Rambling Organization

There are thousands of things keeping us busy these last few weeks.  First, and most importantly, was the purchase of our new old farmhouse.  Now making it livable will keep us busy for months to come.  Yay!

It's finally stopped raining enough for the ground to dry up.  Bright sunny days mean lots of catch-up work outside.  There's laundry to be hung (waiting so patiently in piles and piles and piles upstairs), potting soil to be made and tomatoes to be up potted, porches to be cleaned off, garden work, seed planting, grass mowing, ...  It's easy to get overwhelmed to the point where you are just standing in the kitchen with your hands on your head, shaking.

But, I've made a list.  It's miles long, but it's a list.  Each day I put the things I think can be accomplished in between the regular schoolwork, meal making, and housekeeping.  Today, I'm making soil, soil blocks, and up potting the tomatoes.  They are pretty much screaming to get out of their little 1/2 inch blocks.  Ok, ok, ... they've been screaming for about 2 weeks now.  Tonight we will have some friends over for a music night - fondly referred to as Guitar Night here. 

Tomorrow - garden work.  It will be so very nice when we can move into our new home and have the garden right there with us!  As it is now, I have to pack us all up for the day and head over to our garden. 

Slowly, we are getting our spring selves into gear.  Soaking up the sunshine and wonderful air.  Shedding the winter blues.  Wiping away the winter grime.  Planting seeds of all sorts.

Trying to Stay Organized

There are a lot of things happening here - out of the ordinary things, and ordinary things.  I have been trying to keep myself both motivated and organized. The weather has been nice spring weather (except for the horrible wind we had all day yesterday).  With weather like that, it's easier to be motivated.

Easter is coming up.  I still have to make a pair of pants for Boy (been on my list for quite some time now), and a dress for Munch.  There are some little things I'd like to finish up before Sunday as well.

It is the time for gardening.  Seedlings have been started.  Spinach and onions are growing in the garden.  Lettuce, greens, and more onions need to be sown outdoors.  Annual flowers need to be sown indoors.  I still have 4 pepper plants to up pot.  Yeah, only 4!  Why did I not do those when I did the other 40?  I don't have any idea.

The chives are growing strong now.  Thankfully.  I've been out of storage onions for over 2 weeks now.  Yikes!

I will have to do a good job sticking to my list this week.  I tend to let other things interfere with my list.  Usually.  Not always.  If I have a major focus, I am majorly focused. It's going to be a good week for inside things - chilly and rainy.

Boy's pants (for sure)
Munch's dress
little crocheted bird
2 little zippered money pouches
start the annual flowers and herbs


That should prepare us for next Sunday.  Fingers crossed, and off to clean off my sewing table!

Happy Monday to you all.

The List Keeps Getting Longer and Longer

But, somehow, with the weather starting to actually be springy, I don't mind as much.  Last week, I did not do so well with my list.  We had many visitors and many outings that pushed the list right out of my mind.  Who wouldn't much rather hang around with people that make you happy than clean out the cupboards?!?!  So, some things got half done, and some things fell off the list all together.  Not a big deal.  We'll just put them on the list again...

This Week:
up pot peppers
start tomatoes
finish cleaning out the pantry (got half way done with this one!)
sew Boy's pants
start lettuce
finish raking the front yard (no, I didn't do that in the fall...)

That's probably enough to add to my regular days.  It's going to be a rainy week this week.  Ahhhh, April.

Enjoy your day!

Garden Therapy

On Sunday, we worked in the garden for the first time this year.  I love the smell of fresh spring dirt.  Just one whiff of it, and aaaahhhhhhh...  That's where I want to be.  It's a wonderful tonic for the soul.  We planted peas and spinach.  Sweetpea and Boy both got in the action.  Munch has decided she no longer wants to garden.  Bummer. 

Today, there is a nice drizzle floating down feeding the seeds until they become so swollen they burst open with life. 

Since it's raining, we are getting some much needed housework accomplished.  I have designs on a spring dress for Munch, and a pair of pants for Boy.  I need to look for a pants pattern.  I've only ever made pj pants.  Boy, being 7, is beyond the elastic waistband style pants.

