Winter Solstice! Getting Ready for the Season

After a weekend of canning peppers, green beans and apple sauce and then reorganizing our pantry, I realized that settling into the mood of winter has officially begun in our home.  I have changed out our spring comforter to our winter one and dusted off my sweaters.  The nights have gotten noticeably chillier after the sun goes down, and the clocks are back an hour.  Rain is steady, the plants are getting barer, and it's finally done snowing pine needles.  It's safe to say that fall is over.

Here are the main things we're doing to get ready for the winter:

1)  Canning.  Whenever I see produce on sale at the grocery store, I'm trying to get in the habit of buying a bunch so I can bring it home to can.  It took about 20 large apples to make 9 pints of applesauce, 3 lbs of green beans to can 4 pints, and about 30 Anaheim peppers to can a mere 2 pints.  (Maybe I'll even get up the courage to start canning leftover meat this winter.)  I even managed to put together some brownie mix in quart mason jars as Christmas gifts for the neighbors, courtesy of homesteader Melissa K. Norris' handy recipe.

2)  Stocking up on bulk dried goods.  My go-to is Azure Standard, a local co-op based in Washington that offers a wide range of groceries in various sizes like beans, nuts, rice, granola, frozen foods, frozen meats and even some toiletries and other household items (I'm seriously contemplating the 5-gallon bucket of olive oil).  They also have a wide range of organic options to choose from, which is always awesome.

3)  Cutting up firewood.  We still have several chunks of a large fir rounds we had cut down 2 years ago, so we chop those up for firewood each year, saving us the cost of having to buy wood.  (Don't forget to save your lumber scraps and trimmings from any carpentry projects, as they make great fire starters!)  The hubby insists he likes to chop wood anyway, saying it's a fun stress reliever and he gets some good exercise out of it.  I've started moving some exposed logs over to the covered wood pile to dry out before we burn then.

4)  Fueling up.  We are trying to fill up our fuel and propane tanks, especially with the threat of fuel prices going up this winter.  We have extra tanks for the camping trailer, gas cans for the cars and mini propane tanks.  If we ever become unable to get gas from the regular utilities, we'll have our own stash to last us at least for a little bit.

5)  Getting medicines and cold treatments.  To heck with toilet paper, we're stocking up on medicines and cold remedies.  Before they are all gone from the shelves at the height of cold and flu season.

6)  Mother Earth Courses on winterizing.  This homesteading source has a bunch of great courses covering a ton of topics, including seed saving, raising pigs and chickens, honey and syrup making, and more.  The "Garden Planning Course" is really inspiring for ideas on your spring garden.  Mother Earth Courses are also a great way to pass the winter days away, stuck indoors by watching all these free, educational courses on all things homestead... never stop learning!

Snuggle up and settle into the rhythm of winter.  Enjoy time with friends and family this holiday season and support each other if things get challenging.  Don't forget to take a minute to dance with your spouse, hug your kids and tell your parents you appreciate everything they've done for you.  Spring will be here soon enough and give way to a new bountiful season.

Cheers!

2021 Garden Assessments and Conclusions

This year's garden was definitely a big win.  When you end up producing more food than you can consume, I would call that a success!  It turns out, you can't eat enough zucchini, pears, tomatoes or green beans and you can't can them fast enough either, especially when the yield is a gradual one, and doesn't come in all at once (thus canning the bulk food when it's "fresh").  I even ended up carving up a few zucchini for Halloween decorations to finally put them to some sort of use!

We have been picking food pretty consistently since July.  I'm sorry to say I've thrown away way more pears than we could eat, can or give away.  I wanted to make pear cider this year, but some personal events happened that occupied my time this summer, so I wasn't able to get some of the supplies I needed in time (fruit crusher, juicer, etc.).

While I was gone for two weeks in September, a rain and wind storm rolled through our area, knocking over my tomato cages and weakening the green bean strings.  My romaine lettuce all died out (I think the sprinkler was mostly missing them), but the baby artichoke plants look happy these days!  The corn was slow-growing and finally died out by the end of October (got smothered by the neighboring fallen tomato plants), and the cucumbers have produced 4 small fruits before dying off.  The new apple tree only yielded five apples, and after trying one a bit prematurely, I lost another to a critter, and still waiting on the remaining three to formally ripen up.

