If you wrap celery in aluminum foil will last over a month. Cut top and ends off, (put those in freezer if not eating at that time, can use for soups etc after freezing), inspect for bad areas, cut these off, wash, dry, then wrap with aluminum foil.
And you can regrow the root base, if you don't cut too low and change water frequently. After roots are established, then transplant into soil. Free food to come!
I've been having to do this, too. I used to not, but for the past several months fresh produce has not been lasting as long as it used to. I think the produce at the store just isn't as fresh as it used to be
Brand new gardener! I think I got to confident from watching you guys because I planted 4 types of tomatoes, two types of squash, cayenne, ghost, sweet banana, and green peppers, eggplant, two types of lettuce, garlic, strawberries, collards, and cabbage too! 😂 I've also started basil, parsley, mint, dill & thyme inside. All of the plants are doing great and I'm already harvesting strawberries & all the herbs and using them fresh! Everyone scared me for starting with so much but I told them I watch you and got this 😂 Seriously thank you! I'm so glad I found this channel because you've helped me substantially in my gardening skills! Chickens maybe next for us ❤️
@@jeanniewahine5443 thank you! I have a 13 month old and want fresh produce for him to enjoy! He's a great eater because of it to and he was a NICU baby at 3 pounds. Said he would be behind until ATLEAST 2 years old. He's 25 pounds already almost and super healthy and I think it's because he eats good food and I make his juice fresh and nut milks! I've improved my eating skills too through my process and feel better health wise even mentally ☺️
@@vanessaheslop9838 Wow, what a rough start, but you used it as motivation and I think it's great you've managed to see so much progress in so little time!
Yes, please do a video on how to store food out of the garden and from the store. I’ve been trying to find videos with that topic. Would love to hear that from you Carolyn!!! 💕
You are both excellent teachers. Thank you for the time and energy you put into these videos. You are so easy to understand and willing to help people.. Thank you!
Just wanted to pop in and say hi from Australia, and thank you for inspiring me to take steps to living more sustainably! Recently got married and moved out of home (and state), and so I've been trying to learn ways to run and maintain an efficient household. I've been watching your channel for a couple of years now, on and off, and I've really enjoyed the cooking that Carolyn does (I've made your no knead artisan bread before, and even though I forgot about US measurements being slightly different to Aussie measurements, it still turned out yummy!). Today I am proud to report that I've made butter for the first time using the mason jar technique, and I've begun my journey in growing veggies from seeds. So thank you for opening your home and sharing your wisdom and experience with the world, and I pray for more blessings upon you and the family from our almighty Creator and King.
I just picked my first crop of dandelions, 2 full one gallon bags. I plan to go hiking and harvesting for the rest of this week, and am hoping to get a good 25 half quarts of honey. Next week I'll be harvesting Spruce Tips for syrup, the following week will be clover for jelly...then comes berry season. We are blessed with an abundance of free food, it's only a weed if you want it to be. 😃👍
When you bring in your lettuce and greens, rinse it in cold salted water, rinse, dry, and layer in a bin with towels. Berries and fruits can be soaked a few minutes in water with a 1/4 cup of vinegar. Rinse, dry, and store. Extends the shelf life a couple weeks.
Storing vegetables. Tupperware makes a special set of containers for produce storage that have vents that can be opened depending on the veg stored. We have celery and lettuce from the store last more than a week. We had "pick your own" strawberries last almost a month!
You all are great I live in Northeast Alabama and my family and I are trying to get our plans homesteaded completely self-sufficient so that we're healthy and secure I really appreciate you guys videos
I just found that the freezer dryer from Harvest Right is sold in my country...it cost 7 times what it costs en US in us dollars 😱 23.3 times a teacher salary 😱 Can't believe the tremendous difference... Love to see you every week! 🥰
Love how you bring balance to this journey, that is isnt about one way or the other being the best/only way, ut finding what works. I admire how you compliment each other. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
🌼🐝🌻I’m Back for another update of your beautiful garden. It’s amazing to see the changes in your plants over time. I love watching my garden grow a little each day, that is my favorite part of gardening. I am making garden videos too on my own channel. It’s so fun to have the growth documented over the season. I still have so much to learn in this area. I hope we can learn more from each other! 🌻🌸👨🌾🐝🌼
When I get celery (don’t currently grow it) I dice it up to cooking sized pieces, freeze on baking trays before putting them into spare tupperware to use in cooking as and when needed! Super useful and the initial freezing prevents it from clumping together so much!
My trick for keeping lettuce fresh is to buy the "living lettuce" that comes with the roots, I water the roots and only take leaves from the outside edges. For carrots and celery I keep it in a bag in a slightly damp paper towel
My husband worked with cattle for about a year a while back, he loved it. So I totally understand how hard it is to lose a calf, he was pretty down emotionally for a few days.
