Simple Sustainability: Food

This post is in reference to a series on sustainability conducted by Rhonda at Down To Earth.

Keeping a well-stocked and organized kitchen is not difficult, in fact, it is important for anyone who wants to be economical. A large portion of frugality is controlled with good kitchen operations. Please read my Frugal Kitchen Tips for more.

Quality food is considered as very important in our household. We eat well-balanced, nutritious foods, and we choose to eat organic foods. We eat both vegetarian meals and meals which include meat.

We do not eat any form of produce grown outside of the US with the exception of a few fruits: bananas, pineapples, and the occasional kiwi or mango. We shop locally and if a local farmers market is selling produce we are not growing, we will purchase locally grown produce. For us, though, the local farmers market is our own garden.

The majority of our vegetables are home-grown, organic foods. We eat fresh in-season produce and we preserve foods for the off-seasons. Having a large garden means that we shop outside from our gardens. I literally walk to the ‘market’ during our growing season, and love having the the ability to pick-n-cook. Garden fresh gets no fresher than that.

Harvest and Preserving Foods

What we do not eat fresh (or give to family), we preserve. We both enjoy canning and we process all of our canned vegetables with the pressure-canner. W always use our pressure-canner outside on a propane burner.

Jams and jellies are processed with the water-bath canner in the kitchen since the process involves boiling the fruits prior to processing.

I dehydrate most of our home-grown herbs and some fruits. We keep the dehydrator on the back porch when it is drying-season (June-Sept). This year, I have dehydrated batches of oregano, basil, lavender, and lemon balm.

I also blanche and freeze much of our excess produce. This year, I’ve frozen Turnip greens, Swiss Chard, Snow Peas, Purple Mizuna. Occasionally, I will double-cook a meal and freeze one so there is always a last-minute dinner that can be baked (freezer-to-oven).

Storage Containers & The Pantries

I store in glass, not plastic. All dried beans, grains, sugar, and other dried ingredients are stored in glass jars. Some of the baking items are in glass jars, some aren’t.

Some flours are stored in glass, others are kept in bags, depending on the flour. I bake a great deal, so there is a fast turnover of flour in my kitchen. The main flours used are: whole wheat, bread flower, all purpose, corn meal, and rye flour. I do not grind my own wheat berries. Not yet, anyway.

We have a large chest freezer and 2 refrigerators. Yes, we have 2 refrigerators because I am a cook. A real cook.

Our home has a large kitchen pantry and an open-shelf pantry in the laundry room for extra canned produce. There are also adequate cupboards in our large kitchen to store additional food items. When we remodeled, we increased the size of our kitchen, doubled our cupboard space, added a pantry, and an island eating area.

To me, a pantry is like a savings account. But much more fun and more colorful! I love my pantry. It’s my own little grocery store. Read my post The Well Stocked Pantry.

About every 6 months, I will inventory some of the staples for possible expiration, or for rotation (eat and replace). The majority of our frozen vegetables are consumed by spring and there is never much leftover. Frozen meats are used within 6-9 months and although I keep no inventory list, the chest freezer is organized and I can quickly see what we have.

Herbs & Spices

When we remodeled, we decided on spice drawers. I have a dozen of those drawers and, while they are beautiful and well-made, they are not as convenient as having open shelves. Consequently, the herbs and spices that I typically use are stored in a side cupboard next to the gas range top.

Livestock

We are now returning to homestead livestock. Our future did involve moving out of state, so we were winding down, not increasing. With the change in the US economy and the threat of a socialist Nation, we have been forced to re-assess and change plans for our secure future.

So we are now adding livestock on a small scale to the property. Chickens, both layers and meat, are being raising. Rabbits are hutched. Goats will be the next animal. And honestly, I can’t wait. Yes, most people consider a homestead to be a great deal of work, but it is honest work, it is joyful, and it is very satisfying.

Garden Food: Compost

Compost helps to reduce kitchen garbage and it feeds the soil. We have 3 compost zones and 1 worm composting zone. One is a large commercial-size compost bin and our kitchen waste goes there, alternating with grass clippings and manure. Another compost area is for garden debris and is roughly 8-foot square. The third compost area is 4-foot square and is our new zone which will contain much of our chicken bedding, along with garden debris and grass clippings. The worm composting zone is self-contained and the worms are fed well — lettuces and other greens, peelings, and other vegetable matter.