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Raising and Butchering Weaner Pigs

Raising and butchering weaner pigs takes only 8 months and is a great way to grow your own meat!

Raising and butchering your own pigs is a great way to achieve self-sufficiency and control the food you put on your table. This post is great for homesteaders and small-scale farmers. Learn how to raise healthy pigs, maximize your pasture use, and get tips for raising your pigs beofre it is time for butchering and putting food on the table.

For several years we have raised weaner pigs here on our property. Raising and butchering pigs for your family is not hard to do.

It’s a great way for us to know what is in the meat we are eating.

Raising and butchering pigs for your family saves you so much money, especially if you can have the pigs on pasture for most of their lives.

Next year, we may be back to raising a couple of weaners.

They are called weaners (and it IS spelled weaner, not weiner cuz that’s what you put in a hot dog!) because these little piglets have recently been weaned from their mother’s milk.

Raising and Butchering Pigs for your Family

Why Buy and Raise Weaner Pigs?

Buying weaner pigs saves us not only a lot of money, but a lot of time and inconvenience as well. Since we buy piglets a couple of months old, we don’t have to be responsible for keeping a sow.

A pregnant sow must be watched and fed carefully to ensure she is in good health. We don’t have to be concerned with any of these items:

the whole reproduction part – keeping a boar, or bringing one in to service the sow
possible lactation problems with the sow’s milk
weaning difficulties
rectal prolapse from birthing
no responsibility for any part of weaner production
any other general health challenge the sow may face

How long does it take to raise a pig to slaughter?

Not long. That’s why pigs work perfectly for us here. We like to work seasonally; that is, we don’t usually keep animals all year round.

Ideally, what works best for us is to raise animals from early March into December.

Figure out what works best for you and your family! Can you raise pigs all year long? Do you want to?

It will be a big help if you plan your yearly goals ahead of time. Not just for raising animals, but for gardening, building projects and the like.

Pigs grow quite quickly – to give you an idea, we receive piglets around the end of March.

When we get them, the young piglets weigh maybe 25 or 30 pounds. They are adorable at that age too!

As soon as we get them settled, we spend time with them every day so they get to know us. Pigs love a good scratching and are friendly too. Socializing with the pigs is an important part of their transition to life here on our farm.

Dry Feed for Pigs – Our Feeding Strategy

We do feed our weaner pigs dry feed, which is grain we buy at the local feed store. We also give them a change of diet by feeding them a lot of vegetables as the season goes on.

Here, we do not allow free feeding of grain. We watch the pigs feed intake by giving only a couple of cups of grain per pig per day. We drop this grain into the feeder in their pen.

(The bonus of feeding some grain is that you can use it to “call them”. If they get out of their enclosure, shaking a bucket of grain will bring them running, because they are trained to that bucket of grain!)

By September, the pigs are growing large and are eating a lot, including the pasture they live on here. We grow a LOT of their feed ourselves! They actually get a huge garden full of root crops and leafy greens too.

Read about how to grow animal feed – you will see exactly how we feed the pigs.

We butcher them in very late October or early November of the same year. It’s a bonus that we don’t have to overwinter them.

By the point of slaughter, each pig will dress out at about 250 pounds.

They are not as adorable when they get bigger. They have to be trained to electric fence, if you want to pasture them. Raising your own pigs on pasture is fantastic, if you can do it.

Pasturing is the best way to raise pigs as they will till up the pasture, eating pretty much anything they find and growing bigger while doing it.

This decreases their feed cost by quite a bit and that is always a good thing.

Where to Put the Pigs

Do you have a future garden plot all staked out? Do yourself a favour and put a couple of weaner pigs in there the year before you plant.

They will do all the tilling and fertilizing for you! These pigs above are busy rooting through the dirt.

Meanwhile they are digging up next years garden for us.

Here are more articles we have posted on this site about raising and butchering pigs

Decide for yourself if it is something you think will work at your place.

Aside from training them to electric fence, they are not hard to have around and provide a lot of laughs.

Having two pigs will definitely provide enough meat for a family of four for one year.

Once you get a couple of sides of butchered pork in your freezer you will be glad you raised them.

They are fun to raise as well. Pigs are very social animals, which is why we recommend raising more than one at a time. A pig on its own can get lonely.

They are also pretty smart. They can be trained and you will see them interact and protect each other.

