FOOD SECURITY: Full Tour of Our Basement Grocery Store (plus tips!)
We raise around 75% of our food on our small homestead, and we store it in our basement to eat year-round. How do we store it? How much do we store? We're taking you on a FULL tour, AND we'll be answering some of your questions!
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Sharing our passion for efficient, sustainable homesteading that brings the family together. We believe in homesteading that's sustainable, not just sustainable homesteading. In other words, we want to show you that homesteading doesn't have to wear you out to the point that you give it up. We've seen it happen, and almost came to that point ourselves.
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What a mom, what a dad. Those kids won the lottery. I can't even wrap my head around what it takes to live like this. Those kids are so lucky; you guys are phenomenal.
Thanks for saying so 😁
Agreed
alright calm the hell down now
And the kids are like why cant we go to Mcdonalds? :P
I agree, lucky kids. I'm just now starting to prep for the future. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us!
I dehydrate my extra berries and when they are dryer completely I make a powder out of them. The powder is fantastic for adding to pancakes, baked goods or sprinkled on ice cream.... just an idea.
Cool Idea there. Thanks for Sharing.
I juice my raspberries than can the juice just like tomato juice drink the juice add some sugar and water. Great popsicles syrup on pancakes or ice cream also sorbet or a fruit punch too.
Nice tip! Thanks!
Maybe find someone with a fruit you don't grow and trade your plethora of raspberries?
😂 there are alot
Or donate them to an overstock pantry that makes fresh produce available to those who are less fortunate (for free).
Raspberry wine is GREAT!
Smoothies ❤❤❤❤
It's amazing to see such a young couple so advanced in homesteading lifestyle, you are such an inspiration...
I love this Couple & Family. And I just found their You Tube Channel now. And this is my 1st Video watching them . I really love them already.
I don’t know how I got here but I can feel your passion. Thank you for sharing.
Welcome here 😊
I've realized I'm just surviving
Same!!!!
I really appreciated the transparency bit towards the end where you showed what you still do buy. Most of the time on social media stuff like that stays hidden and it both sets unrealistic expectations and makes people feel like failures
You guys are doing SO amazing! Your hard work and dedication to ensuring good nutrition for your family is absolutely inspiring. 😍
Thank you so much!!
I agree, they have done amazing things ...however, this doesn't change the fact they've broadcasted their preps across the US and the world. Made themselves a target for very desperate, very resilient, very dangerous, very digital-savvy and hungry individuals. Hope they're got great 'security'.
@@andyirons7162 making yourself a little bit vulnerable to teach and inspire others makes them brave imo. Cowardly people are not much good at motivation and inspiration lol 🇺🇲✌
I’m so proud of you guys for being so young, and so knowledgeable, and not falling for the Pharmaceutical agenda. You are an inspiration to many people, including older adults. When we moved to Ohio here from Nevada, three years ago, I promised myself I would grow a garden for the first time in my life. This is only my second year of gardening, and I am very proud of what I harvested. I grow herbs in the winter time with the Aero garden. I have learned so much from homesteaders like you, but I really like how soft-spoken you both are. Ohio is the best! ❤
That's great! Congrats on your first harvests. It's an incredible feeling. And thank you for the kind words 😊
I'm also from Ohio and I'm taking an interest into gardening!
I’m from Ohio also. The Dover, New Philadelphia area
Raspberry icecream is fantastic! If you freeze dry raspberries you can powder them in a grinder and store the powder. That will use up a massive amount of berries of any kind. Raspberry powder in cake mix will make a tasty raspberry cake or cupcake. You can make raspberry raisins. Dried fruit run through a meat grinder and mixed with a bit of nuts and just enough honey to hold shape make good fruit balls that give you lots of energy and multiple servings of fruit from a golf ball sized serving. The more types of fruit added the tastier it is!
That stuff sounds good!
Another incredible video. Especially love the part at the end where you are incredibly transparent. I think it’s a great point to make and perhaps a reality check for people thinking about moving towards a more self sustainable lifestyle that it takes a lot of skills and time. One day you might make your own hard cheese and prepare your own spices but there’s nothing wrong with supplementing with store bought to save an ounce of sanity! ❤
Appreciate the kind words! People often don't understand until it's too late that if you try to do EVERYTHING at once you will get burned out. We've been there.
