If any one would like any of the recipes below just send me a quick comment with your email address and I would be happy to send them to you. We have many other recipes which will be posted soon! Likewise if you have any canning recipes you would like to share, please send them to joanne@sendseedstoafrica.org.
In the winter and spring of 2016 The University of Toronto first year engineering students again be provided prototypes for projects SEEDS would like to do in Zambia. This year they have designed a Solar Powered Bore hole Pump, A Solar Powered Recycling Grey Watering System for our Resource Garden’s and a Cold Cellar to store the vegetables we harvest. See previous posts in May 2016 for more details.
They are also designing Joanne’s Artificial Island for Polar Bears but that is a whole other story in itself.
In Zambia, the last harvest, unless you have easily accessible water, is usually April or May when the rains stop and it does not rain again until October/November. People in Zambia will plant seeds in September & October so that the seedlings are strong enough to with stand the heavy rains when they come. This year those rains did not come until January 2016, with only a few rain falls reported in the latter part of 2015. There has been a drought all across Eastern & Southern Africa this year and the farmers who live near SEEDS have not been able to grow the first seeds planted in Oct/ Nov. 2015. It would have been very helpful if they had a cold cellar to store food over the lean hot months.
Luckily the non-GMO vegetable seeds we sent on Dec.17, 2015 have been handed out to those who lost the first crops planted and they were able to plant again in January 2016. We have just sent another batch of non-GMO vegetable seeds on May 26,2016.
In August 2015, SEEDS taught some of our team in Mongu how to can a few items so we are able to preserve foods for times like these. We canned Bread & Butter pickles, beans and made Green Tomatoe jam with a recipe from a wonderful woman named Lillian Jacques. Thanks Lillian for sharing!
There are many ways you can preserve food; canning, drying, pickling and making jams & jellies. People have been canning meats, fruit and vegetables for century’s but these jarred foods must be kept in a cool dry location to keep them fresh.
One of the basics of food safety is cooking food to its proper temperature. Foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food-borne illness.
We have many more recipes we would like to try but lets get that Cold Cellar build first so we are able to store them safely. If you would like to help, feel free to send me a message! joanne@sendseedstoafrica.org.
Thanks for reading and Happy June 2016!
Note, for every $3.00 donation through Canada Helps, givingchallenge.ca or through the canadahelps.org website SEEDS will be entered for the prize draw of $10,000.00. Help us win by clicking the link and donating before the end of June 2016.
We need canning jars too!
Thanks
