Potato Harvest 2020

This past weekend we harvested our red potatoes. We planted our potato crop in early March. We normally plant them in late February, but the weather was terribly rainy and the ground was just too wet. If we had planted when the soil was too wet it would have tore up our garden and made it difficult for the potato plants to grow. Thankfully, even though we planted them later than usual, the harvest was still plentiful.

We planted our potatoes before the onset of these crazy times we find ourselves under now. If we had known then what we know now, we would have planted double what we did. But, we were donated our potato slips this year which means our harvest of potatoes was nearly free ~ praise be to God! Next year will be different and we will plan accordingly. 

We had planned to get down to the potato patch early in the morning to take up the potatoes, but my father-in-law surprised us and had pulled them all up before we could even get out there! Potatoes are ready to be picked when the leaves start to turn brown. We also must keep an eye out for ants, because they like to attack our potatoes before they're are fully ripe. When harvesting potatoes all you have to do is pull the green part straight up out of the ground and with it will come most if not all of the potatoes attached to that plant. 

Once we've pulled up all the potatoes and sort the greens from the actual potatoes, we run the plow through where the potatoes were planted to try to turn the soil. We do this, because sometimes there can be potatoes that didn't come up with the leafy part of the potato plant. The children's job is to walk behind the plow pushing the dirt mound back into the plow hole searching for potatoes. 

Once the potatoes are all accounted for, we take the green parts of the potato plants to the compost pile and then set the potatoes on a tarp to dry out for the remainder of the day. You don't want to leave the potatoes out over night because the dew will ruin them. Before nightfall, we collect the potatoes into buckets and bring them inside the house. Unfortunately, we do not have a cellar, so we have to process our potatoes fairly quickly. We set aside a nice size grocery store sack full of potatoes to eat fresh and then the remainder are canned. It's important to can the potatoes as quick as possible, because untreated, organically grown potatoes have a tendency to go soft fairly quickly.

We harvested about 20 gallons of potatoes this year, which was a mighty fine harvest if you ask me. I'll be sharing soon how we can our potatoes; but for now you can check out this post for an alternate way we've found to store our potatoes without processing them. This method will allow the potatoes to last a couple of months, which gives you the opportunity to enjoy farm fresh potatoes a tad bit longer even when you don't have a root cellar.

Under our family's current circumstances I've never been so glad to be able to grow our own food. There have been times over the years when I've resented the fact that we 'had' to grow our own food to make ends meet. But, now I find myself undeniably overwhelmed with gratitude that we know how to put food on the table without being dependent on going to the grocery store. While it is convenient to run to the local super market to buy food, it's a relief to know we don't have to if we didn't want to or couldn't. 

I'm a firm believer that everyone should at least have a kitchen garden. If the only planting space you have available is a patio, I can assure you there is plenty of produce that can be grown in pots and other forms of planters. There is no better time than now to learn the art of growing your own food. None of us have to be dependent on the grocery stores. We need to unite as a global community, encouraging, supporting, and sharing resources to help restore the food industry of the world. Our bodies need and deserve natural, unadulterated food grown by the hands of those who care. I have no doubt in my mind that we can pursue these endeavors with great success if only we commit to do it with out whole hearts and as if our lives depend upon, because truthfully dear friends, it does.

With Love & Hope,

Jennife

Onion Harvest

This past weekend we pulled up and processed our onions. It was a quick little homestead event, even with us planting more onions than we have in a quite a few years. Thus meaning it was one of our biggest harvests of onions and for that I am super excited! It's always a blessing when your hard work is rewarded by a bountiful harvest. After all the more you grow the less you have to buy from the store ~ which is one of our biggest goals in having this little homestead. 

Harvesting onions is super easy. All you have to do is pull them straight up out of the ground! It's so easy, even our two year old got in on the action.

I'm sure it's just because it's early in the main summer gardening season, but everyone was overly happy to participate in harvesting the onions. Children are fairly similar to adults when it comes to being refreshed and recharged after a long winters rest ~ come August we'll all be struggling to keep the momentum along with the right attitude.