In an effort to remain organized through this crazy season, I've decided to try to do a weekly list of things that I'd like to get done.  I would like to be aggressive in my planning, but realistic.  (Think that's possible?)  So, here's the list for this week...

start tomato seeds
start lettuce seeds
find a pattern for Boy's pants
clean out the pantry
spring clean the kitchen

Ok.  There it is.  Just a list of some projects to be included in my normal day to day schedule.  If I can get those done, I will be happy.  But, I won't hold my breath.  :o)

Happy Monday.

Real Food Challenge Update

Technically, the Real Food Challenge is drawing to a close.  There are only a few days left.  Hopefully, though, the spirit of the challenge will be carried with you as you incorporate healthier food choices into your lives. 

Our challenge has gone rather well.  In this month we have moved from prepackaged cracker and granola bar snacks to fruit, nuts, and popcorn snacks.  Breakfasts, which have always consisted of mainly real foods, but heavily (at times) supplemented with prepackaged cereal, have moved toward real foods consistently.  All this moves us one step further on the path of reducing our waste even more than we have already done. 

It's been an otherwise crazy month here.  I know, when is it not?  But this month, there have been so many heavy decisions going on, injuries, visiting family, ...  I'm looking forward to a time where I can breath an easy sigh of relief (and start exercising again).  Don't get me wrong, the changes we are working on right now are very good changes.  Stressful ones, nevertheless.  Eating simple, real foods will greatly help out in the year to come.

There are a few things I would still like to learn how to make from scratch...
Refried beans - a big staple here!  I have the beans and am ready to go.  I just have to get into a rhythm with it.
Crackers - we really like crackers.  I just don't like rolling things out with a rolling pin, so I've been putting this one off.
Granola or cereal bars - for a quick, healthy, on the go snack.  I'm going to have to try these.  They look like just what I'm looking for!

It's sunny and 28 degrees here.  At least it's sunny.  I've been so thankful for the sun lately!

Hope you all have a swell Monday.

Spurts

I go through spurts.  Spurts of creativity.  Spurts of productiveness.  Some of them are forced upon me - like when the tomatoes are rotting and I need to be canning sauce and salsa, or when the house needs cleaned because we are having a party.  But some of them totally come from within.  For the last month I have been on a negative spurt - or whatever is the opposite of a spurt.  Our last year was full of non-stop spurts.  We had a super long growing season (sooooo not complaining), that moved right into preparing for Munch to turn 11, which left little time to recover before the holidays (and finishing up all the canning and preserving).  After Christmas was over, I sorta went on a mental crash.  I didn't want to make any list of things to do.  I didn't want to follow any that might have been laying around.  I just wanted to curl up and stare at the wall.

Last night, I could feel a spurt coming on.  Like I said before, I plan to work with what I have this year as much as possible.  So far, I have been doing fairly well with that (although someday I'm going to break down and buy some pencils so we can stop spending 30 minutes in search of one before each time Boy sits down to practice his math!!!!).  I've been using our stored foods for meals, hoping that I'll have the brilliance to actually remember, or write down, the things that we ran out of just too quickly for next year.  (I'm not such a good record keeper.)  And last night, I got the sewing bug in me again.  I was given a bag full of scraps that are much more than just scraps.  I'm hoping to make a dress for Sweetpea, a skirt for Munch, and a pair of pants for Boy.  Oh, and Boy's bday is coming up at the end of the month, and his gift this year is a patchwork quilt made out of old jeans.  I made one for Munch when she was 3.  Since Boy is turning 7, he is way overdue.  And with Sweetpea already a seasoned 3 year old, I thought I'd better get moving.

I have no hopes that the quilt will actually be done before his birthday.  But a good start is in the plan.  As far as the clothing goes, I would love for it to be done before the OEFFA conference, which is the weekend of February 19.  That is probably doable.