Fairly new gardener here and realized right away the weeds that sprung out of the hugel bed had much longer roots than what we intentionally planted. But as we used the square foot grid, it was fairly clear what was not planted.
Thank you for the videos and for answering questions. I would appreciate a video on how to wash, dry and store veggies when you pull them from the garden so that they last longer. I would also like to know more about which herbs and vegetables should be refrigerated and which ones should be left on the counter.
awesome chat! growing in Hawaii in a green house t o get cucumber to not get catapiler, shade cloth work some. learned that I can't have gaps... they got in. beggars. love to watch what you do.thank you for the invite into your world.
I store celery by wrapping it in two layers of paper towel slightly dampened and placed back in the plastic sleeve that it was sold in. As long as your fridge is at the proper temp it can last a couple weeks. Green onions work the same way.
Agreed! Mortality. I am a RN. Some of my professional experience; 9 mos cancer kids, 3 years open heart surgical icu, supervisor responsible for all humans on campus including morgue residents and donor services, more decades of critical care...never worked a regular medical, surgical, telemetry unit. I am so glad you teach to compost animals / animal products. I recently found David the Good and his book "Compost Everything." The circle of life is so important to understand. Without each other, we cannot exist! Each other referring to every living thing.Also, this year we are concentrating on snap beans, sauce tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. Hopefully will have enough for 1 1/2 - 2 years for a family of 12. The reason, next year we will concentrate on garlic, onions, root vegetables, dry beans and peas.
Sorry about the loss of the calf. I agreed about gosling being so cute. We have wild geese here and they abandoned one of the gosling. When it got darker, I took it in. Two days later; it's family showed up and it was reunited. It was so cute and fuzzy. Great video. I agreed about the lettuce - started using paper towels and the lettuce last so much longer.
Sorry for the loss of your calf! What helps our small Nubian dairy is to use bucks with reasonable size heads, and feed some Braggs apple cider vinegar for the potassium, a little along to aid the relaxation in the birth area at kidding. Helps our bucks as well. Then general good feed maintenance, watching for overweight or underweight and minerals, etc. It can happen to anyone! We lost a kid about three years ago, but it was placenta related on a third freshener. She kidded just fine last year. Hope your milk cow is successful next year!
The video blacked out for a second when you were talking about the calf. I wonder if that was you or you tube that did that. What a wonderful video. Lots of good content. We moved in 2020. Last year's garden didn't happen. We tried to get it going but it never really did well. This year will be the Victory Garden! It's huge and planted well with seeds and plants. We have a freeze dryer and I am learning to can as well.
After gardening for years, we sure can tell the difference between weeds and what we planted. We have learned which weeds to throw down for extra nitrogen in soil, which need eradicated, and which are delicious.
I wrap the top of the celery and head of lettuce in paper towels and the wrap in the plastic produce bag, looser and only damp for the lettuce and tighter and wetter for celery. Then you can use a spray bottle of water to add a little moisture if needed. Chopped greens (that I chop) soak the lettuce in the sink in cold water for 20 minutes then tear up, run through a salad spinner to dry it then in a ziplock with most of the air squeezed out.
Another great video, thank you both! So sorry to hear about the calf, it’s a precious thing to lose, emotionally, but also the time invested in the cow and the promise of what was to come. I love to listen to you while I’m meal prepping or sowing seeds or something…the questions today really rang true. I have just moved to a new property, in another country, I am trying to catch up on the growing season but the instant garden idea is similar to what I’ve just done. We have a field to convert into growing space, I mowed an area and will cover it with cardboard before planting things like pumpkin/squash/melons that can compete with the grass!! I have limited access to compost, so I might use some where the plants go in, but I certainly can’t cover a large area as I would have before
WRT spring time weeds. I loosen the soil with the digging fork. (I don't turn the soil, just loosen it) Then the weeds are easy to pull up, with roots attached! Little rocks in the soil -- Define "Little rocks". Seems that's like the weather. People either complain that their soil is too clay or too rocky.
On the weed conversation I've sort of evolved to just putting compost on beds and leaves in pathways focusing on only pulling the highly invasive weeds and not letting a whole lot go to seed. Now pretty much my whole garden has only useful weeds that you can eat or treat like a cover crop instead of worrying about buying cover crop seed. Purslane and wood sorrel are perfect ground covers that don't compete aggressively, are easy to pull and taste good. I like to let mullein grow and just transplant around them but if anything gets in the way while transplanting I'll just lift it, shake soil off the roots onto the bed and just toss them in the walking path to dry out and after a while my walking paths are really fertile so a lot of my crops can shoot some feeler roots into the walking path if their lacking a little in nutrients or moisture. It works great. Then just take the wheel hoe out into the garden twice a month and just sever all the beneficial weeds coming up so the root system stays in soil and top growth just is chop and drop. Seem like as long as I don't disturb the actual grow bed too much the few weeds that grow in them can just be lifted and tossed into the path as I transplant.
