Canning, Freezing, & Drying Food for a Large Family 

If $7 for 50 lbs of organic taters doesn't convince folks to grow their own groceries then I don't know what will. 😊 Another fantastic, video, Jessica. Thank you so much for sharing these little snippets of your life and blessed family. Isn't God good? He's just so faithful and we're so grateful!! 🙏

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a young girl driving a tractor. You 2 parents sure do fine job with those youngsters. Well done !

I was in my forties before I realized my kitchen aid stand mixer needed greased. Reading manuals go a long way to keeping equipment running and efficient. Your videos and mass kick off my week in the right direction.

Early Sunday morning before going to church I look for your weekly video. I enjoy the beginning with some coffee and milk and my morning medicine ( I am 72). When I get home about noon I enjoy the second half of your video. You do wonderful family and homestead videos! They make me happy. Thank you so much! God bless!

I love how your family works as a team!

Funny to hear, to know that others feel as strongly about putting meat and taters away in your pantry as I. It just makes something inside feel safe and warm, knowing I can feed my kids & grandkids & G grandkids any time. With what the Lord provides, we can subsist and thrive. Bless you Jess, for reminding me each Sunday morning how blessed I am.

Levi, oh my goodness. Look at him. He has grown and learned and this summer helping with the canning. From summer to summer, children change so much. It is pure joy to see them progress in all the ways. I remember when you guys finished the remodel of your cold storage area. It looks so clean, convenient and well lit. I imagine how much you like using that area now and how well it works for you.

Good morning! I've so been looking forward to today's post. This has been a week full of ups and downs. Hearing that familiar "Hello friends, this is Jessica" offers a measure of reassurance of the positivity and kindness in the world, particilarly when you've struggled at times to find it. Thank you!

Its still amazes me how fast kids grow up. Grace is so capable, Levi is a big boy, and Hannah is probably running after her brothers. You're doing a great job

Loved to see Grace driving the tractor. I grew up on a farm and started driving the tractor when I was 10. Nice to see all your canning you did this week.

I use that expression too! ❤️🦋 “Squirreling away “ Especially at Christmas time. I tuck away great finds and sale items all year in a closet and then have a wrapping day, I make tea, get my self set up by our fireplace and surround myself with the goodies I found for family and friends. Getting up off the floor is hilarious to watch! 😬

Great tip on making frozen French fries. Thank you

I find Im always a little disappointed when your videos end. I thoroughly enjoy them. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us.

I can't wait for your every bit counts challenge, many channels I watch take part:)

Hannah is so adorable. I love the way she smiles at your camera. She is growing so fast, along with her brothers and sisters.. You surely got your money's worth with your potato harvest.

Hannah's smile is very contagious - thank you! I also laughed at the beginning when she climbed onto the porch railing for a better view then had to squat down to see since the top railing was still too tall to look over. SO CUTE. I never thought to use the tops of the onions for flavoring and have no clue why? I won't be tossing that ever again!

Aw little Hannah at the end just makes my heart melt 🥹 my baby girl is 8 months old and I just adore their little faces. You have such a beautiful family, the children are so capable, well done. It’s funny you say that about canned potatoes, I don’t like them straight up, but canned in meat stew I love them! I think with the meat they go great.

Your baby girl is getting so big. Looks like brother standing behind her. Oh Jessica so blessed

I think little Hannah looks like you Jessica. What a precious little gift from God, as are the your other children. Have a good week. ❤

I use that crinkle cutter to make fries also, but I don't have room in my freezers, so I canned them like that. I can easily take them and put in my air fryer and make fries quickly whenever I want them.

Levi captured my heart a couple years ago, and seeing his smile today filled my heart. His smile looked EXACTLY like yours! Sending your family so much love! ❤

Hannah is growing up so fast. Have a great week!