Often, we sit on the porch on a sunny afternoon, beer in hand and watching the pig races, as we call them.

Or the pig channel, if they are not running around in circles at the time.

We’ve even been known to place a wager on a certain pig to win the pig race. We make our own fun here in the Valley, and fun we do have!

Problems with Weaner Pigs

Some of the potential medical problems with weaner pigs are as follows:

Lesions, including:
tail lesions
body lesions
ear lesions
Diarrhoea
Gut health issues

You can find lots of information about health treatments for weaner pigs here at this article.

Butchering Pigs

Fast forwarding to after the slaughtering process; here is part of the butchering process.

Butchering simply means the cutting up of meat into things like chops, steaks, roasts, etc.

Here is our go to book on butchering any type of livestock or wild meat.

This is only part of one half of a pig, so keep this in mind when you read through the rest of the information.

Pork Shoulder Steaks. Look how nice that meat looks!

A nice layer of fat and great looking pork – these will be great when we make Turmeric Garlic Pork Chops! We also really enjoy these Cornbread Stuffed Pork Chops with apples.

Sides of Bacon ready for brining and smoking. Normally, we cut these into slabs of about 2 pounds, wrap them and then freeze them.

Later in the year when we have more time, Graham will take out some packages, thaw them and put them into a brine for smoking.

Loin chops ready for wrapping. Remember that this is only one half of a pig.

It is such a great feeling to cut and wrap meat that we raised ourselves.

It looks (and tastes) so healthy compared to some of the grocery store meat.

A cooler full of butchered and wrapped homegrown pork. This cooler is ready to go off to friends in exchange for lamb and goat.

The Possibility of Bartering Pork

Who doesn’t love bartering? In your neighbourhood, you may find bartering works. It can certainly make it easier for everyone.

One family raises beef, another raises pigs, and another raises chickens.

This means the livestock setup is only needed for one particular animal, instead of all the fencing and housing requirements for all kinds of animals.

Here is one of the hind quarters. It’s pretty much just one big ham but we did cut it into smaller hams.

Freeze them individually and then brine them later if you want to smoke some of them!

Here are the results of butchering one half of a pig. Click on the picture if you want to see the cuts we wrapped.

The bowl in the top left of the picture is full of the trimmings.

Is raising and butchering pigs for your family looking like a better idea now?

The other bowl with all the organs (heart, liver, kidney) is not in the picture.

All these organ meats and trimmings get cooked up, then pressure canned. This becomes meat for our dog.

Remember that you have the option to plant a garden full of veggies just for the pigs. Read about what vegetables we feed our pigs and you may want to plant a garden for your pigs too.

It saves a lot of money and that is a large part of what raising your own meat is all about. Of course, the added knowledge of just exactly WHAT you feed them helps to feel secure about what your family is eating.

This is the end result of a few months spent raising a weaner pig.Raised on a bit of grain, lots of fresh-from-the-dirt garden veggies and pasture, these pigs have had a wonderful life.

But What About Commercially Raised Pork?

Think about the way we have raised our pigs, then read this comment left by Patty and think about the difference.

Those pigs she’s talking about are raised commercially. That is the pork you buy in the supermarket!

“Your pigs have lived a life of luxury with all they want to eat, fresh air, sunshine, good grubs, etc. Here in the Peace Country, as you may or may not know, we have a number of Hutterite colonies – and we have 4 right here in our own county, which is about 1600 square miles.

Hutterite pigs are kept in very high-tech CFO barns. People are not allowed in without suiting up, HAZMAT-type masks, booties, etc.

These porkers never see the light of day from the beginning, to just before the end when they’re loaded into trailers and shipped God knows where for slaughter.

So, all things considered, if I was a pig, I’d rather have been yours than a factory pig.

Now think about what all that offal is contributing – food down the line for your chickens, da Wolf, and your garden.

It’s not a bad thing. I hate to quote “The Lion King”, but it’s all part of the circle of life, hey?

Just enjoy your nice, juicy pork chops when they’re on the plate with some parsley and mushroom sauce!!! “

This is what a commercially raised pig looks like in her pen – yes, when you buy pork chops at the grocery, remember that this is how your pig spent her life!

Think about raising and butchering pigs for meat

Consider raising and butchering pigs for your family next Spring. I say “a couple” because pigs are such social animals.

