First steps, double garden and purchase a dehydrator.

I started thinking of sustainable living about a few months ago.  I am not sure exactly why.  It started really last year when it seemed God started me making a huge garden.  I actually doubled my garden space and did what I would say was some heavy canning.   My garden is now 40x60 feet.  20x40 grows green beans and corn and the other 20x40 grows the rest of the vegetables. 

I also felt I should buy a dehydrator, a lot of my food was being wasted because I just couldnt figure out how to preserve other than canning.  I ran out of canning jars, bought as many as I could afford but it wasnt enough. There were things that we didnt eat a lot of and so canning it wasnt really practical.  I knew I could hide things like zucchini in soups and no one would notice.  I ended up buying an Excalibur dehydrator.

  This dehydrator is a 9 tray and is I guess one of the best there is out there for home use.  Many people are using it for small commercial use and they really are awesome.  I opted for a refurbished one and wsnt dissapointed.  Turns out my "refurbishment" was a slight crack on the door that had been re-melted back together.  I think I can handle that, plus it has the same guarantee as the other dehydators.  They now make them with timers, but I've found pretty much leaving anything in all day and overnight dries it completely.

This is some of what I have on hand now that I've been using my dehydrator lightly for the last part of summer.

For a great site on dehydrating you should visit http://www.dehydrate2store.com/ She is awesome and everything you would ever want to know, she does!