If you've enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up. You can see how I calculate how much to grow in this video th-cam.com/video/t6NuOCUmV14/w-d-xo.html
Can I just say.... I love you!!! Tying your old freezer up is the coolest and so real. We bought an old one too and put latches to keep it shut. It finally died and makes the most amazing planter now! (Of course we covered it in tin and wood to make it pretty.) Keep the roots from freezing in the winter too.
I love that you can keep live greens and root vegetables in the garden over winter. My winters are harsh so I keep greens producing in the greenhouse. I let zucchini grow large, chop, steam and then blend and freeze in quart bags for adding to soups, waffles and muffins. My cold room is full of beets and carrots (buried in sand), potatoes, onions, and a wheelbarrow full of winter squash. Shelves of canned spiced apples, spaghetti sauce, soups and salsa. Still find myself at the grocery store picking up lots of goodies tho...because I can! But it's a great feeling knowing that I could survive on my stores if I had to.
That's incredibly very impressive Liz, although we grow 100% of our veg and most of our herbs, fruit and eggs we are nowhere near 85% self-sufficient, we still have to buy loads of flour, oats, pasta, nuts/seeds, dairy and meat and quite a lot of our drinks. Our store looks nothing like yours though, we have a tiny fraction of your freezer space because 95% of our harvest is picked and eaten fresh : All the best - Steve
Thanks Steve, we also buy dairy, flour, tea and coffee etc, but have swapped vegetables for pasta or rice for most meals that usually call for them. I drink water or homemade cordials and Mr J has homemade cordials or homemade wine (so much cheaper than shop bought stuff). He has quite enjoyed a bought-in Swedish fruit cider recently. I wish I had the energy to harvest fresh throughout the winter, but so far haven't worked out how to find that energy (I am working on it though).
@@LizZorab you have a system that worked for you Liz and that's what matters. We don't like frozen food, so we have plenty of motivation and now that we only grow for 14 people, rather than 28 life feels very relaxed : All the best - Steve
I notice that you have a Beko freezer in your out building. After quite a bit of research this brand still seems to be the only one that have models that are guaranteed safe to use at temperatures less than 10 C. If anyone is looking to buy a freezer for a similar location that can be less than room temperature - it’s worth checking that they have Beko’s freezer guard technology. In case you’re wondering, I have nothing to do with this brand other than buying a freezer and fridge freezer from them over the past few years.
This was very encouraging! I had thought I was just tinkering round the edges of providing food for 2 people all year round, but although at present I only have a small chest freezer and a fridge freezer, I recognized a lot of what you have done and it made me feel much more appreciative of my achievements in the garden and store cupboards this year!
I also had a bounty of cherries and I hate de-seeding...time consuming and rather boring. So last year I discovered the joy of freezing them...once defrosted the stones just pop out and you can make whatever you want with them. If you don't have a lot of freezer space you could simply freeze in batches for a week or so and then defrost and prepare whatever you wish, leaving the freezer free for the summer harvest. I also filled 6 large jars with cherries, added vinegar and a few spices and after a few months the cherry vinegar is AMAZING! Much love Louise
Great inspiring food storage Liz. I was just wondering if you have any way of backing up your freezers should we encounter power outages? I have been focusing on dehydration and canning for that reason as opposed to large freezer storage.
Just discovered you! Made the wreath by the way. In fact made one for a neighbor too. Sorry, didn't notice it was an old video. I got a small half plot allotment just before lockdown. It has kept me sane...sort of! I have autoimmune arthritis, so it's keeping me mobile too, though not always easy. I'm a novice allotmenteer. It's a learning curve! Can't say I produced enough this year ( I have very fat, smug slugs!). But...I'm determined. Blessings. 🌻☺️
That is a very impressive amount of stored food! Just growing it is a lot of work! Preparing and storing it is amazing! God Bless You and Happy eating this winter!
I find this video very comforting, even though it’s your food storage, not mine. You seem to have such joy from your garden while tending it but you also have the extra reward of it’s bounty. I can’t wait to read your book!
Hi Liz. I've just found your channel so lots to catch up on. Loved the one where you talked to your 'winter self'. We've only got 1/4 acre now but in our 70s that's big enough! We used to have 5 acre smallholding but that would be too much now. I usually have 140 tomato plants & puree them down to freeze, it intensifies the flavour & usually have enough to last the year.
One thing that stands out about your garden , is it's fertility. your plants are so big and healthy. I'd find that hard to achieve, mainly through water logging and the type of soil I have and my climate. I am surrounded by bogs so there's not much I can do. I've been having some interesting conversations with some vegans. They maintain that all animal material is strictly forbidden and I maintain that that is not how nature works. You've made a lovely job of building your soil, so well done.
Aw thank you! I think creating the raised beds was the key thing in this garden. It has allowed me to concentrate on increasing the fertility and soil life of one bed at a time. Would you have to make very deep raised beds to lift them out of the potential flood depth?
@@LizZorab It's just the constant high rainfall. The last couple of years have been brutal. We've flooded about 5 times this Autumn. I find that the organic matter in my raised beds is constantly wet and 'sours'. It would be nice to have a dry spell with frosty mornings and sun But the past 10 years have become progressively worse and the more organic matter I've added, the wetter the soil became. about 1 foot under the beds is a rock hard layer or stone and clay.
Same kind of thing here. Heavy clay with stones/ surrounded by large trees. I love the trees & the wildlife they attract & would be nice to come to some sort of compromise. If that can be managed I'd probably look at growing more crops indoors as each year seems to be getting wetter (Yorkshire).
We are on a similar journey and ask the same question. So rewarding to be able grow your own food and each fresh garden veg for most of the year. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Liz, I prepare a lot of my food in a similar manner, but I have used a pressure cooker to 'can' jarred goods, who h sometimes haven't been great. Do you use a specific'canner', please? Thank you.
