How To Choose The Right Pumpkin

Today, it’s all about how to choose the right pumpkin for your family. How do you choose a pumpkin? This is an updated post from a few years ago. Do you love seeing the little kids at the supermarket looking at all the small, medium, and large pumpkins in those huge boxes?

A few years ago, I went to a local store to pick up a pumpkin to use for a party. The sign said $.89 on this HUGE box of pumpkins. Okay, so I threw one in the shopping cart and continued shopping. I think it has been 25 years since I purchased a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.

Well, as I am checking out, the guy behind me asked where I got my pumpkin. I said, “Over there.” he then said to me, “Well, those are SUGAR Pumpkins.” I asked him, “What’s a SUGAR pumpkin?” He then told me that SUGAR pumpkins are used to make pumpkin pie. I thought a pumpkin was a pumpkin. I learn something new every single day.

Now I realize this pumpkin is special because it cost me $6.35. I am not getting in line again to return the expensive pumpkin for a cheaper, larger one. That sign said $.89. I should have read the fine print that said $.89 a pound. In case you missed my post, Pumpkin Cookies-A Family Favorite

My favorite Pumpkin Carving Tools

The History of Pumpkin Carving

Long before pumpkins ever became part of the tradition, people in Ireland and Scotland were carving turnips, potatoes, and beets. This custom grew out of an old Celtic legend about a man named Stingy Jack, who tricked the devil and was doomed to wander the earth after death, carrying only a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his way. People began carving their own frightening faces into vegetables and placing them near windows and doors to scare off Jack’s wandering spirit and other unwelcome ghosts.

When Irish and Scottish immigrants came to America in large numbers, especially during the 1800s, they brought this tradition with them. Once here, they discovered that pumpkins, which were native to North America and much larger and easier to carve, made a wonderful replacement for turnips. Pumpkins were also plentiful in the fall, since they were already an important harvest crop for many American farmers.

Over time, the tradition shifted from warding off spirits to becoming a festive part of harvest celebrations and eventually a beloved Halloween custom. By the late 1800s, carved pumpkins were commonly associated with autumn and Halloween festivities in American communities. Newspapers from that era even printed early references to jack-o’-lanterns as part of fall decorating.

Today pumpkin carving has grown into an art form all its own, with festivals, contests, and elaborate designs, but the heart of it remains the same simple idea passed down through generations. Families gather, scoop out the seeds, and carve a face or design that reflects their creativity, continuing a custom that stretches back centuries.

It is a wonderful reminder that so many of our modern traditions have deep roots, and that gathering as a family to create something with our hands connects us to those who came before us.

How To Choose The Right Pumpkin

Aren’t these colors beautiful? Fall leaves and pumpkins are so fun to look at!

I used to grow pumpkins, so I guess I was having sticker shock at the price of this tiny pumpkin. I guess this is usually not the right pumpkin for me, but it will be this year.

As you can see, pumpkins come in a number of colors other than orange, even though that tends to be the most popular around Halloween, particularly when it comes to making a Jack-O-Lantern. Isn’t it fun to walk around the neighborhood and see the pumpkin lanterns on the front porch of so many houses? It’s one of my favorite times of the year.

So of course, now I am doing the research on SUGAR pumpkins. I must make a disclaimer here: if I’m going to have pumpkin pie with a meal, I’ll BUY the pie at Costco. I’ll place it in the refrigerator to keep it cold and slice it when I’m ready to serve it. And of course, I’ll serve it with freshly whipped cream!

I don’t think I could buy the ingredients and make the pie for what Costco charges for their yummy ready-to-eat pies. Add some whipped cream, and I am good to go! My mother always made fresh pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Sorry Mom, I didn’t carry on that tradition! Now, let’s find the right pumpkin for you.

How To Choose Just The Right Pumpkin:

1. Never pick up the pumpkin by its stem; it can break off, and then bacteria can grow in the pumpkin wound.

2. Check for bruising or cuts because they can go downhill pretty fast from the tiniest scratch or nick.

3. The smaller pumpkins are sweeter, denser, and have higher sugar content, perfect for pie-making.

4. The tall ones have stringier insides.

5. White pumpkins are easier to paint than orange ones and are great pumpkins for baking.

6. Harvest a pumpkin when the vines start to dry up, and the pumpkin is the color you like.

7. Make sure the skin is hardened, so you can’t crack it with your fingernail. This is another way to tell it’s ripe.

8. Tap the pumpkin to see how dense the walls are; thick walls block the candlelight. But a hollow thumping sound means the pumpkin is ripe and ready to harvest.

