"That's the way Great-grandmother did it. She looked in the larder, the cellar and then took a walk through the garden to see what she had. And then she made menus for the next couple days."
The more productive our land is, the less we need to purchase. Or, the more creative we are with what little we have, the same applies. Those words by Carla Emory have been a huge source of inspiration to me this year. I would love to use what we have to the maximum potential by creating my meals from our harvest rather than a grocery store list. Despite the garden produce, eggs and meat/dairy animals we are raising, we have tried to be innovative with other items. Here are some examples of what we did with the fruit producing plants on our farm...
~ Carla Emory, The Encyclopedia of Country Living
The more productive our land is, the less we need to purchase. Or, the more creative we are with what little we have, the same applies. Those words by Carla Emory have been a huge source of inspiration to me this year. I would love to use what we have to the maximum potential by creating my meals from our harvest rather than a grocery store list. Despite the garden produce, eggs and meat/dairy animals we are raising, we have tried to be innovative with other items. Here are some examples of what we did with the fruit producing plants on our farm...
Grapes
Our grapes have seeds in them so they are not our first snack choice. The solution we found is to squeeze them using an old-fashioned orange juicer. We use the juice in reduced-sugar canning recipes where grape juice is substituted as a natural sweetener. We have also mixed this with seltzer water and ice for a sweet and refreshing summer drink (this is a treat since we don't purchase "drinks"). If you have seedless grapes, they are excellent when frozen as an icy snack. Next year I think I am going to try my hand at grape jelly. What other ideas do you have to utilize grapes? I would love to hear them!
Our grapes have seeds in them so they are not our first snack choice. The solution we found is to squeeze them using an old-fashioned orange juicer. We use the juice in reduced-sugar canning recipes where grape juice is substituted as a natural sweetener. We have also mixed this with seltzer water and ice for a sweet and refreshing summer drink (this is a treat since we don't purchase "drinks"). If you have seedless grapes, they are excellent when frozen as an icy snack. Next year I think I am going to try my hand at grape jelly. What other ideas do you have to utilize grapes? I would love to hear them!
Pomegranates
We do love to eat the pomegranate seeds but had much more than we could keep up with (three trees). What we do with our excess is juice them. You can simply drink the juice (which is way healthy!) or add sparkling water for a summer style, italian "soda". We also froze some juice in ice-cube trays and added them into our smoothies. Delicious! Any other suggestions?
Figs
My husband likes to eat the figs as a fig. To be honest, they freak me out (I think it is the texture) so I turned them into jam. I think this jam would be a nice filling for jam bar recipes or making your own fruit and grain bars. Any other inspiration for the fig?
Conclusion
There are many opportunities if you really investigate your little piece of earth. It can be anything, small or large to produce something usable. For instance, I have shared how to make lavender infused cleaning products using your lavender flowers. The more we glean from our land (city dwellers too!), the less we need to rely on those price increases at the grocery stores.
What creative ideas do you have in this same line…
to use what you have on your land
and increase your larder (pantry) supplies?
"Duchess went into her larder and took the pie off a shelf and looked at it."
~ The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan by Beatrix Potter
"He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread…"
~ Proverbs 12:11a
~ Proverbs 12:11a
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