2013 Garden and Homestead Review

Fall is here and while there are a few items left in the garden, I decided to tally up our stash for the winter. Keep in mind that what I've listed is what we put up for the winter.  I didn't include all of the
fresh produce we ate throughout the summer (e.g. peas, cauliflower, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, etc.).

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you may remember the post about record keeping and having a preservation log.  This binder is a must-have for me and helped me put together this list in about 5 minutes.  I also posted about the canning shelf last year which makes organizing your canned goods so much easier if you have the space.  Overall Jon and I say we had a very successful year despite the wet conditions that rotted all of our root crops. Thankfully we have carrots left over from the previous year and the third planting may survive into the winter with enough mulch.
If there is one thing I have learned from homesteading it is this: always think ahead and prepare more than you need because you never know what the following year will bring.  You just can't predict the weather, the pests, your health, and everything else. This summer I had an appendectomy and threw out my back and was basically unable to help Jon for 10 weeks this summer.  Thankfully my husband shares the workload, otherwise the garden would have never happened.  With so many unknowns, you can never really have enough excess; and don't forget about all the jars that will be given away to friends and family!  : )

• 85 bulbs garlic (10 bulbs will be used for seed)
• 14 meals of frozen corn (7 full quart bags)
• 10 pie pumpkins for eating (15 for decoration)
• 30 butternut squash
• 58 quarts bush beans
• 31 quarts, 10 pints stewed tomatoes
• 22 pints tomato soup
• 25 half-pints tomato paste
• 35 pints salsa
• 12 half pints green tomato hot dog relish
• 3 quarts tomato juice
• 4 pints, and 7 half-pints strawberry jam
• 1 gallon strawberry wine (5 bottles)
• 1 gallon freezer bag srawberries
• a lot of strawberry soda and mashed strawberries in freezer for ice cream etc.
• 26 quarts peaches
• 15 quart bags frozen peppers (sweet green, beaver dam, poblano)
• 1 gallon peach wine (5 bottles)
• 1 gallon pumpkin wine
• 31 quarts applesauce
• 5 pints apple butter
• 21 quarts apple cider
• 1 gallon apple wine
• 3 gallons hard apple cider
• 3 gallon jars of dried apple slices
• 5 gallon bucket of hulled walnuts, butternuts, and hickory nuts
• 20.25 pounds honey
• Updated 11-30-13   
• 14 pints venison
• 13 pounds ground venison burger
• 2 frozen venison roasts
• 1 batch venison jerky

Golden peaches in jars don't last long!

This summer marked our first honey harvest!

The rains really flooded our seasonal creek and the culvert couldn't keep up with the water so it went over the road.  Neighbors who have lived here 35 years have never seen it flood like this before. 

With the flooding, many skunks were out digging at the ground eating the grubs.  They were up by the beehives but left them alone because there were so many grubs in the ground coming to the surface from all the water.  The flood was dubbed, " The Two Skunk Flood" by Jon's coworkers (kind of an inside joke).

We added 3 barred rock chickens to the coop this year which has been exciting!  They are a bit more skittish around us, but they are beautiful and can be hard to find when they're free-ranging in the woods...

The chicken coop now has 6 chickens.  We're still waiting for 2 of the barred rocks to begin laying.  Last year all of the golden comets were laying before the end of August, and here we are in October and the barred rocks haven't really started.  Not sure what that's all about?

Paul really helps us with the chickens.  He lets them out, puts them away, and helps with feedings and filling the outdoor run with leaves.  If anything, he has socialized them and made them gentle to handle.  Above is a picture of Paul holding our favorite chicken (affectionately named Turkey)...she is the head chicken in the roost who seems to always get more than her fair share of the scratch, crawfish, mice, and assorted grubs we give them as treats.

The green manure is filling out very nicely.  This past weekend we planted the final few rows!  Everything has been put to bed for the year and Jon anxiously waits for the seed catalogs to start arriving!