So, today...  I'm going to make some red pepper cream sauce using our own roasted, pureed, and frozen red peppers.  And I'm going to design and hopefully cut out Munch's skirt (more on that as I get things done.)  Hang on, I'll take a pic of the material.....  (hold music playing softly in the background)


Ok.  Here it is:

The flowered material is a denim.  Cute as can be and sooooo very Munch's style.  The orange looks to be a linen.  I'm not very good at knowing what materials are what just by look and feel, so don't quote me on any of that.  heehee.  The design floating around in my head is a knee length paneled skirt with triangular pieces of orange in between the bottom parts of the panels.  I'm sure there is some technical name for a skirt like that, but I have no clue what it is.  Keeping my fingers crossed that I have enough material, and that I can figure out how to make it.

Here's to spurts!

Ordering Seeds and Moving More Toward Local

I recently placed my seed order for this year.  Early for me - mid-January.  But, still not early enough.  My favorite corn - luscious - is unavailable from Fedco Seeds and on back order from Johnny's.  Seems like I'm always missing something.  Oh well.

As some of you know, we grow a lot of our own food.  What we don't grow ourselves, we get from a local organic farm.  Veggies - that is.  So far, we have been successful at growing our own or buying locally and in season most of our veggies.  I can, freeze, or store them depending on the type of veggie.  What veggies have we done this with?
corn
green beans (and yellow and purple)
broccoli
cauliflower
sweet peppers
hot peppers
tomatoes and their lovely products (minus ketchup and paste)
zucchini
onions
garlic
winter squash (mainly butternut)
snow peas
swiss chard, kale, and spinach
beets

But there are a few others I would really like to do better with - carrots and lettuce primarily, with a fair smattering of shell peas and celery, and a pinch of turnips and rutabagas thrown in for good measure.  My seed order reflected this.  I ordered lots of different types of carrots.  Mostly, I splurged on pelleted seeds for the ease of thinning and weeding.  I am a terribly lazy and scattered gardener.  Thinning carrot patches is WAY at the bottom of my list.  Boy is very into growing carrots.  I'm hoping to recruit his help for watering and weeding.  He had a large pot devoted to growing carrots last year.  He literally would sit on the bench and watch them sprout.  And, if you know anything about the way carrots grow, this is a long process.  I'm still amazed that he had the ability to sit still for that long.  Well, I suppose he did have a pretty cool bench to sit on...

I digress.

Carrots.  I'm going to grow lots of carrots this year.  And, I really need to figure something out as far as lettuce and winter goes.  We grow plenty of lettuce during the gardening season.  But winter is a different story.  A greenhouse would be wonderful, but not in the plans quite yet.  We are working on a big picture plan (fingers crossed please) that will make many of our dreams come true (twinkling, flashing stars are dancing about the room right now with fireworks being shot off in the distance).  For the time being, though, I need a lettuce plan.  We eat a lot of lettuce...

Fruits, dairy, beans/protein, and grains all have their local and organic stories as well.  We do fairly well with fruits.  Some of which we have to travel a bit for (30 minutes mainly), but we are ok with that for now.  Dairy - we don't eat a whole lot of dairy.  What we do eat comes from Ohio or PA dairies (it's nice to live right on the border).  We buy eggs produced organically from a local farmer.  Most, but not all, of our grains come from local sources as well.  The dry bean issue will have to wait it's turn.

Lettuce...  any ideas?

With What I Have

My goal this year is to work with what I have.  I have plenty of yarn, fabric, and food stored up here to last through a long while of inspired projects.  (Yes, I lump my love of cooking with my love of sewing and crochet.  After all, cooking is an art too!)  So, we'll see how far this gets me. 

Today, I'm making black bean chili.  A Big Huge Pot of black bean chili.  I really don't have a recipe for this.  I soaked 3 cups of dried black beans last night.  I'll put them on the stove to cook as soon as I'm done finishing this post.  After a couple hours, I'll toss in some...

diced onions (stored for the winter from our garden)
garlic (also stored for the winter from our garden)
a couple quarts of tomato puree (yep, canned from our garden)
some frozen diced peppers (also from our garden)
about 1/2 cup brown rice (not from anywhere near our garden)
some spices including cumin, chili powder, salt
dried parsley (from our garden)

and I'll let this cook all afternoon until dinner.  To go with it, I'll whip up a batch of corn bread in my cast iron skillet.  I usually use the Betty Crocker recipe for this, using soy milk instead of cow's milk.

