What's WAY HARDER than growing food? (Preserving food for winter) 

I am completely in love with your channel you guys. Bravo for making this lifestyle cool again. Blessings you guys.

hi , is very common to roast peppers here in Argentina, and preserve them in olive oil , were are mostly italian and spanish descendants . Although we do it different. we put the peppers directly on the fire. is much faster . then , when ia totally black , we put it on cold water and the skin comes out easily.

Your videos remind me so much of my life with my children when they were young. Homeschooling, planting gardens and flowers together, doing chores and just living an "ordinary " life. I miss those days but love having grandchildren!

Eggplant is one of my favorites. I grew up eating them stuffed and baked. Mom stuffed and baked them, then put them in freezer. She would take them out the day before eating them for dinner and put them in about a low to med low oven covered until they heated through. Oh my, heaven. Some she stuffed with their own dug out inners, Bread crumbs, rice, parsley, onion and garlic. Some she stuffed with mild homemade sausage, rice, parsley, garlic and beaten egg. I have personally stuffed them with ground chicken, garlic. Parsley, onion, sweet pepper! Mom would sometimes bake them with fresh crushed tomatoes as a sauce. I have also made meatballs and burgers with eggplant. Can you tell I love egg plant?

Would you please take us step-by-step through the process of making each kind of cheese you make?

Roasted peppers freeze so well!!! We stopped preserving in olive oil because too many go rancid. Try it out!

I've just this minute found your videos and, as I LOVE gardening/homesteading type life styles...... It's binge watching for me. But it makes soooo sad now, I had a stroke last April and my garden is a No Go for me now, tears are hot for me now. I've had a good recovery but not for my garden, I can't manage it. I've learnt to speak again and I can bake and cook, sew, crochet etc, I'm very lucky and count my Blessings every day. Today I made lovely soup with Bay leaves from my little trees, lovely veg from local shops, enough to send big jugs out to my 2 girls and their families. So, it's ok but my garden, I miss it, miss the earth in my fingers, miss the little bugs, miss Mr and Mrs Robin who bring their babies to see me when I'm under the Holly tree findin snails!!! So, keep doin what you do, smell the earth and enjoy the bugs, God Bless you a and keep you and good luck in all your endeavours.

The oil is not the only important part of preserving those peppers. The salt and vinegar are CRITICAL to avoid botulism. Please do not ever preserve something simply by covering with oil.

I would love to see a tour of your root cellar

Hi, I sure do enjoy your channel. My wife and I do a lot of gardening canning and putting up vegetables. It’s good to see young people doing some of the old way stuff. God bless y’all. (Old guy from Arkansas)🇺🇸

I have not heard the expression "tommy toe" since I was a child. I learned the expression from my Mommaw Brown, who has been gone now for many years. I remember picking "tommy toes" from her garden while they were still warm from the sun. We would smash them up in a cup, salt and pepper them and eat them right away. Yum. My favorite fragrance in the whole wide world is tomato vines. I have been able to get candles in that scent to enjoy. They always take me back to a day in Mommaw's garden. You made my day.

You two are so cute! Love watching you two complete and help each other and teach your children the value of what is important in life.

this is amazing. my husband and i are in our 60's and are doing research to be able to d some of the things you are doing. with some modifications. your family is so inspirational. thank you

Wow, wow, wow!!!! You have just taken canning and preserving to a whole other level! My goal one day is to preserve like this, what a money saver, every thing is fresh and you know where it came from.

Those chilis would make some awesome chili powder for cooking with! I’ve heard a dehydrator is a homestead’s best friend. Did you know the FDA allows for a certain amount of bugs in processed veggies? Yep. It’s bugs either way 😆. Although I clean my veggies like a maniac. I bet your cheese is delicious. It’s calling to me. I freaking love cheese! Congrats on the root cellar! You have an awesome set up. Well done! Thanks for sharing your lovely food w/us!

Growing your food is only half the battle. Storage for later use is the true talent. As you folks know if you can't can it in a water bath or pressure cooker, you can pickle it, ferment it, freeze it, dehydrate it, or immersion it in oil. The talent comes in when you know the different ways you can do one vegetable or fruit. An example : there are 5 ways to ferment a cucumber, or can a tomato in a cold pack or hot pack or pressure cook it. Dehydration can be done by the microwave, oven, dehydrator, or the sun. This video helps put this out there for the rest of the people to expand their knowledge. Personally, I thank-you for putting it out there to be seen and talked about. :-)

I love your channel! While I like the newer videos and think the voiceover is professional quality, I miss your older videos like this. They had this adorable old school home video feel to them.

