Winter Stores

My vegetable beds are getting bare. Summer veggies? So yesterday. Fall veggies? We’re eating something fresh every day, but there will be no new plantings, now that the garlic is in the ground, until the spring. Each year I wonder how long the food I have grown and/or preserved during the year will last into the winter.  I am not striving for complete self-sufficiency, but a dent in the amount of store bought food I have to buy would be great.  

 

To see how much of an impact my preserving and veggie growing will have this year, I have taken an inventory of these items on hand. Obviously, we have been eating fresh food all summer, so these totals are not reflective of the total harvest for the season, but rather what is left going forward.  My plan is to keep a record on a daily basis of the stores used and report them here once a week. 

Inventory

Fresh (harvested)

Turnips (5)

Green Cabbage (1)

Sweet Peppers (4)

Hot Peppers (7)

Cherry Tomatoes  (8oz)

Basil

Potatoes ( 5lb)

Butternut Squash (1/2)

Eggplant (1)

Radish leaves
Peanuts

Fresh (in the ground)

Carrots (whole bed)

Turnips (4)

Cabbage, green and red  (8)

Scallions

Broccoli

Curly Kale

Red Russian Kale

Cauliflower (4)

Brussels Sprouts

Rutabaga (3)
Assorted herbs

Frozen vegetables and fruit

1lb tomatoes (1)

Bag Roasted Tomatoes (5)

Corn on the Cob (8 ears)*

Bag of 5 peeled and cored Apples (6)

1lb Rhubarb* (2)

Quart bag Blueberries * (2)

1lb Strawberries* (2)

4oz Meyer Lemon Curd (3)

1.5 cups Kousa Berry Puree (foraged)

16oz Cranberries (1)*

*Locally grown

Dry

16oz jar Zucchini

24oz jar Tomatoes
Assorted Herbs

Frozen Meals

4oz Pesto (3)

1 Pint Green Tomato Curry Sauce (6)

 Eggplant Parmesan (8 meals)

Quart Tomato Sauce (4)

Lentil Curry (1)

Canned

Jams (unopened)

8oz Strawberry (6)

16oz Blueberry (3)

8oz Rhubarb Cinnamon (8)

16oz Meyer Lemon Marmalade (7)

8oz Meyer Lemon Marmalade (1)

16oz Blackcurrant (4)

8oz Blackcurrant (1)

Other (unopened)

16oz Apple Sauce (17)

16oz Dill Pickles (4)

16oz Corn Relish (3)

Opened
Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Blueberry Jam
Corn Relish
Dill Pickles

Frozen Baked Items

Apple muffins (6)

We ate well this summer and used up a lot of the tomatoes and fresh vegetables. I wish I had thought to weigh the produce as I harvested it….next year.  The results of this exercise will help me plan for next winter, which will in turn help in the planning of next year’s vegetable garden.

What do you think, will I be eating something from my stores every meal until the end of the year?

See you in the garden,

Sue