 Everyone got their hands dirty during our onion harvesting, which is probably why it went by so quickly. The saying "many hands make light work", is no truer than when harvesting and preserving the garden. I could barely take a few pictures and a couple videos before all the onions were picked, but, hey, I'm not complaining. The quicker we are able to get it done the quicker we can move on to the next area that needs attention on our homestead. Trust me the work is never done, no matter how hard we try to keep up.

  

Once the onions we were picked we had a crew inside washing and chopping the tops off as well as a crew outside doing the same.

We cut the tops off of the onions and discarded them into our compost pile. There's probably something fabulous you can make with them, but I've honestly never taken the time to research it.

We ended up with two large basins full of onions to process.

Once all the tops were cut off and the onions were washed, we set to processing them in our food processor. If you choose to use a food processor to chop your onions, it is important not to over process them or they will turn into mush. I prefer to just pulse them a few times and at that point they're usually the right consistency. Once they're all chopped we scoop them into freezer bags by the cup full. We place four cups of onions into each freezer bag, for the simple reason that my canning recipes typically measure in four cup increments. This way once canning season is in full swing all I have to do is pull the bags of onions from the freezer and they're already pre-measured to throw into my canning pots as needed.

Involving children in the start to finish process of growing your own food is a wonderful aspect of the homesteading movement. There are so many amazing skills to be learned on a working homestead. Life skills that can truly benefit children for years to come. When someone is taught where something comes from they obtain knowledge, but teach them how to do something and they have a priceless skillset. Knowledge combined with ability is a powerful asset that we all should be pursuing via as many avenues as possible. 

The homesteading life is an amazing platform to obtain an array of knowledge and skills. Which can in turn be passed down from generation to generation. (Sadly, many are on the cusp of extinction due to the progression of technology). There is priceless value in the art of heritage skills, growing your own food, and the family unit. I'm beyond grateful that I have had the opportunity to rekindle the homesteading skills of days gone by with my family. The memories we've made and the lessons we've learned have been more than a blessing; they've been a beacon of hope in this darkened world we find ourselves living in. As I've said time and time again ~ the back-to-basics lifestyle is not an easy life, but it is a good life. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

DIY Tomato Baskets

We've had a rocky start to this year's main summer garden due to crazy weather, but now the majority of our plants/seeds are planted ~ praise the Lord! Now it's time to get our pepper and tomato plants set up with baskets and stakes. Tomatoes and pepper plants grow best when they are staked, we like to add the cages or baskets for added security. We definitely don't want to risk losing our plants on account of storms, wind, or simply the weight of their produce.

We currently have around 100 tomatoes plants and around 30 pepper plants in the ground ~ mercy we're going to be busy this summer, lol. So all those plants needed baskets and stakes. Thankfully, we have accumulated quite a good many baskets over the years but we were definitely in need of some more. 

  

We purchased wire fencing to make some of our new baskets, but we were also gifted with some used hog wire.  Second-hand supplies are the best since they help to build the homestead on a budget. To make the baskets it's super easy. Take the fencing and create a long tube big enough to go around your plants with a little extra for plant  growth. Use wire cutters to cut the fencing and then connect the ends by using zip strips or by bending the wire around the edges to connect the two ends.

This year we splurged and purchased a few t-stakes to use to stake our plants. Any long narrow pole-like items can be used as a stake. We have used sticks, t-stakes, wooden posts, metal poles, you name it we've probably used it. Take your preferred stake and hammer it into the  ground inside of one side of the basket. Then attach the stake to the basket with either thin wire, twine, or zip strips (pretty much anything works as long as you efficiently connect the stake to the basket). To help further secure the basket, we pile some soil around the bottom of the basket on the opposite side of the stake. 

You can purchase pre-manufactured tomato baskets from the store, but they can be expensive and don't work nearly as well as the baskets made from wire fencing. We try to make the most of our money, especially on the homestead, and being able to use things over and over again is so important. We have purchased the pre-manufactured tomato baskets, but they tend to break easily. 