9. The small cooking pumpkins weigh from 3-7 pounds-perfect for pies.

10. You can roast and eat the seeds of any pumpkin.

Print

How To Cook/Bake Pumpkin Seeds

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4 people

Author Linda Loosli

Ingredients

• 6 cups raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup Agave or 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper or your favorite ones
• Dash of Real Salt

Instructions

Clean the Pumpkin Seeds

• Scrub the pumpkin if you see any debris. Let it dry. Cut the top off so you can remove the seeds.
• Scrape the seeds out of the pumpkin.
• Wash the seeds and let them dry overnight, or at least several hours.
• Get a cookie sheet, cover it with foil, and grease it with vegetable oil (so the pumpkin seeds can be removed more easily after baking)

How To Cook/Bake Pumpkin Seeds

• Preheat oven to 350°F = (176°C).
• Combine the pumpkin seeds in a medium-sized bowl. Combine the Agave or olive oil, Cayenne Pepper, and Real Salt in a small bowl.
• Stir the liquid until blended and pour over the pumpkin seeds. Stir the pumpkin seeds with the liquid until covered.
• Place the mixture on a foil-covered, greased cookie sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.
• Stir the pumpkin seeds halfway through the cooking period. Let cool and enjoy! These are great for salads or snacks.

Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds:

1. Heart-healthy: 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds contains half of the recommended daily amount of magnesium. They may help prevent heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure.

2. Zinc: a great immune system booster that helps with sleep, depression, and mood swings.

3. Promotes a healthy prostate because of the zinc.

4. Helps with diabetes regulation-always check with your doctor before starting any new regimen.

5. Postmenopausal: helps with hot flashes, headaches, and blood pressure.

6. Anti-inflammatory: great for those of us with arthritis issues.

Please Do NOT Can Pumpkin Puree:

If you’re thinking about canning pumpkin, please remember it is not safe to can pumpkin puree. I have a link below with critical information on preserving pumpkins. Please be safe when canning any food. Always check with your local state extension service if you have more questions.

National Center for Food Preservation

How Many Varieties of Pumpkins Are There?

There are at least 40 or more varieties of pumpkins. They all come from the scientific Genus Cucurbita and include not only pumpkins but also squashes and gourds. There are five main pumpkin species: ficifolia, maxima, mixta, moschata, and pepo.

Some of the pumpkin names are delightful, and others are funny. Here are a few you may want to get better acquainted with:

• Jack-Be- Little
• Rouge Vif D’Étampes
• Jarrahdale
• Baby Boo
• Fairytale
• Long Island Cheese
• Black Futsu
• Cotton Candy
• Those in the F1 Hybrid family, like Field Trip, Tandy, Warty Goblin, and One Too Many

What Are Some of the Common Edible Pumpkin Varieties?

If you are thinking of buying or growing your own edible pumpkins, consider trying some of these varieties:

• Blue Doll
• Cherokee Bush
• Cinderella
• Dill’s Atlantic
• Fairytale
• Flat White Boer Ford
• Hybrid Pam
• Long Island Cheese
• Lumina White
• New England Cheddar
• Porcelain Doll
• Sugar Pie

Sugar pumpkins are considered to provide the sweetest flavor. Ask your nursery or local grocer which ones they would suggest.

Are There Varieties That Are Only for Decoration and Not Edible?

Yes, some pumpkins look great when you decorate your home, but shouldn’t be eaten. Keep this list handy:

• Angel Wing
• Apple Gourd
• Baby Bear
• Gooseneck
• Jack Be Quick

Be Aware That Pumpkins Are Subject to Infestation of Insects

Some insects you may have to deal with are:

• Aphids
• Cucumber Beetles
• Pickle Worms
• Spider Mites
• Squash Bugs
• Squash Vine Borers
• Whiteflies

Check with your local nursery or extension service to see what safe insect treatments you should consider.

Why do we often see pumpkins growing in a “pumpkin patch”?

When you grow pumpkins, particularly the larger varieties, they are prone to take up a lot of space. A wide variety also grows on vines that tend to spread out. A pumpkin patch with ample open space is the ideal place to grow and harvest this delicious, fun food.