This was truly inspirational and such a nice example for having a successful vegetable garden for the family. I was smiling the whole way through as I remember my mother and grandma used to do the jam as well, so do pickled veggies... and the freezer with ready to eat foods are just brilliant. :)
Well done! Can't wait for the book. I've been trying to convince my fiance we need to do away with his mini fridge that holds almost nothing and get another fridge freezer or another freezer. So far he won't budge. I can't pack anymore veg into the freezers and I have filled all my shelves...maybe if I start storing canned goods in his bedside table he'll take a hint? :)
Liz this is probably the most useful Prepper video I have seen in ages. I really appreciate that you take the time to make your videos. I am learning so much from you.
I love how you're managing your garden and storage. How long did it take to learn how to do this (the prepping) around your health issues, how much space does all this take, and how big is your water bath / pressure canner? Thank you. I'm disabled and learning how to preserve my harvests with as few spoons as possible, and watching how you do this is very inspiring, especially inspiring me to create my own solutions. Stay safe
The pantry is so beautiful, Liz!! You've worked really, really hard to grow, harvest and process it all into a thing of beauty and health!! You've an abundance of stored food for both now and throughout the hungry gap and that is a comforting feeling!! Love the singles and meals for two! What a fabulous video!! So nice to see you, Liz!! I hope you have a great week!! 💚
Absolutely amazing...my stored food is so different... packets of dried beans, dried milk, dried chilis, dried herbs, olive oil, coconut oil, sugar, rice, sardines, tuna, coffee...my freezer has pumpkin, tomatoes, jujubes, peach, mulberries, pomegranates and chicken. My fridge has cheese, butter, eggs, cabbage, celery and a pot of stew and some jars of cooked beans. My garden is looking rather bare with only malva, silver beet, purslane, onions, carrots and a few late pomegranates and some unripe oranges. Our pecans are starting to fall. We have two broilers and 10 roosters on the sacrificial list. I certainly don't have a years worth of food. It's my animal food where my food security falls to pieces.
Blimey ! I’m going to have to watch that again and take notes ! Do you cook your ready meals in bulk ? Where do your recipes/instructions on canning come from ? We’re almost self sufficient, just need a bit more organisation and getting quantities and timing right.
Hi Benjamin, yes I bulk cook, but also freeze any extra from everyday meal cooking. I use a couple of canning books that I got from USA. I'm really not as organised as I could be, the wonderful thing about video is that you can choose not to show all the chaos (note how I carefully kept the freezer door open so you couldn't see the utter horror of the mess behind it!).
Hahaha the pictures of my garden make it look amazing cos I always cut the grass first, don’t pan out and never take pics of things that fail 😂 Thankyou for sharing your estate it really does help. I went from 130 sq ft of digging to 800 sq ft of no digging in two years (and getting bigger still) from the inspiration of a couple in Canada then to you, Hue and Charles.
This channel is so inspirational! We loved this video, thank you for sharing, we are learning a lot! Having started gardening on a small scale in London we are now in the countryside and planning to learn enough to grow much more so we can also provide most of our produce. We definitely need more freezers ☺️
Thank you for a very informative video. I'm new to gardening and assumed canning produce literally meant putting it in tin cans. After watching this, I realise I can use the empty jam jars I was going to put out for recycling, so I'll be saving more for next year.
You can NOT just put stuff into jars to store it, you need to have a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker) and canning safe jars. Jams, jellies (jam without the bits) and some chutneys can be preserved in ordinary jars. Please make sure you do lots of research before you start preserving food in jars.
I just loved the ending with the dressers if only to tell myself it's ok to be surrounded by useful stuff! Lovely video, thank you for sharing as i catch up on the first six years of your journey towards self-sufficiency and everything wholesome xx
Hello! I recently found your channel through Huw Richards. It's so welcoming and I can't stop watching your videos. Unfortunately I lack the needed amount of freezing space, so I try to can and dry whatever I can grow. Do you have tips in this method too? Love from Hungary
I recently invested in a chest freezer for the garage after production quantity here at McTavish Manor burst past what I could feasibly consume. I love filling it up with homegrown produce, sauces, fruits, etc. I've also bought a book on preserving, so I hope to emulate more of your ideas.
This is wonderful! I'm not quite as self-sufficient as you, but still, it's a great feeling to have food hamstered away to last through winter and early spring. :)
I planned on living off my garden through the winter this year (I live in Alaska). I’ve gone through all of my root vegetables in my crawl space. And have about 10 quarts of other assorted canned veggies, and four winter squash😒 Need to do better next year!
This was so good Liz! Great to see where and how you store your food and the logic behind it - some really good ideas to take on board. You definitely have food security!
Thanks so much! 😊 I was rather happy after I'd filmed this, I hadn't really taken on board how many pre-cooked meals I've got in the freezer until filming.
From crop rotation to freezer rotation! LOL! Always good to see healthy storage of food. Well done - it looks rather similar to here with portions marked out as we cook in batches. My daughter has started doing similar batch cooking. At last the brainwashing has worked! Nice video Liz, thanks for the tour of the goodies still in the ground.
I use a similar freezer system with a big chest freezer in the garage. I decant stuff from there to a smaller upright in the house. I store lots of cooked apple and soups in old takeaway boxes. So much easier to store as they are all the same size and stack. I did as you advised with jacket potatoes and cooked several at once and froze. It’s so easy and now I have a Ninja oven, they are easy to warm back up as I don’t use a microwave.
Oh Welldone that’s amazing. Thankyou for the link to big beans these are now ordered and ready growing next year. Would love videos on preserving - interested in the sauces and beans that you have canned - thanks for you many videos so useful and informative
Easy fix for freezer door takes one minute, costs 10 cents. Clean the door seal with basic soap and water. Let it dry few minutes. Take petroleum jelly and rub it on the door seal. Not only will it make the door seal stronger but it will also make your freezer run less saving you money. It will make such a strong suction that it will take force to open it.
