I am a 69 year old farm wife who has just found your channel. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy your videos! My husband has farmed his entire life (he is 74 years young) in South Dakota. Yes he still works everyday and it keeps him young. Now back to you and your family! You and your husband are doing an incredible job rearing your children! I love your philosophy on child rearing. I wanted to make sure and let you know that because I have heard you speak about comments left by some who disapprove of your philosophy. From one woman and mother to another I am so proud of you!
I concur! I was raised during the 60’s and 70’s on a rural farm just like this. It was fantastic! What a blessed and beautiful experience! Swimming in irrigation canals with snakes, picking leaches off of our legs afterwards. Milking cows, slopping pigs, riding horses, hoeing row after row, in the garden, before we could play. My father would dig holes in our front yard, FRONT YARD, and fill it with water. We would play in it for days. My mother never complained about her muddy, messy children. Boy, were we happy! I’m so grateful that we didn’t have cell phones or television. Our television broke and dad never fixed it. What a gift! We don’t give our children the gift of boredom these days. They need to exercise their imaginations!
As I am proud too. To live this life is truly a gift. My mom always said that my grandmother was poor. When we visited they had amazing meals fried cornbread I won't ever forget. And they may not had money but they had different riches. Mom can teach them have time for them showing them how to bake preserve create foods from field to table. Some say that's a hard life well working for others is hard I don't think there's to many easy jobs. Another thing I like to add is by the time mom works for someone she can earn much more doing what she does at home n being with family. I grew up poor in the city. So when I grew up I thought working hard outside the home was best and I have to say I failed my children. I wasn't there to teach them anything. I worked doubles thought giving my child a video game are a trip was more important. NO BEING WITH MY KIDS WAS MOST IMPORTANT. I for sometimes had a big garden I grew everything that I would buy but I bought meats. Anyway if u have a family spend time with them that's a gift you can't buy them. Have a garden even in a small yard everything is possible.. By the way unfortunately my adult children are not in my life I didn't form a motherly bond that IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. You won't have anything better than your children.
Isn’t this site wonderful? I found Ruthann a few weeks ago. I am 75 and like your husband still working hard every day. She has i spired me to become even more disciplined. I ordered the Mennonite cookbook from Amazon yesterday and am looking s9 forward to receiving it next week. Have a great day.
As a 63-year-old farm wife, I echo your sentiments. And I might add - I have learned a few things from this channel as well! One is never too old to learn. I grew up this way and it's refreshing to see some still able and willing to give their children (and themselves) the remarkable gift of this lifestyle. I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Ruthann, My wife stumbled on your video with the amish cinnamon rolls recently, and have not stopped watching since! We have both been binge watching your videos since we came across them. We are city dwellers with dreams of being able to live a life like you have with your family. You are an incredible woman with a solid and envious work ethic. How you are able to fit all you do in a day and still have time to film and edit your videos are impressive indeed.We are both so impressed with your skills and how you are teaching your kids that lifestyle. Really good kids. We subscribed to your channel because you have so much to teach and we have so much to learn from you, in hopes that some day we can start living that lifestyle as well. Its a Joy to know of your faith in Christ as well! Many blessing to you and your family
I’m an Alvin fan! Nothing more admirable than a man who loves God, loves his wife, loves his family, works hard, and shares valuable information with his neighbors (on TH-cam).
Indeed, but even extremely busy people have to think about their health, and Elvin needs to dedicate some of his mental bandwidth to dealing with that belly. Not saying he needs a sixpack, just get it down to healthy. We all need to preserve OURSELVES as well. Those boys are going to need him for many years to come. Sorry to be a downer, but belly fat is the most dangerous, and that waist size is a health emergency. I hate to see it happen to a family man. Put it on the to-do list, Elvin!
I love how much information and wisdom your videos contain. We are older with grown children. We are starting to homestead so that we can provide nutritious food for our 2 (as of now) grandkids. God has given us a vision to provide a place and a way to show our grandkids the importance of faithfully raising and growing our food. We want to give them the skills we don’t currently have so they can know how to provide for their families in the future. My husband of 42 years was a city boy, so we raised our kids in a neighborhood. Most of the older generation of our family are gone now, and we didn’t learn what we could from them. We will dedicate these remaining years to learning all we can to pass to our kids and grandkids so they will be prepared. Your channel has helped me and my daughter learn to can, which we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. Next year will be the first large garden on our land. I’m so grateful that you’ve given your precious time helping us learn new skills even in our 60s! Thank you and God bless you and your family!
Loved your post, it happens too often where children, grandchildren don't learn these skills. We are seniors 67 and 69 and grow as much as we have space for and freeze and can.
Oh my gosh, you're doing what we've done. 10 yrs ago my husband 71 and myself 61 moved from Mn to Tn. So I could start our homestead and raise our 2 grandkids!! Boy, what a ride!
God bless you for using common sense and trying to live a simple life, not keeping up with the Jone’s and having a materialistic type of lifestyle. Let’s pray the young ones see what you’re teaching them and give it real value also.
@@maggiedoor6093 We’ve had small gardens in our backyard, but never have we tried to grow a garden in order to preserve nutritious food for our family instead of buying it. It’s daunting. I’m so glad there is a community of folks who have wisdom to share. We are blessed!
@@smadden911 that’s awesome! We are not raising our grandkids but we want to have a place for them to have a simple life. We want them to see how with work and faith, God provides all we need! We don’t know what the future holds, but we know that learning how to take care of our family is a priority. Thanks for the encouragement!
One thing I appreciate so much about you and Jessica at Three Rivers is that you think things through so logically. You don't just do it the way it's always been done and you don't just jump at any new thing. You are thoughtful and wise. Very refreshing to behold.
I have been wanting to jump on the freeze dryer ban wagon for a minute now. After hearing your reasons for not having one. That also makes sense for me. Especially since I am canning a lot more. I am now okay with not getting a freeze dryer and I no longer feel inadequate for not having one. Thank you Ruthhann for giving me another perspective on this.
@@bendy6626 I disagree, you can not buy a year's worth for the price of a freeze dryer. Freeze dried strawberries are $7.00 for an OUNCE at Aldis. FD'd food is VERY EXPENSIVE. I spent 650.00 on a month's worth to store in case of emergency.
All I can say is wow! You’ve got a store in your basement!!! All that hard work pays off in more ways than you can see with your eyes!! I LOVE your channel!!!
Thank you to Mr Elvin for his first appearance! Thanks to you for sharing so much informations, this beautiful cold room and family moments. I also put zinc with my green beans bc of your advice. 👍
I appreciate Elvin showing how he built your cold room. I also enjoy seeing jars of canned foods. About freeze dryers, I get overwhelmed by “ sales pitches “ for them on so many channels. I am 74 and raising all the food I can in my backyard, and I am so grateful to raise as much as I do. it’s my reality a costly freeze dryer isn’t. I love your kind approach that seems to reach so many.
Heidi on RainCountry here on TH-cam, has DOZENS of regular dehydrator and air drying videos. Shes pushing the boundries of what she has previously dehydrated, and has successfully preserved raw eggs, whole milk & meats. She uses an air brake bleeder to remove oxygen and create a vacuum seal for her dried goods. Hope this helps someone, take care.❤
First video I see of yours and Im already in love. You bring realistic inspiration for us all, plus great learnings for everyday. Wish everyone had the opportunity to learn from someone with your level of knowledge
What a sweet smile Elvin has! Thank him for doing this for us. I absolutely love all your videos and learn so much from you. I garden, have chickens, and multiple bee hives. You are a great inspiration! 😊
I'm late commenting here. I have had many say that a freeze dryer is worth it. Yet, when I look at its cost and at what I'm currently doing to preserve food my household likes, I can't justify the price tag. Plus I don't have a space I can dedicate for it. I have enjoyed dehydrated foods that were several years old by the time I finished eating them. We don't have a large household like yours, so a bumper crop fruit year means it will take us a while to go through the dried fruit. Ideally, it keeps us supplied until the next harvest or next big harvest. I love your cold room. Our cellar can run a bit damp, and things rust there with alacrity because we don't empty the dehumidifier as often as we should.
I think solar panels make more sense than a freeze dryer especially with your skill set. Thank you so much for sharing all of your experience and knowledge for managing garden harvests. Very helpful and encouraging. Hope you and your family have a great day!
That is what I like about it too. It is not fussy, just straight forward and highly effective. Tell Elvin he did an amazing job for his TH-cam debut! I would have been standing there like a deer in the headlights trying to remember my name! 😂
Thank you for always having a common sense approach to canning, drying, storing. I can a certain way but had never put a name to it. I can most everything the way that you do so now I know, at age 70, where my basic concepts came from. I absolutely adore watching your channel and have integrated new foods into my supply. I always open a new food jar the next day to try it and make notes if I need them. Thank you for showing us your family’s life, I know you have made a difference!
I have 2 freeze dryers . I have friends, church members and patients who are poor and not prepared for anything. I have emergency food should someone need it. I have about 3 years of my garden and favorite foods put back. I think the world is getting bad with food shortages on the way. Jesus is coming
@@miephoex It IS totally fascinating that the example is one person (well he organized it, sure the workers were many ) saving for a whole nation (not himself) and that God used the government to administer that food. God is so Good to warn, and bring the seven years of abundance! Think how simple prepping could be if people just stored grains like the example was! No jars, canners, supplies, no fancy, equipment, pressure canners, dehydrators, freezedryers. God's example was pretty simple. We've totally complicated it.