Getting a freeze dryer has been god send. I got sick in January and are still struggling with the aftermath. This means that the most of the food preservation has been my son’s job instead. It’s so easy to use, and we get great product out of it. It’s also the only good method to preserve cabbages. Which we grow and eat a lot of. I checked and rehydrated, they are a little softer than fresh, but taste completely like fresh. We have already done a test batch of slaw and it turned out perfect. I love having 4 gallons of it on my shelves. It also prevented a garlic disaster. My soft neck garlic turned out as garlic leeks this year. I figured out what I did wrong, but we had 15 pounds of garlic leeks. We pealed them as we do leeks, leaving about 3 inches of the stem on. Then we ground them up. About 1/3 was put into ice cube trays and frozen. The rest went into the freeze dryer and we ended up with a fantastic strong light green garlic powder. My leeks also gave me the largest harvest I have ever had of my cold weather crops. We ended up with 100 pounds of leeks. Half went into the freeze dryer and the rest was frozen. We are also trying something new this year. I don’t have a lot of protein sources that I tolerate, but duck meat I do, so this year we bought both ducks and chickens as meat birds. We are going to process the ducks next weekend. It’s a big money saver too, since the prices for duck meat has gone way up. We are talking about close to 100$ for a 5 pound duck. Since we moved to America I have also missed having larger ducks to work with. All of my recipes are meant for 8-12 pound ducks, and here 5 pounds are what we can get. In two weeks our baby chicks will arrive. 8 Austrolops for eggs and 16 meat birds. Have you ever grown any grains? I am experimenting with gluten free grains this summer. So far it looks like Amaranth, flax and Sorghum grows the best.

"Squirreling things away" 😂 love it ..and the joy in which you said it hehe

Loved seeing the kids help with chores. Especially the precise working of the tractor 👍👍 That’s how I was raised, helping & learning 😊 👵🏻👩‍🌾❣️

🥰Your little ones, aw, I could hug them all. Little Hannah and her beautiful little teeth, climbing everywhere. Enjoyed the video...oh, I almost forgot, Levi...😂that look after a job well done. *Hugs*

Levi and Hannah are getting so big!!❤

Jessica, I love you and your family. You are doing a fine job raising and feeding your children, teaching them such valuable lessons.❤❤❤

All the children are growing up so quickly. Watching Hannah climb the deck gate, how can that be? Your children are healthy and quite a responsible group. You guys have done well and given them life skills forever. Plus the garden looks amazing. Abundance everywhere under your watch eyes, Jessica. Thank you for the tips on preserving. Have a blessed week!

Thank you so much for sharing ! I am not a homesteader, but I love listening to you and have received many ideas that even apply to my life. ❤️

Love the idea of homemade frozen fries! So much better than the ones in the freezer section at the grocery store.

Good morning from midwest ohio!! My strawberries and peas are done! Im canning beans today, harvested some beets, pulled our garlic and most onions. Im off to take care of all my birds now!

This is what my weekend looked like. Lots of preserving 🤪 I am thankful hubby just bought me a second Presto pressure canner this weekend so I can do two batches at once. Love to see your kids helping with the process! ❤

How love how everyone works together. I've learned so much following along with you all. I've just purchased land for our homesteading journey. I can't wait to implement what I've learned from you and vlog it all. ❤❤❤

Good morning from your neighbor in midstate Michigan! Sunday morning first thing lis morning with Jessica! Thank you for keeping us motivated!! I have so much to do in the garden! It will get done. I am grateful for your video that keeps me moving along. Hannah is getting so big!! What a beautiful baby!! Have a blessed week Jessica!

I so enjoy watching you preserve your food and explaining why you choose certain methods and what you do with it. It just makes me happy to know you are looking to the needs of your family.

Thank you for sharing today’s video, looks like things are getting busy and it’s great to see how your children take responsibility for so many chores. Life skills are amazing, what a blessing to be able to share them with your family. God bless you all.

Oh my goodness Jessica! Levi’s toothless smile melts my heart. One of my favourite ‘phases’ of raising my boys. ❤ Thanks for another great video. I’m going to try your method of making frozen French fries!! 🥔🥔🥔

Thanks as always. Have a blessed week.