Home-made mayonnaise uses a lot of egg yolks, and I use it in place of milk and butter in mashed potatoes, and in place of butter and sour cream in baked potatoes. I even use it to make a chicken and rice casserole binder. Sorry to hear about your calf. I just lost triplet goat doelings yesterday.
I learned, by chance, that cutting the base off the celery bunch extends its life - by 2-3 weeks! Just lop off the bottom 1/2". Then I keep it in a resealable plastic bag (I prefer avoiding plastic, but in this case it works well for me). Just a comment on what Josh said about lettuce being easy to grow, it can also be grown in pretty much any sized container (even the clamshells that it comes in), and although outside is better, inside near a window can be doable.
Quick tip to make your lettuce last longer. Remove lettuce from plastic bag. Cut off the bottom stem. Wrap the lettuce into 3 paper towels. Each stalk separately. At this point put into a large freezer bag. Don't seal it. My store purchased romaine lettuce will last for me about 2 weeks. The outer leaves will turn brown, however the rest of the stalk is still fresh. Hope this helps.
I would also check temp of fridge. If it's too cold it will make all leafy greens wilt quickly. I pick lettuce early in the morning and put straight in cold water. Use salad spinner and put in in gallon freezer bags with holes in them and paper towels. May sound wasteful but I reuse the plastic bags. I have 6 bags going a week right now while we have a lot (for us) coming in for our house of 3. We use a bag a night though and it is a family favorite with acv, olive oil, honey, Greek seasoning and pepper. 😋
I start lettuce and radishes in a 6 inch deep container in March in my greenhouse here in Central Washington State so I can have fresh salads before I have some planted in the garden.
Interesting on how to store lettuce and make it last longer. Since I was a teenager, I use to chop salads for the family, lay a clean bar towel in the bottom then throw the lettuce in the middle and then fold over & cover it with the towel, then spritz it with water to just make it damp, and put a lid over it. and it would keep it good for about a week that way. Figured id throw my 2 cents in :) However my fridge is freezing everything so nothing is working right now, need a new fridge.
Please do a pantry chat on how to make your fresh vegetables and fruit purchased or harvested last longer once it’s in the house. Love berries, beans, corn, squash, spinach (I’m assuming it will be like lettuce) and etc. (I like to buy local, and have just started gardening so sometimes I’ve planted too much, and sometimes too little so I need it to last, or be good for awhile.)
I'm sure you don't waste anything. But we used to feed our leftover milk and whey to our chickens and of course our pigs when we raised them. But we had wonderful success in giving our "meat" chickens the extra milk. They grew so well. Just and idea.
We are able to buy local raw milk. I buy 2 gallons a week and get about 2 quarts of cream odd of that (give or take). Pretty much all of the cream gets turned into sour cream. Then at the end of the week the sour cream gets turned into cultured butter and then I make a fresh batch of sour cream with the new milk. It's worked out great for my family.
With celery, I leave it in the stock and then run the stock under water every couple days so that it gets the water it needs to maintain the cripiness. I find storing them in water can sometimes cause them to soak up too much and then split.
Gardening question. I keep hearing that you should rotate crops in your garden because different plants take different things from the soul. But what if you have a very small garden and can't really rotate? Are there amendment that can be added? Specifically for tomatoes? Thanks, you guys are great!
I love purslane, too! I have several volunteers in my kitchen garden and I am leaving them to grow. The only caveat- purslane is high in oxalates, so folks who are sensitive to that be careful with purslane.
On the question of enough to can...could you pull ripe produce and refrigerate (for a few days), while waiting for the more of the harvest to fully ripen?
I do refrigerate my green beans until I have enough to can. I put them in a tupperware container layered with paper towels and they stay good for over a week sometimes a couple of weeks while collecting them. For tomatoes, I wash and core them and then put them in a freezer bag in the freezer until I have enough to can. I have even held them in the freezer until the end of the season and canned them after so I know exactly how many I have and can determine what I want to make with them. It works great since the skins slide right off as they defrost.
I am looking for cool storage solutions. We live in Houston, so no basements and lots of warmth and humidity even in the air conditioned house. We have a large closet on our second floor and I have been considering adding its own split a/c unit and dehumidifier to turn it into cool storage. What are the ideal conditions when you mention basement storage?