@@marilyndekker1541 There sure are many examples of God miraculously feeding people for sure! Christian preppers never include those and rarely speak of them. Like the loaves and fishes. The widow's oil and the biggie 40 years manna...I don't think we should ever exclude God's provision!
I love my freeze dryer. The main things I dry are raw milk, bone broth, egg, and herbs. I still store it in jars, but it takes less space for me to do that. I actually don’t do much freeze dried fruit because of your reasons. My kids eat it just because it is good. I prefer to can or ferment my veggies too. What I do really love about my freeze dried is that I can freeze dry organ meats and sprinkle the powder into soups or taco/chili meat and my family never knows.
I have the harvest right and azure standard bags. They both work just fine for me. I actually prefer the azure oxygen absorbers more. I also store in canning jars, because I can put it back in the case and stack the cases. It’s a lot easier to store vs the bags sliding around. And I don’t have to worry about rodents. I still use an oxygen absorber when I use canning jars.
I finally just opened a jar of apple juice to use as part of a smoothie last evening dated 2013. So it's been sitting in a quart jar for TEN years that had gotten "lost" in a cardboard box that Mom & I canned together for the first time way back then. GOD rest her soul, I miss her immensely. I didn't have a pantry back then and some of my jars were "lost" in the garage up until we flooded a year ago. It's a bit bittersweet joy at times to come across the projects we enjoyed doing together 10 years ago. She taught me so much and I miss her immensely. But now it's time to focus on taking care of Dad
A suggestion for those peels from the apples. Toss with a bit of sugar and cinnamon and then bake in a low oven until crispy. Such a great treat for kids. Thanks for sharing your hard work and success.
Such a wonderful cold room. I can a lot. I tried water glassing eggs. My apple butter has won fair ribbons. It’s a family favorite. I love the whole process I have peaches, blueberry, apple butter, string beans,carrots and much more. I’m all about buying the jars just like I am with fabric. I always tell myself I might need more. I’m a quilter so I have a lot of fabric. I’ve been a widow for 25 years and I’m in my late 70s. I spend a lot of time by myself and your videos are such a wonderful treat. I love your way of life. I wish everyone could see the benefits of growing your own food. Thank you. Candi Echols Seguin Texas.
Thanks for this video i am a new preserver that's almost an empty nester. I Thank you for not pushing the freeze dryer as so many ppl tend to do. I love my dehydrator and I'm getting more into canning, fermentation etc. Love your channel Ruth Ann ❤
I agree. I can't justify the cost and we'd have to have an electrician put in a dedicated outlet which is another expense. I use my dehydrator constantly.😊
Ive been binge watching your videos for 2 days !! 😂 Im convinced that your lifestyle is one of the healthiest Ive seen. Kids are well fed, they seem very happy and I love the fact that they are included in preparations in every aspect of the food process. From the earth to the table. The animals are well taken care of too. I personally hate videos that seem to make everything to do with canning etc seem so far out of reach or diffulcult. I love the way you keep it simple with a lot of commen sense. I was glad to see you're still sharing your knowledge and ways of doing things. I think Your mom & grandmother have truly given you a wonderful thing by showing you how to survive & feed your beautiful family. One of the things that you said in another video that I deeply resonated with you is knowing that the government as well as big box stores & big corporations need us to need them... you dont need them for survival..to me that is truly what freedom is about. I really appreciated the fact that you shared the extent of your education. However most people with a college degree cant do what you do for your family & I believe personally just because your educated doesnt make you a better person as a whole. There are truly terrible educated people in our world and there you are in your world with limited education rising above the ridicule & I appreciate the fact that you havent let that stop you from continuing to share your way of life. Its a beautiful thing..God is good. Thank you for sharing because you really are helping people who dont know how to live a better and healthier life style.
Thank you for sharing! I love watching your channel! I have to say... I've wanted to start canning for 2 years. But after watching your 2 videos on taking the fear out of canning I took the leap and water bath canned applesauce. I didn't feel scared! Lol And I'm ready to water bath some more! Truly THANK YOU! ❤
THANK YOU for being bold enough to not be afraid to go against the very popular trend of having a freeze dryer. Your reasoning is also very sound which I think many people don't take into consideration. They just see that it is popular and hop online and buy it whether they need it or not. Hi Alvin! Your harvest is beautiful as are the kids who are helping you! Blessing to you- have a great trip!
I so enjoy watching your videos! It reminds me of years gone by, when I used to can LOTS of vegetables and fruits for my family. I loved the farming years! Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes and tips, and thank you for sharing your family with us! They are a delight!❤
You have very good reasons for avoiding a freeze dryer but if you do find a place to keep one they are worth the effort. Freeze dried cheese is amazing. I freeze dry eggs when I get an abundance. I freeze dry milk. The downside is having to use oxygen absorbers. I love your cold storage!
Using those jar vacuum sealers work great for a year or so storage. I use the oxygen absorbers for Mylar if I’m storing for hunting or camping meals only.
I got my freeze dryer because I now live alone and still grow many many tomato and pepper plants and much more. I usually freeze dry ingredients, rather than meals. With soups as the exception. Freeze dried fruits are very yummy, but freeze dried onions and hashbrowns and peppers and tomato slices, (for bacon sandwiches in the winter) YES please! I had crazy massive harvest of carrots two years ago and do not need to grow carrots now for years, because of freeze dryer. I cook from scratch and using freeze dried veggies in meals, when the kids are here they ask, was this freeze dried? They cannot tell the difference. I love the freeze dryer, but the time it takes to fill all four trays with chopped foods is a lot, then prep for canning too, wowza! Good thing I retired early, love your channel, Thank You for taking the time to film for us.
Loved seeing your storage of all your hard work. Everything raised and processed by you and your family. And you know the ingredients inside every single jar which is wonderful. No preservatives or anything artificial. That’s a wonderful way to raise a family.
What a beautiful, and bountiful harvest. It makes me smile, and warms my heart to see such beautiful fruits, and vegetables. I used to have a large backyard garden in Iowa, growing food for ourselves, our children, and their families, along with food for the neighbors, and our coworkers. I canned everything I could get my hands on, and dehydrated tons of food. My coworkers used to tease me that they were coming over to our house if anything nuclear happened, and they needed food. We have retired to Mexico City, where there is no room for gardens such as that. I miss it terribly.
This was so interesting and informative. It is amazing that you do all that you do! As far as an apocalypse goes, it is a normal human reaction to want to prepare for every eventuality. But it can drive you crazy if you let it, especially with everything going on in the world. I have prepared quite a bit, but when I start to worry that I don’t have enough, I have begun to tell myself I can do no more (because I physically and financially can’t) and I am trusting the Lord to supply what we need.
So enjoyed meeting you and your husband at HOA yesterday! We met at breakfast. I was the redhead with the long bearded husband, Angela and Ken Thacker. I love your channel! Great wholesome content. I gravitated to your channel because I grew up on a farm in North MO, not to far from IA....population 654. My Mother still lives on the farm in the house she was born. Its 125 acers and she manages it at 85 years young. Growing up we had most animals, cattle, sheep, chickens, gardens and show horses. Never kept dairy, but often helped and received milk from the neighbor's Jerseys cows. Would love to keep in touch, but I'm not too computer savvy.
So nice to meet Elvin! Thank you for the explanation. Awesome cold room tour and what a harvest! Love seeing the animals. Blessings to you and your family. ❤️🙏🏻Val C
Hello Ruthann. Gosh what an inspiration you are! I just stumbled across your channel and have watched a few of your videos already. I so admire your ability and work ethic. I feel lazy just watching you. You have made me feel motivated to try harder to be more self sufficient and healthy. I live on a 15 acre life style block in New Zealand. Thank you for your inspiration. Kindest regards, Beau Christine. 😊
Thank you for the instruction on the cold room!! I have been considering one for several years but could not imagine how to build it. Now that Elvin has been so kind to show us how, I think I can do it!! You and your entire family are such a blessing.
I appreciate your channel. You are a gifted teacher and I love how you explain the why and how of things. I grew up Mennonite and many of my questions were answered with “because” and “that’s the way it’s always been and will always be”. I’ve taught my kids to ask questions and to find answers and again you do this so well. Thank you.
I entertained the idea of buying one once I started to see all the channels who were raving about them. THEN I figured out these channels didn't pay for them. I'll stick with my dehydrator
I cant give you a reason to get a freeze dryer simply because you make very good points on why you dont need one right now! On down the line when some or all of the kids are out of the house and at college or starting their own families it would probably be a better time. We have friends that became empty nesters and kept the huge garden for 7-8 years. They got a freeze dryer and put back quite a bit of produce and meats. They then downsized the garden to keep room for things they liked fresh like tomatoes and corn. Since they were older and the garden became more taxing to keep up, the bounty they freeze dried has been a blessing for them. Only you know your particulars and youve got a very good practical sense about you. Youll succeed! God bless! 😊
I had the same thoughts you did about my freeze dryer. Until I purchased one. I don’t buy extra food to freeze dry. I use it for my over abundance of eggs during the spring and summer. Extra garden produce. I love having eggs when our flocks are not producing and I don’t have to buy them. My purée of squash for pies is so much easier to store. I don’t have a root cellar or cold room to store squash. So it works amazing for me.
I love my freeze dryer! I use mine all the time. I agree with the eggs, I have a lot I need to get in my freeze dryer, we prefer freeze dried over dehydrating. I haven't seen a jump in our electric bill, we've done bell peppers, Watermelon, strawberries, bananas, onions for onion powder, green beans, corn, tomatoes and the list keeps growing. I'm glad I got mine. Well worth it.