Raising just one would be very lonely. Grow some healthy nourishing meat for your family. Know what you are feeding your children!

How to Grow Your Own Livestock Feed – Yes you CAN!

How to Store Animal Feed from the feed store

Before adding all your pork to the freezer, read here about the fastest way to defrost any freezer!

Thinking of raising meat birds?

Here’s how we fill our freezer with chickens.

8 Pounds in 8 Weeks: Raising Day Old Chicks for the Dinner Table here!

originally published August 2016; latest update September 2022

How to Transplant Tomatoes into a Greenhouse

By Annie

Check out this handy guide to learn how to Transplant Tomatoes into a Greenhouse!

Why Should I Be Transplanting Tomato Plants?

To put it most simply, planting tomatoes in a greenhouse extends their growing season. Most popular greenhouse setups allow for things like temperature control, more control over the irrigation system, and ability to monitor things like air circulation and humidity level.

Transplanted tomatoes in greenhouse with stakes and ties — Newly transplanted tomatoes in the greenhouse.

Growing tomatoes in a controlled environment will allow you to tend to them outside of their natural growing season in your climate. It can also prevent disease and infection ensure you end up with the healthiest tomato fruits possible! But there are some things to consider for growers of tomato transplants, so let’s get into it.

Want read about how to build a greenhouse for your back yard?

Our Tomato Plants

Because of our cooler nights, we start many of our vegetables inside the house. Right now, I have beans, corn and zucchini busting out all over the living room.

We have much better luck transplanting rather than direct seeding any of the heat loving vegetables that we grow.

Our elevation means cooler temperatures and so we get them started early inside and pop them into the garden towards the end of May.

Transplant Tomatoes into a Greenhouse from their seedling cups. — Once your tomatoes start getting a little too big for their containers, it’s usually a good sign they need to be moved.

Although I would love to be doing that this weekend, it is still just too cold out there. What happened to all that sunshine and heat we were having just a week or two ago?

It’s not stopping me though; I’ve just moved into the Greenhouse. I spent some time cleaning it out and then started watering it. It takes several days of good watering to moisten the soil enough to transplant tomatoes into a greenhouse.

My tomatoes are getting a bit leggy although they do have nice thick stems for their size. If I don’t get them planted in the greenhouse I would have to transplant them into even larger pots.

Transplanting Tomatoes into Larger Pots

These tomatoes have been transplanted into a larger pot. — You may need to transplant tomatoes into a larger pot before planting in the ground.

Most years, I have to transplant tomato seedlings from their starter pots into larger pots. You can read about why it is important to do that; it is especially important for people living with short growing seasons.

Transplant Tomatoes into a Greenhouse starting with putting stakes in place. — Ensure that the tomatoes have ample space and stakes or trusses to latch onto as they grow.

My tomato trusses all in place. You can see I just go out in the bush and saw off some limbs to use as stakes. What are the black jugs for?

De Wit Garden Tools in the greenhouse soil — Invest in high quality garden tools, you won’t regret it!

I’ve got some fantastic hand garden tools this year – a serrated trowel and a 3 tine cultivator from De Wit Garden Tools.

I am looking forward to using these quality tools for many years to come.

Once the greenhouse soil is nice and moist, I pound the tomato stakes into the soil, spacing the stakes as needed so the plants have room to grow.

Transplanted Tomatoes in the greenhouse ties to stakes — Here’s what they look like right after being transplanted.

I’ve got three different kinds of greenhouse tomatoes this year planted and later I’ll be adding my pepper plant seedlings alongside.

Make a well to hold water when transplanting tomatoes — Give them plenty of water in the beginning to make sure they have everything they need to adjust to the new environment.

How to Transplant a Tomato Plant

Here are some general tips on how to replant a tomato plant:

Choose a spot in the greenhouse that gets lots of sunlight. If possible, check the soil to ensure it’s rich in nutrients like nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, or enrich it with soil or potting mix. Also, you can use a PH test kit like this one, to check that pH levels are optimal–you don’t want the soil to be too acidic.

When I transplant tomatoes I always remove the bottom set of leaves and tend to any side shoots that grow off the main stem. Then I plant deep into the hole so more of the stem is covered.

If you like, you can also use organic fertilizer, compost, manure, or another nutrient-rich growing medium to further promote growth. Apply the fertilizer at the time of transplanting, and then once more just before fruiting if you like.