Wow Liz, this is awesomely inspirational. Love your videos but hadn't bumped into your food stuff before. As first year allotmenteer I've learned so much from you that is really making my little half-plot wonderfully productive. I wasn't planning on food preserving this year - I'm hoping (following your monthly sowing guides and starting with your advice on perennials) to give us seasonal food through winter (and really hoping most of the hungry gap too) but just being take on this wonderful walk round is really inspiring me to to get doing more research on food preservation. You are a wonderful inspiration. Thank you so much.
The jars on shelves in your garage look like luminous jewels. Absolutely enchanting. I saw you featured in another channel but am new to your channel today - liked, subscribed, but the bell, looking forward to learning more from you.
I loved this video Liz. When I cook certain meals I love to have enough to freeze. It is so convenient for me and when I take a meal from the freezer it feels like a free meal . It saves so much time in the long run. I hope you and Mr J are well. We are as good as we can be and believe it or not I had a swim in the sea a few days ago. We had some heavy rain yesterday and the forcast is for rain this week. It doesn't look too bad outside right now so we are invited for lunch at Spyros, 86 year old sister. One of her own chickens are on the menu. Alas they are not free ranged. This year she grew quite a variety of vegetables which I think is amazing . Thanks for sharing. I just love seeing Monmouthshire. xxxxx Margaret in Cyprus
Well the Late Robert Hart grew a Forest Garden on 1/8 of an Acre and it supplies him with all his food needs. Approx 5-8 Vegans can live from 1 Acre, depending on what food growing system is used. 🌎✊🏽🌻
Hey Liz sorry I have not been commenting on your vids for such a long time! We have been away from youtube for quite some time! hopefully we will be back soon. Great to see you still posting vids! Hope you and your family are all safe! Your dried beans will still be viable to grow! even though you say they are 4 years old. Wwe sown some 2003 beans this year and 76 out of 100 sprouted and got some decent Lima Beans, Black Eyed Beans and Pigeon Peas between 75% and 80% on all three species average. Oh and 20 year old Parsnip Seeds too that every one thought where dead. Probably the oldest parsnip seeds on youtube ever
Great job this yr has been a wake up call for alot of people o. Growing heir food alot of friends tried and said it failed.i told them u need to tend to them and not depend of groceries store our city has seen another spike to we got curfew for Thanksgiving wkend.i work pt and just getting more out of garden.used to have the mental status it help the grocery bill and has changed to let get serious about cuttings that bill.i have canned about 200 jars this yr.will be asking for your second book for me bday in feb.lol
Please would you share some of your recipes for preserving /canning food? I know that there are plenty on the web but tried and tested recipes from someone you trust are always the best. Thanking you in anticipation.
Just wondered if you have a pressure canner Liz? There is a great group on Facebook called "preserving and canning UK" Karen Clayton is the admin and I think she has a TH-cam channel too. Fabulous video. I love your storage set up....well done!
Have just come across your page. Wow, very inspiring! Do you have a video on how to prepare fruit and vege for freezing? I'm not sure whether they go in raw, blanched, cooked etc? Thanks
I’m in awe Liz a lot of hard work but must be so satisfying when those freezers are full. When you freeze things like tomatoes do you have to do anything first, or just pick and freeze. Oops and can’t wait for my copy of your book to arrive to my door in Tasmania.
Hi Avril, I don't do anything to tomatoes except cut the larger ones into pieces and freeze them on a flat tray before transferring them into the bags for storage in the freezer.
Right? I looked at the frozen zucchini and diced apples and felt sorry for all the produce I just gave away during the glut of harvest. I could have frozen at least some for myself. Next year!!!
@@TanjaHermann I really don't like the taste of defrosted zucchini. They smell funny and taste badly. It's better to freeze them cooked. (Grilled or stewed, or in form of zucchini bread or pancakes). The same with eggplants.
Hey Liz, I was wondering where you get your jars and other storage devices from? I'm looking for them online but they can sometimes be more expensive than I'd like. Started helping with my Mum's allotment and I grew some radishes and I'm overwintering some broad beans after you suggested both in a previous video, the beans are still going strong and I've discovered I'm fond of radishes! This video is super helpful to me as I'm looking to grow much more next year to make up a large part of my diet, as well as reduce my plastic use. So thanks for all the tips and videos.
Hi James, I buy canning jars online from a variety of places and I bought the pressure canner from USA (you can't use a pressure cooker). If you are interested in canning, its definitely worth doing some careful research before you start as there is a risk of botulism if you do it incorrectly!
You made me hungry. Something that is not easy to do. Most days I just don't want food. I eat because I must. So to make me want food is a major achievement. I wish you Bon Appettite!
2:34 That is so many jars! I grew some things this year for the first time, but boy is your preservation setup on another level. I usually associate frozen food as junk food from the supermarket, so I think it I should try to alter that when it comes to storing my own produce. I never realised veg soup could be stored in jars - it tends to go on off within a week in my fridge, so I didn't think anywhere else would do better. Cutting apples up into little pieces and then freezing away is an ingenious idea that I'll have to steal! My first apples won't arrive 'till next Autumn, so this is valuable to know, given their notorious storage capability.
Hi, Food in jars has to be preserved in a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker) to make it safe to store. Please do not just put food in jars and hope it will be safe. I recommend that you do lots of research into pressure canning before you begin.
Love all the canning you have been doing this year. I’m still too scared to try. I use to keep my raw and cooked meat in separate freezers until we have a problem with one of them went wrong and defrosted. I now separation between the two and use the bottom drawers.
Hi Liz, great video! Can you recommend a good book on canning/preserving please? I'm aware of making jams, chutneys and passata but I've only recently discovered the possibilities of soups, stews etc. It's never occurred to me that other things, particularly meals with meat could be preserved in jars. This would be ideal for us as we have limited freezer space.