I managed to get about 20 potatoes of various sizes out of their large terracotta pot, most of which were edible and thrown into a crock pot on a rainy day with some stew meat and carrots.  I did the first of the "final" harvests on the tomatoes and blended them up in the Vitamix to make a basic tomato sauce that I put in a Ziplock and stuck in the freezer for use later in the winter (I will do one last harvest before the first frost of the year).  I also blended up some zucchinis to make a quick soup on a future cold winter day.

I planted carrot and broccoli starters as fall crops (green onions are already growing), and some pre-planted garlic bulbs are starting to come in!   I'm thinking about planting beets as well, but I have to learn how to roast them first, so I can eat them my preferred way.

I visited two of our local farms on Halloween weekend, as most start closing up for the winter until next season.  I picked up some bulk apples, peppers, onions, garlic, honey, walnuts, dried apricots, dried cranberry, honey and a whopping 16-lbs cabbage head that I chopped into 7 quarts of sauerkraut!  It was so big, traditional kitchen knives wouldn't work, so my husband used a machete to cut it into wedges for me.  😂

Hopefully I have another great pear yield next year, and I can finally make some cider.  I'll only plant one zucchini plant next year, and cut back on the lettuce and tomato plant quantity.

Food and supply shortages are rumored to occur this winter due to supply chain issues, so hopefully I'll have at least some good provisions stocked to get us through.  Between my canning and the monthly Azure bulk food orders, I think we'll be mostly alright through the winter (except for meat, dairy and egg purchases, which we'll still have to get through the local stores).

I had a great time experimenting and learning more about gardening this season and I can't wait to rock it again next year!  Seed-starting is coming up in a couple of months, so I get to start planning for that... stay tuned!!  

August Camping: Detroit Lake

I have been wanting to stay at Detroit Lake ever since we drove by it the first time in 2018 on our way to visit a friend's place in Bend.  I remember driving along the coastline and how it felt like the lake went on forever and ever, with camp sights all along its shores, all right on the water.  I said to the hubby, "we have to camp here some time!"  Fast forward three summers and with our new trailer in tow, we finally booked three nights: Saturday through Tuesday.

The days we went were a stagnant 89 degrees with a zillion percent humidity, no breeze, and topped off with some smoky haze from a forest fire that was going on about 8 miles south of the lake.  Twice, our campsite experienced a rolling blackout of electricity, as everyone was running their AC's at full power.  We were told by a ranger that the electrical had not yet been upgraded from a fire that had rolled through a few years prior, and was therefore struggling to keep up with current demand.  We made due regardless with the good shade, some cold beverages and dips into the lake.

Despite the water level of the lake being quite low, the scenery at the campground was still pleasant.  Most campers were families or elderly couples just lounging their time away, letting kids splash around the water or build sand castles and the rangers we spoke to were quite nice.  There were several spots along the highway getting in where crews were still cleaning up massive piles of logs from trees that had been burnt down.  

Our son rode his bike along the paved streets of the campground, tossed the frisbee back and forth with his dad, played with a neighboring camper kid, and the dog and I enjoyed the AC in the trailer when we could.

The park had public restrooms and showers that were pretty clean and there were full hook ups at several sites, or tent sites for those who wanted to rough it a little more.  There were a few sketchy folks walking through the campground that we encountered, but overall, it wasn't too bad of a location, maybe 3-stars.  We would go back again, but maybe in the off-season like fall or mid-spring to avoid the same type of crowds and the stifling weather.

July Camping: Champoeg State Park

This month, we spent two nights at Champoeg (pronounced "sham-POO-eee") State Park and Heritage Area, just 30 minutes south of us on I-5, right along the Willamette River.  The park is open to camping year-round, and even though all the river-side spots get reserved very quickly, I managed to snag an exterior site about two months in advance.

The state park covers a large area, with several day-use spaces, picnic tables and a huge disc golf course throughout.  Originally the homeland of the Tualatin "Kalapuya" tribe, the site became a town in the 1830's of fur trappers and French-Canadians coming west, and eventually became the site of the first declared provisional government in the U.S. along the Pacific coast.  In the 1890's however, a massive flood from the river wiped out the entire settlement and it was never rebuilt, though you can see artifacts in the on-site museum that were recovered in later years.

