plot10homestead

This year, I've decided to take part in the Three Rivers Homestead 'pantry challenge' for the month of January. I'll be cooking from our bulk pantry of dry goods, freeze dried, home canned, and store bought food, as well as everything in our refrigerators and freezers. The goal will be to use what we have on hand to create meals and shop only when absolutely necessary. Along with this challenge, I have personal goals to master new food preservation and cooking skills in 2024, and some of those will begin in January. I'll document all the progress here, the successes, and any failures along the way to look back on at the end of the year as I create a new list of goals 🌱

The Halloween decorations were put to good use this year! 🎃 We don't eat a lot of pumpkin, but we have three dogs that dearly love a treat, so I turned the pumpkins we painted this year into puree that will become baked and freeze dried dog treats. I baked two pumpkins (after peeling away the painted areas), and they produced 16 cups of beautiful puree. I made a test batch of peanut butter/pumpkin dog biscuits and froze the rest in 1 and 2 cup portions for future treats. The girls are already enjoying my repurposing efforts!

These cucamelons (Mexican sour gherkin) were planted in the late summer, and when they failed to germinate, I blamed it on the heat. As the temps began to drop, the cucamelon seedlings emerged and began to grow, quickly climbing the trellis. Yesterday, as I was prepping the garlic beds and planting fall seeds, these tiny 'mouse melons' were discovered 🌱 There won't be a large harvest this year, but I'm excited to try something new!

The final pepper harvest of 2023 🍂🍁

Good Morning! 🌻