Ann Accetta-Scott - The Farm Girls Guide to Preserving the Harvest: How to Can, Freeze, Dehydrate, and Ferment Your Gardens Goodness

J ustin, my incredible husband, without you this book and the life we live would not have existed. I am the architect and you are the builder, and together we have learned what it really means to live. Thank you for freeing and empowering us to live a simpler life. Also, thank you for supporting my crazy ideas, as difficult as they may sometimes be. Summer lovin, happen so fast...

To our parents, every day you encourage us, never once stating that the life we have chosen is crazy or unnecessary. Justin and I hope weve done you proud and cannot thank you enough for the support and love you have given us our entire lives. Youre pretty proud of us, arent you?

Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he should not depart from it. To our children, granddaughter, and future grandchildren, may we always be the parents you are proud of, and may our life encourage you to seek a simpler life with a clean food source. We love each one of you and could not be prouder of the individuals you are.

Mrs. Amy Fewell, you have encouraged me like no other, and when I struggled to jump, you pushed me. We are two peas in a pod and sisters in life and faith. This book would not have been possible without you, and for that I thank you.

A special thanks to Shailendra Bhat for assisting us with portrait photos!

H ere is a bit of honesty for you. I am sitting here in front of the wood stove, a cup of coffee in hand, which, by the way, may or may not contain a splash of our homemade Irish cream liquor, holding back a few tears. I am desperately searching for how to end this beast of a book, but I cant stop thinking about the journey that allowed me to write such a detailed guide. In our day-to-day life, we do not realize how far we have come, but this book has put everything into perspective. I am thankful that Ive been given the opportunity to gather the plethora of information needed and put it in one central place. Homesteading is an ongoing process of learning, and I am hoping that I've made part of your journey a bit easier.

Looking back to when I first began preserving foods, I realize I was overthinking the process. I was terrified that I could make my family sick, possibly even kill someone, so I spent hours researching how to make jam or pickled green beans. I am still shocked that I didnt give up or get discouraged, but as you can tell, I persevered and ended up preserving a lot of jam. I also turned everything I could into pickles. I often think back to the days when Justin was my official taste tester. He encouraged me to continue canning and to learn more methods for preserving foods. Bless his heart. He was so proud of the homesteading woman I was becoming.

I wrote The Farm Girls Guide to Preserving the Harvest to encourage you to learn how foods are preserved and become comfortable with doing it your own way. Ultimately, the decision is yours on how you want to proceed, and I hope I have given you enough information to do so. Knowledge is power, my friend. Always question what you read and make sure to research everything twice before moving forward. This will help you be successful on your journey.

Thank you for taking ownership of the foods you consume and the life you live. Enjoy your journey, my friend. You can now say that you own your food source.

My gift to you, my famous Irish cream liquor recipe. Consider it a parting gift and a thank you for entrusting me to get you where you need to be.

For those cold nights by the wood stove or with coffee ice cubes during the summer months, this recipe, with its full flavor, reminds you why homemade is better.

INGREDIENTS

1 cups good ol Irish whiskey or Kentucky bourbon

1 cup heavy cream

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, or melted dark chocolate

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cold coffee

METHOD:

Start with the whiskey or bourbon, and add heavy cream. (Were a whiskey kind of family.)

Add the condensed milk, and then add the chocolate syrup or melted dark chocolate.

Next, add the vanilla extract.

Finally, add the cold coffee. Please note, the coffee will need to be cold to keep the proof of the whiskey.

Use an immersion blender to mix all ingredients together. Do not blend it too long. You dont want any foam; you simply want to mix the ingredients together. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Shake well prior to serving.

G oodness, where do you start when youre looking to preserve foods? Besides the obvious method of canning, you need to know about the plethora of other options available to you. Many begin with freezing as its truly the easiest method, although even then they might wonder if there are specific things they need to do before putting food in the freezer. From there, they tend to move on to canning and dehydrating and then maybe, just maybe, curing and smoking meat and fish. More advanced home preservers might progress to utilizing a freeze-dryer and learning the importance of fermented foods to build good gut flora for optimal health. Whatever phase youre in, take a bow. You are now entering a league where millions of others will never go.

However, learning each phase of food preservation requires one to know the lingo as well as the how, why, and what. Some people were taught from family members or friends with traditions being passed down. You are simply taking a different route by learning with me, one that is just as comfortable as if we had known each other for years.

With that said, lets start at the beginning.

In true farming fashion, we spend months planning the gardens (and by gardens I mean the growing cycle of spring, summer, and fall). Many of us have our seeds ordered by January, and I would be a liar if I said we never order too many seed packs. I may learn one year, but until then I will continue to hoard seeds.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE SEED COMPANIES

Territorial Seed

Sow True Seeds

Pinetree Garden Seeds

Bakers Creek Seeds

Botanical Interest

Seed Savers Exchange

Irish Eyes Garden Seeds

The seed company you select will depend on the type of seeds you wish to plant. Seed selection will vary based on your growing zone, whether you wish to grow heirloom, non-GMO, organic, or just the average seed, and for this very reason, you will see variations in pricing with heritage seeds generally higher in cost. Due to our growing zone and mountainside living, we tend to go with a seed company that is specific to our area. We sometimes select specialty seeds from other companies, but that can be a gamble for our wet, unpredictable, cooler temperature here in the Puget Sound area of Washington State.