Michellle, you and Codi do an amazing job of taking care of yourselves, your family and the farm. You make it look easy, but I know you worked very hard to get where you are. I pray you and Codi will always make time for each other and your children. It seems to me you have a great grasp of what is needed to be successful.... and I don't mean successful where money is concerned - though I hope your worries about that are few. You two are very grounded in reality. I'm in my 70s and I continue to learn from young people such as yourself. Keep up the great work!
The reason you take the rings OFF your completed and cooled canned items is so if the lid does, by chance, come unsealed……if it has a ring on it….you wouldn’t know soon enough that it spoiled and not to eat it! IT IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT and something I learned from MY grandma 55years ago…..and I have taught my children and grandchildren….
This is so awesome. If more people did this, there would be a lot less medical issues....
What a gorgeous pantry! I'm brand-new to canning and I canned 9 jars of salsa, 4 jars of caramelized onions, 3 jars of sweet & spicy onion jam (yes, I had a ton of onions to 'get rid of'), and 2 jars of pickled okra. Looking forward to experimenting more. I also have a freeze-dryer and processed even more onions and tomatoes.
Great job!
@@camicri4263 thank you :)
Make sure they’re canning approved recipes. I’m sure they’re fine.
@@heatheringram2976 Yes! I already have the big ball book and the new ball book :) I'm ready for a new adventure.
Way to go! Keep it up 😊 I bet that jam is good!
Even the pioneers bought coffee, salt etc... great job!!
So true!
@@morethanfarmers 98oijkoilk,
That’s true 😂 didn’t think about that. 👍🏼
I just thought of another way you could use your raspberries. You could mix the berries in with apples and make a berry applesauce to can. I did that one year with blueberries and strawberries added. It is so good!!
A gallon of raspberries along with 3 lbs of sugar and 3 qts of water makes excellent wine. They can also be added to a batch of mead.
Now that sounds good! Do you have any idea if using them after they've been frozen will make any difference? I'm planning to try my hand at making mead this winter. Gonna have to try the raspberry wine too 😊
I have a batch of that brewing on my counter right now. It smelled wonderful when I racked it. I added a few grape leaves and a couple raisins rather than the tannins and yeast nutrient.
@morethanfarmers it's actually better that they'd be frozen - breaks the cell walls and releases more flavor.
Never heard of raspberry wine, but it sounds delicious!
Love this video! Just curious, would you guys ever consider doing a "Intro-to Country Living" video series for people interested in getting into this lifestyle? I feel like SO many are interested, but taking the first steps into this life (first essential items to buy, what land is fertile, what seeds are vital to plant) would seem a little bit daunting. Just an idea for a future series :)
I love the idea! Pretty sure we’ll get to something like that.
Yes please. Definitely something I would watch and of course already sharing your channel.
Your post caught my eye because I saw all those Beautiful rows of Jars. Nice Job, looks great. My compliments to you for your wisdom in your age (the teas and herbs) awesome, share it all you can, the young ones don't listen to us old folks any more. Many blessings!
Thanks for your kind words ☺️
Awesome storage and great job! Consider getting a vacuum sealer so all your freezer items can last for years without freezer burn. I love mine.
We don't freeze stuff for longer than a year.. 2 max. We wouldn't have the space to store more 🤷♂️
You two are the best. I feel like we're always getting the truth from you, and that is worth A LOT.
Thank you! One thing I can guarantee.. we will always be honest 😊
I love what you guys are doing and especially saying 'once we butcher the beef' and no apologies. Love it.
I seriously love your content! So inspiring!! Thank you!
You are wonderful to watch. I love your attitude toward homesteading. I love your recipes. I love the kidding between you two. How refreshing it is to see your lovely family.
More Than Farmers--- My Mom would cook tomatoes & then put them in the canning jars with rings then turn them upside own on newspaper on the table to seal them. You can hear them pop when thy seal. I helped her do this many times & it works.
You guys are such an inspiration and I LOVE your transparency!
I love the transperancy you guys have. It really shows how we can all start with small changes and work towards a larger goal.
Love the pantry tour. It’s so neat to see how other people store their food. I’m always looking for new ideas to add to our store room. 😊
Awesome work guys. Both intimidating and inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
You two are AMAZING!! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Absolutely love the look of all this preparedness! You are living my dream.
There is sooo much value in this and all your videos! Thank you guys so very much!
You're very welcome!