I also purchased a freeze dryer in late 2022. My biggest motivation was to store my excess eggs (since we went about 6 months without fresh eggs last year). I currently have about 25 dozen eggs that I freeze dried, without impacting what we had available for fresh use. I also use my freeze dryer on herbs (cilantro, basil, oregano, etc.) and also to store tea herbs. I was able to blend my own tea mix this way and I will be able to enjoy it all winter. It is an expense but I have thoroughly enjoyed having it available.
You gave the pigs the best squash. In Lancaster County Pennsylvania, we call them long necked pumpkins. The meat from them makes the best pumpkin pie ever. I grew them every year, and they are always my prize.
I have an Excalibur dehydrator, it's 9 tray, it has a fan, it dehydrates so fast, I found it used for 50$, well worth buying , this one had something wrong with it but we you tubed it, ordered the part, fixed it for 9$, I have used it for three years now, we dehydrate vegetables, fruits, jerky, tomatoes, onions, going to be doing garlic soon
My Husband & I just purchased a property that NEEDS "Foundation & Basement" work done on it & we are planning out a Cold Room & Underground Greenhouse ~ Your Sharing of this information is quite timely for Us! Thank You!!! Now, I would like to Return the Favor ~ We purchased a Freeze Dryer this past summer & have been using it for Processing a lot of our garden goodies. #1 They ARE Expensive but for Us, the price is worth it.... No, we are Not looking at Preserving for 25yrs, we simply Like the Flavor & Texture of the product & Ease of Storage. As for Dehydrating, I'm able to do that with my Oven ~ It's a Convection Oven ~ so we also process some foods that way & I also Can some of my goodies and so.... for US... It's a Win, Win, Win! Thank You SO MUCH for Sharing Your Family & the Wisdom You have Gained in Your Life Journey 🤗 You Truly ARE A Treasure Beyond Measure 💝 May You & Your Family Be Blessed with Just Enough "Teaching Moments" that Help Build Your Wisdom & Strength and in so doing, Bring so much Joy in Overcoming those Obstacles that You Truly Feel You Are Living a Blissful Life 💞💖 Much LOVE to You & Yours ~ GrammyMary & FarmerWayne 💞
We have a freeze dryer! Your reasons make a lot of sense. I found we loved doing peppers so much, I didn't like peppers out of the freezer, or dehydrator so that worked well. Camping meals we love it for, milk and eggs! We are a small family though and don't use everything we grow so it's great to preserve! I love being able to do broth and having powdered broth on hand. Cucumbers are so tasty! The texture and flavour is so vibrant and great, I don't do herbs because I'd rather just use my dehydrator for that. We had a crazy water melon crop and I pureed and Freeze Dried that, now we have a powder we can use. I wasn't sure we'd use ours enough but we really do, it's running almost non stop
Thank you for a very informative video. It was nice meeting Elvin. I sure appreciate both of you and your lovely family sharing your lives and all of the information that brings the rest of us confidence to tackle those projects we dream of doing, but fear failure so much we are seem to be frozen at the dream process. Again, thank you!
RuthAnn I am so happy for your family. You are such a joy. I love watching your channel. You are so blessed to have all the knowledge you have and the ability to grow and prepare and save all the food you have. I wish I knew how to even begin to do half of what you do.
Loved this, Ruthanne! So timely for me! We live in a very old farmhouse; our basement is a testament to how many times this house has been added onto, with some parts of the basement river stone, some parts shaped stones, and some parts concrete block...even have a couple of crawl spaces to make things even more crazy. In the southwest corner there is a little "room" closed in, well not very securely closed in...old wooden door with rusty hinges, plywood walls with lots of gaps, and insulation bats falling down willy nilly. There are some wooden shelves, and the floor is concrete. We have a lot of seasonal water seepage, too. So, all that to say...I think I have the makings for a decent cold room. Can't wait to show my husband the video part with Elvin explaining the closing in/insulating and ventilation. We may also need a dehumidifier...not true...we definitely need one! Always, always, love your Saturday morning videos! Hope you have a great trip to Virginia. We are actually heading there next week (Shenandoah National Park and New River Gorge in West Virginia) to celebrate our 51st anniversary. Blessings to you and your family, Marie
Ruth Ann, I much appreciate this video,and all the content you generously share. Can you tell us the temperature and humidity of your cold room, and of your basement? Many thanks to you and Elvin.
Sun drying outside here in Italy. The food or tomato onion slices or pepper or herbs sandwich between two window screens on the roof or suspended in rope swings or as shelves between sets of wooden ladders on the porch. Beautiful cold room. I saw your sweet corn day, and that reminds me of the note I was going to write you: have you sliced corn cobs into a couple inch disks and pickled them in a barrel? My friend described the delicious snappy corn cob pickles. I could see a pickle barrel in your cold room. ❤
What a beautiful harvest! Alvin is so cute! Love how you both work to raise and feed your family together with intention. Ingenious approach to a quick and functional cold room build. TFS your cold room. Understand Your reasoning for not using a freeze dryer.
I really enjoy watching the togetherness, the love in your family. I find myself smiling throughout your videos. That is an amazing harvest, too. Wow, just wow.
It was so nice meeting Alvin! Your cold room is fantastic, Ruthanne. I understand your reasons for not getting a freeze drier right now. My husband surprised me with the medium sized Harvest Right Freeze Drier this year and it has been such a wonderful blessing to our family.
I just found your channel in the last week or two and subscribed right off the bat. You and your family are living like we would’ve liked to. I’m older now and so are my kids., but it’s good to see you and your family raising your food. God bless you all, always. P.s. Tell Elvin he did a great job building and explaining the cold room.
Love the cold storage room. We are a family of four and our gardens did amazing this year so I canned at least if not more that 1200 jars, 4 freezers are packed. Time to rest and enjoy till spring.
We have the XL Harvest freeze dryer for 8 years. I freeze dry all leftovers. We also make our dog's food in huge batches and freeze dry half for future use. We freeze dry the chicken, quail,and turkey bones after we make broth from them. Then grind the bones into powder for the gardens. Half the broth I make, I freeze dry it and have instant broth. Takes up less space. Also freeze dry fresh brewed coffee/tea and make instant coffee and teas. Freeze dry all of our extra eggs for egg powder. Reconstitute it for scrambled eggs, omelettes, quiche and for baking. I also add it to the dogs food. I freeze dry cheese and turn it into powder to make mac and cheese or add cheeze powder onto fresh made pop corn or tonspinkle on top of potatoes or any other recipe to add cheese to it. I freeze dry beet tops, kale, spinach, lettuce, swish chard, collards and make super green powders for smoothies or vegetable caplets as a vitamin. I turn half our beets into beet powder. Tomatoes...we grow about 400 plants. I can tomatoes and the rest I freeze dry and turn i to powder. With tomato powder I make ketchup, paste, sauce, soup, tomato juice or vegetable juice, sprinkle it into stews or on top of home made pizzas. I powder mashed potatoes (no milk or butter ), just potatoes salt and pepper) to have fresh instant potatoes then add butter and milk. Takes up less space and never have to worry about spoiled potatoes. Freeze dry zucchini chips for snacks with seasoning in it. Freeze dry half the garlic we grow and same with the onions and turn them into powder. Some onions i chop and freeze dry them chopped. I freeze dry carmalized onion and use them for toppings on salads, soups, or casseroles. We freeze dry eldeberries and make powder to add to smoothies, syrups, and yogurt. Same with all the other berries, too. We eat them fresh and freeze dry them to add to cerealsN pancakes, sweet breads, cakes, cookies, pastries. Freeze dried banana chips, and we powder them too. Feeeze dried mini ice cream balls... great sweet snack. We freeze dry milk to have instant milk or to add to various recipes and add to coffee or tea. We have freeze dried peeled orange slices and turned that into powder and make orange juice. We do not grow oranges, but when they are in season and cheap, we buy a lot and freeze dry for the year. We grow watermelon and freeze dry and powder it for watermelon juice or add it to smoothies or yogurt. I make a lot of plain yogurt and we flavor it with the fresh fruit powders. I freeze dry pumpkins in chunks and then reconstitute it for the chickens during the winter. I also make pumpkin powder, then can make pumpkin pureee with all it's nutrients. Freeze drying holds the most of their nutrients better than dehydrating or canning. I freeze dry garlic scapes and green onions chopped up to add to recipes. I freeze dry our fresh herbs so we have them all year or two. We grow gourmet mushrooms and freeze dry whole, what we can't eat right away. I do grow mullien, comfrey, chamomile, mint, lavender, lemon balm, wild lettuce, echinacea, and more for teas and medicinals. As you see, our freeze drier is used a lot, daily. For us, we freeze dry to preserve the food, and most of its nutrients and powders take up less space on our shelves. I can fit 12 quarts of peaches into 1 half gallon mason jar. 50 pounds of potatoes into a 2 gallon jar. I do can as well, so when someone wants fresh peach slices, we have them, too. Same with apples when we are overloaded with apples. The peels I make apple cider vinegar for the year and give the animals the rest. Orange peels, i put into gallon glass jars and add white vinegar, which makes a natural greas cutter/cleaner. Same with lemon and lime peels. We have 12 in our family and I usually put up 1,200 jars for the year+ and freeze dry about 600 various sized glass jars. Freeze dried left over meals are in sealed mylar bags with an oxygen absorber in it. Same with the freeze dried dog food. All the freeze dried food in mylar bags are in buckets with airtight tops. Freeze dried foods and powders are at about 3+years in storage, same for the dogs. Better safe than sorry.