Always great to see you and your family working together! Our weeds need to be dealt with too. I’m battling with my second round of hives already this year, so things are going slowly forward, hopefully I will have no more this season. God bless you and your family♥️👍😎.

Miss Hanna is growing up so fast,such a sweet smile God Bless 💖

I enjoy canning and preserving season. I always have hopes of getting at least 1 ripe tomato by July 4th. This year I’ve had 3 so far. I never buy tomatoes from the store so it such a treat to have garden fresh tomatoes again. My freeze dryer is running almost 24/7 as well. It’s a beautiful time of year.

Beautiful ending that little face made you smile to your toes. Thanks.

❤ the French fry idea.

Love canning also, it's so nice having full shelves!

This year we are growing our potatoes in a 5 gallon bucket and they look awesome.. We also are doing this with onions. Our garden has given us a struggle this year with the heat and all the rain.. but we we will be grateful for what ever we are able to preserve for the winter months.. We are in MI so just up from you ..

Thankful for these videos where you’ve taken time to educate us / narrate what you are doing. So helpful as I’m on the brink of getting our homestead going, preserving food, etc. You are an inspiration!

Another great video. I love have the children help you. 😊

Good morning Jessica and thanks again for all you share with us!!! Have a blessed week to you and your beautiful family 😊❤

Blessings on your family and growing season Jessica!🌻🐛Carolyn in Ohio 🌿💚🙏💕

ooh exciting times ahead in the garden❤❤

That was super Jessica, thank you.

Enjoyed your video. Watching you can motivates me to get it done. Thank you for showing the freeze dryer and changing the oil. I’ll be doing my first oil filtering soon and it was a good lesson.

Bravo to the parents. So proud of Gracie, one of the future good homemaker.

YOU GO Gracie!!!!! LOVE seeing the peek-a-booers on the new deck! LOL! Thanks Jessica and beautiful family! ❤❤❤

I too love having canned potatoes on my shelf. So convenient for almost everything. Thank you for another wonderful video. Have a blessed week 🙏

Wow nice potatoes harvest. Cute little helper. Good job

Loved your canning project...never thought of using garlic scapes and green onions in canning!

Thank u I just ordered the fry cutter

I love canning potatoes. I haven't made french fries for the freezer yet. I hope the rain stops so I can harvest my garlic and potatoes. Have a great day.❤❤❤

Love your potato preservation ideas.

That was the best end of your video.....a beautiful smile. Thank you so much for sharing. God's blessing over you and your beautiful family

Thank you so much for showing us the frozen French fries! I will definitely be doing this!

Hannah is so precious💗

Such amazing videos and hints, THANK YOU for taking time to teach us, you are a treasure and a gem to us.!!! Again we THANK YOU!!!! ❤

I love your purple and blue printed dress. Very pretty print and looks comfy.

LOVE watching you and your family work together on your farm/homestead!! It is such a blessing seeing your family in such a loving, caring and teaching environment. Thanks for showing us how to freeze french fries. So simple and so much healthier. I really like the idea of how you canned the ingredients for your beef stew. I appreciate you sharing all these great ideas. Have a wonderful and blessed week!!

I just got a freeze dryer and havent even set it up yet. Thanks so much for showing how easy the oil is to change!

Yay! Homemade frozen french fries are definitely my favorite way to preserve our potatoes! I agree that prebaking is the best way to go. I tried the blanching method for the first year but the taste and texture were just a bit off. I definitely think I like the prebaked homemade ones better than anything you can buy at the store. We also prebake cubes for making hash later. Thanks so much for the videos.....I miss my days homeschooling my boys and your videos are a great way for me to reminisce .

Enjoyed it! Look at that beautiful smile!

My goodness what a wonderful video, Jessica! I love your French fry idea. I'm clicking on that gizmo you used! Was that Grace or Elizabeth driving the Kabota? I get so confused which is which. I can't keep my grandchildren straight either, lol. My 12 year old granddaughter drives ours around like she's been doing it her whole life. These kids today amaze me. Have a great week.

