Tupperware Season-Serve {One Great Tool}

I can hear you out there. "Tupperware, Rachel, really?" you're saying. But hear me out because this one item reduced our household's plastic freezer bag consumption by a huge amount - and is useful for storing other items too.

Alex used to use gallon bags constantly to cure meat - pork bellies for bacon, marinating jerky, and salmon in rub. Often after the meat was cooked, he used another bag to store it in the fridge or freezer. The waste really added up, but even I won't re-use plastic bags that hold raw meat.

Then I went to a party at my friend Patti's house with Dee W. Ieye, the fabulous cross-dressing Tupperware mega-seller. The show was, as advertised, a riot. I'm not really a Tupperware girl but I perked up when Dee mentioned a marinating container.

The Tupperware Season-Serve is two deep plastic pans, each of which is lined with small raised dots that hold meat slightly off the bottom. The pans seal together, forming a container that can be flipped without spilling - exactly what you need to do once a day for most charcuterie.

We've used the Season-Serve for a few months now and it is everything I had hoped - it holds meat juices without spilling, is easy to stack in the fridge, and has saved at least a box of freezer bags so far. If you, like me, find yourself in a Tupperware party hosted by an over-the-top faux-Southern lady, order the Season-Serve. Or skip the show and buy one online.

And Then There Was A Mudroom

When we bought our house, the back porch was this concrete slab with a wooden railing. Here, our home inspector is standing on it.

We didn't initially expect it, but the back door became our main entrance to the house. The door enters into the kitchen, which means that dirty feet and coats had no place to live and I began to dream of a mudroom.

I mentioned this idea to Uncle Leonard, home renovator extraordinaire, about a year ago. He called in July and said "I'm thinking about coming up to work on the mudroom for Alex's birthday." Who was I to refuse help to make a renovation dream come true?

So it was that in the hottest month of the summer, mere days before a Japanese exchange student arrived, that Alex and Leonard put up some walls. "How many windows do you want?" Len wanted to know. "A wall of them?" I answered and the next day they were installed. Sometimes even I am amazed at how our crazy life rolls along.

Our exchange student Yukari arrived in time to see the roof installed, one day before a big birthday gathering for Alex. She took the noise and construction dust in stride and even climbed up to the roof, seen in the picture above at right.

Finally in early August, the mudroom got a door, another window and a third side. It was a real room, the first wood-framed structure Alex had a hand in building. And that's when construction halted. The mudroom was functional so we started filling it with 'stuff' - shoes and boots, coats, seeds, harvested vegetables and more. I dried herbs and peppers on the windows.

The remaining finish work inside will happen....someday... I envision drywall behind the coats and on the roof, an updated light fixture, and bead board below the windows. We'll build or buy shelves for storage along the window wall.

In the meantime, we love having an overhang when we're unlocking the door. Now that it's cooler, we can use the mudroom as semi-cellar storage. The room also creates a valuable air pocket that makes our home more energy efficient.

Thanks, Uncle Len a.k.a. Krash, for jumpstarting the mudroom!

Octogenarian Joyce

Today my family will celebrate my Grandma Joyce's 80th birthday. I've mentioned her before as the originator of the family fascination with gingersnaps, creator of the rhubarb crunch recipe, and a very clever lady.

Grandma Joyce is often in my thoughts as I work through chores. Her farm was where I first collected a chicken egg fresh from the hen as a young girl. I fondly think of her rows of glass jars holding home-dried fruit and egg noodles as I fill my own.

Grandma grew up making everything by hand and, thanks to tight economic circumstances, she never fell prey to the lure of meals in a box. Because she's done it all, she understands the real work involved in growing, harvesting, and preserving real food. She appreciates practical handiwork more than expensive baubles - a trait we most definitely share.

If there's a way to shave time off a chore, Grandma knows it. She doesn't rush through tasks but she never wastes a movement. When she says "why don't you just XYZ", her suggestion always makes more sense than what I was doing.

In another time and place, Grandma might have been an executive or tech guru. As it is, she's the most computer-savvy eighty-year-old I know, the only one of my grandparents who will read and likely comment on this blog post. Grandma instills in her three children, eight grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter that reading and learning are important life-long pursuits.

Grandma loves to travel. She took two obnoxious boys and their little sister on long family car vacations as a young adult. Now, she enables our fifteen-member extended family to travel together, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Happy birthday, Grandma. We love you.