What a wonderful cold room/pantry! Elvin did a wonderful job on it! Thank you for showing us how to do this ourselves, Elvin! Your channel is one of my favorites; I love watching your family work together. Your 2 youngest boys are such hard workers & still having fun at the same time! Thank you for spending time with all of us!! God bless!
💚 I love your wind chimes! Nice harvest of squash, apples and potatoes! Thanks to Elvin for the coldroom description, glad you have that space and a lovely full pantry! 💚
Oh…Ruth , your a gift of wisdom & info! I value your opinions & experiences! Enjoying another valuable video! Thank You, May God continue to shine His light & love to you & your family! Best wishes to You & your homesteading! Be well & stay safe! 🫶🙏🏻
I just got a freeze dryer last year. Most fruits, including tomatoes are so much better freeze dried than fresh or dehydrated. Apples, on the other hand, are better dehydrated (I dehydrate them until they are crisp) I got the freeze dryer as an indulgence, so that I WOULD eat more healthy foods as treats. It's working well for me in that respect. Sounds like what you're doing is working well for you.
Yea, thankbyou for sharing (and your husband) for sharing the cold room construction. That is so helpful. I absolutely love your channel. I just got done last night dry canning some potatoes with your recipe. I did your pumpkins the other day by baking in the oven. 2 pies went to my husband's work and everyone said it was the best pumpkin pie ever. I just can't thank you enough.❤
I spent years thinking about the pros and cons of a freeze dryer. I finally made the decision that I was going to be able to use it to it's fullest and to buy one, a little over a year ago. I have been able to wvoid paying the high costs for both eggs and milk over the last year(Here milk went to near $5 a gallon, and eggs hit $6 a dozen). I had paid under $2 for both, and freeze dried those. I also bought 12 turkeys at 29 cents a pound, and I cooked them and freeze dried most of the meat and canned all of stock. I freeze dry any harvest from the garden that we aren't eating immediately. Also we go to a couple of local amish farm stands to purchase the vegetables that we do not grow, like corn, and freeze dry that. I freeze dry our apples that are for eating, and make apple pie filling and applesauce from the tart apples. The freeze dryer was a blessing when we had a freezer fail. We were blessed to have a thermostat in the freezer that had warned us of the temperature rising. Having the ability to freeze dry and can made it so we didn't lose any of the 100s of pounds of meat that was in the freezer. Really love my freeze dryer, but truly it's a personal choice.
My husband’s grandfather was a farmer in midwestern Minnesota and grew potatoes in the family garden. They would have a cleft in them like yours. He always said it was a combination of inconsistent watering and some type of mineral deficiency. I love your cold room! I appreciate your talk on your thoughts on the freeze drying and how it’s not a good fit for your family. I don’t hear TH-camrs talking about planing out their food like this. Your explanation regarding how much your family needs, how you know what you need and what limits your farm can produce is so important! And what could happen (buying more apples!) if you introduce a new thing.
I just absolutely love watching your channel. It was a treat to have Elvin on there this week showing us that a cold room doesn't have to be anything fancy. I just love how real and honest you are and I love to see your faith expressed and lived out
Saw you apologized for mic sounds truly didnt even notice , we are so involved in your video learning along the way , we appreciate you , your husband and your sons taking your time to share with us :)
Found your channel today, you're definitely a new favorite. I love that you are realistic and sensible. I don't have a freeze dryer because the cost is not comparable to how much I'd preserve with it. I set out my preservation journey determined to save money so seeing people spend thousands on a small garden and thousands on a freeze dryer and thousands on a cold room is not something I am willing to do. I love your simple cold room.
You can take the peelings and cores and cook them in water, drain the water into a saucepan. Make apple jelly with the juice as you would with regular apple juice. This leaves you with even less waste and uses more of the apples. The jelly will have a red color to it with red skinned apples. More food for the family and less waste. The leftovers can still be fed to the pigs.
I dont have a freeze dryer, but after watching so many that do, I could see the benefits for you to have one. Simply alone to freeze dry your broth and free up storage space would be a benefit. I love buying freeze dried herbs, they taste like fresh in the midst of winter.
Its taken years to using more pumpkin/squash in my meal plan. I find cherokee tan pumpkin, to be the best for storage (12-18 month in cool, dark & dry in my basement).
I found your channel a few weeks ago and it is now one of my favorites! Thank you for all your great content and sharing your recipes. I have learned a lot! Also have done a video on you chili base? I would love to see that 😊.
Freeze dried fruit is great in baked goods. If you freeze dry strawberries and raspberries they're great in cakes and frostings! To help store the freeze dried fruit in a small space grind/blend it into powder, and that would make it easier to have that special sonething to add to your treats.
Honey, I'm a foodie and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between fresh and Freeze dried meat. It's way better than canned meat and you don't need to worry about a freezer compressor going out. Home cooked freeze dried meals are da bomb during power outages and camping. Most fruit is a flavor bomb. Mushrooms are so much better than canned and makes great soup. I absolutely love my freeze dryer for almost everything. Taters, peas, carrots, squash and beans. Wish I had more than one freeze dryer! I would do much less canning because the quality difference is like night and day.
Loved this video. Thanks for explaining how you built the cold room Elvin. It’s a brilliantly simple design. Seems very achievable. That squash harvest is so impressive. It is our dream to have a homestead and grow things like you do Ruth. So I find your videos so informative and inspiring. Our family is vegan but listening to you talk about how you use animals on your homestead and how you use the entire animal is interesting. I think it’s the factory farming and over consumption of animal products in society these days that inspired us to go vegan as we are not in a position to raise our own animals. Your videos have inspired talks in our household of what we might do when we have our homestead. I think personally I couldn’t eat meat but should we chose to harvest any animals it might be something we use to barter for other products. Vegan sources of fat would be near impossible to grow where we live so dairy/tallow might be something we have to consider. Would be a tough choice for us. Making cheese looks like a lot of fun though. I do a lot of fermenting of veggies and make sourdough bread. Anyway ramble over. Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your content and have been through your back catalogue.
Thank you for this comment! I personaly know a handful of vegans who are fully against anyone who eats animal products in ny amount, but I know not everyone's experience is the same as mine. I was vegan for many years just because of the factory farming of animals. I am no longer vegan, because I was unable to find good balance between affordable vegan sources, free from my family's allergens (soy and almond), and taking supplements to ensure good nutrition. But I did some research and found some local farms that used old-fashioned and humane practices with their animals. Our family is still very much vegan-centered, as we do grow a good-sized garden almost year round and have a few fruit trees, and we do incorporate eggs from our chickens and some meats we have sourced from local farms and hunting. Anyway - I'm glad you are seeing not every farm or homestead is run the way certain parts of society seem to want us all to believe. But I also respect your choice to not consume meats - everyone has to do what is right for them and what they feel is best for them.
If someone gifted me a freezedryer i would be thrilled
Right!!! Those things are CRAZY expensive!
I disagree Why take something that is given to you for free to promote if you're not going to use it
Me too. I would love a freeze dryer
I am a 69 year old farm wife who has just found your channel. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy your videos! My husband has farmed his entire life (he is 74 years young) in South Dakota. Yes he still works everyday and it keeps him young. Now back to you and your family! You and your husband are doing an incredible job rearing your children! I love your philosophy on child rearing. I wanted to make sure and let you know that because I have heard you speak about comments left by some who disapprove of your philosophy. From one woman and mother to another I am so proud of you!
I concur! I was raised during the 60’s and 70’s on a rural farm just like this. It was fantastic! What a blessed and beautiful experience! Swimming in irrigation canals with snakes, picking leaches off of our legs afterwards. Milking cows, slopping pigs, riding horses, hoeing row after row, in the garden, before we could play. My father would dig holes in our front yard, FRONT YARD, and fill it with water. We would play in it for days. My mother never complained about her muddy, messy children. Boy, were we happy! I’m so grateful that we didn’t have cell phones or television. Our television broke and dad never fixed it. What a gift! We don’t give our children the gift of boredom these days. They need to exercise their imaginations!
As I am proud too. To live this life is truly a gift. My mom always said that my grandmother was poor. When we visited they had amazing meals fried cornbread I won't ever forget.
And they may not had money but they had different riches. Mom can teach them have time for them showing them how to bake preserve create foods from field to table.
Some say that's a hard life well working for others is hard I don't think there's to many easy jobs.
Another thing I like to add is by the time mom works for someone she can earn much more doing what she does at home n being with family. I grew up poor in the city. So when I grew up I thought working hard outside the home was best and I have to say I failed my children. I wasn't there to teach them anything. I worked doubles thought giving my child a video game are a trip was more important. NO BEING WITH MY KIDS WAS MOST IMPORTANT.
I for sometimes had a big garden I grew everything that I would buy but I bought meats.
Anyway if u have a family spend time with them that's a gift you can't buy them. Have a garden even in a small yard everything is possible..
By the way unfortunately my adult children are not in my life I didn't form a motherly bond that IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. You won't have anything better than your children.
I love watching your TH-cam channel Great recipes and ideas Thank you so much 💗 You have a wonderful family . God bless you and yours😊
Isn’t this site wonderful? I found Ruthann a few weeks ago. I am 75 and like your husband still working hard every day. She has i spired me to become even more disciplined. I ordered the Mennonite cookbook from Amazon yesterday and am looking s9 forward to receiving it next week. Have a great day.