Could you update now that it's three months later? How did your preserved veg hold up in the oil? Thanks! This is only my second video of your channel, and I can already tell I'm going to enjoy it :)

have you guys done a "how we managed to buy this place" and how have you financed it?

This was a wonderful video. Would love to see more like this: a day in the life but also showing how to preserve and use the food we grow. Love everything - so glad you started making videos - it's how I found you and then read your blog from beginning to current. Always so excited when I see a new video it available! Thank you for taking the time to include us in your amazing journey with your family!

All that cabbage I kept thinking, "KIMCHI!" amazing video. I hope to have a beautiful garden like you all soon!

Love your shows,old and new... Thank you for investing your time and little bits and pieces of your busy gardening / farming /family life.

Hi! I’m from Las Cruces, New Mexico, about 30 miles from Hatch, the Chile Capitol of the World 🌎! Chile is a way of life here, and starting around the end of August each year, big gunny sacks of chiles appear in the grocery stores, and they roast it right in the parking lots (not on the pavement, although some days it’s hot enough!). They have big rotating wire drums that they turn over propane flames. I wish I could send you a whiff of that glorious scent of roasting chiles~~~but I think you know what I mean because of your smaller-scale endeavors. I’m originally from Michigan, and the smell of people burning leaves 🍁 was the kickoff of fall. Here in NM it’s roasting chiles. People also roast them at home on their BBQ grills or in their kitchens. I know many people who have freezers just for chiles. The chiles are roasted until the skin turns mostly black. Some people stick them in convenient sized things Zip-Lock freezer bags, skin still on. They say that once thawed, the skins slide right off, and it’s easy to pull out the seeds. Some prefer to “de-seed” and skin them prior to freezing. Sorry this getting longer than I planned! Anyway lots of people put up 120-150 pounds of chiles a year in freezers, and they still end up running out in the spring/summer. More in a bit... KGB

Usually I can't stand the music a fair amount of Homesteaders pick cause it's too American bluegrass like, but this music is so nice. Love this family.

Roast those peppers straight onto the gas flame, it’s much more efficient and will peel so easy after covering with a lid, and resting them for 10 mins.

I absolutely love watching your videos! I love everything about gardening and love tasting veggies and fruits fresh and seeing how much a difference there is in the taste than store bought ones! Thank you for taking the time to share all of this with everyone! Your garden and home are beautiful!

Sweet pickled peppers are yummy. They last all winter to go with sandwiches also. I just got done canning 22 jars. Great garden I grew up on Washington. West of the mountains. But spent a lot of time on my aunt's grape farm in Grandview Wa.

For peppers, my grandma has always roasted them, peeled them and then used a mandolin to kinda puree them before adding a good amount of salt for preservation. It’s good for bases for stews and one pot meals, plus it also salts the food at the same time so there’s no need for additional one. It stays good for a long, long while.

I have to say, Stuart does a phenomenal job with editing the videos. These are some of the most polished (homesteading) videos I've ever seen, even the filming is amazing! Great job you guys, and serious kudos to Stuart. I know editing isn't easy, but you do a fabulous job with it!

I'm so glad you brought us along to see the preserving and storage. This is overwhelming to me each year, I need to plan it in, not fit it in and recruit some help along the way. I thought you said "Growing your own food you 100% eat love" then I heard bugs, made me laugh. Both true I think. At least they aren't irradiated bugs right? Love your summer videos and blog and for being honest about real life. I think the world would be a better place If we were all just a little more that way. P.S. your chicken Helen and the house escapades were the highlight of my spring.

The best way to roast those peppers is A) over an open flame (think backyard grill) or B) place them in the brazer for a few minutes. Turning turning turning.

It may help the safety to roast and skin the peppers. Botulism is in the soil. The problem with preserving things in oil is that botulism is an anaerobic bacteria, meaning it grows without air. It’s actually a toxin that the bacteria gives off. So, it would work better with acidic things like tomatoes. I don’t know if I would try the peppers, although it may be fine since you’re keeping them in the fridge. I’m not a canning nazi. I wish I was a scientist so I knew how risky it is. Sounds really yummy!