The park has several hiking and biking trails, a small gift shop at the museum, and even a grave site of an original settler there, though we weren't able to find it.  There are RV sites with full hook-ups (or just without sewer, which is what we had), as well as tent camping and yurt sites as well.  All spots had decent privacy and were pretty large in size, as we have camped on sites where you're basically looking in the windows of the camper next to you.

Our site had electrical and water hook-ups and backed up to an open meadow which made for a great sunset spot.  We had virtually zero shade however, which made the 88-degree days seem worse (thankful for the trailer's AC).  Our son got to ride his bike around the paved loop, played with other kids and enjoyed the on-site playground.  You can buy ice ($1) or a bundle of wood ($5) from the camp host, and there were several park rangers patrolling the park.  We found a dock on the river, but due to the boating traffic, we were unable to swim from it for safety reasons.  

Considering the park is so close to home, open year-round and only $35/night, we definitely hope to be back later this year, albeit for a shadier spot, maybe in the Fall.  Next time, we'll try to find a good place to swim (or float), which we were told we could find in the nearby town of Newberg.  Our son gave Champoeg 4 out of 5 stars, so that's a plus!

Happy Glamping!

 

Garden Updates: getting some harvests!

Just shy of our first month into summer, and we're starting to see some harvests.  I've pulled about 3 sandwich bags full of strawberries (freezing for smoothies), 5 zucchinis of various sizes (I swear, they sneak up on me!), 4 heads of lettuce, some basil, green onions and a couple of small cherry tomatoes.

This week, I pulled the remaining lettuce heads that had bolted from last week's record-setting heat wave (we got up to 116F on June 28th), and replaced them with some new baby starts and a new bed of sweet corn with a goal for harvest in the fall.  (I got sucked in to a little spree at our local nursery which is currently having a 50% off sale on all veggie starts.)  We also got the baby artichokes into the ground *fingers crossed* and ran some string from the bean tipi to the chain-link fence, as I grossly underestimated how far the vines would want to grow.  😂 

Other than some slugs in the strawberry bed (hooray for beer traps!), I have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of pest issues so far.  There has been some minor munching on the lower-hanging lettuce leaves and nibbles on the zucchini nubs, but otherwise, there haven't been any major issues.  Even during last week's heat wave, I just kept watering everything in the evening (after the beds were in the shade), and they seemed to bounce back just fine.  I only had minor sun-scald on the jalapenos, and some leaves here and there, so overall, we have been pretty lucky.

I'm super excited about how things are going, and almost wish I had set a few more beds so I could plant more!  I have also been stocking up on canning jars as I find them, now having five cases of quart jars, three cases of pint jars, and a case of half-pint jars for when I get up the courage to make jams.

Coming soon are some small jalapenos (albeit with some sun-scald), basil, cucumbers, apples, pears, chives, and of course, more zucchini!  Since the heat wave, the weather has been a comfortable high-80's (slightly muggy), so here's hoping for the same consistency through August and September.

Cheers and good harvests!  👍

June Camping: Timothy Lake and Wapiti Park

Summer has been formalized with two camping trips in two weeks this past month!  The first trip to Timothy Lake fell into our laps, after friends had to forfeit their reservations due to the school district extending its year by another week due to Covid.  We took their spot at this beautiful location just south of Mt. Hood, literally right on the lake.  Although it rained the first 24 hours (really hard the first night), the second 24 hours was quite mild and pleasant, staying clear enough for the boys to try some fishing out on a canoe.

My mom just happened to be visiting, so we brought her along, making this our first trip of four in our 16' foot trailer (plus the dog).  She hadn't camped in over 30 years (since I was about my son's age), when our last family camping trip was cut short due to our tent flooding from a freak rain storm in the Sierras.  In June.  So it was ironic that it rained the entire first day we were there.

We mostly just enjoyed the grounds, walking around, exploring, chatting with the Canadian geese that were looking for snacks and staying dry.  We grilled, we smore'd, we drank, we laughed and we camp-fired.