As a 63-year-old farm wife, I echo your sentiments. And I might add - I have learned a few things from this channel as well! One is never too old to learn.
I grew up this way and it's refreshing to see some still able and willing to give their children (and themselves) the remarkable gift of this lifestyle. I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Ruthann,
My wife stumbled on your video with the amish cinnamon rolls recently, and have not stopped watching since! We have both been binge watching your videos since we came across them. We are city dwellers with dreams of being able to live a life like you have with your family. You are an incredible woman with a solid and envious work ethic. How you are able to fit all you do in a day and still have time to film and edit your videos are impressive indeed.We are both so impressed with your skills and how you are teaching your kids that lifestyle. Really good kids. We subscribed to your channel because you have so much to teach and we have so much to learn from you, in hopes that some day we can start living that lifestyle as well. Its a Joy to know of your faith in Christ as well!
Many blessing to you and your family
You encapsulated my exact thoughts! Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to stay with the family fir a week to learn some of her skills!
Me too
It is possible! We left the city behind, so glad we did.
What a smart woman you are to make LOGICAL reasons why a freeze dryer would NOT work for your family
Thank you Elvin for showing us what you did to make the cold room!
I’m an Alvin fan! Nothing more admirable than a man who loves God, loves his wife, loves his family, works hard, and shares valuable information with his neighbors (on TH-cam).
Amen!
Just came across your channel. I instantly wanted to subscribe. I look forward to watching your other videos too. 😊
Indeed, but even extremely busy people have to think about their health, and Elvin needs to dedicate some of his mental bandwidth to dealing with that belly. Not saying he needs a sixpack, just get it down to healthy. We all need to preserve OURSELVES as well. Those boys are going to need him for many years to come.
Sorry to be a downer, but belly fat is the most dangerous, and that waist size is a health emergency. I hate to see it happen to a family man. Put it on the to-do list, Elvin!
I love how much information and wisdom your videos contain. We are older with grown children. We are starting to homestead so that we can provide nutritious food for our 2 (as of now) grandkids. God has given us a vision to provide a place and a way to show our grandkids the importance of faithfully raising and growing our food. We want to give them the skills we don’t currently have so they can know how to provide for their families in the future. My husband of 42 years was a city boy, so we raised our kids in a neighborhood. Most of the older generation of our family are gone now, and we didn’t learn what we could from them. We will dedicate these remaining years to learning all we can to pass to our kids and grandkids so they will be prepared. Your channel has helped me and my daughter learn to can, which we’ve been doing for the last couple of years. Next year will be the first large garden on our land. I’m so grateful that you’ve given your precious time helping us learn new skills even in our 60s! Thank you and God bless you and your family!
Loved your post, it happens too often where children, grandchildren don't learn these skills. We are seniors 67 and 69 and grow as much as we have space for and freeze and can.
Oh my gosh, you're doing what we've done. 10 yrs ago my husband 71 and myself 61 moved from Mn to Tn. So I could start our homestead and raise our 2 grandkids!! Boy, what a ride!
God bless you for using common sense and trying to live a simple life, not keeping up with the Jone’s and having a materialistic type of lifestyle.
Let’s pray the young ones see what you’re teaching them and give it real value also.
@@maggiedoor6093 We’ve had small gardens in our backyard, but never have we tried to grow a garden in order to preserve nutritious food for our family instead of buying it. It’s daunting. I’m so glad there is a community of folks who have wisdom to share. We are blessed!
@@smadden911 that’s awesome! We are not raising our grandkids but we want to have a place for them to have a simple life. We want them to see how with work and faith, God provides all we need! We don’t know what the future holds, but we know that learning how to take care of our family is a priority. Thanks for the encouragement!
Thankyou for sharing and helping and educating all of us ! The haters and bullies and negative folks can go elsewhere! ❤ you are a rare treasure
❤🎉
girl, if ur happy with doing things ur way, dont let people tell u what to do. i love ur cold room.
One thing I appreciate so much about you and Jessica at Three Rivers is that you think things through so logically. You don't just do it the way it's always been done and you don't just jump at any new thing. You are thoughtful and wise. Very refreshing to behold.
I dehydrated herbs in my husband truck in windshield placed a silver sun screen under pans works perfect
I do also, I use a decent size dark gray cookie sheet and set in the dash area and it dry's them beautifully.
That's a great idea. Did it burn the herbs?
I have been wanting to jump on the freeze dryer ban wagon for a minute now. After hearing your reasons for not having one. That also makes sense for me. Especially since I am canning a lot more. I am now okay with not getting a freeze dryer and I no longer feel inadequate for not having one. Thank you Ruthhann for giving me another perspective on this.
For the price of a freeze dryer, you can buy a year's supply of already canned FD foods -- no muss, no fuss, no repairs!
@@bendy6626 I disagree, you can not buy a year's worth for the price of a freeze dryer. Freeze dried strawberries are $7.00 for an OUNCE at Aldis. FD'd food is VERY EXPENSIVE. I spent 650.00 on a month's worth to store in case of emergency.
All I can say is wow! You’ve got a store in your basement!!! All that hard work pays off in more ways than you can see with your eyes!! I LOVE your channel!!!
Thank you to Mr Elvin for his first appearance! Thanks to you for sharing so much informations, this beautiful cold room and family moments. I also put zinc with my green beans bc of your advice. 👍
Thank you all for sharing your home with us. So happy to meet your husband, Elvin. I love canning as well. Lv and Prayers all.
I appreciate Elvin showing how he built your cold room. I also enjoy seeing jars of canned foods. About freeze dryers, I get overwhelmed by “ sales pitches “ for them on so many channels. I am 74 and raising all the food I can in my backyard, and I am so grateful to raise as much as I do. it’s my reality a costly freeze dryer isn’t. I love your kind approach that seems to reach so many.
I'm 71 and agree. I just added on to my garden space. Its only me and my husband so the cost of a freeze dryer isnt in our budget either.
Exactly. A freeze dryer is a LUXURY, not a necessity!
Heidi on RainCountry here on TH-cam, has DOZENS of regular dehydrator and air drying videos. Shes pushing the boundries of what she has previously dehydrated, and has successfully preserved raw eggs, whole milk & meats. She uses an air brake bleeder to remove oxygen and create a vacuum seal for her dried goods. Hope this helps someone, take care.❤
@@americaneden3090 Love Heidi’s videos too. She does a lot of natural remedies on her rumble channel as well (ones not allowed on other platforms).
@@missouribroad978 thanks for the info! I’m a Missouri broad too.😊
First video I see of yours and Im already in love. You bring realistic inspiration for us all, plus great learnings for everyday. Wish everyone had the opportunity to learn from someone with your level of knowledge
What a sweet smile Elvin has! Thank him for doing this for us. I absolutely love all your videos and learn so much from you. I garden, have chickens, and multiple bee hives. You are a great inspiration! 😊
He does have a sweet smile, and a great sense of humor!
I'm late commenting here. I have had many say that a freeze dryer is worth it. Yet, when I look at its cost and at what I'm currently doing to preserve food my household likes, I can't justify the price tag. Plus I don't have a space I can dedicate for it. I have enjoyed dehydrated foods that were several years old by the time I finished eating them.
We don't have a large household like yours, so a bumper crop fruit year means it will take us a while to go through the dried fruit. Ideally, it keeps us supplied until the next harvest or next big harvest.
I love your cold room. Our cellar can run a bit damp, and things rust there with alacrity because we don't empty the dehumidifier as often as we should.
I think solar panels make more sense than a freeze dryer especially with your skill set. Thank you so much for sharing all of your experience and knowledge for managing garden harvests. Very helpful and encouraging.
Hope you and your family have a great day!
Great cold room. I really appreciate Elvin explaining how to build the cold room. It has been done in a way that anyone can do it. Thank you
That is what I like about it too. It is not fussy, just straight forward and highly effective. Tell Elvin he did an amazing job for his TH-cam debut! I would have been standing there like a deer in the headlights trying to remember my name! 😂
Those two boys are just adorable!
Thank you for always having a common sense approach to canning, drying, storing. I can a certain way but had never put a name to it. I can most everything the way that you do so now I know, at age 70, where my basic concepts came from. I absolutely adore watching your channel and have integrated new foods into my supply. I always open a new food jar the next day to try it and make notes if I need them. Thank you for showing us your family’s life, I know you have made a difference!
I love being part of your community. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
I have 2 freeze dryers . I have friends, church members and patients who are poor and not prepared for anything. I have emergency food should someone need it. I have about 3 years of my garden and favorite foods put back. I think the world is getting bad with food shortages on the way. Jesus is coming
God commanded Joseph to put seven years of grain in storage for the calamity to come. Just saying! God Bless.
@@miephoex It IS totally fascinating that the example is one person (well he organized it, sure the workers were many ) saving for a whole nation (not himself) and that God used the government to administer that food. God is so Good to warn, and bring the seven years of abundance! Think how simple prepping could be if people just stored grains like the example was! No jars, canners, supplies, no fancy, equipment, pressure canners, dehydrators, freezedryers. God's example was pretty simple. We've totally complicated it.
Yes but Jesus feed the birds of the earth. Therefore he will provide us with food.
I do agree with you.. I have a whole closet full of food and two freezers.. I live alone but have four kids who will benefit if anything happens..
@@marilyndekker1541 There sure are many examples of God miraculously feeding people for sure! Christian preppers never include those and rarely speak of them. Like the loaves and fishes. The widow's oil and the biggie 40 years manna...I don't think we should ever exclude God's provision!
