Comments on Canadian Doomer: Preserving Food & Washing Dishes - Energy Use

Sigh. I never did write that post. Life is interf...

2013-01-25T13:21:40.646-05:00

Sigh. I never did write that post. Life is interfering with my blogging!!

Once we move, my issue will be that we won't have a freezer or even a fridge! Regarding green beans, one thing I want to try is salt curing them. I found directions in my old Putting Food By.

Just catching up on old posts! I remember reading ...

2013-01-25T13:14:02.149-05:00

Just catching up on old posts! I remember reading somewhere (on of Sharon Astyk's books maybe?) about preserving costs, and freezing beat canning, but only for items that weren't going to be stored for very long. So, if you are eating everything up within a few months, freezing "won", but for longer term (1 year? can't remember) canning "won". I'm sure it also depends on your energy source: gas stove vs. electric vs. wood, and local energy costs to run the freezer.

Cold cellering, of course, beat both, and dehydrating was somewhere in there too (again, depends on energy costs), with solar dehydrating a clear winner over both freezing and canning.

For me, it depends on the food: tomatoes get either dehydrated or canned, green beans only get dehydrated or frozen (can't stand the canned ones), etc.

I wish I knew what the problem was. :( I'm so...

2013-01-16T20:45:28.914-05:00

I wish I knew what the problem was. :( I'm sorry. I'm glad you persist.

I have a hard time getting the option to leave a c...

2013-01-16T19:03:47.627-05:00

I have a hard time getting the option to leave a comment to show up. I have to click to see an individual post several times before it appears. Our dishwasher died several years ago, and we just do them by hand. I don't think it's using a lot more water, and the investment to get a new one would never get paid off in our lifetimes. There is a big "too much bother to replace it factor"

Not really on the soap, I don't do antibactera...

2013-01-14T11:46:52.813-05:00

Not really on the soap, I don't do antibacteral, and I don't do fancy, I use dawn, the blue one only..

that soap not only does dishes like you would not believe but it works wonders for bugs if you need to do the soap water spray, it can cut grease out of a critters coat like you would not believe, and it never bothers my hands..

They came out with a ultra or extra blue.. didn't like it.. only like the orginal one, never do the other colors etc.

I do have mulch around the tree, not right up on the base, but around it coming out to the tree branch drip lines, and so I water it out in that area, so that it has to sink down etc.

I hear you on the pots, Me, Hubby grab me a big pot for this.. him, which one, this one or that one or that one or that one.. but despite always looking for big steel bowls at all the farms sales, when harvest time coms, I never seem to have enough, could always use just a bit more LOL

That's one of the reasons why I don't thi...

2013-01-14T11:27:21.827-05:00

That's one of the reasons why I don't think anyone should rely on freezing.

Sigh. I have visions of permanently painting each...

2013-01-14T11:25:32.765-05:00

Sigh. I have visions of permanently painting each family member's name on a plate, bowl and cup! Then if we have company, I can haul out the box with the Christmas dishes. (Not Christmas-themed, but the dishes that Mom brought out for Christmas every year.)

Just after Miss P was born, a couple of ladies came over from church to give me a hand, and one decided to clean out my pot/pan cupboard. She kept asking "Which of these do you use?" ALL of them! LOL "Which ones do you use often?" ALL of them!

Do you use a special cleaner for your dishwater to go to the fruit trees?

I don't mind using the freezer for preserving,...

2013-01-14T11:16:20.333-05:00

I don't mind using the freezer for preserving, however if the power is out for a few days we would lose all our food. Living in Northern BC that is a possibility particularly if you live far outside of town. Also, I find that I don't often have the foresight to take something out of the freezer days ahead to thaw safely. Canned is instant and doesn't run the risk of going bad in a power outage. I also use the dehydrator because it takes up less space.

I do the dishes by hand, if water is low, I will d...

2013-01-14T10:38:27.889-05:00

I do the dishes by hand, if water is low, I will do it a pan and use the grey water on the fruit tree's but the rest of the time, it just goes down the sink and into the septic system, I perfer how dishes come out by hand washing perosnally, I don't see any point in using a dishwasher and then rewashing the dishes..

I would kill to get to the point of only having one set of things per person and you want to eat at your next meal, do the dishes but that is so far from happening at my place its not even funny.. To a point I get it when I am large batch cooking and or canning, I am always so grateful for all the stuff in the kitchen but dang its a lot of stuff to store on the off-season.

I still have to write the post about costs for pre...

2013-01-14T08:55:12.197-05:00

I still have to write the post about costs for preserving. :) Don't worry, I'm not going to judge you for having a freezer, and we do still use our fridge's freezer, although I'm not sure it's the wisest choice for a couple of reasons. I'll explain in my post.

Definitely redundancy! I keep telling Mr D "Redundancy squared!" The homestead has a gas generator and propane. We want to add solar and possibly micro-hydro to that. Don't JUST can your meat - can it, cure it, dehydrate it, figure out ways to keep it "on the hoof" until it's time to eat (rabbits & chickens come to mind immediately), and yes, if you have the ability, freeze it.

On canning, I like the redundancy of using both ca...

2013-01-14T08:07:40.236-05:00

On canning, I like the redundancy of using both canning and freezing. I love canned fruit. It's worth the trouble just to see the beautiful jars lined across my shelves. I have been inspired to try canning meat this year by you and Farmgal. Then, my investment this year will be to try to get my freezer hooked up to run on solar power. You are so right that the initial outlay of a dishwasher or solar panel is an important component of any 'plan'. And my husband and I don't have the skills to put such an important appliance on solar since reliability would be crucial; we have a tiny farm and freeze some of our meat. I have talked to a few people about this installation and everyone is still looking for big jobs and believe me to be crazy. I am sure I can find help if I put my mind to it. It is such a comfort to be able to discuss these variables of a more constrained world with other sensible and thoughtful people.