The campground didn't have any hook ups, so we were totally self-sufficient, which means we got to test out our solar panels for the first time.  Even in thick tree cover on mostly-cloudy days, they still managed to maintain 11.4 volts on a 12 volt battery to power the trailer.  We brought an extra 5-gallon container of fresh water (in addition to the fresh water tank in the trailer), and only stayed two of the 3-night reservation, so the waste tanks didn't get too full, even with an extra person on board.  The heater and cook top ran off the main propane tank, and we grilled our food outside whenever possible.

Mt. Hood is normally in view with the lake in the foreground, but it hid behind the clouds the whole time we were there, so we didn't get any pictures of it.  However, we still got some other beautiful shots regardless, and made another fun family memory.

The following weekend, we headed to the coast to Wapiti RV Park in Lincoln City.  The park is nestled in a little private valley two miles inland from Hwy-101, with no Wi-Fi and very minimal cell reception.  It was great.  

Although the physical spaces were just in a large, gravel parking lot, they all backed up to an open grassy field with large, shady trees.  There was a small swing set and monkey bars for the kids, electrical and sewer hookups (dump station at the exit for sewer), and the fire pits were old, big-rig tire rims which was pretty amusing.

The park had three shelter spaces for group entertaining/ parties which had running water, electrical outlets and wood-burning stoves in the middle of the room, presumable on days where the weather is too terrible to party outside.  The park also had a half basketball court, horseshoe pits and disc golf for guests to enjoy.

On the morning of our third day, right after breakfast, a herd of about 30 elk came strolling through the campground.  Everyone came out to take pictures and the entire campground just froze in appreciative pause.  The elk didn't seem to care too much about us humans, provided we didn't get too close, and they just grazed in the field for about an hour and then gradually returned back to the hills.  We saw a couple of older males with antlers, but most of them were females or adolescents, including 3 or 4 adorable young calves.

Monday was a balmy 64 degrees on the beach, with foggy mist hanging all around, and a very light breeze... perfect T-shirt and jeans weather.  We hung out on the beach for a couple hours, collecting shells, admiring driftwood and doing some people-watching.  There were few crowds on the beach (mostly families) and the traffic in and out of town was pretty cooperative for a weekday departure.

Out of the two locations, they both had their pros and cons:  Timothy Lake didn't have any hookups ($22/night) but it had gorgeous scenery and a private location with spacious sites - right on the lake!!  Wapiti ($35/night) had hookups, roomy green fields and was very close to town, but the sites weren't private at all - literally a gravel parking lot.  The elk were a huge bonus, however, and apparently stroll through the grounds quite often, according to the camp host.  Both campgrounds allow for tent and RV camping, so the flexibility is there depending on your preferences.  Three stars to both locations, but if we had to pick a return trip, it would probably be to Timothy Lake.  👍

Next month's trip: Champoeg State Park!

The Garden is In!

We've got most of our plant babies tucked away in their beds!  By April 30th, we have planted:

• Apple tree (Golden Delicious)
• Asparagus
• Basil
• Beans
• Carrots (dragon and caracas)
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Corn
• Dill
• Green onions (restarts planted last fall!)
• Jalapenos (our first attempt; we'll see how they do in the PNW!)
• Lettuce (cerise, romaine and tennis ball)
• Rosemary
• Spinach
• Strawberries (leftover from last year!  Finally producing flowers!)
• Tomatoes (Roma and cherry)
• Zucchini (black)

  

Still growing/ in progress yet to be transplanted:

• Artichoke (green globe)
• Cucumber
• Lettuce (3rd batch for future succession planting this summer)
• Spinach
• Sunflowers

Now that we know how to can and preserve our food, this year's harvest is way less intimidating and the yield shouldn't be an issue - no throwing away food this year!

I'm pretty proud of my success for a first-time seed-starter.  About 85-90% of all seeds I planted successfully grew into viable transplants!  I only lost a couple along the way, either due to not getting enough sunlight or lack of water (I think).  It's definitely been a learning experience starting all those babies from seeds, but I logged my journey along the way, took notes on everything, so now I know what to do differently next year (e.g., grow lights, separate seeds better, thinning, etc.).

Here's to growing our own food and taking another step towards being a little more self-reliant!

  💪🌽🌾🌿🍓🍏🍅