September 15, 2016

Forgotten Items Found and Finishing the Back Porch

I told you about the old cabinet I'd been saving in "My New Milking Room" post. A couple of things happened as a result of that, including finding some things stashed in that cabinet that I'd forgotten about.

One is a cardboard brickmaker.


I bought it from Lehman's awhile back when they were having a sale. Needless it's been "lost" in the cabinet all this time so I haven't had a chance to try it.

I also found this


It's called a "Pump N' Seal" for vacuum sealing glass jars. I bought it for Y2K storage and had forgotten all about it! It's over 16 years old so I have no idea of the parts are still in good order. We ended up using 5-gallon buckets with oxygen absorbers instead. I could certainly use a way to protect my grains from pantry moths, so I'll have to see how it works.

We've also been able to finally finish the back porch, which is a huge relief.

The shelves replace the cabinet.

I finally have a place for recycling bins, canners and large pots, laundry supplies, rags, campfire cast iron, dehydrator, and my solar oven when it's not in use. I love feeling organized.

27 comments:

Dani said...

Leigh - A sprig of bay leaves placed inside flour / grain containers deter weevils / moths.

Fiona from Arbordale Farm said...

I love finding items like that.

Chris said...

You're very organised in your new porch area. I love how you have all that room to store, what are often shelf hogs in the rest of the house. Or at least they are, in my case. ;)

Mama Pea said...

Like Dani, we've used bay leaves in our stored grains for years (and years!) and never had a problem with invading pests.

What I love about good organizing is that I usually find things I had forgotten I had (oops) and I ALWAYS find I have more room after the organization. Nice how that happens!

Fiona said...

The discovery of things is always fun and sometimes a surprise for sure. I always seem to have questions. Where did you get the beautiful shelving? It looks fabulous!

Ed said...

A shelf for our canner, large pots and seldom used kitchen appliances is on my to do list list someday!

Renee Nefe said...

I've currently got my canning jars and canners stored downstairs on the basement shelves that hubby built for himself. lol I should go through that shelf and get rid of the stuff we aren't using...like the tea set my SIL bought me one year...like who has time for tea?

Renee Nefe said...

of course...the real question is who has time to sort through all this stuff? :-/

Leigh said...

Dani, I have not had good success with bay leaves. It could be that even though they were newly purchased, they weren't very fresh. I use chunks of red cedar in the grain bins in the barn and that helps.

Leigh said...

Especially when they've been forgotten about!

Leigh said...

Chris it is such a relief to get this stuff on these shelves. It's made good room in the pantry and gotten the stacks of stuff off of the porch floor!

Leigh said...

I have tried bay leaves but still had moths. As I mentioned to Dani, however, it may be that they weren't very fresh. Even store bought spices don't seem very fresh to me, so that might have been the problem.

The shelves have been great for organization!

Leigh said...

Lowes. Dan thought he was getting the 24-inch deep shelves, but these are only 18 inches. Still, all of my stuff fits perfectly, so that depth is just right for us. They're plastic, but I like that I can turn things upside down on them and they can still "breath." Definitely recommended.

Leigh said...

Ed, you'll really enjoy them when you have them!

Leigh said...

Renee, that's exactly the problem! So I've got all this stuff organized on the new shelves, but the pantry is still a disaster, even with the newly created shelf space. :p

Yarrow said...

I'm totally loving your blog. It's my dream to live the same way one day.

Summer said...

Congrats on finishing your back porch! Have a lovely weekend ♥

summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

Linda said...

All dry storage, grains, beans, anything with flour needs to be put in the freezer for three days. Then, you can put it in canning jars and screw the tops on very tightly. Of course, you may know the freezing bit. That kills the bug eggs already in your products.

I did this and was in for a shock. When I took the ring off the jar with pasta, a moth had followed the threads and had hatched eggs in the threads. Of course, when I got to it, there was no live thing. So, I always know the food is safe, but the bugs/moths are still there.

Leigh said...

Yarrow, thank you! I hope your dream comes true soon. :)

Leigh said...

Summer thank you!

Leigh said...

Those moths are a nuisance! And you can add anything with sugar in it, such as dehydrated fruit, to your list. (They adore rugosa rose hips)

I store as much as I can in the fridge and freezer. I buy grain in 50 pound bags and just leave it in the freezer until I grind the flour. Trouble is, there's no room in the freezer for much of anything else anymore.

Farmer Barb said...

Hmmm. My friends who are Latter Day Saints members all keep grain. Do you know any where you are? They must have tips because it is the mainstay of every member's reserves. I will ask them.

Leigh said...

Quite a few Latter Day Saints members have websites devoted to storage and storage techniques. There was a lot of information on it prior to Y2K too, including using bay leaves, O2 absorbers, and vacuum sealing. For long term storage grain and flours are usually purchased in sealed containers. Since only one is open at a time, the problem with things like moths is less than say, growing a half acre of your own grain or buying it in 50# bags.

deb harvey said...

the bugs here ignore bay leaves.

cedar spray [wondercide], not used on food, but in the area, helps some.
they also ignore peppermint.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Finding things is just like Christmas! Love the shelves looking so organized with your larger items. Nancy

Mark said...

Hi Leigh - Congrat's on finishing the back porch. Organizing our storage areas inside and outside of the house is one of the items on my (very, very long) to-do list now that able to start doing a bit again.

I find the immediate feedback of seeing a bit of chaos turned into order to be very satisfying. I suspect that it is even more satisfying when the 'infrastructure' to make it possible has been a while coming.

Quinn said...

I am at the "so much worse before it gets better" stage of a total overhaul of everything in my tiny house, and since I can only work on it when my (physically flexible) hired helper is here, it means things get worse, then wait a week. Then get worse, then wait a week. Your lovely tidy shelves look like a dream to me right now :)