I'm fighting through a cold right now.  Not sure how productive I'll be on any other fronts.  If I am up for it, I may work on the rest of my pillows for the living room.  You can see the beginnings of my efforts here and here.  When I don't feel like moving, I'll break out the scarf I'm working on for Nick.  It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but it's just a wee bit late.  I'm nearing the halfway point though!  I'll post about that when it's done.

Hope you all have a lovely day today.  It's snowing big, huge, beautiful flakes here in NE Ohio right now.  It's a perfect day for warm things.  I'm off to start my chili.

In the Midst of Final Preparations

Here at our house, we are scrambling to finish the last of the Christmas preparations.   Nick has been home all week.  We've been enjoying our time together.

Baking...

Making gifts for one another.

Here are 2 of Sweetpea's ornament creations that I'm sure are to become favorites of their recipient.

And crocheting...  I finally finished the scarf and hat set for Munch.  Well, it's really not a set.  Munch loves accessories.  I made her a scarf for her birthday as well.  All have some shade of orange in them (her favorite color) so they can be mixed and matched at will.  None of them "go" together.  But, that totally suits her style.

Here's the scarf.  I followed the Icarus Scarf pattern on the Purl Bee website.  Loosely followed, really.  I wanted to make the whole thing, just as is, from start to finish.  But it was a last minute plan of mine (I have those often).  And I had this corn fiber yarn from Kollage Yarns that I wanted to try in a similar color scheme.  So I went with it.  Munch is only 11, so I shortened the scarf to 250 chains.  And then I ran out of yarn (that's what tends to happen with my last minute plans), so I couldn't finish all the rows.  Since it was a smaller scarf, I then decided to shorten the fringe from 6 inches to 4.

The corn yarn is really soft and has a nice sheen to it.  It's made in the USA.  From corn.  Which always fascinates me.  It's called Corntastic by Kollage Yarns.

Her hat is the Lacy Scallop Hat found on the Ravelry site.

I used this really great cotton/rayon blend yarn called Cotton Blossom Yarn by Dixie (also made in the USA) in tangerine.  I absolutely love how you can see the shiny rayon fibers crinkled in with the cotton fibers.  It was easy to stitch with.  The hat looks better in person.  Someday, I may even take a better pic of it on Munch and post it. 

Nick has been wanting to get some molds to start a gingerbread house making tradition with our kids.  In the meantime, I picked up a kit for them to start on.  They had fun putting that together last night.

We still have a lot of things to do - ice cookies, bake a few more, make a gift for my parents, finish putting together the rest of Sweetpea's ornament creations, make food for gatherings, clean...  I'm working very hard at staying sane.  Right now, i'm taking a little break.  Everything will wait for me while I recharge my batteries a bit...

Some Homemade Gift Ideas

Every year, for 11 years now, I have gotten together with 2 of my sisters to make birthday calendars for our family.  We come from a large family - 7 children (I know "seven children!  seven!!"  Sounds like the Sound of Music).  There are now 11 kids in the next generation.  We have organized this to keep track everyone's birthdays.  Each year, we pick a new theme for the calendar.  One year we featured each grandkid and their favorite things (I'm really not trying to make this sound more and more Sound of Music-ish.  Really).  Another year, we highlighted each of our favorite movies.  Sometimes they involve a lot of work - like the year we did pictures out of the grandkids hand, foot, and fingerprints.  And some years it's less work - like our 10th anniversary calendar where we simply highlighted our previous calendars.

I've been pushing hard to get all the homemade gifts done by the end of this weekend.  I would really like to enjoy the week leading up to Christmas.  Relaxing, ya know.

So, I finished up the last car organizer.

They are quite fun to make, and really don't take all that much time.  And they are so handy in the car.

I finally finished up a pair of pj pants for each of my kids.  They will have to wait until after Christmas to get their tops.  I had a brain malfunction while buying cotton flannel, and didn't buy enough.  When I went back, there was none left.  So, now I'll have to be creative...

Tonight, I'm going to try to finish up Munch's scarf while me and Boy watch Cars.

All in all, I think things are coming along fairly well. 

How are your holiday preparations coming along?