We cut space out of an extra large dining room and made a hidden pantry for canned and MUST be cool stuff. Florida has similar weather and it's already miserable here.we cut a vent hole in the exterior wall and put in a portable ac with dehumidifier. Works great!
Oh man! Purslane drives me up the wall. I had a hose break last year while out of town, my dirt area in my back yard was flooded. I had so much purslane come up that I couldn't even get it pulled. I just let it go. I'm just going to have cement put in because its just too much
I have always been told If you have livestock, will have deadstock. Unfortunate true to farming and life. Just make sure that the lives are the best it can be while on the earth ❤️ Love from Australia
❓Question❓ What do you feed your animals and how do you prepare it? (For each animal) For example when butchering your animals what raw parts do the dogs, cats, pigs, and chickens get? What raw or cooked bones are ok for who? Also, when cooked meat meals have leftovers. Who gets what parts of the meal? Do they eat everyday or do some go without for a day? I assume you don't buy dog & cat food, or chicken & duck pellets. I'm wanting to switch my animals to a better diet.
I would love to know what method you both use to organize your to do list ( individually & together ) and accomplish the work daily/weekly/monthly. How do you plan & keep track of it all???
That's funny about the weeds, it reminds me of the cartoon about the weed that try's to kill the flower.. check it out on youtube. FUNNY! Love you guys 💗💗
Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of Dock. The roots are so deep that they just break and causes the spread of more Dock. I'm at my wits end with this stuff. Thanks for your videos. Great information.
What state do you live in? What kind of chickens do you suggest purchasing for quality large eggs. I like the brown eggs? What can I feed my chickens to supplement grass and bugs without using corn and soy?
Murry McMurray has a great website when purchasing and deciding on chickens. I give organic feed year round, free choice. I supplement in winter with additional sunflower seeds, meal worms, sprouted lentils and kitchen scraps.
I never pasteurized my goats milk to make yogurt, and never had bad yogurt. I wonder if it's the cows milk that makes the difference? I mean is there a difference?
Can I add good bacteria back into pasteurized store bought milk, and if I can do that, what is the product I use and where would I get it? Thank you so much!
@@jonberger2057 we hot q acre off grid property in az so far we cleared the land and have a 12 x 36 double lofted shed that we are turning into a tiny home
If you wrap celery in aluminum foil will last over a month. Cut top and ends off, (put those in freezer if not eating at that time, can use for soups etc after freezing), inspect for bad areas, cut these off, wash, dry, then wrap with aluminum foil.
And you can regrow the root base, if you don't cut too low and change water frequently. After roots are established, then transplant into soil. Free food to come!
I grow a lot of it in my garden and dehydrate it, the leaves are especially flavorful with homegrown !
I do that with celery it works great
I've been having to do this, too. I used to not, but for the past several months fresh produce has not been lasting as long as it used to. I think the produce at the store just isn't as fresh as it used to be
@@annadavis6322 I've heard from different sources that many of our fruits and veggies are 6 months old when we purchase them. 🤦♀️ Debbie
Brand new gardener! I think I got to confident from watching you guys because I planted 4 types of tomatoes, two types of squash, cayenne, ghost, sweet banana, and green peppers, eggplant, two types of lettuce, garlic, strawberries, collards, and cabbage too! 😂 I've also started basil, parsley, mint, dill & thyme inside. All of the plants are doing great and I'm already harvesting strawberries & all the herbs and using them fresh! Everyone scared me for starting with so much but I told them I watch you and got this 😂 Seriously thank you! I'm so glad I found this channel because you've helped me substantially in my gardening skills! Chickens maybe next for us ❤️
Clearly, you are a great student and you have a strong work ethic to pull off your dreams, congratulations!
@@jeanniewahine5443 thank you! I have a 13 month old and want fresh produce for him to enjoy! He's a great eater because of it to and he was a NICU baby at 3 pounds. Said he would be behind until ATLEAST 2 years old. He's 25 pounds already almost and super healthy and I think it's because he eats good food and I make his juice fresh and nut milks! I've improved my eating skills too through my process and feel better health wise even mentally ☺️
@@vanessaheslop9838 Wow, what a rough start, but you used it as motivation and I think it's great you've managed to see so much progress in so little time!
Yes, please do a video on how to store food out of the garden and from the store. I’ve been trying to find videos with that topic. Would love to hear that from you Carolyn!!! 💕
There is a channel "her homestead skills" that shows a lot of preserving from stores and garden. It may help.
You are both excellent teachers. Thank you for the time and energy you put into these videos. You are so easy to understand and willing to help people.. Thank you!
