Getting ready for travel can sometimes be a bit difficult when running a modern day homestead. With the beautiful weather, the garden continues to grow and produce fruits, veggies, herbs and nuts. We are beyond grateful for the extra garden goodness, but it also means, continued harvests and preserving so nothing goes to waste.
On top of that, preparing for a 5 day camping trip means, for us, at least 3 or 4 days to be ahead of the game. Thank goodness we have an RV where we can just fill the cupboards, refrigerator, throw the clothes and toiletries in, hitch up and go. We’ve got that part down! I am adamant about meal planning when it comes to us taking a trip. Balance and nutrition are top priority and home grown or prepped is best. The menu is planned but the ingredients are interchangeable so we don’t have to stick with it. We have options and 80% of the foods, spices and herbs were from our backyard, meats locally sourced and add ons: Quinoa, brown rice etc., were from researched sources of good quality.
In amongst all this prep work, meal planning and packing is homesteading duties. For instance yesterday while Mike was doing some chores around the house, I was processing our gifted Filberts for the dehydrators. Washing the filberts, picking out the debris and then getting those little suckers to not roll of dehydrator racks was a task! Sounds easy but it wasn’t. Laugh worthy but easy, no.
I’m always a little kerfuffled when I am trying to do what I think is a simple task and it starts going sideways. I find out very quickly that I actually need 2-4 extra hands to help hold everything in place while I, in this case, place the Filberts on the dehydrating trays. One hand to hold the tray level. Two hands to guard the sides of said tray so they nuts don’t roll of and another hand to pick up the ones that did escape onto the garage floor, which now have to be washed again. Anyway, I wasn’t born an Octopus so the struggle was real. I am happy to report ath I found my rhythm and all Filberts, including the runaways are happily dehydrating in the Excalibur Dehydrator.
Our dehydrators have saved our bacon on several occasions when there wasn’t any time to spare for an alternative process to preserve culinary and medicinal for long term. We have 3 different dehydrators and we use them according to their strengths. They are as follows:
Our oldest dehydrator is one that Mike bought at a farm store in Brooks, Oregon at least 40 years ago! It’s a wooden box with wood framed wire screened removable dehydrating racks. The heat source is a light bulb that puts out heat circulated by a little motor and fan. It is LOUD but it works like a dream! We use it to process foods that need a high processing heat - 135 to 145 degrees. Some fruits and it’s great for meats. We can do anything in it, really but you have to check it every couple of hours so you don’t over process or burn the foods.
2. The “Middle Child” Dehydrator is a Nesco Garden Master. We’ve had it for about 7 years. It can handle anything we put in it. It is our round beauty which came with not only the airflow racks but also solid racks to make things like fruit leather. I’m not sure if the new models come with those extra trays but they sure are handy! When drying foods like Jalapeños, we use a solid tray at the very bottom of the dehydrator to catch all the seeds. It’s wonderful!
3. Our newest one we purchased 3 years ago. The Excalibur lives up to its name as it dehydrates foods beautifully. It’s metal with sleek dehydrating racks and it’s super easy to clean. Actually they all are come to think of it.
**I include name brands because it may help you shop for something the meets your needs. I don’t have any affiliates or links for you to click at this time. The last two dehydrators can be found on Amazon. You can assume that the tools I/we use are from the ‘Zon unless I tell you otherwise. The ‘Zon and I are besties.
So grateful for the helpers listed about! The Filberts are getting a head start on the drying process in the Excalibur. I thought about drying them the old fashioned way which is spread out on the floor in a warm room for 4-8 weeks. My grandmother did this method on their ‘back porch’ room which was really the gathering room for watching spots or to watch Grammy sew or do laundry. They were all over and the stand alone heater would be cranked up high to dry, really any nut that needed drying.
Like I said, I thought about drying the Filberts the old fashion way for about a nano second. Being a modern day homestead, I need to get things done faster than they used to be done. I make no apologies for that. I do believe that ancestral ways have a place when it comes to certain veggie and herb preservation. Hanging herbs, for instance, can preserve the flavor better than in a dehydrator. If you aren’t on top of watching the time when it comes to hours in the dehydrator as it can over process, even burn. Hanging some herbs and veggies would work as well however you need the room and the correct conditions for it.
When hanging foods and herbs, control of the temp in the hanging area is crucial to the success of the drying process. Herbs can be stored wherever humidity is low and air circulation is good. A kitchen window is perfect or we hung our mint in the garage as it has both airflow and low humidity. Garlic on the other hand does not like sunlight (direct) and is best to hang it in clusters tied together from the rafters. In our case, we have no rafters so a nail in the wall works. Temp needs to be 45 - 50 degrees and leave the dirt on it. Just pull it and hang it in bunches bound with twine. It can take a couple months to dry. When all the foliage is good and brown, it’s done. Do not use this method is you live in high humidity. Oven or dehydrator would be the more successful way to dry your garlic. As with anything that gets dinged when digging or pulling it up. If the garlic bulb should get exposed, use it with in a few days. Drying is for long term storage.
Whatever you choose to do when preserving, make sure you know all the ins and outs before you begin otherwise one of two things will happen. 1. You will be lucky and it all works out, or, 2. You will learn the hard way like I did and lose a lot of precious food.
As always, if I can answer any questions for you or you’re curious about something, please feel free to ask me in the comment section. I will answer you and if you have a bunch of questions, I will answer in a blog like I did when answering Meredith.
Love, Light and Peace!