Canning Onion Soup

One of the things we do here on our mini-homestead is engage in food preservation. We can, freeze, and dehydrate just about anything we can get our hands on.

Last summer, I canned some Onion Soup, and videoed most of the process. I somehow neglected to video the last stage: Removing the jars from the canner. It's possible I did video that, too, but apparently I've forgotten where I filed it since it isn't filed with the rest of the clips!

I followed the USDA guidelines for canning soup, which can be found by following the link to Soups. There you will find a safe, tested method for canning soup. Of course, you can also explore the site for hundreds more recipes as well as help for canning and other food preservation, equipment, and safety concerns.

I've been canning many years, so I also use the Ball Blue Book. Some of us who can call it the "Canning Bible"! Loaded with great, safe information, clear instructions, and even planning charts for canning and gardening.

Since I thought some of you might like to follow along with me as I canned my onion soup, I made the videos into two parts.

Canning Onion Soup Part 1

Canning Onion Soup Part 2 & an Announcement.

Planting peas, radishes, and collards

Brrr!! It sure has gotten cold again! Last weekend, we had temperatures in the mid and high 70s. Today, it's windy and in the mid 40s. I'm so glad I got some things planted while it was decent weather for working outside.

Part of what I planted was sugar snap peas, radishes, and collards. All those things do well when the ground is fairly cold so I expect they will make their presence known very soon. As usual, I made a video showing the planting of these vegetables. I hope you enjoy the video. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel for more homesteading videos! And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe so you can stay caught up with what's going on here!

Heirloom Seeds Source

I want to share with you all the source of my heirloom seeds.

I bought seeds from a fellow YouTube publisher who lives completely off-grid, works odd jobs to support herself, and sells heirloom seeds on her own website. She also sells some plants and produce at a farmers market close to where she lives. She really is living the life of off grid homesteading, and she works very hard at it, too!

She goes by "Arky" and has the YouTube channel "Crystal Cottage Off Grid", where she shares her successes and failures, her ups and downs, all along the way.

You can find her by clicking the link for Crystal Cottage Off Grid and watch her many adventures in primitive living.

If you are interested in buying seeds from her, just visit Crystal Cottage Seeds. She offers free shipping in the US and only $3 shipping to Canada. I bought 10 packets of seeds from her back in January and planted the collards over this past weekend. I'm anxious to get the others into flats in my portable greenhouse and get them started.

Here's a video I made showing the seeds I got and giving you more information about her and another YouTube publisher. Take a few minutes to visit them both, subscribe to them, and be sure to comment. YouTube publishers love comments!