Just wanted to pop in and say hi from Australia, and thank you for inspiring me to take steps to living more sustainably! Recently got married and moved out of home (and state), and so I've been trying to learn ways to run and maintain an efficient household. I've been watching your channel for a couple of years now, on and off, and I've really enjoyed the cooking that Carolyn does (I've made your no knead artisan bread before, and even though I forgot about US measurements being slightly different to Aussie measurements, it still turned out yummy!). Today I am proud to report that I've made butter for the first time using the mason jar technique, and I've begun my journey in growing veggies from seeds. So thank you for opening your home and sharing your wisdom and experience with the world, and I pray for more blessings upon you and the family from our almighty Creator and King.
Aww, my dad was born in Perth! So glad you're part of the Homesteading Family crew!❤
I just picked my first crop of dandelions, 2 full one gallon bags. I plan to go hiking and harvesting for the rest of this week, and am hoping to get a good 25 half quarts of honey. Next week I'll be harvesting Spruce Tips for syrup, the following week will be clover for jelly...then comes berry season. We are blessed with an abundance of free food, it's only a weed if you want it to be. 😃👍
Love all your videos. Thank you for everything you do.
When you bring in your lettuce and greens, rinse it in cold salted water, rinse, dry, and layer in a bin with towels. Berries and fruits can be soaked a few minutes in water with a 1/4 cup of vinegar. Rinse, dry, and store. Extends the shelf life a couple weeks.
Why salt?
@@AR-mu4zq the salted water helps wash off bacteria and other microorganisms that might make it break down faster.
You are so much fun to hang out with. I love the weekly recaps and updates..
You guys are blessed! Its refreshing to see. Keep up the good work guys!
Storing vegetables. Tupperware makes a special set of containers for produce storage that have vents that can be opened depending on the veg stored. We have celery and lettuce from the store last more than a week. We had "pick your own" strawberries last almost a month!
You all are great I live in Northeast Alabama and my family and I are trying to get our plans homesteaded completely self-sufficient so that we're healthy and secure I really appreciate you guys videos
Carolyn I love your sense of humor! 🤣
I just found that the freezer dryer from Harvest Right is sold in my country...it cost 7 times what it costs en US in us dollars 😱 23.3 times a teacher salary 😱 Can't believe the tremendous difference... Love to see you every week! 🥰
You have a lot of wisdom to share with everyone 😊
Your explanation of why you pasteurize the milk before making yogurt was so helpful, thank you!
Lettuce is awesome! Spinach, mesclun mix…easy and wonderful to add to your salads
Love how you bring balance to this journey, that is isnt about one way or the other being the best/only way, ut finding what works. I admire how you compliment each other. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks Carolyn and Josh for all the valuable information you share with us.
Hope you enjoy the video
🌼🐝🌻I’m Back for another update of your beautiful garden. It’s amazing to see the changes in your plants over time. I love watching my garden grow a little each day, that is my favorite part of gardening. I am making garden videos too on my own channel. It’s so fun to have the growth documented over the season. I still have so much to learn in this area. I hope we can learn more from each other! 🌻🌸👨🌾🐝🌼
When I get celery (don’t currently grow it) I dice it up to cooking sized pieces, freeze on baking trays before putting them into spare tupperware to use in cooking as and when needed! Super useful and the initial freezing prevents it from clumping together so much!
My trick for keeping lettuce fresh is to buy the "living lettuce" that comes with the roots, I water the roots and only take leaves from the outside edges. For carrots and celery I keep it in a bag in a slightly damp paper towel
My husband worked with cattle for about a year a while back, he loved it. So I totally understand how hard it is to lose a calf, he was pretty down emotionally for a few days.
Fairly new gardener here and realized right away the weeds that sprung out of the hugel bed had much longer roots than what we intentionally planted. But as we used the square foot grid, it was fairly clear what was not planted.
Thank you for the videos and for answering questions. I would appreciate a video on how to wash, dry and store veggies when you pull them from the garden so that they last longer. I would also like to know more about which herbs and vegetables should be refrigerated and which ones should be left on the counter.
That would be great.
awesome chat! growing in Hawaii in a green house t o get cucumber to not get catapiler, shade cloth work some. learned that I can't have gaps... they got in. beggars. love to watch what you do.thank you for the invite into your world.
I store celery by wrapping it in two layers of paper towel slightly dampened and placed back in the plastic sleeve that it was sold in. As long as your fridge is at the proper temp it can last a couple weeks. Green onions work the same way.