I love my freeze dryer. The main things I dry are raw milk, bone broth, egg, and herbs. I still store it in jars, but it takes less space for me to do that. I actually don’t do much freeze dried fruit because of your reasons. My kids eat it just because it is good. I prefer to can or ferment my veggies too. What I do really love about my freeze dried is that I can freeze dry organ meats and sprinkle the powder into soups or taco/chili meat and my family never knows.
what kind of bags do you store your freeze dried goods in?
I have the harvest right and azure standard bags. They both work just fine for me. I actually prefer the azure oxygen absorbers more.
I also store in canning jars, because I can put it back in the case and stack the cases. It’s a lot easier to store vs the bags sliding around. And I don’t have to worry about rodents. I still use an oxygen absorber when I use canning jars.
I finally just opened a jar of apple juice to use as part of a smoothie last evening dated 2013. So it's been sitting in a quart jar for TEN years that had gotten "lost" in a cardboard box that Mom & I canned together for the first time way back then. GOD rest her soul, I miss her immensely. I didn't have a pantry back then and some of my jars were "lost" in the garage up until we flooded a year ago.
It's a bit bittersweet joy at times to come across the projects we enjoyed doing together 10 years ago. She taught me so much and I miss her immensely. But now it's time to focus on taking care of Dad
A suggestion for those peels from the apples. Toss with a bit of sugar and cinnamon and then bake in a low oven until crispy. Such a great treat for kids. Thanks for sharing your hard work and success.
Aaah! One of the best parts of my mom making apple pie was the apple crispies she made with the peel. I definitely agree!
Aaah! One of the best parts of my mom making apple pie was the apple crispies she made with the peel. I definitely agree!
I don't peel my apples when making applesauce. It colors the sauce nicely and adds nutrients.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Thank you so much for bringing us into your home and giving us ideas and inspiration. You are loved!
Such a wonderful cold room. I can a lot. I tried water glassing eggs. My apple butter has won fair ribbons. It’s a family favorite. I love the whole process I have peaches, blueberry, apple butter, string beans,carrots and much more. I’m all about buying the jars just like I am with fabric. I always tell myself I might need more. I’m a quilter so I have a lot of fabric. I’ve been a widow for 25 years and I’m in my late 70s. I spend a lot of time by myself and your videos are such a wonderful treat. I love your way of life. I wish everyone could see the benefits of growing your own food. Thank you. Candi Echols Seguin Texas.
Thanks for this video i am a new preserver that's almost an empty nester. I Thank you for not pushing the freeze dryer as so many ppl tend to do. I love my dehydrator and I'm getting more into canning, fermentation etc. Love your channel Ruth Ann ❤
Glad it was helpful!
Me too!
I agree. I can't justify the cost and we'd have to have an electrician put in a dedicated outlet which is another expense. I use my dehydrator constantly.😊
Ive been binge watching your videos for 2 days !! 😂
Im convinced that your lifestyle is one of the healthiest Ive seen. Kids are well fed, they seem very happy and I love the fact that they are included in preparations in every aspect of the food process. From the earth to the table. The animals are well taken care of too. I personally hate videos that seem to make everything to do with canning etc seem so far out of reach or diffulcult. I love the way you keep it simple with a lot of commen sense. I was glad to see you're still sharing your knowledge and ways of doing things. I think Your mom & grandmother have truly given you a wonderful thing by showing you how to survive & feed your beautiful family. One of the things that you said in another video that I deeply resonated with you is knowing that the government as well as big box stores & big corporations need us to need them... you dont need them for survival..to me that is truly what freedom is about. I really appreciated the fact that you shared the extent of your education. However most people with a college degree cant do what you do for your family & I believe personally just because your educated doesnt make you a better person as a whole. There are truly terrible educated people in our world and there you are in your world with limited education rising above the ridicule & I appreciate the fact that you havent let that stop you from continuing to share your way of life. Its a beautiful thing..God is good. Thank you for sharing because you really are helping people who dont know how to live a better and healthier life style.
Thank you for sharing! I love watching your channel! I have to say... I've wanted to start canning for 2 years. But after watching your 2 videos on taking the fear out of canning I took the leap and water bath canned applesauce. I didn't feel scared! Lol And I'm ready to water bath some more! Truly THANK YOU! ❤
I’m so glad!!!!
Nice to meet you Mr. Zimmerman, thank you for showing us how you built your cold room. God bless ♥️
I have heard the energy use for freeze dryers make its value iffy.
Your husband is so creative. That room looks really great!
Yes! Thank you!
THANK YOU for being bold enough to not be afraid to go against the very popular trend of having a freeze dryer. Your reasoning is also very sound which I think many people don't take into consideration. They just see that it is popular and hop online and buy it whether they need it or not. Hi Alvin! Your harvest is beautiful as are the kids who are helping you! Blessing to you- have a great trip!
You whole family seems so happy and content. You and Elvin are doing a great job of raising your kids to be responsible and loving adults.
I so enjoy watching your videos! It reminds me of years gone by, when I used to can LOTS of vegetables and fruits for my family. I loved the farming years! Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes and tips, and thank you for sharing your family with us! They are a delight!❤
You have very good reasons for avoiding a freeze dryer but if you do find a place to keep one they are worth the effort. Freeze dried cheese is amazing. I freeze dry eggs when I get an abundance. I freeze dry milk. The downside is having to use oxygen absorbers. I love your cold storage!
Using those jar vacuum sealers work great for a year or so storage. I use the oxygen absorbers for Mylar if I’m storing for hunting or camping meals only.
I got my freeze dryer because I now live alone and still grow many many tomato and pepper plants and much more. I usually freeze dry ingredients, rather than meals. With soups as the exception. Freeze dried fruits are very yummy, but freeze dried onions and hashbrowns and peppers and tomato slices, (for bacon sandwiches in the winter) YES please! I had crazy massive harvest of carrots two years ago and do not need to grow carrots now for years, because of freeze dryer. I cook from scratch and using freeze dried veggies in meals, when the kids are here they ask, was this freeze dried? They cannot tell the difference. I love the freeze dryer, but the time it takes to fill all four trays with chopped foods is a lot, then prep for canning too, wowza! Good thing I retired early, love your channel, Thank You for taking the time to film for us.
Loved seeing your storage of all your hard work. Everything raised and processed by you and your family. And you know the ingredients inside every single jar which is wonderful. No preservatives or anything artificial. That’s a wonderful way to raise a family.
Those are longneck butternut squash to me
You should try tomato jam. It is awesome with peanut butter and toast.
Thank you Ruthann and Elvin for giving us a glimpse into your life of intentional living. And well done on your TH-cam debut, Elvin!
What a beautiful, and bountiful harvest. It makes me smile, and warms my heart to see such beautiful fruits, and vegetables. I used to have a large backyard garden in Iowa, growing food for ourselves, our children, and their families, along with food for the neighbors, and our coworkers. I canned everything I could get my hands on, and dehydrated tons of food. My coworkers used to tease me that they were coming over to our house if anything nuclear happened, and they needed food. We have retired to Mexico City, where there is no room for gardens such as that. I miss it terribly.
This was so interesting and informative. It is amazing that you do all that you do! As far as an apocalypse goes, it is a normal human reaction to want to prepare for every eventuality. But it can drive you crazy if you let it, especially with everything going on in the world. I have prepared quite a bit, but when I start to worry that I don’t have enough, I have begun to tell myself I can do no more (because I physically and financially can’t) and I am trusting the Lord to supply what we need.
Trust and obey, there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus!!
So enjoyed meeting you and your husband at HOA yesterday! We met at breakfast. I was the redhead with the long bearded husband, Angela and Ken Thacker. I love your channel! Great wholesome content. I gravitated to your channel because I grew up on a farm in North MO, not to far from IA....population 654. My Mother still lives on the farm in the house she was born. Its 125 acers and she manages it at 85 years young. Growing up we had most animals, cattle, sheep, chickens, gardens and show horses. Never kept dairy, but often helped and received milk from the neighbor's Jerseys cows. Would love to keep in touch, but I'm not too computer savvy.
So nice to meet Elvin! Thank you for the explanation. Awesome cold room tour and what a harvest! Love seeing the animals. Blessings to you and your family. ❤️🙏🏻Val C
Hello Ruthann. Gosh what an inspiration you are! I just stumbled across your channel and have watched a few of your videos already. I so admire your ability and work ethic. I feel lazy just watching you. You have made me feel motivated to try harder to be more self sufficient and healthy. I live on a 15 acre life style block in New Zealand. Thank you for your inspiration.
Kindest regards, Beau Christine. 😊
Welcome!!!! So glad to have you!!!
Thank you for the instruction on the cold room!! I have been considering one for several years but could not imagine how to build it. Now that Elvin has been so kind to show us how, I think I can do it!! You and your entire family are such a blessing.
What an amazing video, Thanks Elvin for taking time out of your busy day to explain in detail how to do a cold room. You have such an amazing family❤❤
I appreciate your channel. You are a gifted teacher and I love how you explain the why and how of things. I grew up Mennonite and many of my questions were answered with “because” and “that’s the way it’s always been and will always be”. I’ve taught my kids to ask questions and to find answers and again you do this so well. Thank you.
Praise God for the abundance of food for all your hard work. God bless 🙏
I entertained the idea of buying one once I started to see all the channels who were raving about them. THEN I figured out these channels didn't pay for them. I'll stick with my dehydrator
I cant give you a reason to get a freeze dryer simply because you make very good points on why you dont need one right now!