Car Organizer Tutorial

Today, I'm posting my first sewing tutorial!!  I'm rather excited that this finally came together.  I've been wanting to find the time since June!  I had 2 to make for my Christmas giving.  Seemed like the perfect opportunity to put it together.  Anyway, let's get straight to it...

This is a basic over the seat car organizer.  There's plenty of room and plenty of pockets to keep all your kid's stuff off the floor and organized within their reach.

Car Organizer
Finished dimensions = approximately 21"x17"
Top pocket is approximately 6 1/2" deep
Bottom pocket is approximately 9" deep

What you need to purchase:
3/4 yd main fabric (I used cotton quilter's fabric)
fat quarter coordinating fabric for pockets (again, cotton quilter's fabric)
1/2 yd 1 inch webbing
1 yd 1 inch elastic
batting

Cutting your materials:

- Out of your main fabric, cut 2 pieces 22"x18".
- Cut your batting to be just a hair larger than 22"x18".  Sometimes batting shifts in ways you can't imagine.  Cutting it slightly larger helps eliminate frustration - which is always helpful!
- For the top pocket, cut your coordinating fabric 7.5"x17.5".
- For the bottom pocket, cut another piece of your coordinating fabric 10"x17.5".
- Cut the 1 inch wide webbing to 18".
- Finally, cut your 1 inch wide elastic to 33".  (You can measure around your car seat to ensure that this will be enough.)

Sewing your car organizer:

Step 1:   Lay your main pieces of fabric so that they are right sides together.  Then lay the whole thing over your batting.

Pin the 2 long sides almost to the bottom, and pin in the middle to make the whole thing more stable. 

Step 2:  Pull back the very bottom of the top layer of your sandwich (the part that will be your bottom hem).  Place the elastic 1 1/2" from the bottom of the fabric like so:

Make sure you put the raw edge of your elastic out (that part gets tucked into your seam).  I left about 1 inch outside the raw edge of my material.  Pin well.  Do the same for the other side.

Now you should have your elastic pinned to either side of your organizer, and a bunch of it dangling around the middle.  Pin this to your fabric so that you don't accidentally sew through it in the wrong place.

Position your top layer back where it goes (over the elastic) and pin in place around the rest of the sides and the bottom.

Step 3:  Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew down 1 side, across the bottom, and up the other side, leaving the top open.

Unpin and trim the batting, but not the elastic.

Step 4:  Fold back the elastic over the fabric and sew over the elastic just to the outside of your existing seam.  This will reinforce the seam.  Like this:

Step 5:  Trim corners, turn right side out, and press.

Now, you should have something that looks like this: 

Step 6:  Fold the top seam into itself 1/2".  Press.

Insert about 1" of the webbing into the top seam space 4" from either side.  Pin well.

Starting at the top left corner, topstitch all the way around the organizer using 1/4" seam allowance.  Go back over the webbing once to reinforce.

Unpin elastic so it will be out of your way when you attach the pockets.  Pockets are next, then you're done!

Step 7:  Prepare each pocket.  Fold in 1/2" on each side.  Press.  Fold in the bottom corners like this:

Fold the bottom up 1/2".  Press.  This makes a neat corner.

Create a 1/4" rolled hem for the top of the pocket.  Stitch the top hem.  Do this for both pockets.

Step 8:  Position your pockets onto the organizer.  The bottom of the bottom pocket should line up with the bottom seam of your organizer.  Pin the pocket in place.

Position the top pocket 3" down from the top of the car organizer.  Pin in place.

Step 9:  Now you can mark where you want the divisions to be for individual pockets within each large pocket.  You can pretty much do whatever you want here.  Here are the sizes that work well for us:

Top pocket:  Mark for a seam at 5" from the left, again at 10" from the left, and once more at 12" from the left.  This gives you 4 pockets approximately sized at 5", 5", 2", and 5".  Perfect for small notebooks, colored pencils, pens, etc.

Bottom pocket:  Mark for a seam at 6 1/2" from the left.  This gives you 2 pockets approximately sized at 6" and 11".  The bigger pocket holds a standard sized coloring book nicely.

Step 10:  Sew your pocket divisions.  Be sure to back tack at the top and bottom.

Guess what!!!  You're all done!