Go for anything by Canning Diva (Diane Devereux) her books have really good recipes for meals in jars. Stay away from Ball books - it's mostly jams and pickles, very little about pressure canning there.
Wow Liz! Yall did great on growing enough food another year...more than enough. It all looks delish and of course I leaned more great tips from you.🙂 You are looking well! 🙂 Rejoicing with yall on meeting your goal. I want to be you when I'm a grown up gardener.😄
It's always great to see your gardening challenges. Easier to grow for the entire year if you're an emptynester. ...because you'd face a whole lot of varieties unlike large gardener families concentrating on less varieties and producing cccertain things en masse for the market.
Hi, yes I agree about the whole lot of varieties. This year I also grew for 20 veg boxes each week, so had the challenge of growing enough food to fill those too. It's all good fun and a good learning experience.
Thank you very much! I have no idea either, but no worries, they might be having a bad day and hitting the thumbs down makes them feel better - in which case, my job is done!
Hi Liz. I loved seeing all your storage space for all the produce you have grown and prepped but what I would like to know is what do you use to bottle the produce in. Do you use a pressure cooker or a proper canner, like the Americans seem to use?
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I have spent several hours looking for a canner in the UK but not getting anywhere fast. Which canner do you use and would you recommend it? Ihave an induction hob and am struggling to find something that is suitable that isn’t not going to cost an arm and a leg. I know that in the long run it will be a good investment.
Another great video Liz! I see from comments (read them all) that other folks are wanting more information, just like me, on how you did the pressure canning. I'm originally from the States (NY) and am familiar with Hot Water Bath Canning. I have one here in the UK with me and used it once to preserve fresh Bilberries in water; it worked great but I haven't done much else. I know this is DIFFERENT than a pressure canner and I've always wanted to get one and dive in learning. We want to grow more of our own and preserve so I guess I'll have to get one. Please can you do some videos on specific things you can (how to- step by step)? I think like many, I'm a bit nervous on how to do it without getting blown up hahahahah! Cheers!
Wow!! So organized and creative. Well done 👍 Liz. I am really interested to watch a video how to canning fresh food. Also I noticed that you grow your own Greek beens. Why you don't eat them from the dry version 😋? As Greek my self I cooked them as soup or in the oven with tomatoes or with out,just fresh oregano , olive oil and lemon. I look forward for your book. Have a Merry Christmas 🎄 . Greetings from Eastbourne Kalli
Hi Liz, thank you for this video, it’s super timing for us as we are looking to grow a years worth of everything from next year. Well from now really, using our winter veg. I’ll be documenting it all along the way of course and taking lots of inspiration from channels like yours. Love the canned goods and freezers. Great idea on slicing courgettes for pasta strips! Such an exciting journey. Did you freeze the apples raw? Would love to know if you eat for your auto immune too? Something I’m starting to look in to after a recent diagnosis. Too many questions 😂
Hi, how exciting that you are planning to grow all your own from now on! Yes I freeze the apples raw to add to stir fry and stews (I add apples to all sorts of savoury meals). Yes I eat to support auto immune issues. Here's my playlist about living with health issues th-cam.com/play/PLa6906pLM92nKydWnpelZI2wm7aPskPv5.html I will publish a blog post about what I eat and why in the near future.
If you've enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up. You can see how I calculate how much to grow in this video th-cam.com/video/t6NuOCUmV14/w-d-xo.html
Can I just say.... I love you!!! Tying your old freezer up is the coolest and so real. We bought an old one too and put latches to keep it shut. It finally died and makes the most amazing planter now! (Of course we covered it in tin and wood to make it pretty.) Keep the roots from freezing in the winter too.
I'm slightly jealous of the amount of freezer space you've got.
I love that you can keep live greens and root vegetables in the garden over winter. My winters are harsh so I keep greens producing in the greenhouse. I let zucchini grow large, chop, steam and then blend and freeze in quart bags for adding to soups, waffles and muffins. My cold room is full of beets and carrots (buried in sand), potatoes, onions, and a wheelbarrow full of winter squash. Shelves of canned spiced apples, spaghetti sauce, soups and salsa. Still find myself at the grocery store picking up lots of goodies tho...because I can! But it's a great feeling knowing that I could survive on my stores if I had to.
That's incredibly very impressive Liz, although we grow 100% of our veg and most of our herbs, fruit and eggs we are nowhere near 85% self-sufficient, we still have to buy loads of flour, oats, pasta, nuts/seeds, dairy and meat and quite a lot of our drinks. Our store looks nothing like yours though, we have a tiny fraction of your freezer space because 95% of our harvest is picked and eaten fresh : All the best - Steve
Thanks Steve, we also buy dairy, flour, tea and coffee etc, but have swapped vegetables for pasta or rice for most meals that usually call for them. I drink water or homemade cordials and Mr J has homemade cordials or homemade wine (so much cheaper than shop bought stuff). He has quite enjoyed a bought-in Swedish fruit cider recently. I wish I had the energy to harvest fresh throughout the winter, but so far haven't worked out how to find that energy (I am working on it though).
@@LizZorab you have a system that worked for you Liz and that's what matters. We don't like frozen food, so we have plenty of motivation and now that we only grow for 14 people, rather than 28 life feels very relaxed : All the best - Steve
I notice that you have a Beko freezer in your out building. After quite a bit of research this brand still seems to be the only one that have models that are guaranteed safe to use at temperatures less than 10 C. If anyone is looking to buy a freezer for a similar location that can be
less than room temperature - it’s worth checking that they have Beko’s freezer guard technology. In case you’re wondering, I have nothing to do with this brand other than buying a freezer and fridge freezer from them over the past few years.
This was very encouraging! I had thought I was just tinkering round the edges of providing food for 2 people all year round, but although at present I only have a small chest freezer and a fridge freezer, I recognized a lot of what you have done and it made me feel much more appreciative of my achievements in the garden and store cupboards this year!