PRETTY PLEASE post more preserving and cheese making/cave working videos! So inspiring!

Omg I love your Victorian Farm shoutout! Love that series and it's sister series like Tudor Monastery Farm etc. Ruth is seriously such a gem.

I have always loved preserving foods, etc. in everyway possible. I canned, dehydrated, fermented, oil cure salt and sugar cure, frozen, pickled, made yogurt, cheeses, etc. Loved those days!!!! Loved my gardens, honey bees, animals, fruit, berries, grapes, nuts.... I want to buy a freeze dryer. Eggplant is delicious preserved in olive oil and herbs.

Your videography has this uniqueness from all the other youtubers. It's a bit millenial quaint prairie home vibe. I wish you talk more about the cellar and the process of setting it up... along with the different varieties of cheeses. But this is my second video I've seen from your channel. So u might have covered it ....really like the grounded atmosphere while talking about inspirations and variations of preserving.

I'm hoping you'll see this comment. There is another type of sawerkraut that you don't have to slice, where the whole cabage is preserved in big barrels. On your farm it would work great since you have a basement. You can then use what you need and shred it on spot if you need it. You can also use the preserved cabage leaves to make stuffed cabage rolls. They are amazing! Saves you a lot of time in summer/autumn. You can preserve it together with tomatoes and carrots and other veg. It's mind-blowingly delicious.

Could you do a video on the steps to make ricotta cheese? I’m starting a milk share share next week. My first.

I love your house, from the arched doorways to the rough kitchen wall, counters, sink and everything in between....rustic :). I'm sure you're in the middle on enjoying all that beautiful food you put up. You are wonderfully talented in preserving!

I just recently found your channel: have watched so many posts, we live over here in eastern wa. in Chewelah, and do so many of the same things you do, Love your root cellar, next on my agenda. We raise heritage lamb, goat and beef also, have been gardening, canning and now dehyrating things from the garden. Love your great lifestyle and info!

I have had your garden video playlists on repeat pretty much all summer. They very much reflect the romance and love I have for the garden and bring me great joy when endlessly picking produce to the point of exhaustion this time of year. Thank you for the reminders of why we do what we do!

Stu! You used my line.... "I can't be this pretty AND (*fill in the blank*). I'm so proud- it's one of the most versatile phrases there is!! :) -Carrie Bews

Looks great! It also works great to hold the peppers directly over the flame on your stove. I've diced and dehydrated my peppers too. They hold their flavor reallyvwell that way. Happy preserving!

Most people don’t spend their Saturdays preserving peppers, but battling for good parking spots at their local grocery store to buy food someone else preserved. Then fight traffic, get home and put it all away. Honestly, your way seems much less stressful, and healthier in general.

I dehydrate my peppers and grind to powder in my vitamix

Fabulous job of preserving! I am SO jealous of your root cellar! Canning, freezing, dehydrating, jamming, jellying and freezing up a storm back here in Alabama here as well! A couple of canning sessions in our little kitchen will put the best saunas to shame! That creative straining stand you have is as good as my eye hook in the ceiling of our cabin where the cheesecloth gets hung with para cord to drain fruit juices for jelly. Always enjoy your channel and books, glad to see you posting more often!

I love your channel and appreciate your level of intelligence. That you are so young and knowledgeable about homesteading, canning and cooking is refreshing... Blessings to you and your family in health, love and prosperity.

Awe thing was a fantastic video. Love your homestead. When we started our homestead we lived in a tiny camper while we slowly built our house. I found you then and would follow you in your journey. I'm so glad to find you again on RU-vid 👍🙏🌻

Love to watch how the whole process is done!! Hard work is always rewarded!! you should sell any extra preserved food I’m sure lots of people would love to have freshly preserved veggies!!

This is my second year of roasting my peppers and preserving in olive oil. All thanks to your's and Stuart's inspiration! It was such a success last year that I more than doubled the amount I preserved this year. I also (did this last year too) I roasted onions along with my peppers and added them with some garlic cloves and herbs to the jars as well. We stored them covered in oil in the extra refrigerator along with our pickles and sauerkraut. You, Shaye, are such an inspiration! Thanks again :)

roasting the peppers over a fire is the best way to get them blackened all over. We used to do this when I was a kid. THen just have a huge cold water bucket to toss them in once you take them off the grill. The blackened skin just peels right off and you're left with such a fragrant pepper!

