I just set a jar of frozen watermelon juice out to thaw. It's one of my favorite thing to put by. Organic carrot juice, blueberries, black raspberries corn and broccoli, are high on the list.

What has worked well for you?

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), April 01, 2002

Answers

Right now for lunch we are having corn that I froze last summer, and tomaotes/garlic and basil sauce that I canned with some extra frozen basil thrown in over top of couscous. Wonderful! I still have blueberries, blackberries and peaches frozen in the freezer, and canned peaches and pears upstairs. We are still eating the aforementioned corn, canned greenbeans and canned tomatoes. I doubt if they will last until the real thing starts to come on.

-- Lynelle SOwestVA (X2ldp@aol.com), April 01, 2002.

Spaghetti sauce! it is so good and very versatile. Makes a quick meal too. Also the corn, green beans, carrots all come in handy. Most of our frozen fruit is gone though....

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 01, 2002.

I enjoy so much of our food from the vegetables to the hog and steer in my freezer. I think my favorite to get out as a treat though is strawberries. Even now when they are getting a little old in the freezer I still love to eat them. Can't wait for a few months so I can start picking them again. (this is Ohio so we don't get them until late May, early June.

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), April 01, 2002.

Just took some jars out to my storm/fruit cellar and was noticing how many empty jars I have. Will be good to get the garden in and fill up those empty jars again. We especially like the green beans and applesauce I can but like the beets, pickles, both beet and cucumber, pears,just whatever I can grow or get ahold of. The potatoes and onions are now gone from our garden and I had to buy potatoes this morning. Also had to do a little sweeping to clean up the floor a bit!

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), April 01, 2002.

Actually, we haven't had any for months and I am getting restless about it. The lettuce is 1/2 inch tall. We lost the frozen berries during the ice storm. Then it occured to me-I didn't eat all the canned blackberries hehehehehe! There is NO better time to eat that last jar over ice cream than when the homegrown is gone and the new is too small to eat hehehehehe!!!!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), April 01, 2002.

I trade milk for my neighbor's produce, so it wasn't quite like I raised it myself, but I still have potatoes, carrots, & onions in the cellar, several varieties of freezer jam, and some frozen shredded zucchini. I have one small box of apples left. Also a fair amount of beef and a whole hog (we just butchered) in the freezer. I think I also still have some frozen squash and pumpkin left, guess I'd better dig it out and use it up. One of my favorites is the freezer jam, it always tastes just like fresh berries. We love it on ice cream too.

-- Lenette in OR (kigervixen@nospam.com), April 01, 2002.

We-re still doing pretty good on jam and some canned berries and peaches. We have just a few jars of tomatos left-the spheghetti sauce went pretty fast! I think there are a couple of jars of salsa too. My pantrys looking pretty bare right now. On the other hand, lettuce and spinach are coming up pretty well-can't wait for salads!

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), April 01, 2002.

I don't even have a garden right now, whaaaaaa. But, I have been harvesting my hydroponic lettuce, mesclun mix, and herbs. Just gave away the tomato plants cause I am leaving town for a month. And, still eating frozen bluberries that we picked, but did not grow, last Spring. Can't wait to have a garden again! But I do enjoy hearing about everyone else's.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), April 01, 2002.

Homemade muffins with blueberries put up last summer or maybe strawberries or peaches.

Just used the last of the carrots we'd stored last fall for our St. Patrick's day dinner.

Tonight's spaghetti sauce was homemade, so was the salsa we had on tacos last week.

How about watermelon rind pickles, pickled beets, frozen corn (both on the cob and off), frozen butterbeans, broccoli and rhurbarb or canned stringbeans? I even canned carrots last year that turned out pretty good. Also, dried blueberries, strawberries, apples, corn, carrots, etc. I love a full pantry.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (Trevilians@attbi.com), April 01, 2002.

I love knowing my freezer is full of home grown beef. I fix stewed tomatos and freeze them for soups. Applesauce and apricots,also frozen. I made an apricot and peach cobbler, it was good.

-- Jo in Central Wa. (countryjo16@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002.

I have been surprised at how fast our pickles have gone. I made garlic/dill cucumber pickles by the quart last summer, and thought we'd never use them all. Now I know that I will need to plant a few more cucumbers this year, and experiment with pickle recipes. The green tomato pickles did not go over well at all, however, so I plan to make this year's green tomatoes into relish.

-- Cathy N. (eastern Ontario) (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), April 01, 2002.

Maple syrup made from our own trees.

-- Arnold (ajkc2fli@localnet.com), April 01, 2002.

Oh wow... I forgot about the honey. Still using last summer's wildflower honey.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), April 01, 2002.

I really can't chose...........we just so love it all. But, I have been doing it since dirt was invented and I seldom put up anything that we don't love, at least not more than once or twice. I guess this time of year I am really most enjoying the fresh frozen fruits, as we are trying so hard to not purchase anything but use up what we have put up.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 01, 2002.

The fresh canned peaches and the apple butter!

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002.

I freeze pesto sauce---from the basil I grow----I put it in plastic ice cube trays---them pop them out & put them in baggies---I use pesto sauce at least once a week if not more---

This summer I have to plant more basil-----I use tons of herbs I freese & dry---eveyday of the year!!!!

I also make tea from my herbs/ I drink everyday of the year----

Of coarse I freeze tons of veggies /I live on all winter----two freezers full!!

So glad it is almost garden time here again!!!

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), April 02, 2002.

The three kids with another one now on the way!

-- charles (cr@dixienet.com), April 02, 2002.