The Dragon Woman is IN...

 Although the garden was kind of a bust this year (because climate change isn't real), I still have managed to do a fair amount of canning.  I procured 2 bushel of green beans from a fella I know and canned about 45 quarts of beans and 6 pints of pickled green beans (because I could eat pickled stuff until the end of the world). I also pickled okra and canned persimmon pulp and made jams (strawberry, peach, persimmon and plum) and today I am canning shelf stable meals like this-- tortellini in marinara, 6 jars of cheese tortellini and 6 jars of wild mushroom tortellini. I have canned roast beef, corned beef, chicken breasts, chicken leg and thigh (on the bone) and pork loin. I canned pinto beans, kidney beans, small red beans, lima beans and garbanzo beans. I canned quart jars of chili. I need to can some vegetable soup too. All of the previous items I can in case I don't have enough gas or wood to be able to cook something that takes hours to cook. Much more efficient to be able to just heat things up and save precious fuel. I froze a few jars of peaches and then the raccoons obliterated  the rest of our tree. I canned French Vanilla Creamer (for coffee) and I canned Monkey Butter, which is a spread made with pineapple, bananas and coconut. Quite sweet--a little goes a long way. I canned a few more jars of butter. My freezer is full and I have no room in there, so I'm canning as much as I can.  I don't think we will starve for a while. 


  In light of the hurricanes and the weird weathers, and not knowing if WWIII is going to start tomorrow,  I am trying to plan more on a survival basis than I ever really have. I've started my list of  pantry staples that are low, oats, vegetable oil, flour and sugar and honey for starters. The price of honey is astronomical so I'm buying small jars in bits and bobs as I can afford it. And this is how I usually stock my pantry...small amounts at a go, trying to stay on top of the inventory. I have 2 small totes in there , one is  emergency items: bandages, wound dressings, aspirin, etc. The other is back up vitamins, toothpaste and brushes, antibiotic ointments, etc.  I am trying to decide today if 1 five gallon bucket of oats is enough, or do I need 2 ?  I do use a lot--oats for breakfast, granola by the gallon, granola bars. It's a nutritious and versatile food. It will keep you from starving even if you have to eat it raw because there's no fuel sources available to cook.  You can feed it to or use it to supplement other scraps to feed your pets.  And water. We keep about 35 gallons of water in the back room at all times. Well--we drink and replace it, because it's great spring water from about 5 miles from us. And free. lol  We only use it for drinking. We do have city water out here now for a few years.  Great stuff for washing dishes and flushing toilets, but like every city water it is chlorinated and chemo'd beyond what I want to drink.

  Here's some of my canning for the past months...I have been busy...

So, as you can see....I haven't been a total deadbeat. Just living a full and busy life and doing the deal.  I really want to get back on track posting here and am sorely lacking in the discipline department. Maybe that will change soon. I'll be 65 in a few months, maybe I'll be more grown up by then.  lol  Later taters....