I know it’s strange to be talking about winter in the heat of summer, but now is the time to start thinking about what will be harvested from gardens soon and what produce is available in stores now that is sparse in the winter. When produce goes on a good sale in the summer, I will easily buy a dozen containers of blueberries or strawberries to wash, cut and put in the freezer for future smoothies or baking. My sour cherry trees are so heavy now that one of the main branches broke off one of them, so I’m forced to either pick all the fruit off that tree or let it rot on the ground.
So I’ve now baked five cherry pies (putting two in the freezer, giving one away and eating two fresh) and put a pint of pie filling in the freezer, and there’s still at least one more good harvest left on the trees. Another food I’m starting to keep an eye out for is local meat. In the past, we’ve bought half a beef for the freezer and loved having a huge supply of roasts, steaks and hamburger all winter long, so we are hoping to do that again, as well as find some whole chickens to put in the freezer.
Meat is the main entrée at almost every meal at our house, so I’m sure to never run out or there may be a mutiny. After doing some foraging around the yard, I’m starting to dry some herbs and plants (some might call weeds) for medicinal or culinary use throughout the winter. Even the cat will be thrilled to know that I found some wild catnip to dry for him as well.
My mint in the back landscaping is still running wild, so I’m trying to pull whole plants of it and drying the leaves for tea on cold winter nights. I have done quite a bit of canning in my time, mainly water bath canning as my mother and grandmother taught me, though I’m hoping to brave a pressure canner soon. Jams and jellies get put up once the fruit is harvested, but salsa can really be made whenever we run out.
I try to remember that home-canned food does not have to be home-grown, and that it is still a lot of work to make shelf-stable food from perishables. I don’t do nearly as much canning as I’d like to, but I’m still in my toddler years, so that time will come one day. ADVERTISEMENT As my garden grows, I’ve noticed my potatoes and onions are slowly starting to show me that they’re nearing their harvest date.
There are large wooden trays for cold storage in our crawlspace that I’m sure were used for both storing food and allowing flower bulbs and tubers to lie dormant through the winter. With a second fridge in the basement as well, I’m looking at keeping excess apples and carrots in the back of the fridge at least until the new year. Corn and popcorn are hopefully going to be a new venture for me this year, as I’ve only ever grown enough sweet corn for fresh eating and never popcorn.
We are battling a couple of families of raccoons in our backyard (country living at its finest), but they don’t appear to have found the garden or the chickens on the other end of the yard. I’m an experimental gardener every single year, and I love learning what works and what doesn’t. One of my favorite experiments is to see how late I can plant seeds in the summer and still get a quick harvest in the fall before the snow flies.
This week I planted Brussels sprouts, cabbage and more lettuce and Swiss chard, so here’s hoping for a long, hot autumn like they’re predicting. However you choose to prepare for the seasons ahead, know that your labor is not in vain. Whether it’s canning or freezing food, snatching up a case of your favorite snacks when they’re on sale, or simply taking an extra breath of the warm fresh air this summer, you won’t regret helping your future self.
How do you “squirrel for winter?” Email me at [email protected] and let me know what you do to prepare for the next season.
Andrea Borsvold is a busy homesteading mama of three who loves God, coffee, sewing and the beauty of nature living in northwestern Minnesota..