Final Word

Let me know your stories about choosing just the right pumpkin; I would love to share them on this post. Plus, how many pumpkins do you usually grow or buy? Please make memories with your families and friends as you carve pumpkins, make pumpkin bread or cookies, and roast pumpkin seeds. Enjoy life as you keep prepping. May God bless this world, Linda

Copyright Images: Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Depositphotos_39331555_S

The post How To Choose The Right Pumpkin appeared first on Food Storage Moms.

from Food Storage Moms

Lichens: A Survival Food You Can Find Almost Anywhere

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Lichens are a common wild edible, but if you’re not paying attention you might miss them. They usually grow on trees and rocks and have a distinctive appearance similar to a flat, leafy plant. However, they are a unique form of plant related to the algae family. What makes lichens unique is that most algae require fresh water or salt water to survive and thrive. Lichens are a terrestrial form of algae.

Lichens have been on Earth for billions of years and are one of the oldest forms of life on the plant. Equally surprising is the fact that some lichens can be hundreds if not thousands of years old. These elder lichens typically grow on rocks, boulders and cliff faces. Lichens that grow on trees are never older than the tree itself but even then, some trees live for hundreds of years.

Here’s the dictionary definition of a lichen according to the U.S. Forest Service:

Lichens are dual organisms consisting of a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium. The fungus provides the alga with structure, protection, nutrients, and water absorbed from the atmosphere and the substrate (e.g., soil, rotten logs, tree branches).

In return, the alga provides carbohydrates from photosynthesis to the fungus. Algae from some lichens grow independently of the fungus, but in lichen form, the algae can inhabit more challenging environments than when growing alone.

Lichen Edibility versus Lichen Toxicity

There’s good news in lichen land. Out of the 20,000 or more species that grow across North America, only a few lichens are truly toxic. This is in stark contrast to wild mushrooms. Out of the 10,000 species of wild mushrooms across the North American continent, 96% of them are toxic with 4% of that number falling into the poisonous and deadly category. That means only 400 out of 10,000 wild mushrooms are safe to eat.

Lichens are largely benign and won’t harm you, but there are few to watch out for. Any lichens that have a yellowish or orange color are toxic to varying degrees.

The two most toxic examples include Vulpacida pinastri and the other is called Letharia vulpina. Their common names are the Powdered Sunshine Lichen and the Wolf Lichen. If you’re not an expert on all lichen identification, just play it safe and stay away from the yellow and orange ones.

So, What's a Good Lichen Look Like?

Good lichens that are safe to eat have a bluish to blue/green color. They can appear with all shades of these colors:

Unfortunately, even some of these safe-to-eat lichens can be surrounded by the toxic, yellow and orange lichens.

Basic Lichen Identification

Lichens fall into one of three broad categories defined by their shape and appearance according to the U.S. Forest Service:

1. Foliose (leaf-like)

^{Image via U.S. Forest Service}

2. Fruticose (shrub-like)

^{Image via U.S. Forest Service}

3. Crustose (growing closely attached to a surface)

^{Image via U.S. Forest Service}

Who Would Eat a Lichen?

You might be surprised by the answer to that question. Certainly, people in a wilderness survival situation would consider lichens as part of their survival menu, but it goes well beyond that.

Chef René Redzepi of the Noma restaurant in Copenhagen features lichens as a central part of his cuisine. In case you don’t know, Chef Redzepi is considered to be the top chef in the world by numerous publications and culinary organizations. If lichens are good enough for the best chef in the world, they’re good enough for the rest of us.

Lichens are particularly important in a wilderness survival situation. They are a year-round source of food 365 days a year. While lichens alone won’t sustain you in a survival situation, they should definitely be a part of your wilderness menu.

What Does a Lichen Taste Like?

A raw lichen right off the tree or rock will have the consistency of a rubber inner-tube and many will taste highly acidic if not down-right astringent. That’s not very encouraging, but there are some simple steps to make lichens palatable.

The first step is to soak the lichens in vinegar for 30 minutes. Vinegar is a powerful antiseptic and most lichens have had years and years to accumulate all matter of debris, microbes, and dust carried on the winds.

The second step is to soak the lichens in numerous water changes. They’re usually immersed in a bowl of cold water and held down with a plate. After 6 hours the water is changed, and this is repeated until a little nibble doesn't taste bitter. A tablespoon of baking soda can also be added to neutralize the acids.

The third step is to boil and shock the lichens. The lichens are gently boiled in water for 10 minutes and then removed with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water. The result is prepped lichens that are ready to eat as an ingredient in a soup, a topping for a wild green salad of dandelion and plantain leaves, tossed over pasta, or even quickly deep-fried for lichen chips. We’ll cover some of these recipes later in this article.