When it comes to the fencing we prefer the hog wire, but it's more expensive than the welded wire fencing. The only draw back on the welded wire fencing is that the holes can be a little small for putting your hand through when trying to pick the tomatoes or peppers. To circumnavigate this issues, simply cut the wire to make larger 'windows' to pick the harvest.

We've learned a lot over the past 18 years of building our little homestead, so much of it has come through trial and error. We have often searched out the wisdom from those who have walked this path before us ~ sometimes to our benefit and other times not so much. Homesteading is a very personal journey. What works for one family may not work for another. No two homesteads will ever look the same and that is absolutely okay. It's easy to get wrapped up in having a 'pretty' homestead ~ for us it's more important to keep the cost to the bare minimum and simply get the job done as efficiently as possible. These DYI tomatoes baskets may not be as attractive as the store-bought versions, but trust me when I say they are more than adequate to stake our plants for many years to come. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Preparing for Lean Times

There's no denying it, times are strange and uncertain. Life may or may not ever return to the way it once was. It could be understandably easy to sink into a hole of despair. Or you can do like our family is doing and prepare. Who knows what the future holds. I would like to think one day we will wake up and this insanity called COVID-19 will be a faint memory. But, in all likelihood, there's a good chance, this global shutdown is going to last a while longer and have dire consequences for years to come.

Our family has decided to be proactive and focused on creating solutions to our current concerns than wallowing in self-pity. I'm not going to lie, it's hard for me to keep on keepin' on. Some nights I lie awake sick, thinking about how horrible this world has become, and that I have ten children who have to figure out how to survive in it. But, I know that God is going to use all of this for the good of His people. I also know it would be a major disservice to the Lord, my family, and myself if I remained in a depressed state of mind. Instead, I'm hoping to be an example to my children on how to adjust, pivot, and roll with the punches. We don't have to succumb to this craziness, we can rise above it, and become better people as a whole.

Our family is making some consorted efforts to create practical solutions to help us thrive during this time. We want our children to feel safe and know they do not have to worry how their needs will be met. We want to shelter them from the raging storm whirling around outside our four walls. They deserve it, and my husband and I will do whatever it takes to make sure our children are well protected. The following is a more detailed synopsis of exactly what we are implementing within our family dynamics to help us survive the dire circumstances we currently find ourselves in. 

Preparing For Lean Times

1. Reevaluating Needs vs. Wants:
• Now is not the time for frivolously spending. We are praying through each and every purchase whether food, clothing, or any other item to determine if it is a necessity. 
• We are making purchases which help to reduce our over all spending, such as our new clothe line. 
• We are limiting our shopping in person as well as online, making sure every purchase is an essential item that our family truly needs.
2. Intentional Sustainability:
• We have increased the size of our garden with plants and fruit bearing trees/bushes. We are also pursuing meat chickens and other sources for food supply; such as inquiring of neighbors and friends if they know of outlets where we can find fruit trees to pick from. So far we have found a new free source for crab apples and someone who is getting rid of their canning jars.
• As cliche as it may sound, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is at the core of our daily life. We are reusing everything that we possible can ~ just the other day I salvaged a set of stand alone stairs to use as a planter station for my herbs. ALL leftovers are being eaten. Of course cloth for as many things as possible including diapers and napkins. We are trying to become a no waste family. 
• After a month of searching we were able to place our yearly co-op order. While this does not sustain us indefinitely it will meet our dry goods needs for the next year, reducing our need to purchase these items from stores or online. We've also managed to place our yearly order for maple syrup which we cook with and we're working on our yearly order for honey. All of these bulk purchases safe us money in the long run.
3. Immune Health:
• We are focusing on eating clean. Whole foods to promote a healthy immune system which can ward of disease and infection as well as give us the energy to pursue our many avenues of self-sufficiency.
• We are removing as many toxic substances as possible from our home from cleaning products to beauty products. There was a time we had minimal of these items, but I guess you could say I became negligent. I feel now is just as good as any time to get back on that band-wagon, it's really not that hard and it's certainly more affordable.
• We are making sure we have a decent stock of herbs, essential oils and vitamins to help combat ailments. We have always done this, but I guess you could say we are upping our game. We haven't been to the doctor for sickness in so many years I couldn't even tell you exactly the last time. But, the key on this one is to be proactive with necessary supplies so that when there's a need to treat a health situation, you are prepared.