Glad it was helpful!
I also had a bounty of cherries and I hate de-seeding...time consuming and rather boring. So last year I discovered the joy of freezing them...once defrosted the stones just pop out and you can make whatever you want with them. If you don't have a lot of freezer space you could simply freeze in batches for a week or so and then defrost and prepare whatever you wish, leaving the freezer free for the summer harvest. I also filled 6 large jars with cherries, added vinegar and a few spices and after a few months the cherry vinegar is AMAZING! Much love Louise
Ooh cherry vinegar - that sounds fab! Thank you for the tips and ideas.
One thing i like about you... your every day people... thank you...
Great inspiring food storage Liz. I was just wondering if you have any way of backing up your freezers should we encounter power outages?
I have been focusing on dehydration and canning for that reason as opposed to large freezer storage.
Just discovered you! Made the wreath by the way. In fact made one for a neighbor too. Sorry, didn't notice it was an old video.
I got a small half plot allotment just before lockdown. It has kept me sane...sort of! I have autoimmune arthritis, so it's keeping me mobile too, though not always easy. I'm a novice allotmenteer. It's a learning curve! Can't say I produced enough this year ( I have very fat, smug slugs!). But...I'm determined.
Blessings. 🌻☺️
Next book should be a cookbook!
That is a very impressive amount of stored food! Just growing it is a lot of work! Preparing and storing it is amazing! God Bless You and Happy eating this winter!
I find this video very comforting, even though it’s your food storage, not mine. You seem to have such joy from your garden while tending it but you also have the extra reward of it’s bounty. I can’t wait to read your book!
I just found a pre-order link on Amazon! Hopefully, it will be here for my birthday!
Thanks Laura!
@@LizZorab You’re welcome! I have such hope for my garden in the spring using some of the lessons I’ve learned!
Hi Liz. I've just found your channel so lots to catch up on. Loved the one where you talked to your 'winter self'. We've only got 1/4 acre now but in our 70s that's big enough! We used to have 5 acre smallholding but that would be too much now. I usually have 140 tomato plants & puree them down to freeze, it intensifies the flavour & usually have enough to last the year.
One thing that stands out about your garden , is it's fertility. your plants are so big and healthy. I'd find that hard to achieve, mainly through water logging and the type of soil I have and my climate. I am surrounded by bogs so there's not much I can do. I've been having some interesting conversations with some vegans. They maintain that all animal material is strictly forbidden and I maintain that that is not how nature works. You've made a lovely job of building your soil, so well done.
Aw thank you! I think creating the raised beds was the key thing in this garden. It has allowed me to concentrate on increasing the fertility and soil life of one bed at a time. Would you have to make very deep raised beds to lift them out of the potential flood depth?
@@LizZorab It's just the constant high rainfall. The last couple of years have been brutal. We've flooded about 5 times this Autumn. I find that the organic matter in my raised beds is constantly wet and 'sours'. It would be nice to have a dry spell with frosty mornings and sun But the past 10 years have become progressively worse and the more organic matter I've added, the wetter the soil became. about 1 foot under the beds is a rock hard layer or stone and clay.
Same kind of thing here. Heavy clay with stones/ surrounded by large trees. I love the trees & the wildlife they attract & would be nice to come to some sort of compromise. If that can be managed I'd probably look at growing more crops indoors as each year seems to be getting wetter (Yorkshire).
We are on a similar journey and ask the same question. So rewarding to be able grow your own food and each fresh garden veg for most of the year. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating Liz, you are so organised! Could you show us how to do canning one day?
Will do!
Hi Liz, I prepare a lot of my food in a similar manner, but I have used a pressure cooker to 'can' jarred goods, who h sometimes haven't been great. Do you use a specific'canner', please? Thank you.
This was truly inspirational and such a nice example for having a successful vegetable garden for the family. I was smiling the whole way through as I remember my mother and grandma used to do the jam as well, so do pickled veggies... and the freezer with ready to eat foods are just brilliant. :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done! Can't wait for the book. I've been trying to convince my fiance we need to do away with his mini fridge that holds almost nothing and get another fridge freezer or another freezer. So far he won't budge. I can't pack anymore veg into the freezers and I have filled all my shelves...maybe if I start storing canned goods in his bedside table he'll take a hint? :)
That's a great idea!
Liz this is probably the most useful Prepper video I have seen in ages. I really appreciate that you take the time to make your videos. I am learning so much from you.
Wow, thank you Cherie! I'm also updating my website and adding more blog posts - it all takes a bit of time, but it's getting there slowly 😀
I love how you're managing your garden and storage. How long did it take to learn how to do this (the prepping) around your health issues, how much space does all this take, and how big is your water bath / pressure canner? Thank you. I'm disabled and learning how to preserve my harvests with as few spoons as possible, and watching how you do this is very inspiring, especially inspiring me to create my own solutions. Stay safe
Hello Liz, You have done an amazing job in your garden to provide for yourselves! How rewarding is that?!! ☺️Thank you for sharing.😉💗
The pantry is so beautiful, Liz!! You've worked really, really hard to grow, harvest and process it all into a thing of beauty and health!! You've an abundance of stored food for both now and throughout the hungry gap and that is a comforting feeling!! Love the singles and meals for two! What a fabulous video!! So nice to see you, Liz!! I hope you have a great week!! 💚
Absolutely amazing...my stored food is so different... packets of dried beans, dried milk, dried chilis, dried herbs, olive oil, coconut oil, sugar, rice, sardines, tuna, coffee...my freezer has pumpkin, tomatoes, jujubes, peach, mulberries, pomegranates and chicken. My fridge has cheese, butter, eggs, cabbage, celery and a pot of stew and some jars of cooked beans. My garden is looking rather bare with only malva, silver beet, purslane, onions, carrots and a few late pomegranates and some unripe oranges. Our pecans are starting to fall. We have two broilers and 10 roosters on the sacrificial list. I certainly don't have a years worth of food. It's my animal food where my food security falls to pieces.