Another approach is a Japanese technique which involves gently boiling them with frequent water changes. This will result in a lichen that is quite gelatinous. In case you’re wondering, “gelatinous” means slimy similar to the slime you see when you boil okra or cactus. In fact, a little lichen boiled in a broth will yield a hearty and velvety soup with a texture approaching a gravy.

Many people in Africa, Native Americans, and our pioneer ancestors used lichens as a thickening agent for a variety of foods. Pioneers used the gelatin from lichens to thicken not only soups but as a replacement for gelatin in jams and jellies.

The Scandinavians soak and dry lichens and grind them into a flour to be added to wheat flour or pine bark flour for baking.

In a survival situation, you may have limited resources and boiling lichens in water may be as ambitious as you can get.

Harvesting Lichens

Tools for lichen collecting include two types of knives. A sharp knife like a buck knife and a serrated knife for sawing through bark for a well-entrenched lichen. A one-gallon plastic ziplock bag or two for carrying your lichens and garden gloves is also important.

In a survival situation, you can just pull them off the tree, but you might tear more than a few if you don’t have a knife to cut them off at the base.

Older trees present the most lichens, and remember to look both at the base and above your head. To remove a lichen, gently grab the lichen by the edges and use your knife to find the root attached to the tree and cut. You’ll probably get some bits of bark and they should be carefully removed when harvesting and again after soaking in water.

Lichen on rocks are easier to remove but you may still need a knife to cut it loose. You also want to make sure you scrape away any bits of rock or sand from the back of the lichen. If you've ever eaten a sandy sandwich on the beach, you’ll be sure to make sure any grit is gone.

In a survival situation, you may only have water or at least boiling water to prepare any lichen. In this case, look for lichens growing on a tree and ideally under a large, over-hanging branch. It may have had less exposure to the elements in this kind of environment as opposed to lichens growing on rocks.

Lichen Nutrition Facts

You may be surprised to learn that lichens are loaded with nutrients, minerals, and micronutrients. Lichens offer many of the benefits of a form of algae known as “spirulina.” Lichens also present vitamins like Vitamin-K, Vitamin-C, carbohydrates, and a decent calorie count based on size.

Adding lichens to your other survival food gathering, like the internal layers of tree-bark, is a good idea, especially when you consider that so many lichens grow on the external bark of trees.

Lichen Recipes

Lichen-Ramen Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 package of Ramen noodles and the Ramen broth seasoning
2. 2 cups of cold water
3. 1 cup of lichens that have been soaked in water changes to remove the acids and then cut into thin strips
4. 1 teaspoon of soy sauce or Teriyaki sauce

Directions:

It’s important to soak the lichens in vinegar for 30 minutes and then put them through continuous water soaks with water changes until the lichens lose their astringent taste. Taste as you go.

You can also add baking soda to speed up the process. You then add the two cups of water to your saucepan and the Ramen soup broth packet. Cut the lichens into strips, and once the water has come to boil, add the noodles and the lichen strips. Pour into bowls and serve.

Lichen-Pasta

Ingredients:

1. 1 quart of cold water
2. 1 tablespoon of salt
3. 12 ounces of pasta like elbow macaroni or spaghetti
4. 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil
5. ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese
6. 1 cup of sliced lichens
7. 1 tablespoon of parsley, oregano or Italian seasoning

Directions:

Prep the lichens with a 30-minute soak in vinegar, followed by soaking in water and changing the water every six hours until the lichens lose their bitterness. A tablespoon of baking soda can speed up this process to neutralize the acids.

Add the water and the salt to a pot and bring to a boil, and add the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta plate. Toss with the Extra Virgin olive oil and then top with the parmesan cheese, lichens and a sprinkle of your favorite herbs.

One Caution

Whenever you harvest a lichen, get on the Internet and identify the species. It’s good to get some knowledge and experience before you find yourself lost in the woods. The good news is that they’re not as dangerous from a toxic standpoint like mushrooms–but you never know. You should also not give them to children until an adult has tried it and had no side effects.

Originally published on Urban Survival Site.

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The post Lichens: A Survival Food You Can Find Almost Anywhere appeared first on Homestead Survival Site.

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Canning Green Beans – The Complete Guide

Green beans are one of the most commonly home-canned vegetables, and also one of the vegetables most frequently linked to botulism outbreaks when canned incorrectly. That combination makes this guide worth reading start to finish, even if you’ve canned other vegetables before, since green beans have their own exact, tested requirements that don’t carry over from other recipes.