I have always thought I had to blanch potatoes first. It was such a messy and time consuming process. It's good to see I don't have to do that. And I LOVE the French fry idea. Brilliant. Thank you.

You give the best ideas!! Thank you!!

lil hannah is adorable! thanks for sharing jessica! have a great week.

Thank you!

💚 All is looking good, Jessica! I'm going to go harvest my garlic today, hope it has bulbed up more thsn it was a month ago, its so mild over the winter here in California, it starts growing not long after it's planted in the Fall. Fingers crossed. Love seeing your daughter (Elizabeth, I think) moving hay bales with the tractor! Hannah is so adorable ❤ 💚

You are an inspiration to do little bits of canning at a time. I don't have to do a ton at once. I hate to waste - be it food, energy, or time. You might consider filling that last empty spot in your canner with a quart of dried beans. Rinse the beans, fill your quart jar about 1/3 full, fill with water, and can with your meat as beans take 90 minutes also. Also, I've found that with my freezedryer, Dairyland oil stays much cleaner and lasts longer.

Thank you for being so inspiring. I adore your way of life. I live in Germany with my daughter who has long Covid and can't find a garden but thanks to you I have started to can a bit here and there what's in season and what I can get at the market. God bless. ❤

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for showing how to freeze potatoes. I am going to do this for my husband and bag them in single serve sizes for his air fryer. Thank you!

Thanks for sharing ❤.

Another great video 👏👏👏 As always a pleasure to watch 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Love from the UK x

Why don't you have the 5 tray Harvest Right insert?😊❤God bless you all and many prayers 🙏🏻 Nurse Judi in Scottsdale AZ and Eucharistic Minister 🙏🏻 ☦️ 💙 ❤️

Great video Jessica.

I always enjoy and learn from your videos. I was wondering if you are doing any special devotions this summer?

I see a corn pro trailer! I used to sell those and now my husband builds them!

I was wondering the other day how to make my own frozen fries. Thanks for posting.

God bless you and your family.

I'm in the UK and my garlic has done the same this year. The bulbs are huge. I only planted a few so now I'm wishing I had done more lol

Good to see you clean the vacuum vessel, any dirt of any kind will take longer for the vessel to come to the required vacuum or it will never come to the right vacuum

Blessed Sunday Jessica! Would you please post the link to your video for your onion soup base? Thank you and have a very Blessed week!

Hi Jessica. We grow our fruit and veggies and I hope you won’t mind if I pass on a couple of things that I’ve noticed. Soft neck garlic usually is ready 2-3 weeks before hard neck, and this seems to be normal. Regarding your sprouted azure standard potatoes, if you have a bit of land to spare, they can be planted, yes even at this time of year. We did this mid July last year into two beds and they produced beautifully, really extending the “fresh” potato season. Wishing us all strength and energy for the upcoming harvest and preserving season!

Thank you for showing me how to do french fries and my foodsaver. I just froze mine and like you said came out like mush

hey sista such a beautifully well organised cellar i envy you x

I was out of potatoes but then I remembered I had canned sliced new potatoes 2 pints so I drained then and fried them up,even my son loved them. So I sure will be canning up more of them and a combo of carrots and potatoes for all dinner pies and making up a big batch of pie crust for the freezer . And one big BlackBerry cobbler the old fashion way mother use too make with only bacon grease oh what I would give for just one pieces of her cobbler and yeast biscuits. So much better then any store bought breads. And will make the pop tarts too.

Love your channel! I'm going to be canning beef stew for the first time this year! Say a prayer for success!

You are amazing, Jessica. You have such a beautiful personality. Thank you so much for sharing and bringing us along. You're a serious inspiration. May the Lord bless you and keep you and your family.

Beautiful babies

I just bought my first pressure canner and i am suuuuuuper excited. I think i want to do chili and canned chicken

Great video ❤❤❤