Agreed! Mortality. I am a RN. Some of my professional experience; 9 mos cancer kids, 3 years open heart surgical icu, supervisor responsible for all humans on campus including morgue residents and donor services, more decades of critical care...never worked a regular medical, surgical, telemetry unit. I am so glad you teach to compost animals / animal products. I recently found David the Good and his book "Compost Everything." The circle of life is so important to understand. Without each other, we cannot exist! Each other referring to every living thing.Also, this year we are concentrating on snap beans, sauce tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. Hopefully will have enough for 1 1/2 - 2 years for a family of 12. The reason, next year we will concentrate on garlic, onions, root vegetables, dry beans and peas.
Sorry about the loss of the calf. I agreed about gosling being so cute. We have wild geese here and they abandoned one of the gosling. When it got darker, I took it in. Two days later; it's family showed up and it was reunited. It was so cute and fuzzy.
Great video. I agreed about the lettuce - started using paper towels and the lettuce last so much longer.
Sorry for the loss of your calf! What helps our small Nubian dairy is to use bucks with reasonable size heads, and feed some Braggs apple cider vinegar for the potassium, a little along to aid the relaxation in the birth area at kidding. Helps our bucks as well. Then general good feed maintenance, watching for overweight or underweight and minerals, etc. It can happen to anyone! We lost a kid about three years ago, but it was placenta related on a third freshener. She kidded just fine last year. Hope your milk cow is successful next year!
i have found that wrapping celery in foil and then storing it in tupperware keeps it fresh a long time! thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
That towel trick WORKS! We do that inside gallon bags and our lettuce lasts weeks!!
The video blacked out for a second when you were talking about the calf. I wonder if that was you or you tube that did that. What a wonderful video. Lots of good content. We moved in 2020. Last year's garden didn't happen. We tried to get it going but it never really did well. This year will be the Victory Garden! It's huge and planted well with seeds and plants. We have a freeze dryer and I am learning to can as well.
After gardening for years, we sure can tell the difference between weeds and what we planted. We have learned which weeds to throw down for extra nitrogen in soil, which need eradicated, and which are delicious.
Wrap your celery in foil. It will last a lot longer and stay crunchy. Head lettuce cut out the core and take off outer leaves and store in ziploc bag!
I grew enough green beans for 2 years! I was picking for 2 hours every 3 days and beans produce for a long time. lol
I wrap the top of the celery and head of lettuce in paper towels and the wrap in the plastic produce bag, looser and only damp for the lettuce and tighter and wetter for celery. Then you can use a spray bottle of water to add a little moisture if needed. Chopped greens (that I chop) soak the lettuce in the sink in cold water for 20 minutes then tear up, run through a salad spinner to dry it then in a ziplock with most of the air squeezed out.
Another great video, thank you both! So sorry to hear about the calf, it’s a precious thing to lose, emotionally, but also the time invested in the cow and the promise of what was to come.
I love to listen to you while I’m meal prepping or sowing seeds or something…the questions today really rang true. I have just moved to a new property, in another country, I am trying to catch up on the growing season but the instant garden idea is similar to what I’ve just done. We have a field to convert into growing space, I mowed an area and will cover it with cardboard before planting things like pumpkin/squash/melons that can compete with the grass!! I have limited access to compost, so I might use some where the plants go in, but I certainly can’t cover a large area as I would have before
Great info guys. Thanks!
WRT spring time weeds. I loosen the soil with the digging fork. (I don't turn the soil, just loosen it) Then the weeds are easy to pull up, with roots attached!
Little rocks in the soil -- Define "Little rocks". Seems that's like the weather. People either complain that their soil is too clay or too rocky.
Tupperware has really good fridge smart containers which do keep vegetables fresher much longer.
Always useful information 👍
On the weed conversation I've sort of evolved to just putting compost on beds and leaves in pathways focusing on only pulling the highly invasive weeds and not letting a whole lot go to seed. Now pretty much my whole garden has only useful weeds that you can eat or treat like a cover crop instead of worrying about buying cover crop seed. Purslane and wood sorrel are perfect ground covers that don't compete aggressively, are easy to pull and taste good. I like to let mullein grow and just transplant around them but if anything gets in the way while transplanting I'll just lift it, shake soil off the roots onto the bed and just toss them in the walking path to dry out and after a while my walking paths are really fertile so a lot of my crops can shoot some feeler roots into the walking path if their lacking a little in nutrients or moisture. It works great. Then just take the wheel hoe out into the garden twice a month and just sever all the beneficial weeds coming up so the root system stays in soil and top growth just is chop and drop. Seem like as long as I don't disturb the actual grow bed too much the few weeds that grow in them can just be lifted and tossed into the path as I transplant.
Home-made mayonnaise uses a lot of egg yolks, and I use it in place of milk and butter in mashed potatoes, and in place of butter and sour cream in baked potatoes. I even use it to make a chicken and rice casserole binder.