This is the specific, complete procedure, straight from the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s tested method, covering prep, packing, exact processing times and pressures, and the storage and safety details that actually matter.

Why Green Beans Must Be Pressure Canned

Green beans are a low-acid food, with a pH well above 4.6, which means they cannot be safely processed in a boiling water bath canner. According to the CDC, home-canned vegetables are the most common cause of botulism outbreaks in the United States, and pressure canning is the only recommended method for canning any low-acid food. A boiling water bath tops out at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not hot enough to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores. Only a pressure canner reaches the 240-plus degrees needed to make green beans safe for shelf storage.

If you want the fuller explanation of water bath versus pressure canning and why the distinction exists at all, we cover that in more depth elsewhere on the site. This guide assumes you already have a pressure canner and are ready for the specific green bean procedure.

What You’ll Need

Equipment

• A pressure canner (not a pressure cooker or electric multi-cooker) with a rack
• Pint or quart canning jars with new lids and bands
• A jar lifter and canning funnel
• A bubble remover or thin, non-metallic spatula
• Clean towels for the counter and wiping jar rims

Ingredients and Yield

According to NCHFP, a canner load of 7 quarts needs about 14 pounds of beans, and a load of 9 pints needs about 9 pounds. A full bushel weighs about 30 pounds and yields 12 to 20 quarts, averaging roughly 2 pounds of beans per quart jar.

• Fresh green beans, filled but tender, crisp pods
• Canning or pickling salt, optional, for flavor only (never use table salt, which contains anti-caking agents that cloud the liquid)
• Water

Selecting and Prepping Your Beans

Choose pods that are firm and crisp, avoiding anything limp, diseased, or showing rust spots. Wash the beans thoroughly, trim both ends, and either leave them whole or snap them into 1-inch pieces, whichever you prefer for how you’ll use them later.

Hot Pack vs. Raw Pack: Which Should You Choose

Both methods are equally safe and use the identical processing time and pressure. The difference comes down to texture and how many beans fit in a jar.

• Raw pack: Beans go into the jar uncooked, tightly packed, then covered with boiling water. This is faster and produces a firmer final texture
• Hot pack: Beans are boiled for 5 minutes first, then packed more loosely into the jar and covered with the hot cooking liquid. This method typically fits more beans into fewer jars, since the beans shrink slightly during that initial boil

Neither is objectively better. Pick based on your own texture preference or how much jar space you’re working with.

Step-by-Step: Raw Pack Method

• Fill jars tightly with raw, trimmed beans, leaving 1-inch headspace
• Add ½ teaspoon canning salt per pint, or 1 teaspoon per quart, if desired
• Cover the beans with boiling water, maintaining that same 1-inch headspace
• Remove air bubbles by sliding a bubble remover or non-metallic spatula around the inside edge of the jar
• Wipe the jar rim clean with a damp cloth, apply the lid, and screw the band on to fingertip tight, not forced

Step-by-Step: Hot Pack Method

• Cover trimmed beans with boiling water in a pot and boil for exactly 5 minutes
• Fill jars loosely with the hot beans, leaving 1-inch headspace
• Add ½ teaspoon canning salt per pint, or 1 teaspoon per quart, if desired
• Cover the beans with the hot cooking liquid, maintaining 1-inch headspace
• Remove air bubbles, wipe the rim clean, and apply the lid and band to fingertip tight

The Exact Processing Times and Pressures

This is the part where precision actually matters, and where recipes passed down informally sometimes drift from what’s actually been tested. According to NCHFP’s tested tables, both hot pack and raw pack green beans use the identical process time and pressure, adjusted only for your altitude and canner type.

Dial-Gauge Pressure Canner

• Pints: 20 minutes. 11 lb at 0-2,000 ft, 12 lb at 2,001-4,000 ft, 13 lb at 4,001-6,000 ft, 14 lb at 6,001-8,000 ft
• Quarts: 25 minutes, at the same pressures listed above for your altitude

Weighted-Gauge Pressure Canner

• Pints: 20 minutes. 10 lb at 0-1,000 ft, 15 lb above 1,000 ft
• Quarts: 25 minutes, at the same pressures listed above for your altitude

Before applying pressure, vent your canner for a full 10 minutes to purge all air from inside, since trapped air prevents the canner from reaching the true temperature its pressure gauge indicates. Skipping this step is one of the most common and most dangerous shortcuts in home canning.

