Jan 1 isn't a huge deal in my world. I love the gentle flow of season into season and while I do love holidays, for some reason the new year has never been a huge deal for me. It is just another day. Of course this year I'm watching the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, but aside from that, not a lot going on.
However it is a good time to make some lists and do some cleaning out of the old. January is typically a slow month around the house, and the time of year when everything is dormant. Nothing much grows, at least where I live. I usually find some yummy citrus and make a few batches of marmalade, but no more than that.
But the lack of anything going on, gives us ample time to do stuff. I try to clean out my pantry in January. Anything that expires in six months or less I donate to a food pantry and buy replacements. I make lists of what I need to expand in the next year, and what I had to much of the year before. Last year I came across an amazing deal on canned corn, and bought far to much. Nobody in my house aside from me likes corn. If we aren't going to eat it, we shouldn't buy it.
Here is my current pantry list that I need to buy ASAP:
Black beans #300
Wheat #200
Honey 15 gallons
Oatmeal #100
Dog Food #200
This of course is just the beginning of my pantry, but these are the most important staples that I need to keep building. I'm also hoping to add some freeze dried meals to the pantry this year that stay good for 20 years. NO they aren't the healthiest or most delicious food, but they will keep you going.
I am also pouring over my seed catalogs this month to get ready to place my spring order. Where I live, I can plant peas and broccoli at the end of next month! Of course this is an incredibly cold winter and the ground is frozen solid and covered with snow right now, so this year might be a little later than usual. I try and garden according to two things. What I can can, and what we will eat. Not to mention what will grow here ;) Last year I learned that corn does not fare well in a backyard garden here. It is just far to windy here, and we get hail. I was seriously depressed when my corn was hailed out last year. But tomatoes thrive! My tomatoes last year were amazing, and I got hundreds of pounds of tomatoes off my vines. I know that I have vine borers and that I need to use floating row covers to keep them from getting into pumpkins and other vining plants. My zucchini was lost early, so I'm hoping to remedy that this year.
Currently I'm planning on growing in the backyard garden:
Early spring:
Peas
Spinach
Lettuce
Broccoli
Radish
Onions
Carrots
Potatoes (In a trash can)
Chard?
Cabbage
Late Spring:
Green Beans
Black Beans
Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Pumpkins
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Cucumber
Fall:
Lettuce
Peas?
Radishs
Garlic
Chard?
I'm also going to try and lacto-ferment carrots, cabbage, and cucumbers this year in an attempt to preserve some food without canning. Not to mention that lacto-fermented food is amazing for your gut.
I'm also working on updating the car kit and our bug out bags. In fact we are going to go buy a new hunting knife today for the car kit. Stay tuned
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4 comments:
I like your spring garden list! We have a lot of the same veggies planned, and I'm so excited to get out there and plant. :D
Is the dogfood because you have a dog or is it for something else?
And a question on the raw milk...are you getting it from a farmer's market or do you have to buy it at the grocery store.
They sell raw milk at our weekly farmer's market but my husband is weirded out by it even though everything I'm reading says raw milk is tons better for you.
Also, do you have s juicer? We got one this summer and it is great. You can use the separated fiberous stuff for breads, soups and whatnot.
The dog food is for our dog :)
I get the milk directly from the farmer. I used to buy some at whole foods and berkeley bowl when I lived in the bay area, but it is apparently harder to get now.
I don't have a juicer, but great idea with the fiberous stuff in bread!
Thanks for the info.
I'm trying to do better with the gardening but our summer garden failed miserably. I think we used the wrong soil ratio.
I do not have a green thumb. In fact, I just threw out a cactus I killed. A CACTUS!
I'm also seriously considering a more heartier stock pile of supplies. We have an earthquake bin that will feed us and care for us for a week or two but I'm thinking it would be better to be more prepared than that.
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