Sorry to hear about your calf. I just lost triplet goat doelings yesterday.
I learned, by chance, that cutting the base off the celery bunch extends its life - by 2-3 weeks! Just lop off the bottom 1/2". Then I keep it in a resealable plastic bag (I prefer avoiding plastic, but in this case it works well for me). Just a comment on what Josh said about lettuce being easy to grow, it can also be grown in pretty much any sized container (even the clamshells that it comes in), and although outside is better, inside near a window can be doable.
Quick tip to make your lettuce last longer. Remove lettuce from plastic bag. Cut off the bottom stem. Wrap the lettuce into 3 paper towels. Each stalk separately. At this point put into a large freezer bag. Don't seal it. My store purchased romaine lettuce will last for me about 2 weeks. The outer leaves will turn brown, however the rest of the stalk is still fresh. Hope this helps.
I would also check temp of fridge. If it's too cold it will make all leafy greens wilt quickly.
I pick lettuce early in the morning and put straight in cold water. Use salad spinner and put in in gallon freezer bags with holes in them and paper towels. May sound wasteful but I reuse the plastic bags. I have 6 bags going a week right now while we have a lot (for us) coming in for our house of 3. We use a bag a night though and it is a family favorite with acv, olive oil, honey, Greek seasoning and pepper. 😋
Hi, thanks for the tip. What temperature would you say is ideal?
I start lettuce and radishes in a 6 inch deep container in March in my greenhouse here in Central Washington State so I can have fresh salads before I have some planted in the garden.
Interesting on how to store lettuce and make it last longer. Since I was a teenager, I use to chop salads for the family, lay a clean bar towel in the bottom then throw the lettuce in the middle and then fold over & cover it with the towel, then spritz it with water to just make it damp, and put a lid over it. and it would keep it good for about a week that way. Figured id throw my 2 cents in :) However my fridge is freezing everything so nothing is working right now, need a new fridge.
Please do a pantry chat on how to make your fresh vegetables and fruit purchased or harvested last longer once it’s in the house. Love berries, beans, corn, squash, spinach (I’m assuming it will be like lettuce) and etc. (I like to buy local, and have just started gardening so sometimes I’ve planted too much, and sometimes too little so I need it to last, or be good for awhile.)
I'm sure you don't waste anything. But we used to feed our leftover milk and whey to our chickens and of course our pigs when we raised them. But we had wonderful success in giving our "meat" chickens the extra milk. They grew so well. Just and idea.
We are able to buy local raw milk. I buy 2 gallons a week and get about 2 quarts of cream odd of that (give or take). Pretty much all of the cream gets turned into sour cream. Then at the end of the week the sour cream gets turned into cultured butter and then I make a fresh batch of sour cream with the new milk. It's worked out great for my family.
If you slice a small slice off the core, put it in cool water then put in bag with a paper towel, same with celery
With celery, I leave it in the stock and then run the stock under water every couple days so that it gets the water it needs to maintain the cripiness. I find storing them in water can sometimes cause them to soak up too much and then split.
Gardening question. I keep hearing that you should rotate crops in your garden because different plants take different things from the soul. But what if you have a very small garden and can't really rotate? Are there amendment that can be added? Specifically for tomatoes? Thanks, you guys are great!
Thank you!💖🌺🦋
It’s a good morning. Thank you.
I love purslane, too! I have several volunteers in my kitchen garden and I am leaving them to grow. The only caveat- purslane is high in oxalates, so folks who are sensitive to that be careful with purslane.
Raw milk cheese is great too
Raw sour cream and cream
Raw butter and buttermilk
Lots of great raw dairy still
On the question of enough to can...could you pull ripe produce and refrigerate (for a few days), while waiting for the more of the harvest to fully ripen?
Yes you can. You don’t want it to get to the soft stage. Tomatoes should be pretty firm to can.
I do refrigerate my green beans until I have enough to can. I put them in a tupperware container layered with paper towels and they stay good for over a week sometimes a couple of weeks while collecting them. For tomatoes, I wash and core them and then put them in a freezer bag in the freezer until I have enough to can. I have even held them in the freezer until the end of the season and canned them after so I know exactly how many I have and can determine what I want to make with them. It works great since the skins slide right off as they defrost.
I am looking for cool storage solutions. We live in Houston, so no basements and lots of warmth and humidity even in the air conditioned house. We have a large closet on our second floor and I have been considering adding its own split a/c unit and dehumidifier to turn it into cool storage. What are the ideal conditions when you mention basement storage?