Wow, Ann... I'll be right over!!! lol💚@@annburge291
Blimey ! I’m going to have to watch that again and take notes ! Do you cook your ready meals in bulk ? Where do your recipes/instructions on canning come from ?
We’re almost self sufficient, just need a bit more organisation and getting quantities and timing right.
Hi Benjamin, yes I bulk cook, but also freeze any extra from everyday meal cooking. I use a couple of canning books that I got from USA. I'm really not as organised as I could be, the wonderful thing about video is that you can choose not to show all the chaos (note how I carefully kept the freezer door open so you couldn't see the utter horror of the mess behind it!).
Hahaha the pictures of my garden make it look amazing cos I always cut the grass first, don’t pan out and never take pics of things that fail 😂
Thankyou for sharing your estate it really does help. I went from 130 sq ft of digging to 800 sq ft of no digging in two years (and getting bigger still) from the inspiration of a couple in Canada then to you, Hue and Charles.
great video, oh my your freezer is so organised
This channel is so inspirational! We loved this video, thank you for sharing, we are learning a lot! Having started gardening on a small scale in London we are now in the countryside and planning to learn enough to grow much more so we can also provide most of our produce. We definitely need more freezers ☺️
Thank you for a very informative video. I'm new to gardening and assumed canning produce literally meant putting it in tin cans. After watching this, I realise I can use the empty jam jars I was going to put out for recycling, so I'll be saving more for next year.
You can NOT just put stuff into jars to store it, you need to have a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker) and canning safe jars. Jams, jellies (jam without the bits) and some chutneys can be preserved in ordinary jars. Please make sure you do lots of research before you start preserving food in jars.
I just loved the ending with the dressers if only to tell myself it's ok to be surrounded by useful stuff! Lovely video, thank you for sharing as i catch up on the first six years of your journey towards self-sufficiency and everything wholesome xx
Glad you enjoyed it! I had to go back and have a look at the dressers - good grief they were chaotic!
@@LizZorab Lol!!
Hello! I recently found your channel through Huw Richards. It's so welcoming and I can't stop watching your videos. Unfortunately I lack the needed amount of freezing space, so I try to can and dry whatever I can grow. Do you have tips in this method too? Love from Hungary
Hello Liz, I just found you! You are a homesteaders inspiration! Jess from South Australia
Wow Liz you've put an enormous amount of time and work in. Really inspirational.
I recently invested in a chest freezer for the garage after production quantity here at McTavish Manor burst past what I could feasibly consume. I love filling it up with homegrown produce, sauces, fruits, etc. I've also bought a book on preserving, so I hope to emulate more of your ideas.
This is wonderful! I'm not quite as self-sufficient as you, but still, it's a great feeling to have food hamstered away to last through winter and early spring. :)
I planned on living off my garden through the winter this year (I live in Alaska). I’ve gone through all of my root vegetables in my crawl space. And have about 10 quarts of other assorted canned veggies, and four winter squash😒 Need to do better next year!
Cant wait for the book!
Not long now, well okay a couple of months or so, but still... not long now!
Wow your canning skills have come along in leaps and bounds, I'd be ecstatic with that haul Liz, well done xx
Wow! Incredible. Inspirating 💗
Great stuff Liz.I have grown a large amount this year and it's mazing how much can be produced in the garden.
Very impressive, Liz! Would love to see how you prepare some of the food for freezing or how you can your food!
Noted! I may write a blog post about this
This was so good Liz! Great to see where and how you store your food and the logic behind it - some really good ideas to take on board. You definitely have food security!
Thanks so much! 😊 I was rather happy after I'd filmed this, I hadn't really taken on board how many pre-cooked meals I've got in the freezer until filming.
@@LizZorab you’ve definitely inspired me to make the most of this summer, both with storing the harvest and meal prep - thank you! 😊
your storage shed is amazing!!💚Ispiring!!!
From crop rotation to freezer rotation! LOL! Always good to see healthy storage of food. Well done - it looks rather similar to here with portions marked out as we cook in batches. My daughter has started doing similar batch cooking. At last the brainwashing has worked! Nice video Liz, thanks for the tour of the goodies still in the ground.
I use a similar freezer system with a big chest freezer in the garage. I decant stuff from there to a smaller upright in the house. I store lots of cooked apple and soups in old takeaway boxes. So much easier to store as they are all the same size and stack. I did as you advised with jacket potatoes and cooked several at once and froze. It’s so easy and now I have a Ninja oven, they are easy to warm back up as I don’t use a microwave.
Oh Welldone that’s amazing. Thankyou for the link to big beans these are now ordered and ready growing next year. Would love videos on preserving - interested in the sauces and beans that you have canned - thanks for you many videos so useful and informative
Amazing job,well done 🙏
I enjoyed that video Liz. Can you make a video on how you can things please? It’s a mystery to me!
Hi Karen, I recommend that you watch Jaime's video (Guildbrook Farm) about starting canning th-cam.com/video/jU0CzxBnKoY/w-d-xo.html
Easy fix for freezer door takes one minute, costs 10 cents. Clean the door seal with basic soap and water. Let it dry few minutes. Take petroleum jelly and rub it on the door seal. Not only will it make the door seal stronger but it will also make your freezer run less saving you money. It will make such a strong suction that it will take force to open it.
Thank you so much, this is a great tip!
Nice to see how all your hard work turned into abundantly stocked shelves, and barn and freezers! Congratulations on your book, too.
Thank you so much!
Wow Liz, this is awesomely inspirational. Love your videos but hadn't bumped into your food stuff before. As first year allotmenteer I've learned so much from you that is really making my little half-plot wonderfully productive. I wasn't planning on food preserving this year - I'm hoping (following your monthly sowing guides and starting with your advice on perennials) to give us seasonal food through winter (and really hoping most of the hungry gap too) but just being take on this wonderful walk round is really inspiring me to to get doing more research on food preservation. You are a wonderful inspiration. Thank you so much.
