How to Make and Can Old Fashioned Pickled Beets!

By Stephanie Dayle
I originally wrote and published this article for American Preppers Network and have moved it here to my personal site and updated the information, of course with permission. 

It’s that time of year when the beets in your garden should be finishing up. When I was a kid our choices were to eat them fresh, which I loved, or pressure can them, and I despised eating canned beets. They were the source of many late nights at the dinner table while I stared down the “you may not get up until you eat your beets” ultimatum.

As an adult I learned that they could also be pickled, my mom was not fond of pickled beets so she never preserved them that way (you can also dehydrate them but that’s another article). I love old fashioned pickled beets, they are by far one of my most favorite snacks and side dishes! They are a far cry from their pressure canned counterparts. Want to try something unique? Slice them thinly (or 'french' them if you are familiar with that slicing technique) and apply them to a sandwich featuring cured meat, like salami.

And by “old fashioned” I mean they are pickled using a sweet brine with traditional ingredients. 

Row of beets

Why Grow Beets?

For some beets are an acquired taste - like coffee or beer. This means you should keep trying them even if your first impressions weren't really good. The taste will grow on you, as your taste buds learn to appreciate the flavor. Why bother? Because they are a great survival food in your garden to name just one reason, so keep reading oh great finicky one.

Beets are a quick growing, hardy root vegetable. They are cold hardy so beets are a great crop to get in the ground as soon as possible for an early harvest giving you food when nothing else is ready yet. Beets can be steamed, roasted (my favorite), grilled, shredded for salad, and of course they can be preserved by being canned or pickled. 

They are also packed with potassium, magnesium, folate, and B vitamins! In other words, they are really good for you (and for any of you who are a possible 'mom-to-be'). Beets are also really good for livestock and are often fed to cattle, horses, and are also good for chickens. The greens are completely eatable and are often prepared like ‘collard greens,’ beets can also be juiced or dehydrated. Pigs, cattle, chickens and horses also enjoy the greens so nothing goes to waste. Click here for heirloom beet seed.

Here is a quick ‘how to’ on canning pickled beets!

Canning Pickled Beets

(recipe courtesy of the Ball Blue Book)

• 3 quarts beets (double recipe if you have more)
• 2 C sugar
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp whole allspice
• 1/2 Tbsp of whole cloves (I add this is variation of the recipe)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 cups vinegar (use cider vinegar)
• 1 1/2 C water

Remove tops and roots, then wash beets.

To peel beets: Cook beets for 20-30 in a large stock pot or canner (like pictured above), until you can just barely stick a fork them, then run them under cold water or stick them in a tub of cold water and peel them easily with your hands. 

• Wash beets, cook beets, peel and then quarter beets.
• Combine everything except beets in large sauce pot.
• Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove cinnamon sticks.
• Pack beets into hot jars leaving 1/4″ headspace.
• Ladle hot liquid over beets leaving 1/4″ headspace.
• Remove air bubbles, then add lids and bands.
• Process for 30 minutes in a hot water bath canner.
• Yield: Approximately 6 pints or 3 quarts.

All ingredients combined and simmering – this is the sweet brine ready to go!

Sterilized jars filled with peeled beets – ready for the brine.

Water bath canner full of jars.

Finished product.

**This recipe and process is approved for safety – I even asked the WSU Extension Office if adding a few cloves was ok – they said it would not alter the safety of the recipe. Many people have written articles about pickling beets on the internet, any similarities are merely coincidence.**

How to Compost and Why

Post by Stephanie Dayle - via American Preppers Network

Compost your livestock manure.  Manure is a very valuable and underutilized resource.  It’s estimated that one horse can produce $175 a year or more in compost, with cattle doing a little better than that.  Start by using a cart attached to a tractor or ATV or you can even use a wheelbarrow.  Survey your property a few times each month, and pick up all the manure.  While this may seem like an unnecessary chore I usually wrap it in with another chore like, checking the fence lines or moving hay.

Combine that manure with any used shavings, straw, grass clippings, and other additional manure from stables or pens you may have, and form a compost pile.  You can make a large bin with lumber, cement or railroad ties to hold the manure, if you aren’t concerned about how a compost pile will look on your property or you can simply make a pile - making sure it’s located on flat ground to reduce run off .