This will help the plants grow strong with sturdy stems to support the weight of the tomatoes. Velcro ties are used and these will be checked and adjusted as the season goes on.

Growing Tomatoes in a Greenhouse — Learn how to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse.

Watering Transplanted Tomatoes

When transplanting tomatoes, I create a well around the plant to hold onto the water. For the next several days I will keep them well watered to help them settle in. After they’re settled, tomatoes typically don’t need huge amounts of water. Overwatering can actually be harmful for them, so be mindful of water application to prevent disease and other harm from affecting your plants.

For the rest of the season I will be checking the Greenhouse every day – if it needs watering, it will get it. The hotter the days become, watering every day is a must – we may even set up a drip sprinkler on a timer in here.

Note: When watering tomatoes, try to not get the leaves wet! This is why soaker hoses or drip sprinklers work well in a greenhouse.

Greenhouse Tomato Crop — Pruning your tomatoes regularly is a great way to ensure you have beautiful plants that are growing and fruiting efficiently.

In a few months, it should be looking more like this and we can’t wait. Harvests are a highlight of the summer when we can pick and eat these right off the vine and have baskets of delicious tomatoes!

What is the Best Way to Transplant Tomatoes?

A simple answer to this is to plant the tomato in good soil, remove the lower side shoots and then bury the stem as deep as possible. This will enable roots to grow laterally from the stem. You need to ensure that your tomatoes are able to take hold of their new environment, and the best way to do that is give the stem and roots lots of opportunity.

What Tomato Variety is Best for a Greenhouse?

When picking out your tomato seeds or tomato seedlings, it’s important to consider your climate and the type of tomato. There are two major kinds: determinate tomatoes (bush tomatoes) and indeterminate tomatoes (or cordon tomatoes).

In most cases, you’ll probably want to go for indeterminate varieties if the climate allows it, as this variety continues to grow throughout the growing season and continually grows fruit throughout the entire season. They’re also called vining tomatoes.

Types of Indeterminate Tomatoes

Beefsteak
Big Boy
Brandywine
Sungold
Sweet Million
Early Girl (one of our favorites)
Gardener’s Delight

Types of Determinate Tomatoes

Glacier
Legend Tomato
Roma
Better Bush
Sunrise Sauce
Cappricia

When is a Good Time to Plant Tomatoes?

This may require some planning, but you’ll want to sow tomatoes seeds indoors in January or so, then transplant to your greenhouse in April or May. Depending on the climate, you may even be able to move the tomatoes as early as late February or early March. Pay attention to the last frost date in your area–past this point, you’ll be able to transplant tomatoes into a greenhouse.

Transplanted tomato plants in a greenhouse. — Save to your Pinterest board.

How to Prevent Pests from Ruining Your Tomatoes

There are a number of insects and other animals that could pose a threat to your tomatoes. Aphids, flea beetles, whiteflies, cutworms, and nematodes are all possible, though aphids and whiteflies are the most common.

For the most part, removing infected parts of the tomato plant is often enough to stop the pests. In extreme cases, you may have to resort to sticky traps or pesticides. We don’t use pesticides here, so we only use natural ways to get rid of pests.

Generally, keeping a good eye on your plants and taking good care of them is a great way to shore them up against pests.

How to Ensure Proper Pollination of Tomatoes in a Greenhouse

You’ll also want to make sure that bees are able to access your plants for pollination. Bees are the opposite of pests! But in some greenhouses, this won’t be possible. Especially if you don’t have a lot of good natural airflow.

One way to distribute the pollen yourself to ensure proper fruiting is to use tools like electric toothbrushes or other kinds of electric vibrators to spread the pollen. For only a few tomato plants, you can also be more precise with a cotton swab or small brush.

Now that you know how to transplant tomatoes into a greenhouse, grow some tomatoes this year!

Originally published 2016; latest update November 2022

How to Grow Onions

By Annie

How to grow onions from sets – plant in the garden or in containers!

Onions are so easy to grow in your vegetable garden! If you use a lot of onions in cooking, why not plant a row of onions in your garden? Onions are one of the easiest vegetables to grow and they are really low maintenance.

Then just add regular chores (watering and weeding) and the onion plants will grow nice and big. Here’s how we grow enough onions here on our homestead to store enough for year round eating.

