Do you wonder?

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Permalink Reply by John Walker on September 21, 2009 at 7:16pm

Often...
However I calculated that if I were to buy all the corn, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peppers and garlic I grew this year at the coop or farmers market I would be out $1000. That's not to mention the onions, leeks, bunching onions, radish, lettuce, beets, okra, sweet potatoes, hot peppers, broccoli, kale, fennel, carrots and herbs we grew (value unaccounted for)
I'm still going to hang in there....
pax
John

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Permalink Reply by Marian Worley on September 21, 2009 at 9:12pm

Amen, brother John! But I do believe I have canned my last tomatoes and frozen my last green beans. We will see if I did enough for winter.
Im looking forward to Kale, Chard, Collards, Brussle Sprouts, Snap Peas, - just enough to eat and not enough to put by.

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Permalink Reply by barry revill on October 15, 2009 at 6:16pm

Keep at , John, From Barry Revill, Australia

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Permalink Reply by Michelle W. Flannery on September 22, 2009 at 10:32am

I couldn't keep up with all the produce this summer. I was always outside picking or inside pickling. I spent the summer exhausted, and, like you, Marian, wondering constantly "what have I gotten myself into?" I was looking forward to the fall garden, which would require less hands on work until I realized I would still be in the kitchen processing what I get (making sauerkraut and chow chow, chopping and freezing collards, and blanching everything else for the freezer or drying). Now, I am realizing that the mild winters of the past will not be repeated this year. I am anticipating a harsher winter, wetter and colder. I might not have any success at all with the fall garden. The freezers and pantry shelves are already bulging, so if I don't get to add any fall veggies to storage we won't suffer too badly. We'll just be without those winter goodies that we love (cabbage, broccoli, collards) unless I can afford to pay for them in the store. If we do have a poor fall crop, at least it means I won't be spending as much time in the kitchen!

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Permalink Reply by Marian Worley on September 22, 2009 at 4:27pm

I am going to try to consume most of my small fall garden, enjoying it as long as it lasts, then tap into reserves. I will do a few pear preserves, because they are my favorite, a little more pesto, and some applesauce, then stick a fork in me, I am DONE preserving for this year!

But is has been a good run!

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Permalink Reply by Carol on September 22, 2009 at 1:29pm

Oh yes! Happens every year when my back is aching, my mind is numbed, the kitchen is a mess of empty jars, and lids, and baskets of produce, and jars already filled, and... And then I look at the garden and I see bushels more still waiting. And then comes that day when it is freezing outside, when I have a nice fire in my woodstove, and I go look at my pantry shelves, and I know that it was all worth it.

And then there is John's point. Not only have I saved a bunch of money, but I know absolutely the quality of my food, including the preservation methods.

I also relish knowing that I have tapped into something shared with thousands of humans everywhere as they prepared food for lean times and it feels really, really good.

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Permalink Reply by Marian Worley on September 22, 2009 at 4:25pm

I am renewed!!!!!!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Maggie on September 22, 2009 at 6:07pm

Well it really is a bit overwhelming when you come in from the garden with small mountains of food you want to preserve or cook or pickle or freeze.
Traditionally family members all helped with harvesting and preserving because if they didn't there would be no food for winter days while snow covered the ground.
Recently we dug up a whole lot of horseradish, after I had moaned a lot I got the food processor set up outside ground it all up, added a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, a little apple cider vinegar, bottled it and into the fridge.
I should not have moaned, it is so delicious, stronger than any other horseradish I have tasted.
Well worth the small amount of time it took.
We are eating, with rice crackers, all the beautiful chutneys I made last summer when we have guests, they have matured and are delicious.

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Permalink Reply by Martha Hill on September 24, 2009 at 1:04pm

That is a question that swirls around in any gardener`s brain !! But even though Texas has mild winters, there are times I just would not want to have to go to town !! And barring our love for milk and eggs ( we do not have a cow or chickens) I don`t have to !!! I can go to the pantry and freezer and cook a meal that would suit anyone !! And just think of the money saved and the quality of the food !! We don`t have to worry if our veggies have been infected with salmonella or worse !! And in my opinion, canning, preserving and cooking is an art form !! Just look at your next meal from your garden and see if you don`t agree !!!

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Permalink Reply by N & K Grant on September 25, 2009 at 11:09am

I'm there right with you! By the end of every fall I am exhausted (and a bit crabby) but sure do love eating the food all winter. And by spring I am anxious to start all over again!

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Permalink Reply by Maxine Walker on September 25, 2009 at 12:10pm

Being retired, gardening and preserving is a blessing to me- I laughingly say it "keeps me off the streets" I have over a hundred houseplants that keep my green thumb busy in the winter but even then couldn't resist setting up my HID lamp indoors for basil seedlings I started. Any hobby or interest one is passionate about keeps that life force energized and at 80 years old I'm always looking forward to the January catalogs and the next Spring!

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Permalink Reply by Johanna Greenberg on September 29, 2009 at 3:18pm

This is a good question, and especially timely for me because at the high point of the harvesting frenzy this year, I had a baby. So with this little guy now priority #1, I've really been forced to as myself if it is worth it, and no matter how tired I am, I'd still say absolutely yes. The thought that some of the carrots and squash that I grew this summer will be some of my son's first foods this winter is an even greater motivator. And I don't know if he's already used to the garden since I spent a lot of time there while pregnant, but even during his fussiest times, I can wrap him up in a baby carrier and take him out among the garden boxes and walk around it he calms right down.
I think that for me, being a city dweller, a garden space forces me to change my focus "back to basics" throughout the year and that is a really important thing to have in my life. Also, I agree with what others have posted about the satisfaction of a full pantry in the middle of winter.
Thanks for posting such a thoughtful question Marian.

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