Ultimately, God is in control. But, we can be used by God to fulfill His will. Having a plan and being intentional to work towards those goals is a much more positive way to use our time these days; rather than just hiding inside worrying. It is my deepest desire that throughout these crazy times our family would uphold God's word, look for the Lord's wisdom and knowledge, and not be wasteful with our time here on Earth. We are alive for a reason. None of *this* has caught God off guard. He is still in the business of providing for His people and He will continue to do so until the end of time.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

2020 Spring Planting Season

This year's spring planting season has been an eventful one to say the least. For as long as I can remember we have planted the second week of April. This year we went along with those same plans, only this year we've experienced some unusual weather. 

First we had nonstop rain, so much so that we could not plant any of our late winter plants or seeds.  Even though we didn't get the potatoes or onions planted in late winter like they were supposed to be, we decided to go ahead and get them in the ground (late) and pray for the best. 

Then we've had some unusually cold temperatures which have killed many of our plants. We've had to replant quite a bit of our tomatoes and peppers. We thought we'd lost our entire patch of sweet potatoes, but a fellow gardener informed us that they are growing just fine. Apparently the cold kills the leaves above ground, but the vines below are still growing. Lord willing that is the case, because sweet potatoes are one of my most favorite foods to grow.

We start the majority of our plants from seed either in recycled food containers or directly into the soil. We do buy some plants from the store such as tomatoes (not all of them, some tomatoes we start from seed), eggplants, peppers, and sweet potatoes. 

We've found that a lot of seeds that we'd normally plant directly into the soil do better if we plant them into small pots first and then once they get a good start, we transplant them into the soil. Those seeds include: yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkin, butternut squash, cucumber, some watermelon, and cantaloup.

Thankfully, even though we got our red and white potatoes into the ground late, they seem to be growing great. We planted four nice long rows, Lord willing we will have a nice harvest. We also have four great looking rows of green beans coming up. It's been a few years since we've had a decent harvest of green beans, but we're determined and we aren't giving up. We've yet to run out of them throughout the year, but we do have to ration them. It would be so wonderful to get a bumper crop of green beans this year.

We planted about a dozen rows of sweet corn. Our first planting had some skips in the rows so we've already gone back and replanted where some of it did not come up. We're hoping to put up ears of corn in the freezer as well as can corn. It's been a few years since we have had to can corn, but our supply is running low and it's time to restock. It's fairly labor intensive canning corn, but it's worth it once the job is done and we've got it to use whenever we want. 

We try to be as resourceful as possible with what we use in our gardens, with the intentions to keep the cost at a minimum. We stake our tomatoes and bell peppers using cages made with rhubarb fencing, a pole (sometimes we use a good thick stick), and zip strips. It may not be the most esthetically pleasing contraption, but it gets the job done. Our focus is to grow as much food as possible with the least amount of financial impact. 

We still have a good bit of planting left to do. It's still too cold for the plants that prefer hotter temperatures. In a couple of weeks we will be planting the watermelon, cantaloup, and okra. We will also plant another six or so rows of corn, to help stagger the harvest. From now until the end of August we're going to be full on, full-time gardening, picking, and preserving. Busy yet fulfilling days ahead to say the least.