Pumpkin Moonshines {Wordless Wednesday}

Tonight we carved jack o lanterns, also called Pumpkin Moonshines according to a sweet picture book of the same name. Our kitty Moonshine was not impressed.

Happy Halloween!

When Zombies Attack - Practical Disaster Preparations

In one week, ghouls, witches, and zombies will roam the streets. Are you ready? Do you have food for several days and a way too cook? Are you able to collect and/or sanitize water? What will you do if one of those zombies injures you or someone you love?

I can hear you saying that the zombies aren't real. They're just kids dressed up for Halloween. The only preparation needed is a stockpile of candy.

You are right. We don't believe zombies are real either. But we do talk about "when zombies attack." It's our joke code scenario for disaster preparations.

Disasters - wind storms, blizzards, flooding, black outs - are scary and unlike a zombie outbreak, they're real. In our twelve years of being homeowners, we've encountered a hurricane (when we lived in Virginia), two blizzards, and a derecho that wiped out power and access to resources.

Those who are ready for anything are also usually hoarding years' worth of processed food and water that will rarely be consumed - we don't fall in that camp. Rather, we aim for general preparations that will help us survive a big storm but can still be used in our daily lives. Many of our preparations come from our regular habits of cooking from scratch, canning year-round and enjoying camping and backpacking.

Minimalist Preparations

So what does one need to be prepared for when zombies attack, or when there's a long-term power outage or weather problem? We focus on the basic needs first:

Shelter - Our home is a two story concrete block monolith that even the home inspector said "could probably withstand a tornado on the second floor". Beyond that, we have two small, weather tight, tents and sub-zero sleeping bags for everyone which could allow us to sleep outside if necessary.

Food - We grow some of our own food and save seeds to replant without resupply. We practice foraging and keep chickens which could provide several meals if needed. We can fruits and vegetables, keep roots and fruit in the cellar, have at least ten pounds of bulk grain on hand at any given time, and practice charcuterie. Alex hunts. We might not eat perfectly balanced meals, but I'm certain we could feed ourselves for at least a week with what's in the house and we have the skills to create food from what's around us for many more meals.

Water - We keep three different ways to sanitize water: a backpacking pump water filter, iodine tablets, and bleach. We used to rely on rain barrels as a temporary source of water that could be sanitized but we haven't installed any since the move. We know we need to remedy that ASAP.

Heat - Our woodstove and wood piles are a potential source of warmth and cooking if gas or electric service are interrupted. In addition we have several varieties of backpacking stoves, grills, and a propane burner with a reasonable supply of their various fuels.

Clothing - We invest in waterproof breathable rain jackets, wool socks, and walking shoes so that each member of the family can be outside for extended periods of time in all types of weather if necessary.

When Zombies Attack

We aim to be self-sufficient for more complicated disasters too. Here's how:

Medicine - We keep a well-stocked first aid kit including burn, splint, cut, pain, and infection supplies. The first aid kit includes matches and alcohol wipes for sanitation. Alex and I have both taken CPR and First Aid courses. We practice using herbal remedies, including foraged ones, when appropriate.

Communication - Alex went through a ham radio kick a few years ago. Though I still think ham radio is a relic of a bygone era, we do keep the radios if cell communications.

Back-up Systems - After the wind storm of 2012, we vowed to not suffer through another summer power outage without fans and a way to run the chest freezer of meat. We invested in a propane generator that can power essential electric appliances. A more ideal system would involve battery backups and/or solar power but we need to save more before we invest in those.

Flight - We don't know how to fly, but we are prepared with cash and current passports to leave the country if we ever should need to. This isn't just a good practice in the case of disaster but allows us the chance to travel at will for pleasure.

Your Best Defense Against Zombies

The very best defense against zombies, which is also what they would be after if they were real, is BRAINS. All the 'stuff' in the world will not save you if you don't know how to use it. We use the tools we have on hand for disasters in everyday homesteading tasks. We cook by intuition. We start fires, butcher animals, and know where to find wild food.

You can train your brains too. Start by camping outside a few nights without electricity or challenge yourself to make meals with just what you have on hand.  Map out potential resources and how you will access them in the case of a power outage or blocked roadways. Practice a new skill or learn a new wild edible each month.

How do you prepare? I don't want to lose any of you to zombies!