Way to go, you're doing it right raising your own food. I grew up like that and no one in our family ever had to go to the doctor. We were healthy!

Yes, the storage of my garden harvest is hard work,but rewarding.

I dried green pepper last year in casserole dishes lined with parchment. oven set at 170* for like 12-16 hours. they dried crispy and hard and kept for months!

you can roast, clean and freeze the peppers, any kind of peppers, they freeze well. I do it all the time.

I know this is a lot of work. I have done it when raising my family. But it is so soothing and calming watching you and your family.

The children all sure seem to love homesteading, the animals, the fruits & veg, and especially running around outside. It must be the ideal childhood. :)

Hello! I love your channel. I know some have asked already please do a tour of your root cellar also can you show and explain how you made your cheese cave looks really cool very interesting

I love your ideas of growing,preserving and enjoying eating all of the produce.What a good and healthy lifestyle.

Love this. When our children were little we had a self sustainable farm. Best time of our lives. Watching this brings back so many good memories. They are all married now and I’m an empty nester, but this is my vibe. New subscriber.

I❤️your videos thank you for sharing. These videos give hope & inspiration to try learning something new. Get out of your comfort zone and with these times it's perfect. Thanks again love & blessings to you and family.

I just discovered your channel while looking at ways to ferment red cababge. I absolutely love you approach to preparing food! Maybe next year you could try to fermet aubergines as "Makdous". Its is a Middle Eastern way to ferment small (egg sized) Aubergines stuffed with nuts and peppers and garlic. It is absolutely delicious and the oil that you ferment it in can then be used for cooking and stuff.

I chop up my peppers and put them in a Ziploc bag and use them in my cooking and they taste just fine I love it.

I love all your videos! They have such a relaxing and cool vibe to them!

Shaye, you can cut peppers into thin rounds and add it into shredded kraut to pickle. There are recipes for it in Eastern European Blogs. I'm Hungarian and we made it all the time. You can even do them up like fridge pickles..

Would love to see more preserving recipes from you especially with you growing such a diverse range of lovely food x love your blog/vlog x Pattypan

my mother also would preserve them in olive oil, but often put them in the freezer. Thaw on the counter...what a treat over some freshly made crusty bread...

Shout out to Boundary Bay! 😊 We live in Skagit County. Happy to find another Washington State Homesteading channel. God Bless💕

aubergine condiment: slice and salt for two days; wash away salt and squeeze out water; then leave in garlic and vinegar for two days; finally jar up with olive oil....superb

Here in Ireland I dry my Chile’s on a tray and grind to make Chile powder. My hands are stained from cutting up and freezing plums. After work today Im putting up my next batch of ACV from apples I picked yesterday. I freeze my Toms until I have enough to make 1 batch of sauce. 13 plants in total all grown outside in pots. That’s climate change for you! Love your vlogs. Thank you.

Shaye, thanks for sharing this video! It’s super motivational and was awesome seeing how your family prepares and stores food!

Put garlic in the rosted peppers...yum! If you roast the eggplants and you can store them in freezer bags(portion them) in the freezer! Then make chop them up really fine, add chopped onion, salt pepper an olive oil...yummy

My mom would do that with green peppers, (same variety) no vinegar but would add sliced fresh garlic. . . Oh my was that such a treat once our fingers forgot the heat of skinning the peppers.

Here's a tip for you. If you have a propane gas paint stripper you can quicken your application of roasting them down to seconds.

I absolutely love your videos! The music on this one was great too!!!

It’s true. The olive oil preserves the peppers. I also do the same to pesto before I freeze and it doesn’t change the color because oxidation doesn’t happen. Also if you preserve lemon juice, add a little oil to seal juice under it. And many more uses!

Peppers freeze very well. I slice mine and freeze and pull whatever i need to cook with, each time. I froze whole spicy peppers as well. They do really well. Also you can can them or pickle them. you can freeze the whole tomato as well. Marinara sauce sounds great!

