June 2014 Newsletter

The Gardening Corner:  The time to plant cool weather vegetables such as lettuce and radishes is now over. It is too hot.  If you have any cool weather vegetables still in your garden you should harvest them before they get bitter tasting.  Pea vines will start to die in the summer heat.  You can harvest peas until the vines die. Then pull the vines up and plant something else in their place.  It is now safe to plant warm weather vegetables such as tomatoes, all herbs, and peppers and squashes.

What to buy this month:  Now that summer is here, strawberries will be at their lowest price all year.  Now is a great time to buy strawberries in bulk to slice and freeze or make freezer jam.  Other things to think about buying would be canning supplies and other home food production equipment such as steamer-juicers, apple peeler-corer etc.   June is also a good month to buy camping and outdoor cooking equipment as stores prepare for Father’s Day.  Most of these things can also do double-duty as Emergency Preparedness items.      

Some good places to find deals on food storage and Emergency Preparedness items that many people don’t think of is the classified ads such as the www.ksl.com/classifieds and look under “food storage”.  A week ago I was surprised at how many great deals were on there.  There were BRAND NEW, blue water barrels for about 1/3 the normal retail price.  Other places to look are at your local Farmer’s Supply store. In Northern Utah some great unusual resources are IFA Country Stores, Cal Ranch and Macey’s grocery stores.

Product Highlights of the Month:  Camp Chef and Coleman Camp Stoves

                

The stove on the left is a Camp Chef Stove, 2 burner model.  They do make a 3 burner model.   It runs on propane and sets up in just a minute. It is great for camping or emergency outdoor cooking.  Some people even use theirs for doing their canning outside when it is hot.

The stove on the right is a Coleman stove and is much smaller and cheaper but still works for emergency or camp cooking.  It uses a much small propane canister.

Summer is the ideal time of year to practice your outdoor camping skills and try new recipes.  Each family needs to have AT LEAST ONE method of cooking without power and know how to use it.

Store all of your fuel in a safe place and know your local laws about storage.  These stoves should never be used in an enclosed area, you need fresh air to prevent toxic fume build up.