Freezers!

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

No, not snow plowing on a crawler when it is Zero out there.

I have two 20 Cu Ft upright freezers. Usually, we only run one and it is Cleverly Loaded. Meaning, packed to the gills. The other comes in handy when putting up stuff from the garden. Get it vacuum packed, load it into freezer two flat on the shelves, and it freezes quickly. Then, move it over to freezer one when ready for the next batch of stuff.

Freezer two is also handy when it comes time to defrost number one. That was this morning's job. Because....Sunday we packed 80-some ears of corn. Last evening, I went to move it over and....no room, no matter how clever anyone might be. Plus, not defrosted in two years.

Man! Stuff dating back to 2014 in there. You know, towards the back and on the bottom. And, surrounded by snow drifts. Sheesh! Three 13 gal kitchen bags worth of stuff. Well, except for two 2015 steaks and a couple 2016 catfish, none of which were vac sealed so they have more snow inside than outside, everything is coming in new now.

As I say: Freezers!

Stan

[Lavoy]

Man does that sound familiar. BUT, if the Army ever stops by, they will be well fed.
Lavoy

[Paul Buhler]

Fun topic. Been there too. We defrost ours in the winter. Put the good stuff outside and then use whatever works to melt the freezer's ice into a puddle. Bears hibernate in the winter, so no lost goods to them. Freezer burn on the other hand means 1: too much stuff put up that we're not eating fast enough, 2: plant less next year.
Rarely have burnt meat, we like meat.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Yup! Too much stuff in the garden in 2014. Some folks here might recall I was working away from home 2011 thru 2013. So, no Garden Goodies to speak of for three years. With me unable to help, my wife shrunk the garden way down. And, I was Garden Goody-less for three years. So, when I came back I planted the whole thing. Five rows, five feet apart (for good access) and all 180 feet long. Yeah! Garden Goodies! All-you-can eat, and then all-you-can freeze, then all-you-can can!

In 2015, the garden was reset to six 180 foot rows and mostly planted with hot peppers. Just about every kind from Jalapenos all the way to Carolina Reapers. A good friend wanted to experiment with hot sauces with the idea of going into manufacturing. He started the plants, put them in, and tended them. He had four freezers and several dehydrators. Filled those and then filled my extra space. Still too many, so I pureed and canned about a hundred pints there at the end.

There were still a couple dozen bags of frozen, vac sealed, peppers in there as well. Oh, and the experimental work was successful and he now has a commercial outfit making and bottling his sauces. Three recipies at this point.

But, all cleared away now. Room for 2018 goodies. And, normally, we have 40 foot of garden, 20 foot of buffer, and the rest for the small, ornamental, gourds. Gourds are what we sell. The large gourds have their own acreage outside the garden, called a Patch. Danged things vine all over the place, and the larger the gourd, the more space the plant takes up.

Stan