Cleaning the Craft Room

Cleaning the "Craft Room"

After having the in-laws come to town and stay for a week, I realized that my "craft room" needed to be cleaned out. I know that sounds like a totally silly way to start out a blog about canning foods but just stay with me on this for a minute.. 

I was frantic trying to get the house "mom ready" I had given myself a week off before hand to clean the house from top to bottom.. including the chicken coop, greenhouse, laundry shed, and garden... phew.. it was alot of work just saying all that.. So along comes the Wednesday before the Friday of The Arrival. Work calls. Now I told work that I was taking time off for family affairs... the whole week... but I work for some.. people.. :) 

Anyhow, I get stuck with what turned out to be 58 hours worth of work that was due back by Friday morning. Now Wednesday to Friday isn't very long.. Especially when you're totally freaking out about inlaws and lint in the dryer catch and dust on the moulding, and streaks on the windows and washed towels and clean linens and bathroom toiletries and a fully stocked kitchen, and well... you get the point... 

And then there was the "craft room" This room has been used as a catch all for stuff. I don't have any other word for it except "stuff". I have paintings from high school, old pictures, really old clothes, holiday crud, fish tank things and whats-a-madoos, I've got hee-whoos and do-dads galore! I even found my mum from freshman year in there...  Don't laugh, I've got pictures to prove it :)

And those paintings...

But on to the good stuff!
I found my pressure cooker! Yay! It had been long put away after The Canning of the Bell Peppers was over. So I soaked a good amount of the dried black eyed peas that have been waiting to be canned for a while now.. :/ got out some jars and went to work!

I'm a fan of the Kerr brand jars only because they leave enough smooth surface on the jars for a label.. The ball jars work just as well, but when you sell these jars (filled with yummy organic goodness) the label better sit pretty. Its your first impression you know :)
So anyhow, I made a couple jars of pinto beans and reminisced about the days of old when my Mormon closet was full.. (I hope that's not a slur.. its just what I know a closet full of "just in case" food to be called)  We did a pretty good job of feeding ourselves through the "winter"  from our garden. I didn't have a winter garden this year so canning was a huge part of our lives earlier in 2011.

So there it is.. The top shelf of whats left of the closet.. I can't wait til spring!!

I'm so excited, Ive decided to make a garden page that follows the garden through its year.. I think this could be a great way to not only keep track of when, where, and how many of what gets planted, picked, or composted but its also a great way for me to share my experiences and help others get started in being totally self sufficient... :) You'll see, its easy.. I may even make up a "plan." sort of like a Gardening for Dummies- The Plan Edition... stay tuned...