Sprouting!

The 160 lbs of potatoes we stored in the basement root cellar (ie closet) are sprouting; some just a little, others alot!






Time to use 'em or loose 'em. Sunday I peeled, sliced about 1/4 inch thick with the mandolin slicer (-best $30 I ever spent!) and dehydrated about 3 quart bags full of finished product (plus a large crock of scalloped potatoes for supper later this week). I read many different techniques for avoiding brown dried slices. I noticed that of the 4 potato varieties in our cellar-one was consistently more brown than the others-problem is I don't know which one. I can say for sure the Yukon Golds did NOT brown with this method...




Peel potatoes, place immediately into pot with salt and lemon juice added. Dump dirty water (I didn't wash potatoes prior to peeling), refill with salt and lemon juice. Slice and immediately put slices back into pot, have small helper feel around bottom of pot to find all hidden whole potatoes! Rinse to get rid of lemon juice (no SOUR slices!). Place on dehydrator racks (110 degrees for about 4 hours ??) until crisp.
It didn't take many potatoes to fill up our 4 rack American Harvest dehydrator. I see this being a project which I repeat every few weekends! I also see the need for a solar powered dehydrator to store the much increased garden produce I have planned :)

Homemade Kraut

I have been trying to figure out what to do with these cabbages I brought in from the garden two weeks ago...my family (who are not big veggie eaters) was eaten several batches of cabbage soup, fried cabbage, and boiled dinner. They are on the verge of a cabbage revolt. I have these two heads sitting in my basement cold room. I have been wanting to make sauerkraut but not motivated enough to make the set-up I have seen various places on the web. My Nov/Dec issue of Countryside had a solution. Pack sterilized quart jars with shredded cabbage, add 1tsp vinegar, 1tsp salt and 1tsp sugar and cover with boiling water. Place sterilized lids and rings on jars-DO NOT TIGHTEN RINGS. Place jars in a shallow container to catch the fermentation overflow in a 60-70 degree location for 10 days. After 10 days has elapsed, remove lids, wash and re sterilize. Wipe jar tops, replace lids, hand tighten and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.









I found one medium cabbage filled 5 quart jars. I will let you know how they turn out in a few weeks. Now one more cabbage to go...

Dried Bean Experiment

My gardening experiments continue...
My goal for the garden was to see what kind of foods my family enjoyed eating, grow easily for a novice, and be stored to be eaten over the long winter. This winter we are not depending on this food to survive, but next winter may be different.
These are Black Valentine bush beans. They produced a nice green bean, good flavor but not huge quantities. I left one section unpicked all summer and allowed them to dry on the plant. I took them out of the garden last week, they were beginning to split. I picked individual pods but I can see where pulling the whole plant would work pretty well-especially if you have a lot to do.
From an approx 2foot long row of plants I got 15oz of beans. I'll post again once we have eaten them! I also have a HUGE number of purple pole beans maturing on the vine, waiting to be picked in another week or so!