Onions growing in a raised bed garden. — Save this to your Pinterest Gardening board!

Another vegetable we grow a lot of is potatoes. If you want to learn how to grow potatoes, head over here!

How to Grow Onions

I always buy onion sets, because growing onions from onion seeds takes much longer. You can certainly do it, but you need to sow seeds indoors in January and then transplant later into the garden.

Large onions on a cutting board — Here’s how to grow onions in the garden. Or grow onions in containers or pots on your deck!

Onion sets are just small onion seedlings that can be planted in the garden. Be sure to choose a variety that works with the climate and day lengths where you live.

Long-day onions will need 14 to 15 hours of daylight per day, whereas short-day onions only need about 10.

There are also day-neutral onions which will produce good bulbs regardless of day length.

a string used to carve out an even line. — Using a string helps keep your trenches even.

To plant, I first run a string line. This way I can try to keep my rows straight; after it is in place, I make a furrow using my shovel.

Soil Recommendations

I like to add some well-rotted manure or compost to the trench before I plant, but you can also use nitrogen fertilizer like this one to promote bulb growth.

If you’re using mulch, be sure to keep it a fairly thin layer as this can retain too much moisture and you’ll want to tops of the bulbs to have pure sunlight.

If they aren’t able to have fresh air and full sun, this can lead to rot. Good drainage is crucial for healthy onions.

onion bulbs nestled in soil. — Be sure to actively plant the onions instead of scattering them.

How to Plant Onions

Make sure you seat the onion bulbs into the soil. Don’t just toss them into the trench – they really do need to be seated with the roots down and pointed end up.

I situate my onion plants about 4 inches apart, at least an inch deep, making sure they are well seated. Then just fill in the trench and water.

I like to plant my rows fairly close together and thin them later as they grow. I think planting vegetables tightly really helps to keep the weeds and leaves down.

It does make it a bit harder to get into the onion patch though, especially in the beginning months. Some people like to leave a lot more room between plants than I do.

It just makes for a bit more weeding.

How to Thin Onions

We can get onions planted here in the early Spring. They get planted in early May or as soon as I can get into the garden.

Sometimes I can get them planted in late April. Once planted, they will grow all spring and summer and are completely harvested in mid-September.

All growing season long, I thin any onions growing too close together. This way, we get to eat small onions all summer. Meanwhile the remaining onions get to grow a lot bigger.

Harvesting Green Onion

When you see small bulbs, you can snip off a few of the green stalks and use them as green onions, or scallions. Take a stalk from several plants, not ALL of the stalks from one plant.

green shoots coming up from the soil. — These green onion shoots are great to eat!

If you will want lots of green onions all summer long, keep planting sets every few weeks. We can grow large bulbs here; most root crops do very well in the Cariboo.

As the season goes on, you will notice that the onion tops start to turn yellow and fall over. If you are getting into September and the tops are still green, you can speed things up by knocking all the tops down.

Sometimes, we want to get the harvest out of the ground in order to plant fall rye to build the soil through fall and winter, so we knock the tops down.

Also be on the lookout for thrips, which suck sap from onion leaves, as well as other pests and insects like aphids and onion maggots that are naturally attracted to the organic matter.

You may have to get help in order to deal with these pests–your local garden center is a good place to start.

Mature onions in soil. — Once the tops start to yellow and fall over, your onions are close to ready to harvest.

How to Harvest Onions

Don’t cut the onion tops off, just push the tops over. Then let them dry some more before pulling them from the ground.

When it is time for harvesting, try to do it on a sunny and long day. Long summer days are great for this if the onions are ready by then.

Pull the onions, gently brush any dirt off and then leave them in the garden to begin to dry for a few hours.

If you don’t have cool overnight temperatures like we do, you can just leave the onions in the garden for a few days.

We can’t do that here, because we are concerned with even a very light frost falling on them. The onions always get moved before nightfall, just in case.

Curing onions by hanging from barn rafters. — This is a great way to cure your onions and also provide some natural decor!

We cure our onions by tying them in bunches and hanging them from the barn rafters. Here the onions get the benefit of fresh air and wind, but they are under cover.

This way they stay out of the sun. They are also protected from a freak frost, which can happen here in our Zone 3.

We leave them hanging there for two or three weeks. Then, they are brought up to the house and put downstairs. We do NOT store onions in the Cold Room storage.

