Homesteaders are homesteaders for a variety of reasons, but one theme that runs true among all of us, is the desire to provide our own food. For most of us, this means supplementing our grocery store or CSA haul with what we can provide, and those times typically occur around harvest time, not winter.
It may have reached 60°F today with an eye towards spring, but this is winter in Georgia. Two weeks ago overnight lows reached the teens and slaughtered the brassicas beginning to develop heads and it’s questionable as to what will happen to the kale. The onions and brussell sprouts are still growing, but the season is slow and harvest is low or non-existent. With that said, we had chili the other night, and it was 99% home grown!
The sprouted Potawatomi Limas from out garden were dried in the pantry. The summer tomato sauce was canned from the garden. The sweet corn was frozen when temperatures were still in the 90s. Yes, all the vegetables were ours! And the meat? The meat was from a buck I had shot earlier this winter (and I’m pretty sure it was the same guy who kept eating our sweet potatoes.) Of course, the spices and sour cream weren’t ours, but those things are almost negligible. The chili was ours! This was our first real winter meal that came from food we had put away during times of plenty! Exciting stuff, even if it’s not.
Homesteads and Homeschools 
Congratulations! There is nothing quite like that wonderful feeling. As children our Thanksgivings were special times, all was home raised, and some was baked in our wood cook stove. Most days we ate what we ourselves had put up. Enjoy. 😊
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Sounds like fun. We always have aome stuff for Thanksgiving: sweet potatoes, turkey, beans, but there’s always something from the store.
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