The Road Home

The Road Home
There is no place like home.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Goat Stock Garden Soup

Recently, when we butchered one of our wethers, we made some soup stock with the bones, and since this was a first, we wanted to try it before we made any more. I wanted to see if I could make the soup with ingredients that came from here, just like the wether we made the stock from, so off to the garden on a treasure hunt I went, and here is what I came back with.


Starting from left to right there are purple hull peas or cowpeas, green beans, carrots, tomatoes and some roast from the wether that turned out pretty tough. I was hoping the soup would make it a little better, it didn't. You can see that the soup stock doesn't have much meat, but a decent amount of fat for flavor and nutrition.


I also found enough okra in the garden to saute as a side dish. We now cook it with a little olive oil, salt and pepper in a skillet and it tastes great.


This is not a lot of food, but if it was what we had to depend on for our sustenance it would provide for our needs. That is something I look at more and more. In the past I would experiment with all kinds of seeds in the garden, sometimes to see what would grow here, but usually just for fun. I have now grown much more serious about what we grow and I have written about the nutritional content of some of the vegetables. My purpose was to try and determine if what we are growing would be adequate nutrition. I haven't had the time to sit down and analyze our common vegetable combinations, but it would be interesting to know. I think it will all boil down to what grows well here, the physical demands of the crop itself, the physical demands of growing the crop and how we can preserve it to last until the next crop starts producing, not to mention the ease and success of saving seeds for future crops. There are many variables that will impact the possibilities of adequate, or inadequate nutrition after the SHTF, many of which will be unpredictable. Even if things don't work out, at least we have to try.

Until next time - Fern

8 comments:

  1. In reference to nutritional content, what grows well for you, etc. I've been reading about permaculture & food forests, in an effort to grow more veggies & fruit in other than containers. What always is mentioned is to polyculture instead of monoculture as the plants will support each other in their needs. Plus, even if a crop fails you will have another crop to eat. Emphasis is placed on calories crops like squash, corn, beans (the 3 sisters), potatoes and a grain like quinoa or amaranth that doesn't take up much room. The other thing that is emphasized is growing what you like to eat. For instance, I may be able to grow okra but I really dislike it so I won't bother. There is lots of info on Youtube esp by Bill Mollison, Toby Hemenway, etc.
    As far as nutrition is concerned I think if you concentrate on the major nutrients like C, A, the Bs, etc and have good soil which has a good mineral content your nutritional needs will be satisfied. A Google search for veggies with highest Vit C content will come up with chili peppers, red & green bell peppers and kale so you don't have to depend on citrus fruits.
    Seems to me you are doing a terrific job of preparing to be able to provide for your nutritional needs with your garden and now with your greenhouse you may not need to do so much preservation. FYI my father-in-law, in CT, kept pepper plants in the house on the windowsills over the winter and was able to harvest at least 2 peppers a week, just think if he'd had a greenhouse!

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    1. Great information, Bellen. We are very curious how much food we are actually going to be able to eat out of the greenhouse. So far we have had lettuce and a few bites of spinach, twice. Thank you for sharing the emphasis on nutrition and how important it is, and will be.

      Fern

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  2. Hi Fern, I'm new to your blog but not the way of life. LOL! I was wondering after reading this blog about the time, effort and energy plants take to grow, do you have fruit trees, bushes, shrubs? And also what about nuts? I understand they take awhile before they mature. Just as a suggestion to help round out in case of emergency. By the way love your blog. It is very reminiscent of Scifi chicks blog.

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    1. We have planted fruit trees, but not nuts, Yart, and have no fruit. This is one area I have never been successful. I have some other stealth perennial food growing here and there.

      I'm glad you like it here. I really enjoyed reading Bacon and Eggs, so when SciFi Chick passed away, I added a permanent link to her blog. I'm glad you found us and hope you enjoy your stay.

      Fern

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  3. Love that okra. I add chopped onions and sliced cherry tomatoes. Looks like a great meal. I wouldn't turn my nose up at it.

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    1. It's great, Joy, just great. We're going to plant a pot of okra in the greenhouse and see if it will produce in the winter here. Probably not, but it's worth a try. Thanks for sharing.

      Fern

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  4. Whenever we had a piece of meat that was like shoe leather, no matter what we did to it, we always threw it into the food processor or grinding machine and made sandwich pate. Kind of like deviled ham...or deviled goat, lol. We would add raw onions and salt & pepper and garlic and whatever else we had left over in the fridge. Then we added a little mayo to bind it together. If it was dry, we added a little stock. The kids loved it and it was great on crackers, too.

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    1. That's a good idea, Tewshooz. Sounds good to me.

      Fern

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