have [...]
May 14, 2009
Have just begun!
Yesterday we went over to a friends for an afternoon full of canning, gabbing and even a bit of swimming in their non chlorinated pool which once housed their poultry fryers but that’s another story. In between chatting and chowing down on homemade hummus and carrots from the Farmer’s Market, we gals grated [...]
May 7, 2009
With temperatures skyrocketing into the 90’s and strawberries ripening faster than we can eat ‘em. Guess what? It was jamming time.
My favorite foodie Alice Waters has this simple sun dried strawberry preserve recipe.
I modified her technique a bit. Instead of slicing I used my hand cranked food processor to chop the strawberries into small chunks. [...]
April 23, 2009
Fermentation crock and cutting up the locally grown cabbage
Homegrown carrots (seeds available at FREEDOMSEED.org)
Homegrown carrots, daikon radish, green onions and local cabbage
Pounding with a wood mortar in whey, salt and spices to release the juices
After a few days in the crock, time to put the kimchi in cold storage
Last week we had a bit of [...]
January 8, 2009
Food lessons from the Great Depression
Today, learning how to cook on a budget is becoming important to more families. In the 1930s, making do was a kitchen art, honed by necessity. Sour grass soup, anyone?
At a time when Americans face frightening and disorienting economic uncertainty, the Great Depression provides valuable lessons. For many people, putting [...]
November 26, 2008
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Liberate Your Yard, Pickling & Preservation
Our family are firmed believers that change begins at home. And “Home” is certainly a hot word these days and touted as “one of the most radical thing you can do.”
In the last year we’ve seen a growth of more and more people who are staycationing, growing their own food, preserving, being crafty and doing [...]
September 26, 2008
pink…
or should I say green and yellow. Pickling is in full swing here on the urban homestead. Putting up pickled dilly beans and peppers.
Without a pressure canner, pickling is a simple easy way to preserve the harvest using vinegar, spices, salt and into the hot water bath they go.
More on pickling vegetables.
Thanks for all your [...]
September 24, 2008
by Anais in Challenges, Community, Garden, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais
Another busy week of harvesting and preserving in our efforts to bring food security closer to home.
While the kitchen is hub for the harvest happenings and we gals hang out with the likes of Ms Guava and Mr Pepper, outside we shift gears into a fall garden mode.
In the kitchen, since we had an abundance [...]
September 11, 2008
by Anais in Homestead, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Simple Living, Stocking Up & Storing
Have you noticed this slight of packaging, incredible shrinking phenomenon?
How are you dealing with increase in food prices? How are you fighting back by letting retailers know that “we don’t need no stinkin’ packages!”
Here are our ‘Seven Keys’ to saving money. Care to add?
Grow your own
Buy local and in season
Look for bulk goods and [...]
September 8, 2008
Growing up, I remember looking through my father’s old Reader’s Digest’s Back to Basics book (still have it!) and drooling over the photo of a lady putting up her canned goods. I so wanted to have a pantry like that! This year, I pretty darn close to rivaling the lady in the photo.
From Hippie to [...]
September 5, 2008
A friend of ours gave us this barely used electric dryer. Thanks so much A!
I know, I know. I’m not one for gizmos that plug into wall sockets, but I’m a sucker for anything that has anything to do with homesteading. Even though it’s no solar dryer, I can say that this electric dryer will be powered by the [...]
August 20, 2008
Peppers, apples, peaches, figs and beans
Larder of homegrown goods – shelves are fiilling up fast
Summer garden
Little farm in the city
It’s co-op pick up time! (note: not all ours, we picked up for four other people)
It’s been the coolest August that we can remember. Nippy (foggy) mornings, cool evening and pleasant days. It’s August [...]
August 13, 2008
When we started growing full time, every summer it came down to too many vegetables and fruits and something needed to be done with the surplus.
So, learning practical food preservation has been something I’ve looked forward to every year and have come to enjoy. Looking at the colorful jars that are stocking the cabinet you [...]