On down the line when some or all of the kids are out of the house and at college or starting their own families it would probably be a better time. We have friends that became empty nesters and kept the huge garden for 7-8 years. They got a freeze dryer and put back quite a bit of produce and meats. They then downsized the garden to keep room for things they liked fresh like tomatoes and corn. Since they were older and the garden became more taxing to keep up, the bounty they freeze dried has been a blessing for them. Only you know your particulars and youve got a very good practical sense about you. Youll succeed! God bless! 😊
I had the same thoughts you did about my freeze dryer. Until I purchased one. I don’t buy extra food to freeze dry. I use it for my over abundance of eggs during the spring and summer. Extra garden produce. I love having eggs when our flocks are not producing and I don’t have to buy them. My purée of squash for pies is so much easier to store. I don’t have a root cellar or cold room to store squash. So it works amazing for me.
Great tip!
I love my freeze dryer! I use mine all the time. I agree with the eggs, I have a lot I need to get in my freeze dryer, we prefer freeze dried over dehydrating. I haven't seen a jump in our electric bill, we've done bell peppers, Watermelon, strawberries, bananas, onions for onion powder, green beans, corn, tomatoes and the list keeps growing. I'm glad I got mine. Well worth it.
I also purchased a freeze dryer in late 2022. My biggest motivation was to store my excess eggs (since we went about 6 months without fresh eggs last year). I currently have about 25 dozen eggs that I freeze dried, without impacting what we had available for fresh use. I also use my freeze dryer on herbs (cilantro, basil, oregano, etc.) and also to store tea herbs. I was able to blend my own tea mix this way and I will be able to enjoy it all winter. It is an expense but I have thoroughly enjoyed having it available.
You gave the pigs the best squash. In Lancaster County Pennsylvania, we call them long necked pumpkins. The meat from them makes the best pumpkin pie ever. I grew them every year, and they are always my prize.
I have an Excalibur dehydrator, it's 9 tray, it has a fan, it dehydrates so fast, I found it used for 50$, well worth buying , this one had something wrong with it but we you tubed it, ordered the part, fixed it for 9$, I have used it for three years now, we dehydrate vegetables, fruits, jerky, tomatoes, onions, going to be doing garlic soon
That’s the brand I’ve been looking at too
@@RuthannzimmI have a cosori and love it!
My Husband & I just purchased a property that NEEDS "Foundation & Basement" work done on it & we are planning out a Cold Room & Underground Greenhouse ~ Your Sharing of this information is quite timely for Us! Thank You!!! Now, I would like to Return the Favor ~ We purchased a Freeze Dryer this past summer & have been using it for Processing a lot of our garden goodies. #1 They ARE Expensive but for Us, the price is worth it.... No, we are Not looking at Preserving for 25yrs, we simply Like the Flavor & Texture of the product & Ease of Storage. As for Dehydrating, I'm able to do that with my Oven ~ It's a Convection Oven ~ so we also process some foods that way & I also Can some of my goodies and so.... for US... It's a Win, Win, Win!
Thank You SO MUCH for Sharing Your Family & the Wisdom You have Gained in Your Life Journey 🤗 You Truly ARE A Treasure Beyond Measure 💝 May You & Your Family Be Blessed with Just Enough "Teaching Moments" that Help Build Your Wisdom & Strength and in so doing, Bring so much Joy in Overcoming those Obstacles that You Truly Feel You Are Living a Blissful Life 💞💖 Much LOVE to You & Yours ~ GrammyMary & FarmerWayne 💞
So nice to see Elvin's debut! Very nice work you did on the storage areas - well planned out indeed!
Your husband is very sweet and the love abounds in your life!!
What a beautiful pantry! Thanks so much for sharing and introducing hubby to us, great job!
Thank you!!!
Your boys were so cute wrestling such beautiful smiles and such hard working boys ❤
Thank you to you kind husband for his tutorial of your cold room ❤ from Missouri
We have a freeze dryer! Your reasons make a lot of sense. I found we loved doing peppers so much, I didn't like peppers out of the freezer, or dehydrator so that worked well. Camping meals we love it for, milk and eggs! We are a small family though and don't use everything we grow so it's great to preserve! I love being able to do broth and having powdered broth on hand. Cucumbers are so tasty! The texture and flavour is so vibrant and great, I don't do herbs because I'd rather just use my dehydrator for that. We had a crazy water melon crop and I pureed and Freeze Dried that, now we have a powder we can use. I wasn't sure we'd use ours enough but we really do, it's running almost non stop
Thank you for a very informative video. It was nice meeting Elvin. I sure appreciate both of you and your lovely family sharing your lives and all of the information that brings the rest of us confidence to tackle those projects we dream of doing, but fear failure so much we are seem to be frozen at the dream process. Again, thank you!
RuthAnn I am so happy for your family. You are such a joy. I love watching your channel. You are so blessed to have all the knowledge you have and the ability to grow and prepare and save all the food you have. I wish I knew how to even begin to do half of what you do.
Loved this, Ruthanne! So timely for me! We live in a very old farmhouse; our basement is a testament to how many times this house has been added onto, with some parts of the basement river stone, some parts shaped stones, and some parts concrete block...even have a couple of crawl spaces to make things even more crazy. In the southwest corner there is a little "room" closed in, well not very securely closed in...old wooden door with rusty hinges, plywood walls with lots of gaps, and insulation bats falling down willy nilly. There are some wooden shelves, and the floor is concrete. We have a lot of seasonal water seepage, too. So, all that to say...I think I have the makings for a decent cold room. Can't wait to show my husband the video part with Elvin explaining the closing in/insulating and ventilation. We may also need a dehumidifier...not true...we definitely need one! Always, always, love your Saturday morning videos! Hope you have a great trip to Virginia. We are actually heading there next week (Shenandoah National Park and New River Gorge in West Virginia) to celebrate our 51st anniversary. Blessings to you and your family, Marie
Mrs. Zimmerman, I really like you. I have watched over a 1000 TH-cam over the years. I'm now a subscriber ❤
Ruth Ann, I much appreciate this video,and all the content you generously share. Can you tell us the temperature and humidity of your cold room, and of your basement? Many thanks to you and Elvin.
Sun drying outside here in Italy. The food or tomato onion slices or pepper or herbs sandwich between two window screens on the roof or suspended in rope swings or as shelves between sets of wooden ladders on the porch. Beautiful cold room. I saw your sweet corn day, and that reminds me of the note I was going to write you: have you sliced corn cobs into a couple inch disks and pickled them in a barrel? My friend described the delicious snappy corn cob pickles. I could see a pickle barrel in your cold room.
❤
What a beautiful harvest! Alvin is so cute! Love how you both work to raise and feed your family together with intention. Ingenious approach to a quick and functional cold room build. TFS your cold room. Understand Your reasoning for not using a freeze dryer.
I love all the tidbits you give about your mom and grandma and how they did things
I really enjoy watching the togetherness, the love in your family. I find myself smiling throughout your videos. That is an amazing harvest, too. Wow, just wow.
It was so nice meeting Alvin! Your cold room is fantastic, Ruthanne. I understand your reasons for not getting a freeze drier right now. My husband surprised me with the medium sized Harvest Right Freeze Drier this year and it has been such a wonderful blessing to our family.
I just found your channel in the last week or two and subscribed right off the bat. You and your family are living like we would’ve liked to. I’m older now and so are my kids., but it’s good to see you and your family raising your food. God bless you all, always. P.s. Tell Elvin he did a great job building and explaining the cold room.
I LOVED the sound of the chimes against the background of your boys playing in that beautiful fall sunlight ....that's the stuff of memories.
Love the cold storage room. We are a family of four and our gardens did amazing this year so I canned at least if not more that 1200 jars, 4 freezers are packed. Time to rest and enjoy till spring.
We have the XL Harvest freeze dryer for 8 years. I freeze dry all leftovers. We also make our dog's food in huge batches and freeze dry half for future use. We freeze dry the chicken, quail,and turkey bones after we make broth from them. Then grind the bones into powder for the gardens. Half the broth I make, I freeze dry it and have instant broth. Takes up less space. Also freeze dry fresh brewed coffee/tea and make instant coffee and teas. Freeze dry all of our extra eggs for egg powder. Reconstitute it for scrambled eggs, omelettes, quiche and for baking. I also add it to the dogs food. I freeze dry cheese and turn it into powder to make mac and cheese or add cheeze powder onto fresh made pop corn or tonspinkle on top of potatoes or any other recipe to add cheese to it. I freeze dry beet tops, kale, spinach, lettuce, swish chard, collards and make super green powders for smoothies or vegetable caplets as a vitamin. I turn half our beets into beet powder. Tomatoes...we grow about 400 plants. I can tomatoes and the rest I freeze dry and turn i to powder. With tomato powder I make ketchup, paste, sauce, soup, tomato juice or vegetable juice, sprinkle it into stews or on top of home made pizzas. I powder mashed potatoes (no milk or butter ), just potatoes salt and pepper) to have fresh instant potatoes then add butter and milk. Takes up less space and never have to worry about spoiled potatoes. Freeze dry zucchini chips for snacks with seasoning in it. Freeze dry half the garlic we grow and same with the onions and turn them into powder. Some onions i chop and freeze dry them chopped. I freeze dry carmalized onion and use them for toppings on salads, soups, or casseroles. We freeze dry eldeberries and make powder to add to smoothies, syrups, and yogurt. Same with all the other berries, too. We eat them fresh and freeze dry them to add to cerealsN pancakes, sweet breads, cakes, cookies, pastries. Freeze dried banana chips, and we powder them too. Feeeze dried mini ice cream balls... great sweet snack. We freeze dry milk to have instant milk or to add to various recipes and add to coffee or tea. We have freeze dried peeled orange slices and turned that into powder and make orange juice. We do not grow oranges, but when they are in season and cheap, we buy a lot and freeze dry for the year. We grow watermelon and freeze dry and powder it for watermelon juice or add it to smoothies or yogurt. I make a lot of plain yogurt and we flavor it with the fresh fruit powders. I freeze dry pumpkins in chunks and then reconstitute it for the chickens during the winter. I also make pumpkin powder, then can make pumpkin pureee with all it's nutrients. Freeze drying holds the most of their nutrients better than dehydrating or canning. I freeze dry garlic scapes and green onions chopped up to add to recipes. I freeze dry our fresh herbs so we have them all year or two. We grow gourmet mushrooms and freeze dry whole, what we can't eat right away. I do grow mullien, comfrey, chamomile, mint, lavender, lemon balm, wild lettuce, echinacea, and more for teas and medicinals.
