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Ontario, Canada
I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
Cook ingredients that you are used to cooking by other techniques, such as fish, chicken, or hamburgers. In other words be comfortable with the ingredients you are using.
--Bobby Flay

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Please watch this area for important information like updates, food recalls, polls, contests, coupons, and freebies.
  • [March 19, 2020] - Effective Mar 17, this blog will no longer accept advertising. The reason is very simple. If I like a product, I will promote it without compensation. If I don't like a product, I will have no problem saying so.
  • [March 17, 2020] - A return to blogging! Stay tuned for new tips, resources and all things food related.
  • [February 1, 2016] - An interesting report on why you should always choose organic tea verses non-organic: Toxic Tea (pdf format)
  • Sticky Post - Warning: 4ever Recap reusable canning lids. The reports are growing daily of these lids losing their seal during storage. Some have lost their entire season's worth of canning to these seal failures! [Update: 4ever Recap appears to be out of business.]

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Sunday, August 07, 2022

Update and Observations

Folks, things have been at a rather hectic pace ever since asparagus came into season.  So a bit of an update.  Food acquisition and preserving continues to be our main focus.  The canners have been going a few times weekly and the dehydrators almost daily.  

A few observations:

1.  strawberries ($5/qt) and corn ($8/doz) - not impressed and those are prices from farm stands

2. produce prices are up but quality is way down in the grocery stores

3. milk and milk products have increased

4. sugar always sold in 5 lb (2.26 kg) bags is now 2 kg (4.4 lb) but the price has stayed the same/increased

5. farm stands especially direct from the farmer not farmer's markets continue to be the best value

6. meats in general have increase but there's still a lot of good sales especially pork

7. food shortages:

    - mustard seed increased $1.99 in less than 4 hr on Amazon then wasn't available by evening

    - yellow mustard is scarce in some stores here and reports are shortages in Michigan

    - white sugar is in short supply but we are still able to find it, some areas you can't find it

    - some shelves are bare but possibly due to normal retail operations

8.  hot & humid temperature means tomatoes, peppers, and many edible weeks are very productive

9.  canning jars are available but full increased price; Bernardin lids unavailable at Dollarama over 1 mth

10.  watermelon has actually decreased in price, great value for fresh eating or preserving

11. dried pastas are now a victim of shrinkflation

12. rice ($10.99/8kg/18 lb) and dried beans/lentils ($3.49/900 g) have remained the same

13.  yellow corn is virtually non-existent here anymore, peaches&cream it is but not the best for preserving

Overall, while we are seeing food price increases but for the most part they aren't affecting us much but we really don't shop much in the grocery stores.  I have reduced my milk purchases to 4% whole milk and heavy whipping cream which allows me to make a wide range of milk products without the extra cost of those products.  I have increased foraging a bit especially mullein (awesome for colds/flu), plantain and nettle.  Dandelions seem to be few and far between with this heat.  Our chickens and beef are on schedule but we will have fewer chickens this year.  I have been slowly stocking my fishing gear, something I should have done awhile ago.

Again folks, I want to reiterate my goal is to give information not fear.  Prep what you can, stock what you can BUT always with a purpose NEVER fear!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2022


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