Varieties of Onions

Here’s a list of some varieties of onions that are good to grow in your garden. I’ve found that red onions and yellow onions tend to grow well!

White Bermuda Onions
Yellow Granex Onions
Yellow Sweet Spanish Onions
Walla Walla

Questions about Growing Onions

How long do onions take to grow?

Generally, onions take about 150 to 175 days to grow to full maturity. But, remember that you can dig onions while they are growing.

How many onions grow from one bulb?

One onion will grow from one bulb. It’s just that you plant a little onion set and get a full size nice big onion months later.

How deep to plant onions?

Plant onion sets anywhere from 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches deep.

Cooking on the Wood Stove

By Annie

Having a wood stove for heat is an wonderful thing – being able to cook on it is even better. We love cooking on the wood stove.

But, our wood stove is NOT a cook stove, it is just a wood stove for heating our home. Doesn’t matter! We are able to cook on it because our stove has a flat top.

We have electric heat as well, although we don’t even turn on the baseboard heaters unless it is -20C outside. Then we turn on a few heaters in the basement, just to keep things from freezing down there.

If you’re thinking of buying a woodstove for heating your home, good for you! It is amazing how much heating money you can save, if you have access to wood.

Our stove, although small, heats this almost 3000 square foot house, in part because of where it is situated. Located right in the middle of the main floor, with an open loft above it, we have no problem keeping the bedrooms upstairs warm enough, since the heat rises.

We have a large ceiling fan that helps to push the warm air back down. The fellow who built this house was thinking smart when he did the construction.

The only better place for our stove to have been located would have been down in the basement – that way, we would likely never have to turn on the electric heat.

But then, we would have to go up and down a lot to fill up the stove. I’m happy with where it is right now.

If you’re looking into wood stoves, strongly consider getting one with a flat top. That way you can use it for cooking, even though it is not a true cook stove. We are fortunate that ours does have a flat top and we do use it for making soups, stews, even bacon and eggs.

If you have a power outage and you don’t have a wood stove, how is your family going to stay warm? What if the power outage lasts for several days?

Cold kills and depending on where you live, sometimes it doesn’t take long for hypothermia to set in. If you’re fortunate enough to have a wood stove for heat to see you through power outages, good for you.

Wouldn’t it be even better to use it for cooking, as well as for heat? Of course it would. So, look for a stove with a flat top. Being able to do some cooking on the wood stove will help you take care of the two most important things in an emergency: warmth and food!

Sometimes, we will have bacon and eggs cooking on the wood stove. We also use our wood stove to cook up all kinds of soups and stews.

A couple of years ago, we pressure canned up chicken broth. When we butchered the meat birds, Graham had parted out 5 or 6 of them and so we had the carcasses sitting in the freezer.

When we had time in the late Fall, we heated them up in water, then picked the meat off the carcasses and canned the broth and meat together.

It’s a great way to use up as much of the chicken as possible.

Being able to grab a canned quart of broth to make some soup is a great time saver for us when it comes to cooking.

With a pantry full of canned broth, we just grab a couple of quarts and start heating the broth on the wood stove. Usually we get it going right after we finish breakfast.

We cut up some celery and carrots and added them to the broth. Later we added broken spaghetti noodles as well as a bunch of dried parsley and lovage.

After simmering on the stove for a couple of hours, we were able to enjoy some wonderful healthy Homemade Chicken Noodle soup.

We wouldn’t be able to do this if our stove did not have a flat top.

Do you have a wood stove? Can you use it for cooking? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you’re starting to think of getting a woodstove, I hope this article helps you to narrow down your choices.

Heating your home for free, if you have access to wood, is a great thing – being able to cook on it is even better!

How I Shop for Groceries – I Don’t Go to Town!

By Annie

How often do you go food shopping for your family? Once a week? Do you stop by the store a few times a week? Here’s how we get our groceries for the week (or two or three) here in our Valley.

Come on along with me and see how I shop for groceries without going to town! And I do it all by canning and preserving our own food.

How to Shop for Groceries without Leaving Home

I have to remember to grab the green reusable bags. They are really strong and can hold a lot of weight.

And I can’t forget to bring back the recyclable glass containers from the kitchen pantry. I like to do this on a weekly basis. I’ll just exchange the jars.

