Cleaning the pantry

It looks like a really good swap. I think it's wonderful that so many of you are taking part and I hope you enjoy it. Swapping is a good way of developing new friendships and learning new skills, even if it's straight machine sewing or hand stitching. For the experienced sewers, it's a small project to work on that has a surprise element attached to it, and it helps use up those little bits and pieces of fabric that might otherwise be left unused. I would like to take part but I'm really snowed under at the moment so I'll just watch from the sidelines and enjoy the photos when they come in. To Sharon and Rose, I thank you sincerely for the work you are putting into this. I have organised many swaps and I know how time consuming they can be. So thank you both for you work and time.

To answer a couple of queries from yesterday: Mike, the tree was already planted when we decided to let the chooks free range around it so we couldn't bury the wire. Instead, Hanno covered the root area, on top of the ground, with chicken wire and held it down with a few bricks and pieces of wood. Initially we covered the wire with straw mulch, but the girls soon scratched it off so we didn't replace it. Since the wire has been there with no straw on top they've ignored the area and only walk under the tree on their way to somewhere else.

Margaret: don't plant potatoes in old tyres. Tyres contain cadmium and overtime it will leach out, possibly contaminating the potatoes. If you want to grow potatoes in a small space, use a wire cage. You can make it by surrounding some star pegs with chicken wire. The principle is the same but instead of adding more tyres, you start with an empty cage and as the potatoes grow, add more straw. Sometimes we hill our potatoes, sometimes we don't. We get a good yield either way.

Autumn, I use a fair bit of lemon in cooking - cakes, dressings, fish etc. I make some of the lemon juice into cordial, the rest is frozen and used over winter.

Maryanne, that's great news! It's always so exciting when the first of your fruit or vegetables start producing. I hope you get a great harvest from those tomato bushes.

And to everyone else who left a comment yesterday, I thank you. It's always very interesting for me to read what you write. I like knowing how others are living, doing the same household tasks I carry out here. It's a little bit like a friendly chat over the back fence.

One of the things I did last weekend was to clean the pantry. Pantry cleaning is one job that needs to be done every few months so I can check my containers and clean up any spilt food. A few years ago, before we bought our deep freezer, we had a couple of outbreaks of pantry moths that wiped out quite a few kilos of flour. We haven't had pantry moths since we started freezing all the dried grains and flour that come into the house, but I'm still on the look out for them. If you haven't seen pantry moths, and I'm not sure if those we have here are the same world-wide, they are a small brown moth, about the size of a fly. They get into flour, rice, lentils etc, when they're being processed, or in storage, or in the shop, and unknowingly you bring them home. When the product has been sitting on your shelf for a week or two, the moths emerge and fly around the house, where eventually they will find more flour or rice and lay eggs. To prevent this happening, if you can, put all your dried grains and flour in the freezer for a couple of days as soon as you bring it home. That will kill any larvae that might be present.

Cleaning the pantry is a simple, but essential, job. The way I do it is to empty everything out of the cupboard, clean the shelves from top to bottom with a terry cloth rag and white vinegar. If anything is spilt - we had a small molasses spill, it is cleaned up with a terry rag and homemade soap and wiped over with a clean moist cloth. If you've spilt any flour or rice in the cupboard, it's a good idea to vacuum the cupboard, making sure you do the edge, where the shelf meets the side wall, to make sure no flour or grain is lurking in the join. Leaving those little bits of food in crevasses attracts moths and weevils and it's best to vacuum them to completely remove any trace.

When you have the containers out, check them and wipe them over before placing them back in the pantry. If you notice anything going off or with bugs in it, discard it and wash the container thoroughly. If you do see moths in your container, take it outside to open it. Check that container too and make sure there are no cracks in it and that the lid is still capable of sealing properly.

And don't be like me. You can see in the photo above that the potatoes we bought at the market are still in a plastic bag. Tut tut, Rhonda. Potatoes should always be removed from the plastic bag and stored in a basket or similar open, but away from the light, container. Potatoes stored in a plastic bag will sweat and start to rot if left too long.

It's not the most glamorous of jobs but when you finish, it's very satisfying. I wonder how many pantry cupboards out there need a good clean. How often do you clean your cupboards? Do you have any tips to share with us? I'd be very interested if you have.

I've been too busy to write the second Biggest Kitchen Table post but I think I can do it this Friday. The topic this time is preserving/canning. Hopefully we can dispel a few myths and encourage the younger girls and those who haven't ventured into the world or jars, seals and clips to learn a new skill.