Today:
5 more 1/2 pints of wild grape jelly – that’s the last of the juice from the grapes growing wild in the backyard. Went to the Wyandotte Farmers market and got some more small potatoes to can (6 pints). 4 more pints of pickles from the last cucumbers from my garden.
Glad I canned the pumpkins I grew (2 quart jars), today I read that pumpkin may be in short supply again this year.
Yesterday I reorganized the pantry AGAIN!
I moved the jams, relishes and pickles to the chiffrobe in the living room because I will need to be able to get to them for gifting and the pantry was just too full to do that easily. In the pantry I have tomatoes, juice, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, green and yellow beans, corn, chicken broth, peaches along with all my other store bought pantry items. I don’t have enough canned for the winter, I will make a trip to the farmers market tomorrow, and maybe to Blocks also. The beans canned good, but the corn tastes no different than store bought canned corn, I prefer frozen. The white potatoes from my garden are very good. So glad I did get my pressure canner.
I made some more soap using the little plastic molds Caitlin got me. I did not grease the molds before putting the soap in them, I hope that wasn’t a mistake.
Have been using the lard/coconut oil soap for cleaning a lot. Coconut is supposed to be a good cleaner but a bit drying for skin. Just rub the soap on a wet washcloth and go. Seems to work real well and doesn’t leave a soap film. I will make some more lard soap soon as I plan on some for Christmas giving.
I have about $400 left in my Food Stamps account. Won’t be getting any more. I don’t know if adding Billy as a family member would be of any benefit. He started his new job but I don’t know what kind of schedule he will have.
Today is fall weather, September 14. Time to get the garden to bed. Still some green tomatoes out there to ripen and some butternut squash. The squash got such a late start, I hope they will ripen before frosts, the stems are still very green. Still have to clean up the shrub mess and finish trimming the driveway shrubs. I told Doyle he could come finish it but I suspect he has forgotten and I will have to do it myself. We will see how my hip is feeling. Getting old is no fun.
I would really like a bread machine, or a working oven.
After doing some research, I determined that the grapes growing on my shrubs were fox grapes (wild grapes), common in the US. They are pretty sour to eat off the vine, but I decided to try and make some jelly with them. I am really glad I did, as the jelly is delicious!
So I have decided that these vines are not useless after all. Late this fall I will trim them back and then give the shrubs a real hard trimming. Then next year when the vines grow across the top of the shrubs I will be able to reach them. As they are now, quite a lot of it is actually hanging down into the neighbors yard like a curtain. Maybe when I see them I will ask if they have grapes over there and if they want them or not. My bet is they don’t really care about them at all and are just to lazy to cut them. I will also give them a jar of jelly!
This vine grows like crazy between my garage and the fence where there is only about 1 foot of space to move around in. The vines grow out and over the large shrubs, and over the garage. There are these tiny grape-like things which look like concord grapes except that they are so small. I tasted one and it seems grapey tasting, kind of bitter, and has one seed inside. Sure would like to know what this is and if it is edible and could be made into jelly?
Last week I decided I really needed to get a pressure canner this year. I tried several stores in the area, no luck. Lots of jars, water bath canners, and supplies, but no pressure canners. I had to go all the way out to the Trenton Walmart and they had ONE which I promptly bought.
The other day Caitlin and I went to Blocks and bought beans, corn and beets. I pickled the beets and canned 12 pints of beans and 6 pints of corn.
Today I dug up about 8 pounds of potatoes from my garden. Then I canned them with my new pressure canner. I only canned 9 pints because that is all that fits into the canner at one time. There is still a large bowlful leftover, but we will eat those fresh.
1 cup olive oil
1 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup lye
1 cup rainwater
This is my backyard vegetable garden so far this year.
From the front
View from the back. This spot is shaded by the garage most of the day.
Part of my second year vegetable garden
I have been growing vegetable gardens in my backyard for several years, each year the gardens get a little bigger. I have installed 3 rain barrels and a few compost piles. I don’t have any alternate energy sources, or farm type animals (chickens or goats). But I like to think I am homesteading to the best of my ability. I canned some of my produce and some from farmers markets, and stored winter squashes and potatoes and carrots in a cold pantry. I make laundry detergent and live simply.
I would like to see more people practicing urban homesteading!
Urban homestead and urban homesteading, terms that should belong to all!
…that someone would think that they could own the terms “urban homestead” and “urban homesteading” ® .
And these someones are not big corporations, but just a family who homesteads in their little Pasadena, CA backyard and have gotten a lot of acknowledgement via their blog, press, and tv. This family was a very big inspiration to me over the last 4 years, but now, I don’t know what to think. Apparently I have to put the ® mark next to urban homestead ® and urban homesteading ® and a remark that those terms belong to the Dervaes Institute who now claim to own the application of urban homesteading ® practices. I could understand them wanting to trademark the name of their blog “Little Homestead In The City”, but to insist that others cannot use the terms urban homestead/homesteading without acknowledging that those terms belong to the Dervaes is pushing it a bit far I think.