Heat: Although the composting process will occur naturally over several months or years, with human help the entire process can be completed in as little as 4-6 weeks.  Four essential ingredients are needed: oxygen, moisture, and a proper Carbon:Nitrogen ratio.  When these components are present, the compost will heat up naturally to approximately 130-140º F.  This heat will kill most internal parasites and many weed seeds present in the manure.  If you are composting correctly, you won’t be breeding flies.

Public Domain Image

Oxygen: The decomposition process takes place when particle surfaces come in contact with air.  To increase oxygen intake, turn your compost piles / bins as often as possible (anywhere from 3 times per week to a few times per month).  The more you turn, the faster you reach the end result. Turning the pile can be done by hand or with a tractor, in a rotating drum that you can build yourself, or in a bin that you can buy from the store.  This Increases the surface area by chopping, shredding, or breaking up the material speeds up the composting process.  If the compost lacks oxygen, it will have a bad odor - turn it more frequently.

Moisture: Your compost pile should be about the consistency of a well wrung-out sponge.  You don’t want it too wet and you don’t want it too dry.  If the compost appears too wet, turn it or add dry materials such as leaves or straw.  If it’s too dry, simply add some water.  Maintain moisture levels by covering your compost piles with either composting fabric or plastic tarps.

Carbon:Nitrogen:  Carbon and nitrogen are the two fundamental elements in composting.  The bacteria and fungi that break down the manure and turn it into compost are fueled by carbon and nitrogen.  The bulk of your compost pile should be carbon with just enough nitrogen thrown in to aid in the decomposition process.  Carbon is found in ‘browns’ (leaves, sawdust, straw, shredded newspaper, ashes, cornstalks) and higher nitrogen is available in ‘greens’ (clover, manures, alfalfa, garden waste, grass clippings, hay, seaweed, weeds).  If you have too much nitrogen, ammonia gas will be produced and you’ll notice a foul odor. The ideal C:N ratio is 25-30:1.  Below are some examples of materials that might be added to your compost and their corresponding C:N ratios.

Source Carbon:Nitrogen ratio

• Manure 15:1
• Dry Weeds 90:1
• Weeds (fresh) 25:1
• Cardboard 300-400:1
• Grass clippings 15-20:1
• Pine Needles 80:1
• Alfalfa 12:1
• Seaweed 20:1
• Vegetable waste/produce 19-25:1
• Garden Waste 30:1

• Leaves 50-60:1
• Sawdust 300-400:1 

• Wood chips 500-600:1 

• Straw, cornstalks 60-80:1

Locate your pile in a spot that tends to remain dry so that you can access the pile with equipment to turn it when needed.  To reach the proper temperatures, a compost pile needs to be at least 3 feet square by 3-4 feet high.  Composting in a bin decreases the size required for adequate temperatures, but involves more cost initially.

Finished Product: Photo by Kessner Photography

Compost piles are combustible.  Keep your pile away from housing facilities, and just like hay storage facilities, don’t allow smoking near your compost piles!  If a pile smells like alcohol, the conditions are ripe for combustion.  DO NOT add water at this time; instead, turn the pile to aerate it.  Your compost pile will cool off on its own and will be approximately 1/2 its original size.  Finished compost will smell and look like rich soil!

You can take this compost and use it on your own garden and save money not having to buy fertilizer, or you can sell it to your neighbors, or spread it on your pasture.  Livestock grazing on pastures spread with composted manure (instead of fresh manure) are more likely to graze normally and are less likely to restrict grazing to areas with the thinnest application rates.  Your pasture will produce more grass meaning you will have to buy less hay.

Handy Tip: To find buyers for your composted manure contact local topsoil companies, tree farms, landscapers, and organic farmers.  A sign out on the road will also help.  There's a good chance that you will need to deliver it to them but selling your extra compost can allow you to use that money for your critters - this allows them to earn their keep in addition to providing eggs, milk or meat.

Click Here to visit The Home Front General Store! 
for everyday emergency preparedness supplies.



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The Dollar Value of a Garden

By Stephanie Dayle, via The American Preppers Network

One of the most self-sufficient steps you can make, is to start a garden and relearn that life saving skill at one time all Americans knew; how to grow your own food.  But have you ever wondered if you are really saving any money working away the summer in your garden?  I even hear preppers claim that they aren't really saving any money.  Society has become so good at avoiding what seems like ‘work’ we can reason our way out of almost anything, can’t we? Even something as beneficial as gardening. So let’s address some of these issues.