To hang it in your car, it helps to remove the headrest first.  Position the elastic over the seat, and wriggle it down all the way to the bottom.  Put the headrest back making sure the webbing is around the spokes. 

Fill it with stuff to occupy your kid for hours in the car.  You can modify this design to include different pocket sizes if you have smaller things you want to have room for like MP3 players and whatnot.

Working Hard

Here at my house, we are in the throes of Christmas preparations.  Although it always seems to be a crazy time of year, we are trying our hardest to enjoy ourselves while we prepare.  Sometimes wanting to celebrate Christmas in a more simple way makes for other stresses that end up making it feel NOT simple.  Really, it's a trade off - one stressor we can't stand for another we are comfortable with.  Doing this make the stress seem less like stress.  Actually enjoyable.  For instance, I really don't like to shop.  But I do like to sew and shop at fabric and craft stores.  So, this year, I am making gifts for the majority of the people on my list.  Any shopping that I want to do is happening online for the most part.  I don't mind that as much.  And there are so many cool things to see on Etsy!!!

We've all been busy.

Hard at work. 
Sewing

Baking
Crocheting
Decorating

Cleaning
Crafting

And trying enjoying nearly every minute of it.

Getting Myself Organized

I really need to get myself organized.  Christmas is fast fast approaching, and I have not really begun to make all the gifts I intend to make.  So, I'm going to work on a big, long list and maybe I'll get around to the point where I'm checking it twice.  Probably not, though.

Here's a rough list of the things I want to do for Christmas:
make cookies (a big big thing in my husbands family, and subsequently, mine)
sew drawstring backpacks
sew car organizers
crochet hat/scarf sets for each of my kids
make some homemade skin care products
finish my gift for hubby's family gift exchange

That's the start of my list.  There's still time.  I keep telling myself...

How are you holiday preparations coming along?

Our Harvest Storage System for Colder Storage

Since we finally got around to storing our potatoes and apples, I thought I would take this opportunity to show you all our cold storage system.  We keep our potatoes and apples out in the garage.  Our garage is unheated, so we've located our storage bin in a corner that has 2 inside walls.  For the other 2 walls of the bin, we stacked a few straw bales for good insulation.

Here's what it looks like:

Inside, we put in a little piece of plywood as a divider to separate our stacks of crates.  Not completely necessary, but since we are storing apples with potatoes, we thought every little bit of separation would be helpful.  (Since apples give off a gas that helps other veggies to ripen faster - something you definitely do NOT want in a winter storage system...)

As for our bins, we took some old grape crates and fitted them up to make them rodent proof.  Well, Nick fitted them up.  I just said 'thank you thank you thank you!'

First, he wrapped the whole crate in 1/4" hardware cloth (not really cloth at all, but a metal mesh) and stapled it in place.  Then he attached some scrap wood to the top and and front flap of the bin.  This allows an air gap between the crates when the are stacked on on top of the other.

To the edges of the piece of wood on the front flap, he added some hooks that will clip into eyes that he screwed into the front of the crate.

It looks like this from the back:

And, behold!!  A rodent proof storage bin that will hold about 1/2 bushel.

Stacked.

And put into the garage bin.

Apples in the back, potatoes and garden seeds in the front.

And topped off with some found insulated cardboard, foam board, and cardboard pieces.

Did You Clean Your Room Yet?!?!

The sun is shining today.  And the temps are in the low 50s.  I am beginning to clean the house for Munch's birthday dinner in 2 weeks.  Each time we have a birthday dinner, I clean the house from top to bottom.  Week 1 - the upstairs.  Week 2 - the downstairs.  I'm on Week 1 and the upstairs this week.  And to kick it off, I decided to do my own room first. 

The cobwebs are gone.
The dust is nearly gone.
The window is open to let in all the fresh and lovely air from outside.
The bed linens will soon be freshly laundered and nicely smoothed out on my bed (one of my favorite things in the whole world).

In a couple hours, that space will be all clean and fresh.  Everything will be organized and in it's place.  A few things will be purged.  I am trying to find a place to squeeze the rocker Nick bought for me to nurse my babies in.  I no longer need it for nursing.  And it's just taking up too much space in the girls room.  I want to put it in front of the window so I can sit there and rock and crochet.  For peace.  For me. 

