filling the freezer
He's finally here. I've been awaiting his arrival for so long, and now I can't hardly believe he's sitting next to me. He sits there serenely, strong and quiet, humming just a little to himself. He's mine, all mine, and yet now that he's here...I'm hardly doing anything with him at all.
He's my new best friend: an extra freezer!
Excuse me for a moment while I go hush the pre-kids, pre-marriage part of myself who is shaking her head in shame at the fact that I really am this excited, this happy because one of my birthday presents this year is an appliance. An appliance.
But what can I say? I have come to really enjoy growing and cooking and preserving food. And this little guy is going to make things so much easier.
We've wanted an extra freezer for a long time. But first we were apartment-dwellers, and then we were homeowners, but homeowners handicapped by a long, skinny utility room and a mini-size garage, with no room to put a freezer in either one. And then we realized that there is no rule that says a freezer can only go in a garage or a utility room. We have an office/spare room. Why can't we put a freezer in there? And so Eric's guitars got shoved out of the way a little (sorry sweetie) and our new little freezer has a home in here.
But, so far, I have barely put him to use at all. Seven jars of freezer jam. (The last of the 44 jars that I ended up making this year). That's it! I know he's capable of so much more! I have all kinds of ideas of things I'd like to fill him with. Bags and bags of frozen berries of all sorts. Some good, locally-grown meat. Green beans. Oh, the possibilities are endless.
And now I need your help. Tell me, people. Where are your favorite local sources? I'm lucky, in that there are so many different farms, farmstands, and farmer's markets around here that I hardly know which one to turn to. Which place has the best prices on berries? (Of any kind: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries...we love them all.) How about meats? If you've ever bought local beef, where did you get it and how much was it? We don't have room for a full side of beef, but maybe a portion?
If anyone has any tips, let me know. I need to put my new friend to work.
He's my new best friend: an extra freezer!
Excuse me for a moment while I go hush the pre-kids, pre-marriage part of myself who is shaking her head in shame at the fact that I really am this excited, this happy because one of my birthday presents this year is an appliance. An appliance.
But what can I say? I have come to really enjoy growing and cooking and preserving food. And this little guy is going to make things so much easier.
We've wanted an extra freezer for a long time. But first we were apartment-dwellers, and then we were homeowners, but homeowners handicapped by a long, skinny utility room and a mini-size garage, with no room to put a freezer in either one. And then we realized that there is no rule that says a freezer can only go in a garage or a utility room. We have an office/spare room. Why can't we put a freezer in there? And so Eric's guitars got shoved out of the way a little (sorry sweetie) and our new little freezer has a home in here.
But, so far, I have barely put him to use at all. Seven jars of freezer jam. (The last of the 44 jars that I ended up making this year). That's it! I know he's capable of so much more! I have all kinds of ideas of things I'd like to fill him with. Bags and bags of frozen berries of all sorts. Some good, locally-grown meat. Green beans. Oh, the possibilities are endless.
And now I need your help. Tell me, people. Where are your favorite local sources? I'm lucky, in that there are so many different farms, farmstands, and farmer's markets around here that I hardly know which one to turn to. Which place has the best prices on berries? (Of any kind: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries...we love them all.) How about meats? If you've ever bought local beef, where did you get it and how much was it? We don't have room for a full side of beef, but maybe a portion?
If anyone has any tips, let me know. I need to put my new friend to work.
10 comments:
We just bought 1/4 grass fed beef (from a co-worker's ranch, one time thing) and I am so glad we did.
I am also making twice/triple as much with some of our dinners -- so there are enchiladas, lasagna, casserole, pumpkin bread in our freezer.
I will come back to see what people say about local sources. All I know is farmer's markets and haven't made use of those much.
Isn't it great how these "grown up" hokey things are so much fun now? :)
My new site: www.thealburnfamily.com
I have friends who have local farm and are selling free-range chickens and lamb (I'm picking up my chickens today!). I also buy my eggs from them. They are at Provenance Farm, and I don't know how to find stuff out about them except through their blog: http://rachelprickett.wordpress.com/.
Soon he won't be big enough! Congrats!
My freezer, about the same size as that, is full of some grass fed beef from Harrisburg. Yum! But the place you need to go to find local farmers is....FOODHUB www.food-hub.org
It has everything food on there and is growing daily. The site just started maybe 6 months ago. I'm on there!
Oh hey, I didn't realize you have to be a member on food hub to see the sellers and buyers. But lucky for you, you know someone who is!
I hope to have u-pick green beans, squash, and tomatoes, and picked corn and beets. They're planted, anyway. Now I have lettuce and cabbage.
@ Cheryl: Oh, Food Hub sounds really cool. I am definitely interested in getting grass-fed beef from somewhere.
Ha! It looks like you have the exact same freezer as me--I got mine a couple weeks ago. :)
Woo hoo -- let the fun begin! I'm sure you'll have no problem with the berries as they're all over the place, like most produce, though Kisler Farms http://kislerfarms.wordpress.com/ was great for tomatoes and peppers last year for making sauce and salsa. For beef, we've ordered through Northwest Natural Beef http://northwestnaturalbeef.com/, but our absolute best use of the freezer was when Greg went tuna fishing last September :)
Enjoy!
Forgot to mention that it was the 30-pound box of beef that we ordered from Northwest Natural -- much less space than a 1/4 cow!
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