As you see, our freeze drier is used a lot, daily. For us, we freeze dry to preserve the food, and most of its nutrients and powders take up less space on our shelves. I can fit 12 quarts of peaches into 1 half gallon mason jar. 50 pounds of potatoes into a 2 gallon jar. I do can as well, so when someone wants fresh peach slices, we have them, too. Same with apples when we are overloaded with apples. The peels I make apple cider vinegar for the year and give the animals the rest. Orange peels, i put into gallon glass jars and add white vinegar, which makes a natural greas cutter/cleaner. Same with lemon and lime peels. We have 12 in our family and I usually put up 1,200 jars for the year+ and freeze dry about 600 various sized glass jars. Freeze dried left over meals are in sealed mylar bags with an oxygen absorber in it. Same with the freeze dried dog food. All the freeze dried food in mylar bags are in buckets with airtight tops. Freeze dried foods and powders are at about 3+years in storage, same for the dogs. Better safe than sorry.
What a wonderful cold room/pantry! Elvin did a wonderful job on it! Thank you for showing us how to do this ourselves, Elvin! Your channel is one of my favorites; I love watching your family work together. Your 2 youngest boys are such hard workers & still having fun at the same time! Thank you for spending time with all of us!! God bless!
Your hubby is adorable. How nice of him to come on camera. You two have a wonderful relationship. God bless.
💚 I love your wind chimes! Nice harvest of squash, apples and potatoes! Thanks to Elvin for the coldroom description, glad you have that space and a lovely full pantry! 💚
Wow you are like a walking encyclopedia of information, thank you
Wow, a beautiful cold room. So much work represented in those glass jars. Very well organized. Your husband did a neat job with the ventilation.
Lot of great common sense here on this channel… she has a great way of explaining this!!💜💯💜
Oh…Ruth , your a gift of wisdom & info! I value your opinions & experiences! Enjoying another valuable video! Thank You, May God continue to shine His light & love to you & your family! Best wishes to You & your homesteading! Be well & stay safe! 🫶🙏🏻
I just got a freeze dryer last year. Most fruits, including tomatoes are so much better freeze dried than fresh or dehydrated. Apples, on the other hand, are better dehydrated (I dehydrate them until they are crisp)
I got the freeze dryer as an indulgence, so that I WOULD eat more healthy foods as treats. It's working well for me in that respect.
Sounds like what you're doing is working well for you.
Yea, thankbyou for sharing (and your husband) for sharing the cold room construction. That is so helpful. I absolutely love your channel. I just got done last night dry canning some potatoes with your recipe. I did your pumpkins the other day by baking in the oven. 2 pies went to my husband's work and everyone said it was the best pumpkin pie ever. I just can't thank you enough.❤
I spent years thinking about the pros and cons of a freeze dryer. I finally made the decision that I was going to be able to use it to it's fullest and to buy one, a little over a year ago. I have been able to wvoid paying the high costs for both eggs and milk over the last year(Here milk went to near $5 a gallon, and eggs hit $6 a dozen). I had paid under $2 for both, and freeze dried those. I also bought 12 turkeys at 29 cents a pound, and I cooked them and freeze dried most of the meat and canned all of stock. I freeze dry any harvest from the garden that we aren't eating immediately. Also we go to a couple of local amish farm stands to purchase the vegetables that we do not grow, like corn, and freeze dry that. I freeze dry our apples that are for eating, and make apple pie filling and applesauce from the tart apples. The freeze dryer was a blessing when we had a freezer fail. We were blessed to have a thermostat in the freezer that had warned us of the temperature rising. Having the ability to freeze dry and can made it so we didn't lose any of the 100s of pounds of meat that was in the freezer. Really love my freeze dryer, but truly it's a personal choice.
My husband’s grandfather was a farmer in midwestern Minnesota and grew potatoes in the family garden. They would have a cleft in them like yours. He always said it was a combination of inconsistent watering and some type of mineral deficiency. I love your cold room! I appreciate your talk on your thoughts on the freeze drying and how it’s not a good fit for your family. I don’t hear TH-camrs talking about planing out their food like this. Your explanation regarding how much your family needs, how you know what you need and what limits your farm can produce is so important! And what could happen (buying more apples!) if you introduce a new thing.
I like drying out butternut squash and then making bird houses out of them. After dried out they're like thin wood. It's really cool
I just absolutely love watching your channel. It was a treat to have Elvin on there this week showing us that a cold room doesn't have to be anything fancy. I just love how real and honest you are and I love to see your faith expressed and lived out
Saw you apologized for mic sounds truly didnt even notice , we are so involved in your video learning along the way , we appreciate you , your husband and your sons taking your time to share with us :)
Found your channel today, you're definitely a new favorite. I love that you are realistic and sensible. I don't have a freeze dryer because the cost is not comparable to how much I'd preserve with it. I set out my preservation journey determined to save money so seeing people spend thousands on a small garden and thousands on a freeze dryer and thousands on a cold room is not something I am willing to do. I love your simple cold room.
You can take the peelings and cores and cook them in water, drain the water into a saucepan. Make apple jelly with the juice as you would with regular apple juice. This leaves you with even less waste and uses more of the apples. The jelly will have a red color to it with red skinned apples. More food for the family and less waste. The leftovers can still be fed to the pigs.
I dont have a freeze dryer, but after watching so many that do, I could see the benefits for you to have one. Simply alone to freeze dry your broth and free up storage space would be a benefit. I love buying freeze dried herbs, they taste like fresh in the midst of winter.
Its taken years to using more pumpkin/squash in my meal plan. I find cherokee tan pumpkin, to be the best for storage (12-18 month in cool, dark & dry in my basement).
I found your channel a few weeks ago and it is now one of my favorites! Thank you for all your great content and sharing your recipes. I have learned a lot! Also have done a video on you chili base? I would love to see that 😊.
Freeze dried fruit is great in baked goods. If you freeze dry strawberries and raspberries they're great in cakes and frostings! To help store the freeze dried fruit in a small space grind/blend it into powder, and that would make it easier to have that special sonething to add to your treats.
Honey, I'm a foodie and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between fresh and Freeze dried meat. It's way better than canned meat and you don't need to worry about a freezer compressor going out. Home cooked freeze dried meals are da bomb during power outages and camping. Most fruit is a flavor bomb. Mushrooms are so much better than canned and makes great soup. I absolutely love my freeze dryer for almost everything. Taters, peas, carrots, squash and beans. Wish I had more than one freeze dryer! I would do much less canning because the quality difference is like night and day.
Love Alvin! You’re blessed! 🌝❤️🕊🕊🕊
Loved this video. Thanks for explaining how you built the cold room Elvin. It’s a brilliantly simple design. Seems very achievable. That squash harvest is so impressive. It is our dream to have a homestead and grow things like you do Ruth. So I find your videos so informative and inspiring. Our family is vegan but listening to you talk about how you use animals on your homestead and how you use the entire animal is interesting. I think it’s the factory farming and over consumption of animal products in society these days that inspired us to go vegan as we are not in a position to raise our own animals. Your videos have inspired talks in our household of what we might do when we have our homestead. I think personally I couldn’t eat meat but should we chose to harvest any animals it might be something we use to barter for other products. Vegan sources of fat would be near impossible to grow where we live so dairy/tallow might be something we have to consider. Would be a tough choice for us. Making cheese looks like a lot of fun though. I do a lot of fermenting of veggies and make sourdough bread. Anyway ramble over. Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your content and have been through your back catalogue.
Thank you for this comment! I personaly know a handful of vegans who are fully against anyone who eats animal products in ny amount, but I know not everyone's experience is the same as mine. I was vegan for many years just because of the factory farming of animals. I am no longer vegan, because I was unable to find good balance between affordable vegan sources, free from my family's allergens (soy and almond), and taking supplements to ensure good nutrition. But I did some research and found some local farms that used old-fashioned and humane practices with their animals. Our family is still very much vegan-centered, as we do grow a good-sized garden almost year round and have a few fruit trees, and we do incorporate eggs from our chickens and some meats we have sourced from local farms and hunting. Anyway - I'm glad you are seeing not every farm or homestead is run the way certain parts of society seem to want us all to believe. But I also respect your choice to not consume meats - everyone has to do what is right for them and what they feel is best for them.
I recently turned some of my canned pickles into canned sweet pickle relish because we use that more than the pickles.