You two, I'm so happy for you that everything worked out so well. This will keep you well supplied until the next harvest. I envy you all the raspberries. I need to plant more of them. Thank you Michelle and Jodi for this informative video. You are amazing.
You're very welcome! Good to see you in the comments 😊
Woooooooooooooooow. I never comment on anything online. Congratulations. Wish I could have raised my kids like this. Just getting started with my food forest, and the youngest is 17. I can still enjoy it for myself, and congratulations for resetting life. There is a better way than the norm. Thank you.
It's never too late to start. Good luck with your food forest!
Appreciate both of you guys's hard work in creating these videos! Incredibly inspiring and informative. Keep at it, my friends :)
y'all are just the most adorable couple. Wish I had known at your age what y'all do. Proud of you and all your hard work. Thanks for sharing so much with us. ❤❤
Thank you so much! 😊
GREAT video! Watched it twice, you kids are killingit. Even if at times things don't work out, it's a learning curve
Thank you so much 😊 Glad you enjoyed!
Thank you so much for this amazing video! You guys are amazing and inspiring! Love love love!!!
Wonderful to see the fruits of all your hard labor. Beautiful bounty. Beautiful family 💖
❤❤❤❤GREAT , GREAT video Michelle and Cody! You rocked it!!!! Ohhhh and btw it really encouraged me to rock on in my granny stage of homesteading. I'm an old nana but Me and my husband are doing the best we can and getting better every season. God bless and keep you all and thank you so much for all you do to help us all! Candy and John in North Augusta, SC
Love it! You're only as old as you let yourself be 😉 Rock on!
Thank you guys AGAIN. We Love your videos! And feeling we really know you too. 😊👍
You're very welcome 😊
I love that you showed what you buy at the store! thank you because I always wondered with your videos and some other homestead videos I watch.
I really like your videos. You balance showing your personality and giving information really well.
I love home canned pantry tours! My canning closet is full and we're ready for winter.
Awesome!
Hi Codi, congratulations to you and Michelle on such a successful Gardening and Food Storage year. The little Grocery Store in your basement was very impressive and very well organized and clean. Hope that Codi can end his outside employment this fall like you had hoped.
Thank you Ben! Yes, we have plans for me to quit my job later this fall!
You guys are So inspiring!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge & experience with us, it is truly valuable and I can’t wait to do more of these practices for our growing family ❤
Oh beautiful, precious baby Violet. Welcome to the world and the loving embrace of your family xxx
Better than any series I've watched on discovery. Great professional level pacing. Great editing. You guys have become my favorite channel. Keep it up!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy 😊
You guys are so awesome. Thank you for sharing. We just purchased 15 acres of land here in Texas, and I'm looking forward to building our homestead. I enjoy your videos and will definitely keep following. Thank you again. Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you! Best of luck to you, and happy Thanksgiving!
I’m speechless. What an accomplishment. Thank you.
I love this video. Food sufficiency from the farm.
Very nice. Am glad to see that I am not the only one who wears gloves when rearranging my freezers
😁
Wow. The two of you are remarkable in your demeanor, compassion, directness, realness...I can go on. I am SO outdone. I'm also exhausted 'cause y'all do so much. Ima sleep right now. But you are so measured, so progressive and practical. I am seriously impressed. Not impressed, just full of a little joy from your efforts and sharing! Thank you.
Wow, thank you!
So inspirational !! I wish I had that much space in my pantry room …. Thank you for sharing!!
Thank you for sharing your hard work and ideas. Your family is refreshing and your work ethic is wonderful❤
Hi fellow homesteader! I just found your channel and wow! I just love your food storage & humor! 💚💚💚
Awesome! Glad you’re here!
Another option for green beans is to lightly fry them in a little butter or oil with some garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. I also add a little dry chilli. Makes a yummy side dish. Just discovered your channel and I love it. Well done from Australia.
Green beans with maple syrup and bacon bits. De lish!!
Wow, your dedication to food preservation is truly inspiring! It's amazing to see how you're utilizing your basement space to store all of these goodies for the winter. Keep up the great work!
WOW.....mind blown. I'm 59 in a couple of months and rooted in suburbia longing for retirement in order to escape to some acreage to live your life. You all have been raised right and are doing amazing things for your next generation of youngsters. Amazing and most importantly, thank you so much for sharing
Thank you for the kind words 😊 Blessings on your journey!