Cooling, Sealing, and Checking Your Jars

• When the timer ends, turn off the heat and let the canner depressurize naturally. Never force-cool it with water or by opening the vent early, since this can cause liquid loss and seal failure
• Once pressure reads zero, wait a few more minutes, then carefully remove the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid a steam burn
• Use a jar lifter to move jars to a towel-lined counter, without tilting them, and let them sit undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours
• After cooling, check each lid. It should be concave and should not flex or pop when pressed in the center
• Remove the bands, wipe the jars clean, and label each one with the contents and date
• Any jar that didn’t seal properly should go in the refrigerator and be used within a few days, or reprocessed with a new lid within 24 hours

Storage and Shelf Life

According to the CDC, canned food should be stored in a clean, cool, dark place, ideally between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and never above 95 degrees or near a heat source like a furnace or uninsulated attic. For best quality, plan to use home-canned green beans within about a year, canning only what you realistically expect to eat in that window.

Safety Non-Negotiables

• Never water bath can green beans under any circumstances, regardless of how a recipe is written or how long a family has done it that way
• Never use an electric multi-cooker, even one with a canning setting, since these are not validated for safe low-acid food processing
• Have your dial gauge tested for accuracy annually. Many local extension offices offer this service for free
• Before eating, the CDC recommends boiling home-canned low-acid vegetables for 10 minutes, adding 1 minute for every additional 1,000 feet of elevation, since heat can destroy the toxin even if it happens to be present
• Discard, without tasting, any jar that is leaking, bulging, spurting liquid when opened, or containing food that looks discolored or smells off

That last point deserves emphasis. Botulinum toxin cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted, and a single taste of contaminated food can be fatal. When in doubt, the only correct move is to throw it out.

Common Mistakes

• Water bath canning green beans because a family recipe or online source suggested it was fine with a longer boil
• Skipping the 10-minute vent step before pressurizing the canner
• Using table salt instead of canning salt, which clouds the liquid and can affect texture
• Force-cooling the canner to speed up the process, risking siphoning and seal failure
• Guessing at altitude adjustments instead of looking up your actual elevation and the correct pressure for it
• Reusing old lids, which lose their ability to form a reliable seal after the first use

A Full Pantry Starts With Skills, Not a Shopping Cart

A shelf lined with jars of home-canned green beans represents more than preserved food. It represents something increasingly valuable: the ability to take what you grow and turn it into food your household can rely on months after the harvest is over.

That kind of practical knowledge is exactly what The Lost Skills of Independence is about.

Previous generations couldn’t depend on supermarkets being stocked year-round, next-day deliveries, or a freezer full of food staying cold indefinitely. They learned how to grow, harvest, preserve, store, repair, build, reuse, and make what their families needed with their own hands.

Many of those skills haven’t disappeared because they stopped working. They disappeared because modern convenience made them seem unnecessary.

Until suddenly they aren’t.

Food prices rise. Supply chains get disrupted. Power goes out. Equipment breaks. Harvests arrive faster than you can eat them. And when those things happen, having another case of supplies is useful, but knowing what to do with the resources you already have can be even more valuable.

That’s why learning to pressure-can green beans properly matters. You’re not simply following a recipe. You’re developing a skill that can turn a few rows in your garden into shelf-stable food for months to come.

And that’s only one piece of genuine self-reliance.

The Lost Skills of Independence brings together practical, old-fashioned knowledge for people who want to become more capable at home, whether that means producing and preserving more of their own food, making useful things instead of buying them, maintaining what they own, or becoming less dependent on systems outside their control.

You don’t have to abandon modern life to benefit from old-fashioned skills. You simply need to make sure convenience hasn’t become your only option.

Discover The Lost Skills of Independence and start rebuilding the practical knowledge that can help you grow more, preserve more, make more, waste less, and depend less on the outside world!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I can green beans with bacon or other add-ins?

Stick to plain beans, salt, and water unless you’re following a specific tested recipe designed for that addition. Untested add-ins like bacon, butter, or thickeners can change how heat penetrates the jar and compromise the safety of the tested processing time.

Is raw pack or hot pack safer?

Both are equally safe when processed at the correct time and pressure. The choice comes down to texture preference and how many beans you want to fit per jar.

What altitude adjustment do I need if I don’t know my exact elevation?

Check a topographic map, a GPS device, or a simple online elevation lookup for your specific address rather than guessing, since using too low a pressure for your actual altitude can result in under-processed, unsafe jars.

Can I reuse the liquid from a jar that didn’t seal?

It’s simplest and safest to start fresh with new boiling water or cooking liquid for reprocessing rather than trying to reuse liquid from a jar that has already been opened and cooled.

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