At face value, the National Gardening Association (NGA) estimates that the average garden plot of 600 square feet produces an average of $600 worth of produce.  But some people would think that’s a fairly conservative figure especially if you take the value of ‘organic’ local produce into account.  That figure may be closer to $2000 per 600 feet (Off The Grid News).  Now if one uses those numbers; a single acre could theoretically produce nearly $50,000 worth of organic veggies, fruits, and nuts per season (Off the Grid News).  How is that figure for you naysayers?!  Now that figure isn’t based on 600 square feet producing a couple of tomatoes plants, and some cucumbers or squash you’ll snack on only during the summer, it’s based on that 600 square feet producing absolutely as much as possible and you preserving what it produces - eating that during the winter instead of running to the grocery store every week.  Also bare in mind, that when food prices go up so does the value of a home garden.

“Water and irrigation costs money.”

Making use of rain catches, and/or a drip system you can significantly reduce your cost to water the garden.  The rain gutters on your home can be run into rain barrels, when the spring rains slow you can then use that water to supplement what you are already using for your garden.

“Good seeds every year are expensive.”

Invest in heirloom seeds; learn the skill of saving seeds and you will have a renewable garden every year, except for specialty items.  Hybrid seeds are what is most commonly sold in most stores unless they are marked as otherwise, hybrid seeds are not genetically modified seeds, but they are seeds that resulted from the crossing of two different inbred parent plants.  So the resulting offspring may or may not reproduce.  Therefore seeds may not grow and if they do, the resulting plants may not be as bountiful as the original parent plants that you enjoyed so much.  So while there is no real harm in growing hybrid seeds,  heirloom seeds tend to be the better option for cost saving and sustainability. 

“Fertilizer and pesticides cost money too.”

By going organic you avoid chemicals that could be harmful to you and your pets in the long run, and you also lower your costs.  Compost – the ‘gardeners gold’ can be made by you for nothing but a little time.  A quick search over at the APN forum will provide you with all the information you need to have your own bountiful organic garden. It may take some time to get your soil in line but once that is done you will reaping the rewards of a little hard work for years to come.

“My time is worth money too.”

Think of your garden as an investment on the above mentioned garden value.  Nothing is free.  Rather than spending your time inside on the computer, you could be outside enjoying the weather and getting a little exercise.  Instead of running children around to activities that they don’t enjoy nearly as much as they enjoy spending time with you; spend the time outdoors in the garden with them. Teach them how care for plants, veggies and ultimately themselves.  I don’t think you can put a dollar sign on an entire family learning a survival skill and spending time together.  To me, that, is money well spent.

“Then I will have to spend money on all the stuff I need to preserve the food.”

You can find most of the equipment you need to freeze, dry, and can your own food at fairly affordable prices in thrift stores, on Craigslist, and at yard sales.  Most of this equipment is reusable; there is no reason to buy new if you don't want to.  Again, this will be an investment, every year you grow a garden and put away food that equipment will pay for itself.

When it's all said and done, growing a garden and storing the food you produce is one of the best things you can do to bring your monthly food bill down, and to protect yourself from possible future food shortages.  Don’t just store food away for emergencies, use it everyday.  In the winter eat your home canned and dehydrated veggies instead of buying them at the store.  Some experts say that the average gardener can cut their monthly grocery bill by more than half by making wise use of their garden produce (Off the Grid News).

During World War II, it’s estimated that over 20 million Americans planted Victory Gardens due to a massive effort to take the pressure off the food industry so they could produce cheaper food for our military overseas.  They eased the sting of food rationing.  Victory Gardens provided about almost as much vegetables produced during that time as the food industry during normal production.  Gardeners who didn’t have room for their own garden made use of containers, vacant lots, building rooftops, balconies and other public spaces. Today, gardeners are starting to do the same once again discouraged by skyrocketing food prices, tasteless pesticide laden food, and bio-tech vegetables.

Learning how to garden is easy once you make the decision to do it.  Contact your local extension office and garden clubs for classes and free information on how to grow a garden in your area.

Click Here to See a Survival Seed Kit - having a back up seed kit stored is the next best thing to having your own garden now.  While it's always important to learn how to garden first, a survival seed kit is there if you need it.

