Gardening & Foraging

Harvest What You Have

"Harvest what you have" has been a motto I've used for a number of years.  While the definition of harvest refers to gathering crops, I tend to think of it in more general terms of bringing in food for our family to use in the coming year. Thus, in my mind, harvesting what we have means preserving what we have. We have preserved our "harvest" for many years primarily by canning, freezing, and drying, but the way in which we have obtained the meat and produce for this has varied widely.  We have harvested from our own gardens, big and small. We have made purchases at farmer's markets, orchards, and butcher shops. We have helped friends harvest their gardens or orchards and have been paid with a share of the produce. We have been gifted produce from the overabundance of a friend's garden. We have traded work, jam, and other various items with friends for produce. We have harvested wild game in years we had hunting tags. We have foraged for things like serviceberry, elderberry, and huckleberry.  We have even harvested dandelions and lilacs from our spray-free yard. What we have had available to harvest has looked different every year, but every year we strive to use and preserve what we have. I hope this page encourages you to seek creative ways to find and preserve produce (or meat) to fill your larder.