I was thinking about how the freezers are emptying out, pantry shelves seem not as packed, and all the cheese caves are unplugged and washed out, ready for a new batch of cheese this summer. I love using up all the foods we put away and not seeing much go bad. Inevitably, some of the pumpkins rotted back in January and mice got into the apples despite our having 3 healthy cats.

For the most part, we ate much of our own food including pork, chicken, and beef from our collective or our own efforts all fall, winter, and now spring. The canned peaches went into smoothies, as did frozen strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. We just opened the last jar of applesauce, but there's still apple butter on the shelf. The honey is holding out and we have a new batch of maple syrup to be rejarred and then stored.

I like trying to be self-sufficient in producing foods and then trying hard to coordinate meals to use the food up. It is a puzzle sometimes and each year I'm making discoveries. This fall I won't put up as many pickles, okra, or apple butter. I won't spend any time rendering lard. But I may make some soups using summer produce, and pressure can or freeze those. Progresso just doesn't cut it anymore!