Common Sense Home Good News Letter 8/12/23
“August was nearly over — the month of apples and falling stars, the last care-free month for the school children. The days were not hot, but sunny and limpidly clear — the first sign of advancing autumn.” — Viktor Někrasov
I’ve noticed the leaves starting to color, so I’m doing my best to soak up the sun, as I know fall isn’t too far off.
The local orchards have started selling their first early apples, and our home trees are starting to blush. It won’t be long before the late summer/fall fruits are in full production.
Back the days when we had a more agrarian society, school often started later in the year, after the main harvest was in. Now, I’ve noticed friends posting their children’s back to school photos when it seems they barely left school for summer break.
For us, harvest season is finally starting to pick up, which means preserving season will be in full swing soon as well. We use a variety of preserving techniques, as you can create an assortment of tastes and textures from the same crop with different methods.
This adds interest to meals, and can speed up prep times. For instance, pressure canning and freeze drying allow you to prep soups that are ready to heat and eat. (You do need to add water for the freeze dried soup before heating.)
Even if you don’t have a garden, it’s a good time to watch for sales and stock up. Foods like winter squash and shell beans can keep for months at cool room temperature if properly cured. Food prices tend to keep creeping up, so food storage is a good investment.
Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, with blackberry picking, canning tomato soup, and more work on the new outbuilding, so I’d best sign off.
All our best to you and yours,
Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)
This week’s featured articles…
This was my mom’s “go to” cucumber salad recipe – cucumber salad with onions. She always had a container of it in the refrigerator once cucumber season set in.
Have you ever wondered how different types of chickens size up? This article has a table comparing the weights (total and pounds/week) of Cornish Cross (the birds typically raised for meat), Red Rangers, and assorted heritage breed chickens.
What do you do when you want to take advantage of sales (especially deals on food crops coming in during harvest season), but don’t have a ton of room? We share ideas for making room for preparedness storage, plus things to avoid to keep your storage safe and sound.
Don’t forget to get those fall crops going! True Leaf Market has a fall seed assortment with crops that are specifically selected to grow well in cooler fall conditions. They ship fast, so you can get planting soon.
Popular in Instagram – my gear for diving into the blackberry patch and prepping peaches to freeze dry.