Frugal Fridays...

So in my quest for things to blog about I decided to do Frugal Fridays... This is because when I think about what it takes to be a farmer "Frugality" comes to the front of my mind. This is not the same as being cheap at all. It is about making wise decisions about how to use resources.

In some cases this means spend more money now - on boots, for example. My $100 Ariat boots have lasted me going into the fourth season. The "cheap" $30 ones I got before lasted about 4 months and never were as comfortable.

In some cases this means making potentially difficult decisions. I always ask, if you are farming as a business, is there sense in driving a $25,000 new car and a $5,000 forty year old tractor? In our case we inverted that (value not ages!) The newer tractor will be reliable for years and not cause us some of the grief that the old one did, like when the seat broke in the middle of discing and we had to wait 4 days for a new one to be shipped - Nothing broken, except a seat, but all field work ground to a halt. If the car breaks down, Farmer Hubby fixes it, and if it really bad we can rent one for a few days. The new car will come as the tractor pays for itself, as it is already doing.

In some cases it means making due (replacing the blades on the tiller ($200) instead of spending $5000 on a new one), and in some cases it means doing without (like dropping cable.) In a lot of cases it means little things: sales, preserving, bulk buying, recipes, life style things, and other farm choices.

So in this segment "Frugal Fridays" I see it as being a hodge podge of different things. Some will be directly farming related, some will be food related, and others will just be real life. Hope you like it!

My problem with canning...

On Labor Day we enjoyed a rare day of almost off-ness... No "real jobs" and not much work in the garden, except for the omnipresent (these days) watering. (I am so eager for the irrigation system next season will bring! Turn on a pump and water!)

I did get some canning done, but here is the problem, why is it that all of the recipes I like seem to be "fun" things and not staples? So far I have 3 dozen or so jars done and NO STAPLES! I have TONS of pepper rings, lots of plum jam, and now 7 jars of Peach Rum Sauce! While very yummy, you will never open a jar and eat it (I HOPE!), it will go mainly on ice-cream and maybe on Belgian Waffles... I do have to say that I was planning on canning some Peaches in light syrup, but the peaches we had were small and almost impossible to peel (maybe not ripe enough?) I have been freezing peppers so we should have enough of those for the winter.

Eventually I will need to can more of what we will eat. I am planning at least 30 quarts of tomato sauce, and 12 quarts of just tomatoes. I also want 12-24 pints of salsa. I'd like to can some pears, plums, and peaches in syrup. I'd like to make some apple pie filling and some apple sauce!

With all that I should be able to eat some local fruit and veggies this winter. Now all I need is a pressure canner (if I am brave enough to venture into low acid foods!) and TIME to actually do it all...