To recap what we currently have planted:

Corn

Field Peas

Tomatoes

Bell Pepper

Hot Pepper

Red/White Potato

Sweet Potato

Pumpkin

Butternut Squash

Eggplant

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Green Beans

Onions

Cucumbers

I try not to think about everything we have planned ahead of us in regards to the garden, because I would probably panic and have a melt down. In the long run it is a lot of work, but if we just remain focused on one harvest at a time, it doesn't seem like nearly as much work. Plus, when the main gardening season comes to a close and we have freezers and jars full of food to eat, it makes all the long days of hard work worth it.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Spring Around the Homestead

Sorry Y'all I know it has been awhile, but life ebbs and flows for sure, and life has just been extremely busy. I've actually had 14 posts ready to go for a couple weeks now but getting everything set up and published has proven to be a little more challenging than I'd prefer.

We have been super busy around the homestead lately, gearing up for what we hope and pray is a bountiful harvest year. We've had so many projects going on from sewing, soap making, starting seeds, sewing seeds & planting plants in our big gardens, making new flower beds, and of course continuing with our homeschooling efforts.

 We had weeks of rain which made it difficult to plant our early spring crops. But we did manage to get in the ground some white and red potatoes as well as some onions. We planted double the onions than what we did last year. Lord willing we will get a decent harvest.

I'd really like to experiment with some different varieties of onions in the future. But, I am grateful we were able to find these onions still available; since finding garden plants and seeds isn't as easy as it has been in years past.

I know I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again; I truly love that my children have the opportunity to learn how to grow their own food.

Everyone gets their hands in the dirt around here. 

We added a new fruit arbor to our homestead. This one holds ten muscadine plants, which is like a grape. Grapes don't grow very well down here, but muscadines are a great alternative.

We started many plants this year including this entire flat filled with tomatoes. 

We also planted an assortment of herbs which were given to us by some dear friends. 

We did purchase a good bit of plants this year: tomatoes, several pepper varieties, sweet potatoes, and eggplants. We are hoping to preserve more seeds this year for next years garden, reducing our need to buy plants.

Unfortunately, due to a very late cold snap, we lost most of our sweet potatoes. We are planning to replant them this week.

Our fruit bearing bushes and trees are looking very good this year. We currently have blueberries, pears, apples, peaches, plums, blackberries, and figs. 

Even though we purchased 'late blooming' fruit trees and bushes they often get a little excited over early warm weather and bloom a little too soon causing us to lose our harvest.

We are fervently praying that this will not be the case this year. We are all super excited and hopeful for a bumper crop of fruit this year! 

Currently in the ground we have tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, onions, white & red potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, field peas, green beans, and corn. We have a good bit of seed starts growing to help stagger our garden harvest. 

I've been collecting canning and preserving items over the weeks such as vinegar, sugar, and canning lids. We have been diligently working to wrap up household projects and finish our academic year before the harvest begins. It won't be long before we're knee deep in produce! Fun times ahead for sure!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Winter Around the Homestead

It's winter on the ol' Williams homestead and we're still producing some garden veggies. We've been blessed with quite a bit of pickings from this year's fall/winter garden. It's just like our main summer garden: some years we grow more than we do in others; it all depends on what is going on and what we want to plant. With me having a baby in December, we didn't plant all that much, but it did fill in the gaps of balancing out our food budget.

We planted kale, lettuce, and spinach. Unfortunately, it was ready for picking right about the time of Abby Lou's birth and we were not really able to pick like we wanted. Sadly, we had a warm spell and the bugs came out and had themselves a grand feast. {{sigh}}

We have a few cabbages planted, but none are ready for picking just yet.

We had some nice sized turnips to come up this year. Turnips are my all-time favorite fall/winter produce! I wish we'd planted more.

My favorite way to eat turnips, is to boil them like potatoes until fork tender, drain, and then toss in butter, black pepper, and sea salt ~ yummy!!!

We had several broccoli plants and a few cauliflower plants as well. 

Broccoli and cauliflower are rather peculiar plants that can be quite finicky to grow in the South. They are super easy to attract pests and need just the right temperature.

Our favorite way to cook broccoli and cauliflower is to roast it in the oven with spices and olive oil. In this batch of veggies we added some of our bell pepper that we froze from our summer garden.