Love this. I felt like I was just hanging out at your kitchen table with you guys while you worked. So much beautiful food! 👍

I really enjoyed every single thing about this video! Thank you! It makes me want to get back home and preserve a whole bunch of lovely produce! We commercially fish for sockeye salmon up here in Alaska during the summers but look forward to one day having a bountiful garden but until then, I will buy from my local farmers to put up what we need🙂 hope you are staying somewhat cool over in the eastern part of our state🙂

Eggplant can be made into caponata which can keep in the fridge for along time. But you can also make a canned version.

I have been making roasted red peppers for years. Roast them until the skin is black, let them cool on a table, and pack them into freezer bags with the skin still on them. This keeps the flesh from getting freezer burn. Put them into the freezer. When you defrost them, peel off the skin, strip them lengthwise, add a little olive oil, fresh finely chopped garlic and salt. Eat them with fresh bread or on pizza, or anyway you want. I do these in the fall on the bbq by the bushel and they last me all year. No need to use all that oil. I usually put about four big peppers in each bag. Just try this. Easy peasy. And the smell of roasting peppers is so lovely.

You are amazing. I have binge watched your channel this weekend. Wonderful. Making the ricotta, wow.

Absolutely LOVE all your videos! I especially love the awesome connection you both have for each other! And, your kiddos are so very adorable!

15:00 I haven't seen anyone mention this, so here it goes - You can use your leftover whey in your (Lacto-fermentation) for your sauerkraut...

Preserving is the best part. It is really hard work, but the pay-off for the rest of the years' supply of food is well worth the effort. After roasting your peppers, place them into a plastic trash bag for 30 minutes. Then peel and scrape off all or as much of the char as you can. Dice them all up and can them as diced chilis, they are so good. I have also dehydrated some and made powdered pepper spice and added the powder to other spices like garlic, jalapeno powder.... so many endless possibilities. There is a whole community out here that you can get lots of advice from, it's there for the asking.

Are you guys ever going to make a winter growing house of some sort? Giant hoops covered with plastic? The series Farm Kings showed how they did it and I believe they are in Pennsylvania where winters can get really cold.

Love your channel and am learning so much! Your little ones are beautiful and you are caring for them so well. They are going to be cool adults with strong spirits!

You are an artist. Such a keen eye for all that is lovely.

I love this video. It's personal, interactive and real. Would love to see more like this. Love the channel and the passion for food.

I know this is a 2 year old video but roasted peppers freeze really well. I lay them on a tray and freeze them individually and then put them in a freezer container or bag and add it to my soups or make purees with it later for curries.

What a fantastic video Shaye! I too, have waaaay too many red peppers in my garden. I had thought about preserving a jar or 2 in oil and putting in the fridge to keep, but it made me nervous. You have given me the confidence to give it a try! :) Could you please do a video on cheese making??

Can we get a tour of the cheese cave? Look so interesting

So therapeutic to watch your videos. Love your channel!!

I roast peppers but, FREZZING peppers is easy and lasts for up to a year and a half. I personally cut up onions and different peppers that I use it many different dishes. I use containers that will hold enough for two uses. Never fails that the serving that goes into the frig doesn't stay more than a day or two. Try it!

Your channel just popped up on my suggested videos. I'm in love! I've only watched this video but I know it'll be up there for favourite channels. Your video was beautiful. Your shots and music. Perfection. I've just started my garden this year and it's been wonderful. I'm just starting to learn the art of preserving! Thank you! Morgan -Midland, Ontario

Ps. Cut a couple into tiny bits and cover with oil for using as pimentos, for pimento cheese.

The best manure to use on your garden is rabbit manure which will not burn plants. Goat and sheep manure are good also but rabbit is the best. As far as storing root vegetables throughout the winter the best way is to built a good sized wooden box in which you can put your root vegetables and cover with white River sand....

Nice rustic root cellar!

Thank you for sharing your life with all of us. We made the change to live from our property when it was still odd (15 years ago). Yes finding a place for all the stuff you preserve is tricky. One of our best places was under the beds. Good luck in your future endeavors.

Eggplants... Italian caponata... is a preserve that uses eggplant, bell peppers, olives and raisins...bake it all and preserve in olive oil... just amazing appetizer with toast and a bottle of chardonnay.