Which, initially, left me feeling pretty bummed.
I thought I had planted enough for the year. But there are just two lonely heads of Garlic left in a teacup. As everyone who does a lot of cooking knows, that won't last long.
I ran out of onions and potatoes a few weeks ago.
Now, of course, I can check and see if they have some local ones at our food co-op and if not I'll buy them from far away and be glad to have them. But in the last two years I've gotten to know my farmers a bit and I would really rather my food money be going directly to these fine folks.
These two lonely heads of garlic have really got me thinking.
I love my kitchen garden and feel I get quite a bit of food out of it. I buy a lot of local foods in the summer but it's only December and my basement pantry isn't as full as I it could be. How does a family afford to buy all of their fruit in the summer and store it over winter? How many bushels of apples should I buy to last a year? How many bushels of onions? I haven't the slightest idea.
I'm thinking 2012 sounds like a good year to find out.
7 comments:
Every time I come here I'm always amazed at all you do, and totally inspired. You're like a modern day Laura Ingalls to me. My immediate thought when I hear this is..how do you buy apples for a year in advance? What do you do with them? Can them? Dry them? I can't figure this out.
ha! yes, i bought two bushels and canned them (into sauce) and dried another, but i am researching into having jay build some kind of cellar for them, so we could store them and eat them 'fresh' through the winter. i've read the late season ones store better. and the kids LOVE eating apples. and if i'm going to be like laura, i've got ALOT to learn about horses (as is they kind of scare me, they are so BIG!)...
i've been thinking about this too. we haven't run out of anything that i put up in quantity from the garden yet, but i know that what we have is not nearly enough to last the winter, let alone through until the next harvest. i think that the key to figuring all this out is to keep detailed records--of what you planted and what you put up and of what you use--but i haven't brought myself around to doing that yet (aside from my garden records). in reality, i doubt that my garden as it is right now could produce enough for us to last all those many months (i could be wrong!), but i still need to figure out just how much we need so that i know just how much to buy from the farmer's market as well.
The carrots Bayliss brought to school the other day were delicious! I think we might plant some this year, are they a special variety?
meredith, i think you are right, keeping track will be key. i'm also thinking of contacting farmers now to let them know how many bushels i will want next harvest season.
b, i'm so glad you liked the carrots. i planted five different types, three heirloom varieties and two from the 15 cent seed closeout bin at rural king. so far they all are wonderful tasting. the flavor just keeps improving the longer they are in the ground too.
mmm hmmm. I'd love to know. I am out of garlic, out of strawberry jam (tragic!), down to just a few jars of apple sauce, and my tomatoes are going faster than I thought they would....
I don't know, Mandy. I really long to buy huge amounts of fruits to process/store but I just never have a big enough amount of money for that kind of special purchase. And well, my small garden is wonderful in the summer and fall but it really doesn't provide for too long beyond that.
I think meredith is right--organization and record keeping are the key.
amy, yes! i know exactly what you mean! throwing down a couple of hundred dollars on a bunch of vegetables in late august seems daunting (and for a family like ours on a very tight grocery budget it also seems a bit impossible). i also keep thinking about meredith's very good idea of keeping a detailed record and have started keeping track of how many pounds and cost per pound for all the vegetables i buy until next summer, hopefully that will make me able to know the expense with be worth it next summer.
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