 And then we've got our little chickies which have slowed down their laying, we're averaging five eggs a day ~ which is pretty good to me. We try to let them free range a little each day. When we have our gardens in full swing, it's not as easy to let them free-range because they will eat our plants. We are just limited on space, but do the best we can.

The ol' homestead isn't all that quiet this time of year, but it's definitely a time to regroup and plan for the coming 'main' garden season. It won't be long before we're tilling up the soil and planting away. We're currently making our seed & plant wish lists and focusing on eating from the larder so we have plenty of space in the freezers and jars to fill.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

What to Can if You've Never Canned Before

I hear all the time: "I've never canned before and don't know where to start, any advice?" Well, I've got ya covered today..... here's my advice to all the first-time canners out there. 

Canning is super easy and most folks simply get overwhelmed with the idea of canning, when in reality it's not that complicated. I can remember when I first started out, being scared of all the unknowns which honestly comes natural when learning any new thing. But, sometimes 'throwing caution to the wind and jumping in with both feet' is the best teacher. And that my friends is exactly where I started over a dozen years ago ~ wading threw the confusion of canning with trial and error. Thankfully, it really was pretty straight forward and there was not much error.

Everyone loves to get in on the jam making fun in our house, even the youngest.💖

Many moons ago when I was anxious to start canning, I talked with a few 'old-timers' and decided to begin my canning adventures with jam. And much to my dismay it was insanely easy, fun, and pretty, PLUS it tasted sooo good! Well, it doesn't get any better than that! Once I got a few batches of jam under my belt, my confidence was boosted and I was ready to move on to canning other foods. YEAH!!

A dear sweet old lady once advised me to invert my jars to insure a proper seal when canning jams and jellies ~ so that is what I do. Usually it's wise to heed the wisdom of our elders. :)

Since I had such success with my first canning experience, when folks ask me where to begin as a newbie canner, I highly recommend they begin with jam just like I was advised. The nitty gritty of the why narrows down to this: the only way to really mess up a batch of jam is if you don't add enough sugar (ALWAYS add the amount of sugar suggested for the recipe), or you burn it. But, I have made hundreds of jars of jam over the years and have never ruined a batch. Well, there have been a few batches that weren't as firm as I would prefer, but that was purely chef error and I did not use enough sugar. No worries though, when that happens the runny jam makes for a perfect syrup poured over pancakes, waffles, and French toast.

This is our yearly batch of strawberry fig jam. I always follow the directions on the pectin packages.

Yes, jams and jellies are typically high in sugar and may not be on the top of the list of those ultra health conscious folks. But, the way I look at these jars of strawberry fig jam is that they are made with organic fruit and without any preservatives; and the ultimate bonus: they were extremely cheap to make. After all we don't go around eating jars of jam every single day, it's simply a delicious homemade condiment to use on fresh baked goodies like biscuits, bread, and my kids even enjoy fresh canned jam on waffles. 

I like to set my hot jars on a beach towel to cool over night and 

then I label and store them in my pantry.

So my advice still remains, if you're just jumping into the wonderful world of canning ~ start with canning fruit jams. Pick up a box of fruit pectin from your local Walmart (or grocer, maybe) and break open the box, they've got the directions on a little slip of paper. I always use their instructions and I've never had any problems when I've followed them exactly. Of course, you will need some basic gear, but none of it is too costly and once you get the hang of jam you'll be using all your new gear for a myriad of new canning adventures. 

Basic Water Bath Canning Gear 

(To Make Jam)

• Large stock pot
• Long wooden spoon
• Silicone Spoonatula
• Water bath canner (like this one)
• Pint or half pint canning jars + lids

Trust me y'all, canning jam is fun and YOU can do this! Get your kids involved and they will fall in love with the dying art of preserving food too. Next thing you know they'll be spurring you on to find new foods to can. Or you'll just continue filling your pantry with delicious varieties of fresh canned jam, but don't forget homemade jam makes the perfect gift! Enjoy the journey friends ~ canning is a beautiful tradition of preserving food. Canning truly is a rewarding way to enjoy the fruit of the harvest throughout the year.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer