Deanna from Little Mountain Ranch 
This was supposed to be a smaller year. We knew we were moving, so I scaled the garden back. Fewer beds, less pressure, more of a wind-down than a full push. And then the garden, apparently, did not get the memo.
This past week I brought home 200 pounds of Okanagan peaches from Desert Hills Ranch near Ashcroft, BC, set up an outdoor canning station, and spent the better part of two days turning them all into shelf-stable food for the new pantry.
Most people think the hard part of a big canning day is the canning itself. After years of doing this on a large scale, including this past week when I set up an outdoor station to can 700 pounds of tomatoes and peaches, I can tell you it is actually the setup that determines how the whole day goes.
This week I walked the ranch one more time and made a list: things we got right, things we’d do differently, and what we’re bringing with us to the new 16-acre farm. Here’s the honest version.
Nobody plans to move in the middle of harvest season.Strategic Planning
And yet, here we are: three weeks out from our move date, and the garden is fuller than I anticipated. After 10 years on our 160-acre ranch in the central interior of BC, we’re relocating to a smaller 16-acre farm, and I need a plan for every single crop still growing out there.
When life gets exceptionally busy, having a well-stocked freezer is one of the best ways to keep the household nourished without relying on store-bought convenience foods. Channeling extra energy into productive kitchen projects builds a reliable cushion for hectic weeks ahead. Today, we are harvesting fresh vegetables from the garden and converting them into hearty freezer meals and simple ferments.
I planted 600 cloves of garlic last October and pulled them out of the ground this week. I am not going to pretend that was not emotional, because this particular harvest carries more weight than usual. This garlic is not just for our kitchen. It is the seed stock for next year’s crop at our new farm, the first tangible step toward the farm store I have been working toward for years.
When we decided to move our family off our 160-acre ranch in central BC, the thing that worried me most was not packing the house or selling the equipment. It was the garden.
Six years of perennial plants. Haskaps that fruit before anything else in the yard. Comfrey that feeds the apple trees without being asked. Raspberries that have taken over in the best possible way. Plants we chose carefully for our cold climate and that took years to establish.
There was no way I was leaving all of it behind.
Table of Contents Managing a food supply requires careful planning. You must know how to stretch your storage assets effectively. This practice keeps the kitchen running until the new season’s harvest arrives. It is deeply satisfying to clear out the bottom bins of your root cellar. Turning past-prime staples into a comforting dinner reduces household … Read more
Table of Contents There is nothing quite like the flavor of homegrown food. When the garden begins to give in abundance, it feels a bit magical every single time you pull a beautiful harvest out of the ground. Managing that rush of produce requires practical kitchen systems to turn raw greens and root crops into … Read more
