Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Pictures Of My Pantry And Root Cellar With Food Stores Left..

Sorry about the sizing of these photos, so its not going to be pretty, just keeping it real. So just short of April, harvesting season still 4-5 months away in the new garden, if I were living as a true pioneer, my veggie supply would be low. Back in those days, I am sure there were no hunting/fishing restrictions, and with that I would have planned accordingly. I also would have prepared better storage if I needed. So just for fun, I decided to let you see into my pantry.

I have read some interesting books about pantry construction and uses. Catherine Pond wrote a book a few years ago. It is informative, and show lots of pretty pictures of some of the most beautiful well used pantry's I have ever seen.
Pantry, The: Its History and Modern Uses 

Presented here is Jams on top back (straw, black, rasp, straw-rhubarb) on top right is the last of my dried mushrooms. Hanging in a plastic basket are the last of my shallots, the dried plant were once filled with red chili peppers, on the second shelf are dried pumpkin seeds, stewed bell peppers, salsa, deer meat, ketchup, and a general sauce.

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So my freezers are still half filled with other veggies, and if I didn't have a freezer, I would have canned more veggies. My freezers contain only the food I grew, hunted, caught. However I did purchase some Rainbow trout to add to the mess DS and I caught last spring. We still have 11 pounds of cat fish we caught last fall.

So as for being SS this past year, I think I would give myself a B- because I purchased some tomatoes because mine caught that blight, and I still bought new materials for some projects.

My goal is not to be 100% off grid, my goal of self sufficient is to provide more than 80% of my families needs within my level of living. I believe I have saved close to 5,000 to 6,000 dollars by providing for myself in ways that I can.

6 comments:

  1. Bravo!!! I've got the area under my stairs cleared out for my root cellar. It will be small and hopefully pretty cramped at first in the fall, but at least I'll have a place to store my squash, onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, etc. in a series of modified drawers! And that plant hanging! Thanks for the inspiration!! Wonderful! Wonderful! Keep up the amazing work!

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  2. I have read that a root cellar needs low temps and high humidity AND low temps and low humidity. Which is it? High humidity or low?
    Help!?!

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    1. It does depend on what your are storing, but keeping it 50-60 degrees will ensure that you can keep the best balance as a general approach.

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  3. How can you have a root cellar in Fl.? Can you make a building of some sort to be like a root cellar?

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  4. Looking good! Canning meat is where I need to step it up. We have deer meat still in the freezer with more coming any day..need to make room!

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  5. If your tomatoes had blossom end rot(large black areas opposite stem) make sure you add lime to garden this fall. Calcium deficiency can cause issues with tomatoes as they are heavy feeders. Also make sure your egg shells get into garden..will take a while to break down but if you make it an ongoing habit it helps!! I usually add horticultural lime every fall to give it time to break down and get incorporated into soil for spring!
    Your canning looks great!

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