"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Sunday 19 February 2017

AWOL and thanks for the nekkid dancing...

My apologies for being AWOL - did anyone miss me??  😂

Things have been pretty hectic here - not only with the business, and some community issues, but also with harvesting.

My main crop every year is tomatoes.  Not necessarily to eat only fresh, but I grow as many as possible to preserve.
 Yellow heirloom tomatoes - in all their magnificent glory :D

There is nothing nicer than adding home made tomato puree and tomato concentrate to all those winter dishes - the privilege of last years harvest dances over my tongue with every mouthful.
The golden yellow heirloom tomatoes are generally
 great big brutes - just the way I like 'em ;)
My favourite tomato is a golden yellow heirloom...
I simmer the tomato mixture until it is good and thick
...as it makes the most gorgeous, golden-red tomato concentrate.
Tomato concentrate in recycled plastic tubs all ready to go into
 the freezer.  Those tubes are re-used, and re-used until they fall
 apart - and only then are they sent for recycling
Apart from water-bathing jars of concentrate, I also shove 125gm tubs of it into the freezer.  I find making bottled whole tomatoes a waste of time because when they are decanted, as we don't eat that many pizza's, they are mainly only suitable for "blitzing" into a sauce anyway.
Spiralized butternut dehydrating in the Foothills DryAway
I've also had fun spiralizing home-grown organic butternut and dehydrating it in the Foothills DryAway.
This is precisely why I made the middle shelf in the Foothills
 DryAway.  So that any food that dropped through the drying
  net could easily be retrieved.
When the butternut spirals are dry they resemble butternut tagliatelli 😃  Storing that in a preserving jar in the larder frees up freezer space for my tomato concentrate lol

To get to my "thanks for dancing nekkid" bit in the title of this blog post - kymber and Jam kindly performed a nekkid rain dance all the way across the planet in Framboise, Canada.

kymber - thank you my friend - it worked 😂

Four days later we had 40mm of rain... 
Oh - we waited so long for this sight...
Even the alpacas enjoyed the shower
...glorious rain.


It was enough of a sudden downpour to fill our dam by a third.
40mm of rain filled the dam by a third...
Although the water didn't last too long as the dried out shell quickly absorbed most of it resulting in the dam being almost empty again, it's also not surprising given the heat we've recently been experiencing.
...and caused the grass / grazing to turn a welcome
 greener colour
At least the rain caused the "grass" turned a little greener than dried out brown and is showing some sign of growth - especially in the alpaca paddocks. 😊

kymber and Jam - please, feel free to continue dancing nekkid - we need much, much more to come even halfway close to last's years rainfall...





For more info on how you can obtain your own Foothills DryAway solar / wind food dehydrator please click the link.

10 comments:

  1. Dani - we haven't stopped nekkid dancing for you - there is more rain on the way!!!! i am so glad that guys finally got some rain! your tomatoe plants look great and that yellow tomatoe is a monster!

    sending much love - and rain - your way! your friend,
    kymber

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah kymber, thank you 😁

      Guess you'll soon be starting your own tomato seedlings / try and source some yellow heirlooms. Their taste is absolutely amazing!!!

      Delete
  2. I am glad you got rain. We had such a horrible drought a couple of years back, it's horrible to see and live through but when the rain finally falls, it's amazing how resilient nature it and everything comes back. Here's to more rain! I'll dance nekkid if it helps!

    Have never tried yellow heirlooms, planning the garden now, maybe I'll think about that for this season. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. !st Man - As extremely grateful as I am for the rain, we in the Western Cape (the province in which I live) need soooooo much more as the the farmers need to plant their winter crops.

      You won't regret sowing some yellow heirlooms, I promise you :D

      Delete
  3. Of course we missed you!! But, it's also understandable--life can get soooo busy sometimes.
    So glad you got some rain.
    Here in the states, California has ended their terrible drought with a bang.....hopefully you will get some more as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww, Sue you're so sweet - thank you :)

      As I mentioned to 1st Man - we need a lot more here to be able to say our drought is broken, and there's nothing predicted here in the next 10 days... :(

      Delete
  4. Well I'm grumpy, we got 30mm in fits and starts and it's been desert wasteland ever since. Lots more nekkid dancing required please and thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pqsa - I agree - kymber, PLENTY of nekkid dancing is required please...!!! :D

      Delete
  5. Kymber and Jam would get burned at the stake here, but hey, if a little magic brought rain, why look a gift horse in the mouth? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harry - Anything that brings rain is good in my book. Prayers too :D

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.