Hello! We have been in our current house for just at a year now after being apt. dwellers for many years. We put in a mostly thriving garden this spring and got chickens early in the summer. Today is my first go at making my own pickles with the windfall of cucumbers and dill from the garden. We had peas and kale and quinoa, along with some peppers and corn as well that we have been eating. I feel in the next week or two a lot of tomato canning will be going on too! What I'm wondering is what is everyone's favorite recipe/formula for pickles, tomatoes, salsa and pasta sauce? How many of you do freezing and drying, and what is the best way to dry herbs and the like in a fairly humid climate? Thank you all for anything you can give me! We hope to become more self sustaining in the years to come, getting a larger property, and getting goats or sheep to keep along with chickens, maybe some other fowl or a dairy cow. My DH's family does not understand or approve of our decision to this, saying that we will be lacking in life if we don't continue to grow our monthly cash flow, my family loves it as this is how they were raised, just don't have a lot of resources since it's only a 6 person family now. Anyway, thank you all for any advice you can offer!