How to Plant Fruit Trees

By Stephanie Dayle, via The American Preppers Network

If you have a yard and are looking into adding some trees for shade or land scaping, may I suggest planting fruit trees?  They provide shade, look pretty (apple and cherry trees have wonderful blossoms on them every spring) and they give something back to you each summer or fall.  When Hubby and I decided to put in fruit trees, our friends asked why?  Their main concern was that I would then ‘have to do something’ with the fruit every fall.  This is how lazy we have become, when people avoid putting in fruit trees because they don’t want to ‘have’ to do anything with the fruit!

Bare-root tree planted, three weeks later.

Even if you do nothing with those fruit trees, they are a small insurance policy.  If we are ever faced with a long term emergency, those trees will be there giving you food when maybe nothing else is.  You can always put an ad on craigslist and give your tree’s fruit away.  There are plenty of people who would be willing to come and pick it, that way you won’t have to ‘do anything’ with the fruit but you would still have the trees just in case.  There are also gleaning clubs that you can contact, that will come and clear off all the fruit when it is ready, some clubs even donate to local food banks.  Of course, ideally you would want to learn how to preserve your fruit and not let it go to waste.  This can be done through canning, freezing, drying, wine making, and through jams and jellies (click here for a recipe and instructions on making easy jams and jellies).  But first, you have to start with the tree!

When to Plant
Fruit trees can be planted in early spring as soon as the frost in the ground has thawed.  If your soil is waterlogged, wait until it drains to plant.  You can also plant in the fall, but winter temperatures may damage young stock if you live in colder climates.

Bare-Root or Potted
Bare-root nursery stock is usually less expensive but it will still establish and grow well, if planted in April or early May.  If you must store the trees a short time before planting, keep them in a cool, shady place where they will be out of the sun and wind.  Pack the roots in moist sawdust or moss to prevent them from drying out. Potted or ball-and-burlap trees are preferable for planting dates in late May or early June, and are usually more expensive than bare root trees.

Choosing a Site

Pick a site with direct sunlight, preferable with southern exposer.  It’s also important to read the tag and do a little research to find out just how big your tree will get.  Allow enough room for future growth between your tree and other buildings, avoid power lines and give other future trees space if you are planting more than one or want to plant additional trees in the future. 

Site Prep
Set your tree in a bucket of water to soak while you dig the hole. Cut through the sod with a shovel and make a hole big enough for the root ball so the roots don’t touch the edge of the hole anywhere. If you are planting your fruit trees in your lawn, set the chunks of sod aside so you can reapply them to the surface around the tree when you are done.  Next, water the hole so the ground is nice and damp for the tree if your soil is on the dry side.

Pruning
Trim off any broken or dead sections of the tree’s roots, also take this opportunity to prune your little tree, this may seem harsh as you haven’t even planted it yet but it will often shock the tree into growing more aggressively, increasing it’s chances of surviving the transplant.

Planting
When planting the tree, if you are concerned about poor soil, you can mix in some compost or peat moss at this time, but avoid fertilizer as it may damage the roots which are already in shock.  If your tree has a ‘graph union’ (a point where they joined a branch to the rootstock – this will look like slight to sharp bend in the trunk, see above graphic) bury it so that the soil line is 2-3 inches below the union.  If you have a dwarf or semi-dwarf trees and you bury the union, the tree will become a full sized tree.  Position your tree in the hole so that low branch is facing south, this branch shade the trunk during hot summer days.

Fill the hole with your choice of soil and maybe some peat moss and compact it by gently stamping your feet around the base of the tree, reapply your sod if desired then water your tree with 2 full 5 gallon buckets of water pouring slowly so that it does not run off.  Also consider staking or caging your new tree not only for support but also for protection against animals and for visibility.

Fertilizer and Water
After several weeks it should be okay to apply some fertilizer, although in some areas it is recommended you wait till the next growing season, check with your local county extension office for their advice on your area (click here for a general fact sheet on fertilizing fruit trees).  Watering your new tree is also important to help get it started, especially in the first few weeks after planting.  Try to apply five gallons of water around the base of the tree every week of the growing season in which there is less than an inch of rainfall.

Be patient and keep in mind, depending on the size of your newly planted tree, it may take several years for it to start producing fruit.

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