Instead of taking the car and driving to the grocery store, I’ll go down the stairs to the cold room. We’ve got all we need down here.

OK, we’ll definitely need some veggies so let’s get some beans for starters. And some carrots, we love carrots!

We keep them in a pail of dirt and we trim the greens off low. Every now and then, we mist the dirt to keep it a bit moist.

We could also use sand instead of dirt to store the carrots.

Look how nice they still look. They are firm and they taste fresh and very sweet.

We have even left some in the garden, dug them up in April and ate them – they were delicious. Super sweet after all that winter cold.

We definitely need a bucket of potatoes and also a bunch of onions. When I pulled the potatoes out of the garden, I sorted them right there in the field.

All our potatoes to be used as seed next year are sitting in separate bags on shelves in the cold room.

Keep your onions in a different room – they don’t get along too well with some other veggies in storage. Onions like it a little warmer than cold room temperatures.

Now that my bags are full, it’s time to head back upstairs and put the groceries away.

A Week’s Worth of Groceries:

Check out what I’ve gathered. See the nice large chicken on the left? I pulled him out of the freezer.

We raise chickens in the summer – by raising meat birds bred for fast growing. It’s an 8 week time commitment for us and we get a lot of chicken in the freezer.

We’ve got some vegetables:

4 pints green beans

1 pint canned carrots to use in stew or soup

2 pints canned beets

about 5 lbs potatoes

We’ve got some fruit:

2 quarts applesauce

2 pints Saskatoon berries

1 small jar Zuccini Butter (for on toast)

To have some goodies when company comes over for beers or a glass of wine:

2 jars red salsa and 1 jar green salsa

1 jar pickled garlic scapes and 1 pint pickled beets

More food for meals for us:

2 pints tomato sauce

1 pint pizza sauce

1 jar smoked trout

1 jar salmon

1 dozen eggs

1 quart pea soup

1 more dozen eggs

a good whack of garlic

a bunch of onions

Add the fresh goat milk that we get from one of our Valley friends and that should do us for at least a week. There is no need to go to town.

And if I need to get more groceries, I’ll just go back downstairs to our cold room. This is the BEST way to shop for groceries!

The bonus for us is that, by Growing what we Eat, we Know what we Eat! Healthy, Nutritious, Organic and very inexpensive!

(By the way, I took these pictures the last week in December.)

Building Your Food Storage

Want to learn about canning, freezing and pickling food for your family?

Here is Preserving Food – all about food storage along with links to every food storage article here on the website.

Search Results for: canning

Raising and Butchering Pigs for your Family

Why Buy and Raise Weaner Pigs?

How long does it take to raise a pig to slaughter?

Dry Feed for Pigs – Our Feeding Strategy

Where to Put the Pigs

Problems with Weaner Pigs

Butchering Pigs

The Possibility of Bartering Pork

But What About Commercially Raised Pork?

Think about raising and butchering pigs for meat

Why Should I Be Transplanting Tomato Plants?

Our Tomato Plants

Transplanting Tomatoes into Larger Pots

How to Transplant a Tomato Plant

Watering Transplanted Tomatoes

What is the Best Way to Transplant Tomatoes?

What Tomato Variety is Best for a Greenhouse?

Types of Indeterminate Tomatoes

Types of Determinate Tomatoes

When is a Good Time to Plant Tomatoes?

How to Prevent Pests from Ruining Your Tomatoes

How to Ensure Proper Pollination of Tomatoes in a Greenhouse

More articles about growing Tomatoes

Now that you know how to transplant tomatoes into a greenhouse, grow some tomatoes this year!

How to Grow Onions

Soil Recommendations

How to Plant Onions

How to Thin Onions

Harvesting Green Onion

How to Harvest Onions

Read more about how to store onions for winter here

Varieties of Onions

Questions about Growing Onions

How long do onions take to grow?

How many onions grow from one bulb?

How deep to plant onions?

More Posts about How to Grow Onions and Use Them

How to Shop for Groceries without Leaving Home

A Week’s Worth of Groceries:

We’ve got some vegetables:

We’ve got some fruit:

To have some goodies when company comes over for beers or a glass of wine:

More food for meals for us:

Building Your Food Storage

How to Preserve Garlic in Oil – and Other Ways to Store Garlic

Easy Pickled Brussels Sprouts Recipe (Water Bath Canning)

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