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plot10homestead

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United States
Newark, DE
plot10homestead

Suburban gardener growing organic fruits,
vegetables and herbs
Micro flower farming
Zone 7a/Delaware

02/14/2024

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️

01/12/2024

My sourdough journey continues! This morning I made 'everything bagel' sourdough discard crackers, and they're absolutely yummy :) Since giving up processed/packaged foods, the foods I crave most during the day are chips and crackers...a little something crunchy and savory to go with a piece of cheese or fruit, different from the few things I've been eating on repeat for months. With this recipe, I think I've found it! I started with the 'everything bagel' seasoning, but the King Arthur Baking recipe I used can be adapted to use any seasoning, herbs, or cheese you prefer. After tasting just a few crackers, I've already decided that the next batch will be parmesan herb 🌱

01/08/2024

The first week of the was filled with celebration, travel prep, and sickness, so I waded in a bit more slowly than expected. Our meals this week have come from the pantry and freezers, with a few planned purchases for one specific meal. I cooked a little less this week, but here's a quick look at our dinners for the first week of the 2024 pantry challenge...
- chicken and dumplings w/peas
- taco bowls/quesadillas w/chicken, ground beef, and rice
- bacon, eggs, hash browns w/sour dough discard bread
- chicken tortilla soup w/sour cream and shredded cheese

01/02/2024

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 🌱

11/20/2023

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!

11/10/2023

Yesterday was spent raking and breaking down leaves before planting garlic. These beds are filled with Music, German Extra Hardy, and Elephant garlic, tucked under a layer of freshly chopped leaves until next summer 🧄 I chose hardneck garlic varieties that will produce scapes for an additional harvest. Elephant garlic is a new variety for me, and I'm excited to see how it grows and experience the flavor.

10/21/2023

What do you do when you need to make room in the freezer? You find the sweet peppers left from last year's garden (that you wish you'd diced quite a bit smaller) and load the freeze dryer trays. I made room for homemade apple cider butter and a batch of apple pie filling that I'll be making in the next few days 🍅 The freeze dried sweet peppers can be broken down smaller and used in recipes or ground into a powder and added to homemade seasoning blends.

10/18/2023

The last harvest of hot peppers just finished a cycle in our freeze dryer. This batch was a mix of cayenne, paprika, and Chinese 5 color peppers that will be used to make hot sauce and dry seasoning blends 🌶

10/14/2023

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!

10/09/2023

The final pepper harvest of 2023 🍂🍁

09/07/2023

Good Morning! 🌻

09/02/2023

Day 31 of the

The challenge is complete, and I made it to the end! The last day of August was spent processing the remnants of tomato canning. The tomato skins filled the trays of our freeze dryer, and they're in the final hours of processing to become a flavorful tomato powder. Tomato powder can be used dry as a seasoning or reconstituted to make a rich, delicious tomato paste.
Next, seven quarts of tomato juice were simmered and reduced to 3 quarts of concentrated tomato broth. The broth will be frozen and freeze dried, to be used as seasoning or reconstituted into a flavorful broth during the winter months.

This challenge has pushed me in ways I never expected. It forced me to think about what I could be doing to move toward our food preservation goals on any given day and inspired me to find value in every effort, no matter how small.

With a month of food preservation behind me and two months of harvest ahead, I've decided to extend the challenge with a slight modification. For the month of September, I'm challenging myself to preserve something at least 4 times a week, no matter how small 🌱 This will continue to build our pantry while giving me time to focus on the fall garden, rebuilding raised beds, and moving the arched trellis. I'm excited to see what September has in store...fall is my favorite time of year! 🍁🍂

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