August 13, 2008
by Anais in Brewing & Fermenting, Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Kitchen, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais
Going Back to Basics
Los Angeles chefs are happy to be in a pickle
Pickling is as old school as the patés and prosciutto that often accompany its results. It’s a technique born of pre-refrigeration necessity and the cyclical pattern of gardens.
Read full article
In a Pickle?
Do you have loads of vegetables and there’s no more room in [...]
August 7, 2008
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Challenges, Community, Garden, Harvest Keeper, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais
Zukes alive.
Tis the season when gardens are teeming with ripe veggies and fruit and kitchen counters, freezers and cabinets overflowth.
So with to do with the all the earth’s summer bounty? After all you can only eat three meals a day. Preservation (canning, drying, freezing, fermenting) is one possibility and swapping crops with fellow gardeners is [...]
August 1, 2008
The preservation efforts continue here on the urban homestead. Like our pioneer predecessors would say ”make hay while the sun shines.” It’s preservation time!
More scrumptious strawberries
Homepreservation efforts continue
An afternoon’s worth of canning: figs, strawberries and peaches
Collection of scented herbs and roses drying for homemade herbal teas
A day’s harvest of beans from the garden.
Homegrown Anna apples waiting [...]
July 29, 2008
Justin made a canning jar run down to the local grocer around the corner, bringing back jars on the versatile Xtracycle for another batch of preserving.
We (Justin and I) had just finished unloading the canning jars when the 5.8 earthquake hit. I guess you can tell we are seasoned (too seasoned?) Californians. Justin casually stood [...]
July 25, 2008
Another canning day yesterday. Yep three days in a row – we’re on a roll! When the bounty calls you have to be there to answer – no ands, ifs or buts.
Yesterday’s preservation efforts were canning up some tomato sauce, marinated peppers and the rest of the ‘crop swap’ plums (the plums are absolutely delicious [...]
July 24, 2008
One of those days which are the same as the day before and the one before. Same dress (low impact living), same place, same thing…
Hmmm, sounds to me like a popular 90’s movie?
More planting, harvesting & preserving going on.
Stay tuned for details, photos and more.
Note: this post is not a complaint – just stating the [...]
July 23, 2008
Hey all you Harvest Keepers! How’s your preservation efforts going? The urban homestead kitchen is preservation central these days, which, I am sure yours are too. These a wonderful kindred connection knowing that there are so many folks these days growing and preserving their own – motivating each other while obtaining back to basic skills necessary [...]
July 6, 2008
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Liberate Your Yard, News, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Updates
Declare Your Independence
FIGHT FOR FOOD SECURITY
This July 4th PTF is excited to announce the relaunch of our new sister site for all you homegrown revolutionaries out there. Here’s your chance to connect with fellow food fighters from all over the world.
The site will features feeds for contributing bloggers, spot for highlighting ‘Freedom Gardener’ of the [...]
June 25, 2008
We urban homesteaders find that making a list and sticking to it helps with the overall running and operation of the urban homestead.
How we went about determining our monthly grocery list is to see what “staples” we commonly use throughout the month and made up a “basic shopping list” that we tack prominently on [...]
June 25, 2008
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Challenges, Community, Garden, Harvest Keeper, Menu Planning, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Production: Harvest Tally
One thing and urban homesteader learns early one – it’s all about records. Keeping records helps motivated you to better yourself each year, outline successes and failures, not to mention, tally up all those baby steps taken along the way.
Although we’ve always had a pretty productive garden since I can remember our growing efforts turned [...]
May 30, 2008
by Anais in 100 Foot Diet, Challenges, Community, Harvest Keeper, Homestead, Pickling & Preservation, Posts by Anais, Supplies
As summer approaches and the onslaught of garden harvests is about to descend on gardeners across the nation, planting gives way to preserving. Fellow Freedom Gardeners and those who’ve joined the Harvest Keeper Challenge will be stocking up their homegrown harvest for the fall and winter months ahead.
Now, more than ever folks are relearning [...]