It's Squash Season - Grab a Grapefruit Spoon! {One Great Tool}

Today I'm introducing a new series, One Great Tool. In each post, I'll highlight one hand tool that is indispensable to our daily cooking and gardening activities. We hope that by sharing our favorites with you, we can encourage more efficient and fun homesteading.

The first step to cooking any winter squash or making a jack-o-lantern is to remove the seeds and stringy flesh from the inside. Pulling them out by hand is one way, but it always reminds me of the 'cold bowl of spaghetti masquerading as pig guts' trick. It feels icky and rarely removes all of the seed material.

Instead, we go right for a grapefruit spoon. The row of metal teeth is meant to perfectly separate sour grapefruit segments from thin, bitter membrane. More frequently in our house, the teeth scrape the insides of harvest orange winter squash.

With a few simple scrapes using the spoon, all the gooey bits of the squash separate from the flesh which can then be roasted whole, roasted in chunks for soup or boiled. We save the seeds for roasting or replanting.

We reach our hands, clutching a grapefruit spoon, into the middle of jack-o-lantern pumpkins too. The spoons cleanly remove the bits of membrane that might otherwise catch on fire when you light the candle. I've even used it to remove the seedy middle from halved zucchini and summer squash.

We don't eat grapefruit very often because it isn't grown in Ohio and some people experience a negative interaction with a medicine Alex takes. But we do use our grapefruit spoons for squash frequently, especially in the fall.

Life - And End Of Life - Is Messy

Devie is dying. We all are, of course, but our thirteen-year-old dog is very near to the end of life. She's lost eight pounds in the last six months and she sleeps most of the time. Her kidneys aren't processing food well anymore and she exhibits cognitive dysfunction. All of this adds up to one thing: she makes messes all the time.

Dev finds new food-like items to tear into, like the box of bulk spices she never disturbed before. She no longer signals to go outside, so we clean up puddles inside nearly every day. We started crating her when we're gone and sometimes she messes in there. If doggy nursing homes existed, Devie would be a resident.

Meanwhile, the federal government is shut down. Alex, a federal government worker who was just furloughed this summer, will be paid for an uncomfortably vague 'twenty to sixty days'. Other friends are already furloughed.

If adulthood has taught me anything, it's that people are at least as messy as old dogs. We stick to insignificant points instead of compromising. We are greedy for what should be shared. We make mistakes, like the local school district that left my friend's kids stranded on a bus for three hours. We complicate life into a huge ugly tangle.

In both cases, my aged dog and messed up human systems, I want to hide my head in a hoop house and opt out. I feel powerless in the face of all this mess, yet it surrounds me.

So I will dig my cares away this afternoon. I'll dirty my hands in nature's mess while planting garlic. Chaos in nature, the only kind of nature, is beautiful to me.

I will stare at the birds and warm in the sun and remember there are much more important things in life than a bunch of people arguing in Washington. Important things need my care: growing nourishing food, protecting the wonder of nature, and providing comfort to the aged.

How do you react to overwhelming mess?

Seasonal Snaps {Autumn Equinox 2013}

  This big oak may look like nothing much has changed since the Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, and Summer Solstice snaps, but it did have an exciting moment. During a thunderstorm in July, lightning arched off the ground and struck her trunk, sizzling a family of squirrels and leaving a scar across the bark.

Joseph of Swainway Urban Farm grew six rows of vegetables in the tree's shadow which unfortunately were flooded during the same storm. Their growth remained stunted through the summer and yielded primarily produce for our two families.

Sorghum is the last remnant of a failed squash and grain garden in the front. Squash bugs and weeds decimated the squash plant; we're making do with an alternate harvest of corn.  

Plantings close to the house include Lil's flower garden, the apothecary with plants like the Toothache plant, and several fig trees. The blueberries that flank the walk suffered from lack of water in the spring but hopefully will make it through to next year.

The orchard trees are looking a little bigger than before. Comfrey and brambles are filling out in between the rows. Alex and Lil are sizing up the existing apple tree in this picture.  

Finally, the view where most of the action is - you can see tall sunflowers and rows of vegetables (albeit gone-by plants) that were just barely planted in the summer.  

Inside the hoop house, we're hanging on to a couple tomato plants that are still yielding ripe fruit for fresh eating. Ever-bearing strawberries are remarkably still producing fruit, a couple a day. The rest is planted with fall root and leafy green vegetables.

We will write a wrap-up of the season's successes and failures in the garden and the hoop house soon.

How is your garden looking this first day of fall?