The jars on shelves in your garage look like luminous jewels. Absolutely enchanting.
I saw you featured in another channel but am new to your channel today - liked, subscribed, but the bell, looking forward to learning more from you.
Hello Celeste, welcome to Byther Farm, I hope you'll enjoy getting to know us!
Liz, your store of food is wonderful. I know you also sell some produce so is it possible to say how much ground you cultivate for you own use?
I loved this video Liz. When I cook certain meals I love to have enough to freeze. It is so convenient for me and when I take a
meal from the freezer it feels like a free meal . It saves so much time in the long run.
I hope you and Mr J are well. We are as good as we can be and believe it or not I had a swim in the sea a few days ago. We had some heavy rain yesterday and the forcast is for rain this week. It doesn't look too bad outside right now so we are invited for lunch at Spyros, 86 year old sister. One of her own chickens are on the menu. Alas they are not free ranged. This year she grew quite a variety of vegetables which I think is amazing .
Thanks for sharing. I just love seeing Monmouthshire.
xxxxx Margaret in Cyprus
Happy Thanksgiving Liz. Loved the tour. Love the thin sliced frozen zucchini for lasagna. I’m going to use that!
Thank you and I hope you enjoy your day tomorrow.
Excellent video, Liz! That chard at 0:30 is a monster!
🌿😁 loved seeing how you preserved diff things!
Great inspiration for next year 👍
Thank you so much!
Well the Late Robert Hart grew a Forest Garden on 1/8 of an Acre and it supplies him with all his food needs. Approx 5-8 Vegans can live from 1 Acre, depending on what food growing system is used. 🌎✊🏽🌻
Hey Liz sorry I have not been commenting on your vids for such a long time! We have been away from youtube for quite some time! hopefully we will be back soon. Great to see you still posting vids! Hope you and your family are all safe! Your dried beans will still be viable to grow! even though you say they are 4 years old. Wwe sown some 2003 beans this year and 76 out of 100 sprouted and got some decent Lima Beans, Black Eyed Beans and Pigeon Peas between 75% and 80% on all three species average. Oh and 20 year old Parsnip Seeds too that every one thought where dead. Probably the oldest parsnip seeds on youtube ever
You always really are SOOO organised.
I think you know that I only share the bits that look organised and the rest of the house and garden is utter chaos!
Loved seeing all your homegrown stockpile of food 😊
Great job this yr has been a wake up call for alot of people o. Growing heir food alot of friends tried and said it failed.i told them u need to tend to them and not depend of groceries store our city has seen another spike to we got curfew for Thanksgiving wkend.i work pt and just getting more out of garden.used to have the mental status it help the grocery bill and has changed to let get serious about cuttings that bill.i have canned about 200 jars this yr.will be asking for your second book for me bday in feb.lol
Please would you share some of your recipes for preserving /canning food? I know that there are plenty on the web but tried and tested recipes from someone you trust are always the best. Thanking you in anticipation.
Yay for a whole year of food. Good on you.
Just wondered if you have a pressure canner Liz? There is a great group on Facebook called "preserving and canning UK" Karen Clayton is the admin and I think she has a TH-cam channel too. Fabulous video. I love your storage set up....well done!
Hi Mavis, yes I have a pressure canner and use a couple of great canning books that I got from USA.
I agree, it's a good group.
Thanks so much. Looking forward to ordering your book so I can figure out how much to grow for a year of food.
Have just come across your page. Wow, very inspiring! Do you have a video on how to prepare fruit and vege for freezing? I'm not sure whether they go in raw, blanched, cooked etc? Thanks
I’m in awe Liz a lot of hard work but must be so satisfying when those freezers are full. When you freeze things like tomatoes do you have to do anything first, or just pick and freeze. Oops and can’t wait for my copy of your book to arrive to my door in Tasmania.
Hi Avril, I don't do anything to tomatoes except cut the larger ones into pieces and freeze them on a flat tray before transferring them into the bags for storage in the freezer.
I seriously didn't know you could freeze and reuse all those things!
I love freezing food, it's so easy and so little work!
Right? I looked at the frozen zucchini and diced apples and felt sorry for all the produce I just gave away during the glut of harvest. I could have frozen at least some for myself. Next year!!!
@@TanjaHermann I really don't like the taste of defrosted zucchini. They smell funny and taste badly. It's better to freeze them cooked. (Grilled or stewed, or in form of zucchini bread or pancakes). The same with eggplants.
Hey Liz, I was wondering where you get your jars and other storage devices from? I'm looking for them online but they can sometimes be more expensive than I'd like. Started helping with my Mum's allotment and I grew some radishes and I'm overwintering some broad beans after you suggested both in a previous video, the beans are still going strong and I've discovered I'm fond of radishes! This video is super helpful to me as I'm looking to grow much more next year to make up a large part of my diet, as well as reduce my plastic use. So thanks for all the tips and videos.
Hi James, I buy canning jars online from a variety of places and I bought the pressure canner from USA (you can't use a pressure cooker). If you are interested in canning, its definitely worth doing some careful research before you start as there is a risk of botulism if you do it incorrectly!
looks amazing i wish i could afford your book but i'm learning loads watching your videosx
You made me hungry. Something that is not easy to do. Most days I just don't want food. I eat because I must. So to make me want food is a major achievement. I wish you Bon Appettite!
Yay for making you hungry - I hope that you went and found something to eat 😀
@@LizZorab Tomato soup!
cheers luv you've been a great help this year in my new garden
2:34 That is so many jars! I grew some things this year for the first time, but boy is your preservation setup on another level. I usually associate frozen food as junk food from the supermarket, so I think it I should try to alter that when it comes to storing my own produce. I never realised veg soup could be stored in jars - it tends to go on off within a week in my fridge, so I didn't think anywhere else would do better.
