The Ant and the Grasshopper
 

Are there any Ants here?
[B]
The Ant and the Grasshopper[/B]
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; "We have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.
When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger - while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for days of need.

Yup, I'm an ant. Don't grow much that can't be stored.

[QUOTE=Carriehelene;496547]Yup, I'm an ant. Don't grow much that can't be stored.[/QUOTE]
Would enjoy information about your efforts.

Potatoes and onions, store in the basement. Peas, beans, broccoli, strawberries, and carrots all get frozen. Tomatoes get canned (either stewed, cubed or sauce). Zucchini gets made into bread and frozen for winter consumption. Grow radishes as row markers for the carrots, they get consumed fresh. Only thing I'm growing this year that can't be stored is watermelon. Not a usual crop for us. Did romaine lettuce last year, but didn't want to waste the garden space this year, so tried it in containers. Massive fail. Not the lettuces fault, didn't care enough to expend energy on taking care of it. Have bee hives, don't know if we will process the honey this year though. That's up to hubby, his project. Oh yeah, and cukes are pickled and canned.

Sounds exciting. Pictures maybe? Size of garden?

I can both hot water bath and pressure can.
I make pickles make jelly and make large pots of stuff like chilli gumbo stew and such and can it.
I also buy large amounts of dried peppers and make powders and flakes with it.
I also make all kinds of my own salami and sausage and freeze it.
Buy meat on sale and make corned beef and Canadian bacon grind my own meat so it isn't contaminated.


Worth

I buy salt, black pepper, and coffee.

The only vegetables I buy are mushrooms (really not a veggie at all) and sweet potatoes or yams (I have tried them, but only barely successful in a really good season). And after about the New Year I will have to buy celery if/when needed.

In fact, I still have about 3 or 4 pounds of last year's carrots and a couple of cabbages still in very good condition. That's it for "fresh" from last season. Lots of stuff canned, dehydrated and frozen. There is always a push this time of year to free up space in the freezers.

if you "ant" long enough and smart enough, and get a little lucky you just might be able to "grasshopper" for a while ;)