Producing your own food

With the bad economy affecting nearly everyone, us included, I am very grateful that we are able to produce at least a portion of our food. 

Growing up my dad always had a big garden in the back yard and my mom was always in the kitchen canning the fruits and vegetables from his harvests.  She also made lots of breads and other things from scratch.  But eventually when I was older and my mom was working and had four kids to take care of, the garden and canning went by the wayside. 

I never truly realised what a benefit it was to produce your own food until now.  I have even heard about pea patches and local gardens coming back into fashion even in the USA.  A friend of mine in the States is even investing in chickens!  But I suppose having a farm puts us at an even greater advantage.  Not only do we have plenty of tomatoes from the summer harvest to supply us with an unlimited amount of tomoato sauce and frozen tomatoes for the entire year, but we also have onions, potatoes, garlic, canned zucchini, eggplant, beans and green beans.  And that is just from the summer garden!  In the winter my father in-law grows chard and broccoli too.  Living in Italy also means being able to collect porcini mushrooms in the fall and dry them for use later. 

We are also lucky to never have to buy our Extra Virgin Olive oil since we produce our own.  In winter we butcher our pigs which gives us plenty of sausages, salamis, hams and pork chops, and we have an abundant supply of eggs, chicken and rabbit too!  In the Fall we usually butcher a young cow and if needed we can have lamb too, although it isn't one of my favorites.

It really is amazing how much money we can save, but most importantly we know where our food is coming from and how it is produced!