We cut space out of an extra large dining room and made a hidden pantry for canned and MUST be cool stuff. Florida has similar weather and it's already miserable here.we cut a vent hole in the exterior wall and put in a portable ac with dehumidifier. Works great!
Great information! How many chickens do you have? Wow! Lots of eggs!
I love your videos. I've seen a lot of different ways on UA-cam on how to freeze vegetables. what's the best way to freeze Cilantro,spinach,carrots...
Thank you for the info on ferment with the bale style lids. Is it possible to can in those jars? If so, how?
Oh man! Purslane drives me up the wall. I had a hose break last year while out of town, my dirt area in my back yard was flooded. I had so much purslane come up that I couldn't even get it pulled. I just let it go. I'm just going to have cement put in because its just too much
I have always been told
If you have livestock, will have deadstock.
Unfortunate true to farming and life.
Just make sure that the lives are the best it can be while on the earth ❤️
Love from Australia
Whats your thoughts on freezing milk, from the grocery store, and or canning It? Thanks Nancy from nebraska
Hi 👋 Any words of wisdom for a couple starting a small homestead at retirement age? Thank you (and, ohhhh, I miss idaho [of old]!)
❓Question❓ What do you feed your animals and how do you prepare it? (For each animal) For example when butchering your animals what raw parts do the dogs, cats, pigs, and chickens get? What raw or cooked bones are ok for who? Also, when cooked meat meals have leftovers. Who gets what parts of the meal? Do they eat everyday or do some go without for a day? I assume you don't buy dog & cat food, or chicken & duck pellets. I'm wanting to switch my animals to a better diet.
Will you look to purchase a new cow or chalk the calf up to an outlier and not genetics?
"Just like the grocery" except for all the extra sugars, colors, and preservaties.
Sour cream is yummy on pancakes, with maple
I would love to know what method you both use to organize your to do list ( individually & together ) and accomplish the work daily/weekly/monthly. How do you plan & keep track of it all???
Great ? When we walk outside with a list and the animals, buildings, weather have different priorities (emergent need)😁
Purslane is very good on sandwiches.
Holy smokes! 70 eggs a day!
My mom uses paper towels . She'll pulls the head of lettuce apart a d place it in baggies a paper towel in the bag.
Where do you get your Mylar bags and how do you seal them?
Do you have kitchen tools that make canning faster and easier. Chopping is my biggest time consumer.
That's funny about the weeds, it reminds me of the cartoon about the weed that try's to kill the flower.. check it out on youtube. FUNNY! Love you guys 💗💗
Question how can you save sour cream long term? Can you freeze it, if you have too much?
Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of Dock. The roots are so deep that they just break and causes the spread of more Dock. I'm at my wits end with this stuff. Thanks for your videos. Great information.
What state do you live in? What kind of chickens do you suggest purchasing for quality large eggs. I like the brown eggs? What can I feed my chickens to supplement grass and bugs without using corn and soy?
Murry McMurray has a great website when purchasing and deciding on chickens.
I give organic feed year round, free choice. I supplement in winter with additional sunflower seeds, meal worms, sprouted lentils and kitchen scraps.
Wow! How many chickens do you have to get 70 eggs a day?
Losing the calf is so sad. But... the stomach of the calf can be harvested and dried to make rennit
What is the best thing after Garden season to plant to keep your soil from growing all those weeds would purple cover Clover work
I never pasteurized my goats milk to make yogurt, and never had bad yogurt. I wonder if it's the cows milk that makes the difference? I mean is there a difference?
And ps fyi I like your hair to the side 😉😉😉😉☺️
Can I add good bacteria back into pasteurized store bought milk, and if I can do that, what is the product I use and where would I get it? Thank you so much!
How do you store your pelleted feeds long term?
I know nothing about cows. What type of milk cow do you have. What breed I guess is the correct term?
We just got off grid property we had a portable building 12 x 36 it is going to be our home we feel overwhelmed do you have any advise
You need to provide more info on your situation and goals.
@@jonberger2057 we hot q acre off grid property in az so far we cleared the land and have a 12 x 36 double lofted shed that we are turning into a tiny home
Can anyone recommend a good book for making bread and with different fuel sources (grid down)? TY
Do kefir
Just so much easier and so many more critters and variety of critters
With that huge amount of grain to store, how do you keep it from fermenting, molding, or otherwise rotting?
What’s up
How many laying hands do you have with that crop of eggs a day
How much grazing land do you advise someone have with one milking cow
Does protein stink in a compost -Death smell?
How many hens do you have?
I never knew you're a family of 13 😊🙀😊
No wonder you're canning so much!
5:26 Y'all missed your tongue in cheek opportunity..."egg-cess" instead of excess!