That is a lot of good food, must be so comforting to see it everyday!!. Maybe you can use some hardsided collapsible/foldable totes in the freezers to keep things more contained, saw Becky from Acre Homestead doing that. I'm in the market to buy another freezer and was thinking of an upright on..maybe I should rethink this before buying. What I have learned to do now is vacuum pack my meats to keep them fresh longer, flat and without ice.
Fabulous video! I especially liked the info on cold storage and loose leaf teas. Thanks for sharing.
I love the way you talk about herbs and the health benefits to keep it simple.
1) You can cut the acid in your tomato sauce by cooking in one shredded carrot per pot of sauce. The carrot cuts the acid and because it is shredded, the carrot will "disappear" into the sauce. 2) Upright freezers can pop open if you lose power long enough for the temp to rise high enough to break the seal. You do NOT want to have to clean that up. Stick with the chest freezers.
I suggest that you KEEP your raspberry bushes and abundant crops and merely ADD elderberry bushes. When you do something well, stick to it. TRADE with someone else who has abundance of those apples that you buy. I had an organic pineapple farm until HURRICANE ISN devastated it. I always traded for mangoes, avocados, blueberries, etc. Just a suggestion. Y'all are doing fantastic! Is Dutch VALLEY organic bulk food? Do u buy organic oats, etc? @More Than Farmers
Problem is we only have enough time to do so much.. and you might think differently after you spend hours upon hours picking raspberries 😉 Dutch valley sells organic and conventional. We get mostly organic stuff.
Elderberries are great for hay-fever apparently. I used to drink it as a cordial; probably not that healthy, but I think it did help my symptoms.
New Subscriber, so grateful that I found your channel... Your food pantry & freezer storage is incredible... Wow! A lot of hard work, with so much ❤ on your homestead! Blessings! 😃💞🤗
Wow! This was whole lecture. Thank you soooo much 🙏🏾🙏🏾
Newly subscribed! Y’all are awesome. Thanks for giving price comparisons on the food. I follow other homesteaders/farmers and I’ve come to appreciate H‑E‑B prices a lot more. The sugar was a 61-68 difference. Real salt was 75-175 but considering it’s 275 in your area, that still made me feel pretty good. Thanks for sharing your hard work with us.
You’re very welcome! Glad you’re here 😊
I am definitely gonna start this 😊 So much knowledge from such a young couple. This is so inspiring 😊❤ Watching from SA 🇿🇦
So glad you’re here and that you’re inspired! Good luck!
I am glad you are building real cold room and root storage areas away from the heat of the freezers and fridges.
Practical and very informative! Thank you for sharing your tips, tricks, and ways of preserving. I did not know the difference between a deep freeze and an upright freezer… That’s very good to know!
Showing love to this channel all the way from New York! Yall make a city girl want to move and get some land! Thank you for showing your beautiful home
Welcome here! It’s a good life and a dream worth chasing 😊
Love the pantry! Every girl's dream! I love canning but with only my hubby and I I'm afraid I would waste a lot of it. Keep up the great videos!
You could totally do smaller batches! Put it on a smaller shelf and it'll still look like you have a nice full shelf of canned goods 😉
Hi there, I just found your channel. I want to thank you for your inspirational videos which also contain a wealth of knowledge. I love that you are transparent and honest. Thank you 😊
You guys are amazing in your hard work and dedication in maintaining your homestead and providing for your family. I admire you for sharing your knowledge and love. Peace and Love always ❤
Cannot wait to see you on Lisa's Farmhouse on Boone blog. You guys are so inspirational in many ways. Thanks for all you do, especially sharing the things that are tough like failures or failed attempts. So nice to see honest blogs out there. Thanks again.
Our pleasure! Michelle is recording with Lisa at this moment! 😊
Looking forward to that, I watch Lisa's channel too.
Compliments only Compliments. Big inspiration, keep going ❤
Thank you so much 😊
You both are great to watch. You make a great positive couple.
this whole video blew my mind ..I can't even, I learned so much within the first 8 minutes, very inspiring.
