A few of my readers mentioned that a planning sheet for low-acid foods to go with last week’s Canning Planning Sheet would be pretty useful. Ask and ye shall receive, Gentle Readers! You’ll find this on the downloadables page paired up as a two-page PDF with the (Water Bath) Canning Planning Sheet, so if you want both you…
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More Organized Food Preservation: A Canning Planning Sheet
I’m a bit late to the game this year in terms of laying out my canning goals. But, with the majority of the summer harvest still to come on in this area, it’s not too late to make a game plan. For a canning overview, I like to list out my canning projects by type (jam,…
The Urban Homesteader Food Pyramid
I’ve been thinking about self-sufficiency: what that means, and what is truly achievable in a small space, such as our 1/3-acre property. The key to eating more food from your own backyard, it strikes me, is to have a diet that focuses more on foods that can be grown in your backyard. Even though we…
When She Got There, The Cupboards Were Bare: Assessing Your Larder
How’s your larder looking? Mine is pretty spartan. This is a great time of year to assess your larder and see what you’ve eaten tons of and what hasn’t been a hit. If you make some notes now about what your family really eats, before the furor of canning season comes upon us, there’s a good chance…
Best Northwest Edible Posts of 2011, Part One
It’s been almost a year since I started this blog, and as the year rolls to a close, I’ve been looking back over what worked, what didn’t and what resonated with you, NW Edible’s readers. It turns out that mostly what resonates with you are posts with swearing. I infer from this that we’re all…
Backyard Eggs vs. Store Bought Eggs: A Side-by-Side Comparison
I did some entertaining last weekend which necessitated purchasing two dozen eggs. I had a few eggs left over, which allowed me to perform a side-by-side comparison of good quality store bought eggs with my backyard hen’s eggs. Left: store bought eggs. Right: backyard eggs. The backyard eggs come in various other shades as well. The store…
Morning Chores On The Modern Homestead
I’m not what you’d call a morning person. Years of culinary training hardened my own bio-rhythms into a preference for about a 1 am bedtime and a 10 am wake-up. Life, school, work, chickens and kids laugh at my own sleep preferences. And so, every morning, I get up, brush my teeth, pull my hair…
What’s In A Name? The Beyond Organic Backyard Egg Question
My mom was over and asked, “Are your eggs organic?” “Oh yeah, of course!” I said, “We use organic feed.” But I’ve been thinking about it, and here’s the thing: I’m not sure our eggs are organic. Not really, not technically. I mean, our chickens have a good life. Compared to battery-caged birds they are…
Is DIY Kitchencraft Really Worth It?
Sometimes when you are up to your eyeballs in berry juice and the whir of the food dehydrator has been going on so long you are hearing noises that aren’t really there, you gotta wonder – is it worth it? Is it really worth it to, say, make your own jam when you could just…
Chicken Crack: Homestead Upcycling
I am not the first to observe that livestock are an excellent way to convert waste scraps into food. But seeing your chickens go to town on a big bowl of, essentially, garbage, really hammers home the adage that one man’s trash is another’s treasure. This past weekend, like many, Homebrew Husband spent five leisurely hours…