Cutting apples up into little pieces and then freezing away is an ingenious idea that I'll have to steal! My first apples won't arrive 'till next Autumn, so this is valuable to know, given their notorious storage capability.
Hi, Food in jars has to be preserved in a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker) to make it safe to store. Please do not just put food in jars and hope it will be safe. I recommend that you do lots of research into pressure canning before you begin.
@@LizZorab Thanks Liz, I know very little about the canning process, so I will look into that.
Love all the canning you have been doing this year. I’m still too scared to try. I use to keep my raw and cooked meat in separate freezers until we have a problem with one of them went wrong and defrosted. I now separation between the two and use the bottom drawers.
Hi Liz, great video! Can you recommend a good book on canning/preserving please? I'm aware of making jams, chutneys and passata but I've only recently discovered the possibilities of soups, stews etc. It's never occurred to me that other things, particularly meals with meat could be preserved in jars. This would be ideal for us as we have limited freezer space.
Go for anything by Canning Diva (Diane Devereux) her books have really good recipes for meals in jars. Stay away from Ball books - it's mostly jams and pickles, very little about pressure canning there.
I have one of Diane Devereaux's books 😀
Wow!you're better stocked than Tesco , when do you sleep 😅❤️
i'm also growing purple sprouting broccoli!
Very well organized! I like your system.
Hi. How do u make the soups and what's the shelf life please? Fab ideas. Great work.
If you raise the front of the tall freezer (a cm), the weight of the door should keep it shut.
Wow Liz! Yall did great on growing enough food another year...more than enough. It all looks delish and of course I leaned more great tips from you.🙂
You are looking well! 🙂 Rejoicing with yall on meeting your goal. I want to be you when I'm a grown up gardener.😄
Grown up gardener! Bahahahaha! Love it.
That is excellent all that knowledge in a book? I want it!
It's always great to see your gardening challenges. Easier to grow for the entire year if you're an emptynester. ...because you'd face a whole lot of varieties unlike large gardener families concentrating on less varieties and producing cccertain things en masse for the market.
Hi, yes I agree about the whole lot of varieties. This year I also grew for 20 veg boxes each week, so had the challenge of growing enough food to fill those too. It's all good fun and a good learning experience.
Fantastic Liz!! Food Storage Goals! 🥰
Thank you! 🤗
Pre-ordered on Amazon, looking forward to it :)
That is awesome, brilliant video! Why you have thumbs down on this I have no idea!
Thank you very much! I have no idea either, but no worries, they might be having a bad day and hitting the thumbs down makes them feel better - in which case, my job is done!
Thank you for sharing your food storage information. I love that you have cooked food in its own freezer. Have a great day👍💞
Thanks for dropping by! I keep the pre-cooked meals in one place so that Mr J knows just where to find them 😉
@@LizZorab lol....smart idea lol
Wow. I'm impressed!
WOW,amazing stuff !
Thank you! Cheers!
youre not going to starve nice video liz
Thanks Steven!
Hi Liz! Brilliant video! From where have you bought the big jars? Thank you. Floriana
Hi Liz. I loved seeing all your storage space for all the produce you have grown and prepped but what I would like to know is what do you use to bottle the produce in. Do you use a pressure cooker or a proper canner, like the Americans seem to use?
Hi Diana, I use a canner because a pressure cooker isn't usually suitable for canning.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I have spent several hours looking for a canner in the UK but not getting anywhere fast. Which canner do you use and would you recommend it? Ihave an induction hob and am struggling to find something that is suitable that isn’t not going to cost an arm and a leg. I know that in the long run it will be a good investment.
It would be great to see a video on canning.
Once again, I got hungry just listening!
Congratulations on your book!
Thank you so much 😀
Another great video Liz! I see from comments (read them all) that other folks are wanting more information, just like me, on how you did the pressure canning. I'm originally from the States (NY) and am familiar with Hot Water Bath Canning. I have one here in the UK with me and used it once to preserve fresh Bilberries in water; it worked great but I haven't done much else.
I know this is DIFFERENT than a pressure canner and I've always wanted to get one and dive in learning. We want to grow more of our own and preserve so I guess I'll have to get one. Please can you do some videos on specific things you can (how to- step by step)? I think like many, I'm a bit nervous on how to do it without getting blown up hahahahah! Cheers!
Hi Mary, here's a good place to start. th-cam.com/video/jU0CzxBnKoY/w-d-xo.html
Wow!! So organized and creative. Well done 👍 Liz. I am really interested to watch a video how to canning fresh food. Also I noticed that you grow your own Greek beens. Why you don't eat them from the dry version 😋?
As Greek my self I cooked them as soup or in the oven with tomatoes or with out,just fresh oregano , olive oil and lemon. I look forward for your book. Have a Merry Christmas 🎄 . Greetings from Eastbourne Kalli
Thank you! I don't cook from dry beans because I'm not organised enough 😀
Great video
Hi Liz, thank you for this video, it’s super timing for us as we are looking to grow a years worth of everything from next year. Well from now really, using our winter veg. I’ll be documenting it all along the way of course and taking lots of inspiration from channels like yours. Love the canned goods and freezers. Great idea on slicing courgettes for pasta strips! Such an exciting journey. Did you freeze the apples raw? Would love to know if you eat for your auto immune too? Something I’m starting to look in to after a recent diagnosis. Too many questions 😂
Hi, how exciting that you are planning to grow all your own from now on! Yes I freeze the apples raw to add to stir fry and stews (I add apples to all sorts of savoury meals). Yes I eat to support auto immune issues. Here's my playlist about living with health issues th-cam.com/play/PLa6906pLM92nKydWnpelZI2wm7aPskPv5.html I will publish a blog post about what I eat and why in the near future.
@@LizZorab thank you for that Liz. I will look forward to the blog post whilst checking out the play list 👌