Our Harvest Storage System for Warmer Storage

Storing our produce for the winter has been a longtime passion for us.  Originally, I just made and canned salsa and applesauce.  Oh how far from that we have ventured!!!  Now we can salsa, tomato sauce and puree, applesauce, pickled veggies, roasted red peppers...  the list goes on and on.  We also bought a huge freezer and freeze sliced peppers, apples, corn, tons of berries, shredded zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, beans...  this list goes on as well.  And, we do a bit of root cellaring as well. 

We don't have a root cellar.  You don't really need to have one to be successful at cold storage.  You can use any unheated space - a closet, back room, attic... - to store veggies.  My favorite source for knowledge is Root Cellaring - Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Veggies by Mike and Nancy Bubel.  The book is a clearly written, very informative, and practical guide for storing veggies.  Whether you want to store only potatoes, or a whole slew of veggies, this is the book for you.  It contains information on planting, harvesting, curing, and a bunch of different ideas on how and where to store you veggies.  I find myself turning to this book over and over again.

Different veggies store best in different conditions.  Many veggies prefer very cold temps for storage - potatoes, apples, carrots, beets,...  Some do best in just cool temps - garlic, onions,...  But some do well in moderately warm temps like squashes and green tomatoes.  There is some overlap and flexibility, so storage systems do not have to be elaborate to keep your veggies for a long period of time.  Of course, the more accurate you can be with your temperatures and humidity, the better and longer your veggies will keep.  But if your conditions are not exactly right, don't let that stop you!  Your produce will keep for a while anyhow.  One year, we had so many green tomatoes that we were able to enjoy them for Thanksgiving dinner!!  (A rarity here in northeaster Ohio.)

Our storage system contains two parts.  One is stored in our back room that typically falls around 60 degrees in the winter months.  This is the one I will show you today.  The other is in our garage and made of straw bales.  When I get around to packing up our potatoes, I will show you that one.

Here it is:

It is made from grape crates that we collected from some relatives who make lots and lots of wine.  My brother in law cut the one side in order to make a stackable, but functional bin.

 

Once they were all cut and cleaned, I stacked them on a utility shelf.  I wanted a little extra room to access them from the front, so I staggered them a bit like so:

Yikes!!!  The cobwebs!!!!  I didn't even realize those were there until I took the picture!  Please just ignore them.  I can't really imagine life without cobwebs.  Maybe some day...  The top bins in each stack were left as they came so that I could put things in there that might require better containment.  I find them useful for storing other things that we buy in cases, like dog treats or cracker boxes or peanut butter buckets.

Each year, I empty out what is left over from the previous year, vacuum out the bins, and line them with fresh newspaper.

Then!!!  What we all have been waiting for...  the produce!!! 

Our bins are currently holding garlic, red and purple onions, and the last of last years butternuts.  While I was away this weekend, (to the crazy but fun Universal parks to visit the new Harry Potter world with my sisters.  It's a sister's thing with us.  I'll probably make a post about that when I get all the pics from my sisters.) Nick filled up 2 of the other bins with our green tomatoes. 

Since this room is a back room with 2 outside walls, 1 inside wall, and 1 unheated garage wall, the temps range in the mid 50's to 60 range most of the winter.  I have found squashes, particularly butternuts, keep well until spring, but will last until the following year (see above).  They are not exactly pretty, and have dried up a bit by now.  But they are still perfectly edible.  Kinda nice when you have a spectacular year one year, and then a not so spectacular year the next.  Onions and garlic prefer a bit cooler temps, but they store well through the winter here nevertheless.  Sweet potatoes will like this storage system as well, if I ever get around to growing any of those.  Dreaming is free.

As with anything, there is so much information out there that it can be somewhat overwhelming.  The trick is really just to do the best you can with what you've got.  Find a place in your home where you can store something - even if it's just a couple of butternuts on the top shelf of an unheated closet.  It truly is the easiest way to store your goods over winter.  There is no processing involved so the food remains whole.  You don't need any complicated or expensive equipment.  But you get an awful lot of satisfaction out of it.