We are buying 10 acres and your videos have me so excited to start gardening. We have chickens in town and they really are the gateway into homesteading. Cows and gardens and maybe a few goats. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart for your videos. We just our third daughter off to college and we are selling a big home in town to buy land and build a couple of small manageable cabins (kids need one when they come home to visit). We are so excited to slow down and enjoy life in our second half. At 41 and 45 years young, I am so impressed with what I have gained from your channel. 👏🥳
That’s so cool! Good luck! 😊
Hi, if you put meat on trays in freezer for half hour, you can then bag each bit of meat, makes easy to get one out and not defrost whole bag. I'd highly recommended a chamber vac packer for meats. You never get freezer burn and meat is as good as you put it in there.
Loved this so much! You guys are so blessed! 😍🙌🏻💚
Incredible teamwork!
Mice will make short work of plastic buckets - I used to raise them so I know. I'm glad you vermin-proofed your basement but I would still store those on a higher shelf + turn them all the way around for an inspection regularly. It's not that they can't climb to a higher shelf, but having them on the ground it's dark around and behind them and there are more angles they can attack it from so placing it higher up would slow them down. As for checking them, the hope is that you catch it partway through their efforts. Mice can fit through a space the width of a pencil!
It's interesting to me that you guys have Guernsey cows, I'm from Guernsey and I knew there are herds of our cows in the US but didn't expect that in this video lol. I hope people keep farming it there, our dairy industry is struggling atm due to higher costs and not having young people to take over but it's good to know other people are enjoying them!
Hi! We LOVE our Guernsey cow! We use sexed semen to get our cow bred so we can raise future family milk cows for others and spread the love! 😊
Thats awesome! @@morethanfarmers
I am so impressed with your accomplishments and being so young! It has been something I have attempted but not yet accomplished. A work in progress, always! ❤
Awesome great timing on the beef video.We are getting a beef processed next month so this video will be very helpful thank you.
For your cold room you should look into what's referred to as a cool bot if im remembering the name correctly. It essentially turns your basic window ac, overides the governor on it to allow you to make it as cold as you want. And it's not expensive. All yould need to maybe do would be add some insulation on you haven't done so yet with. Love your cellar lol aka basement. Miss having a basement up north....back in Texas for over a decade now and all we have are built in root cellars if you can find a German or czech built home from late 1800s to early 1900s....or your typical "storm shelter" for tornadoes which i believe theyd have for sure used as cold or root cellars
Yeah, we've considered one of those!
The number one reason to get a chest freezer is that the door can so easily be left open on an upright freezer. My kids and husband have not closed it all the way so many times getting Icecream out. I lost all the food last week, again, I had a total meltdown, again, and bought a chest freezer.
Ah. Good point.
Uprights are bad for that reason and also because when you open them, all your cold air rushes out and it takes a lot more energy overall to replace.
WOW, just found your channel and I love this. Thanks for all the tips and tricks.
You're amazing woman ❤ and your husband are great team ..so inspiring
If possible, I recomend you get different lids (ones that scew on) just in case, you never know what the future holds and you may need to store for longer than a year. That being said, you are doing very well. This is my third year gardening, but my first year storing and preserving. I am learning from you both. Thank you!
We might do that eventually. They're just kinda expensive.
I highly recommend going to a nearby bakery and ask hem about purchasing bulk supplies. I got a 40 lb bag of Baking Soda for an amazing price, probably enough to last my family the next few years. Same with cornstarch and yeast!
40lbs. of baking soda 😂 That's great!
@@morethanfarmers I thought so 😉 lol
Love watching your videos. Keep posting.
I do some preserving but I can’t imagine the time this takes. You two are amazing.
I learned a method of organizing my freezer. Use large shopping bags, one green for veggies, red for meat etc. But if you have 3 freezers, designate one for fruits, one for veggies and one for meat. Label them.
I’ve thought of ding that, but my fear is a break down of one freezer and losing all of one category of food.
it is amazing what can be accomplished when a husband and wife are on the same page and they are working together as a team, the way God intended it to go, and not each doing their own thing playing on social media and xbox. good for you all.. way to go.. inspirational
So used to just going to the store for everything...its nice to see things healthy & farm made..
You guys are AMAZING! So glad I found you!!!
After watching this video I bought a one way ticked for my ex Mexican girlfriend. All she cared about was fancy restaurants, fancy clothes to the point closet has collapsed and taking photos of herself. In reality, no she moved out by herself and back to Mexico, but now I see that, I am glad she is gone. How useful is your wife. Great Job, Great Project, don't stop.
😂
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I’d suggest blueberries to replace some raspberries if you don’t already have them. They are very good for you and fresh organic blueberries are so good.