Reclaiming the Garden

Oh boy, it has taken all week but we have reclaimed our garden.  Those weeds were ferocious!  And so many of them!!!  This morning I put in the last of the seeds.  I really don't know if we will harvest all that I planted.  There is always the possibility of an early winter here in the mountains.  We are so late with planting but we are not the only ones.  Everyone I talked with is in the same predicament.  We will hope for the best and enjoy what we get.  I've already began harvesting a few lettuce leaves, beet tops and three strawberries that weren't quite ripe.  I love going to the garden and harvesting lunch or dinner. 

The marigolds are planted next to the squash to deter insects.  It doesn't hurt that they look pretty as well.  Please ignore the crooked rows, I've never been able to plant or draw a straight line, even with a ruler or string, as the case may be.  At this point, I've given up.  After awhile, when the plants get big enough, only a perfectionist would be able to tell.

We've also planted yarrow off to the side to discourage deer.  In addition, we've planted mint in hollow logs and chives.  Deer do not care for these plants and so far they've not eaten anything even though they rest not ten feet away, on the other side of the electric fence.  They are beautiful and we enjoy seeing them but attempt to discourage them from coming too close.

We are grateful for our little spot here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

What Happened to Our Garden?

It has rained, or snowed, almost every day for over a month here.  Where it didn't rain there was cloud cover.  Our poor garden!  I was careful to only plant what could handle snow so we didn't lose anything but, I couldn't get into the garden to weed.  Finally the sun came out while I was gone for a week and everything went crazy, especially the weeds.





I spent the morning cleaning up just two rows as I'm recovering from food poisoning, picked up on my trip.  It looks a lot better though.

This is the first year for this garden.  Last February it was a jungle of willows and wild roses.  My husband worked so hard to clear all those roots out but there are still quite a few!  But after we cleared the land we found beautiful soil, the result of many years of leaves composting.  We.  have great hopes for the harvest.  Now the challenge is to clear the weeds so I can plant the warm season crops.  Here's hoping for another beautiful day tomorrow.  Just a little every day.

Food Storage Basics

In January our ward, along with other community members, sponsored a Prepardness Fair. We presented the workshop on Food Storage for which I prepared a handout which I'm posting.  It is a good starting place.  I'll cover different aspects in later posts. 

Food Storage Basics

• Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Family - Security
• Store What You Eat  or ( Learn To Eat What You Store)
• Rotate!  First In, First Out
• Inventory It!

1. Store a 3 months supply of everything you use everyday
2. Store a year’s supply of basic items: grains (multiple kinds), milk, sweeteners, salt, oils, legumes, etc
3. USE your food storage daily
4. Include spices, yeast, baking powder and soda

• Freeze Dried Meals vs. Basics

Basics – can be used for multiple purposes including cleaning

• Food Fatigue
• Comfort Foods

• Fresh Food Dilemma:  Sprouts, Garden Seeds
• Eggs: Own, Local, Powdered, Substitutes - unflavored gelatin, flaxseed meal
• Oils

Shortening – Only a 1 year shelf life

Coconut Oil – Indefinite shelf life

Olive Oil / Vegetable Oil

Butter – canned, powdered, frozen

Beans

• Meat

Frozen, Canned, Dried, TVP

• Other Protein Sources

Grain, Legume and Nut Combinations

Cheese – fresh, frozen, waxed, canned

• Milk

Country Cream – great taste, can make yogurt, can be mixed stronger for condensed milk substitute and sweetened for sweetened condensed milk

Morning Moos – a milk drink – great for baking as well as drinking, can be mixed stronger for condensed milk substitute and sweetened for sweetened condensed milk, smoothies etc.,  cannot make yogurt or cheese

Non-Fat Dry Milk – great for making yogurt and cheese as well as adding dry to casseroles for added nutrition or making your own Hamburger Helper Mix or Gravy Mixes, not so great for drinking

Instant Powdered Milk – good for making Hot Chocolate Mixes, Orange Julius, smoothies, more expensive but easier to mix

Storage

• Climate control: temp, moisture, animal/vermin
• Buckets vs. Cans vs. Pouches

Mylar liners

Other Items to Consider

Alternative Cooking Sources

Tortilla Maker – a plate in the hand

Jello to flavor yogurt and for desserts

Pet food

Grain Mill

Dehydrator

Canning Equipment

Alternate cooking methods

Family Friendly Recipes using stored foods

Internet Suppliers

http://augasonfarms.com/

http://www.waltonfeed.com/

http://www.mredepot.com/servlet/StoreFront

http://beprepared.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1293481223

http://honeyvillegrain.com/

http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/

http://www.grandmascountryfoods.com/

Preparation Info

http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/

http://amatterofpreparedness.blogspot.com/

http://kneadfulthingsnow.com/default.aspx

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper

http://www.grandmascountryfoods.com/

http://thesurvivalmom.com/

Prepping in an RV

     How in the world do you prep while living in an RV in the northern Sierra Nevada mountains?  Well, it takes courage and determination.  Also, a conviction that it's right.  And we have all three.

     We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and we follow the advice of our Prophet to live a provident life-style.  We also live full time in our 5th wheel and work as camp hosts for a small RV Park.  It is an adventure and we are enjoying the journey.  We hope you will come on this journey with us.