Posted on 01/30/2015 12:38:35 PM PST by greeneyes
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I like your recipie
Only one thing I would add is raisons, and "Black Stripe Sunflower seeds " for Northern climes,
and millet seed and thistle seeds to extend to smaller birds too ! Nice job !
OK , I can see the headlines on FreeRepublic that say ;
www.http://www.bluebirdnut.com/the_fat_question.htm
ARTICLE ENTITLED;" "The Great Crisco Debate" - The Suet vs. Lard vs. Shortening question " which indicates:
"There is some concern that suet (raw fat from cows or sheep) goes rancid too quickly.
There is also concern that pure rendered suet, (tallow), may be too high in saturated fats to be easily digested by birds...
There is some suggestion that using a combination of rendered suet and peanut butter, lard, or vegetable oil may result in a better product for the birds' health."
Also this article acknowldeges tht not all bird experts agree, and includes excerpts from both sides .
Another article includes reference to UK suet pudding, soap making , and other sources: www.http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=192340
"The problem with lard (and beef fat known as Dripping in UK and Tallow in US) is that in its normal state and kept in the fridge it tends to get very hard,
so is sometimes hydrogenated to make it more like margarine in texture, and so it contains trans fats.
Check the label. Home made stuff should have no trans fats."
"It will keep for literally months in the fridge, and if you want to have a softer brew,
add some virgin olive oil to it before it solidifies, if you are into the veg oil thing.
"correct about suet being so-called kidney fat. It is a denser and finer grade of fat that
is often used for suet puddings in the UK and UK-influenced countries like Australia and Canada."
"At least in the US, lard is techincally the rendered fat from a pig, and tallow is the rendered fat from a cow or sheep.
The kidney and internal organ fat is the premier fat, but mostly is was made from back fat.
Usually around Christmas time one pig who was allowed to fatten to enormous size just for this purpose, was slaughtered.
This was mainly to get hams, bacon and far for lard. Some pigs could yield up to 200 pounds of lard."
"The process of rendering lard yields two products: the rendered fat (lard) and what's known in the southern US as cracklin's. You many known them better as pork" rinds."
I am qualified to make all 3. But it can stink a little. ;)
I never use shortening, except for mammy's little babies.
Fat comes from critters, not plants.
That's my convoluted position, and I'm sticking to it.
/johnny
Ellendra, If you have an old style butcher shop or a family owned grocer close by you could probably find fresh side pork or have them order it for you. The last bacon I smoked and cured was about 12 years ago and it was $3.00 a pound then, its probably triple that now.
I buy Millet at the feed store in 50# Sacks and Black Oil Sunflower in 20# bags. The Millet is scattered on the ground for ground eaters and the SF in tube like feeders and some on the ground. I also feed Sunflower chips in tube feeders. I’ll do a list of our birds in the south end of the PNW some day
Got my pepper plants started finally, eight seed types, six of each, and four hybrid Gypsy cuttings from last season that I overwintered (so far). I’ve got a bastardized Santa Fe Grande, which I guess I accidentally hybridized into a non-hot sweet pepper with very abundant yield. Don’t have any idea what to expect from the seeds. The others are: Cascabella, Corno di Toro, Tangerine Dream, Douce D’Espagne, Sweet Banana, Hot Anaheim, and Marconi Red. The Cascabella is supposed to be medium hot, less than Jalapeno. The Anaheim is hot, and the Tangerine Dream has a hint of heat, and the rest are sweet. Most will be grown in 5 gal buckets, might put a few in the ground, but I have a scarcity of sun.
I’ll have to try some of that medium heat. Hubby find jalepeno too hot. I like them, but that’s as hot as I go too. So I could use a medium heat to see if he could take it.
MY head is spinning with fats! LOL
All I can tell you is that my Granny’s restaurant (back in the day)used LARD. It came in a real bucket.
It was used liberally to make pie crusts, biscuits, and white gravy to go over pipin hot biscuits.
I wasn't planning to make it so tall, but it occurred to me that by making it this way I wouldn't have to do as much bending and stooping to work in it, so I spent an extra $25 and built it one board taller.
I still need to paint it insided and out, and line the inside with plastic sheeting, which hopefully will extend the life of it by quite awhile. Built with treated lumber it would have outlasted me, but I don't really want that nasty stuff near where I grow my food.
Rot resistant lumber :Domestic Species. Exceptionally resistant: black locust, red mulberry, osage orange, white oak,and Pacific yew.
Preferably no 'heartwood' , or 'sapwood', as it deteriantes rapidly.
Rot resistant lumber : Artificial :
pressure treated wood - (know what the treatment is because some is poisonous to humans{toxicity} and some to plants .
Plastic and wood composite lumber needs no maintenance or sealing and does not rot, chip or warp.
Eco-friendly re-cycled Plastic Decking planks
Lumber common to Kansas and Missouri (#1 indicates 'old growth , #3These woods have exceptionally high decay resistance. )
Information Source:
www.:http://www.grit.com/departments/choosing-wood-for-outdoor-projects.aspx
Baldcyprus, #1 (OLD GROWTH)
Catalpa
Cedars
Cherry, black
Chestnut
Cypress, Arizona
Junipers
Locust, black #3
Mulberry, red #3
Oak, bur
Oak, chestnut
Oak, Gambel
Oak, Oregon white
Oak, post
Oak, white
Osage-orange3
Redwood
Sassafras
Walnut, black
Yew, Pacific #3
Personally, while I prefer the 'look' of wood ,it seems that plastic and composit plastic/wood construction offers the most durability without toxic concerns.
I would really love to find something that would rid myself of privet permanantly. That is a bane to my existence.
I would suggest Ortho 'Weed-Be-Gone' in a sprayer, on the foliage
If perchance this isn't successful, Monsanto has chemical control:'Roundup', which will kill everything , but it does have possible residual soil issues,
if you wish to vegetable garden there.
That is why I would suggest you try the 'Weed-Be-Gone' first.
Now that’s a keeper for sure. I like the elevated stuff that spares the back.LOL
I did my sort-of-annual seed inventory yesterday. It took 7 hours.
I think I might be a teeny bit obsessed with plants.
The good thing is, I can now cross a bunch of stuff off my “to order” list, because it turns out I already have it. Bad news is, it’s still a freaking long list! Happens every year. I’ll get it whittled down somehow.
Part of the problem is my change in focus this year. I’m looking more at medicinal herbs where before it was edibles. I have one list of herbal antibiotics, one of antivirals, and one of herbs that fetch a good price on the bulk medicinals market. Still hoping to find a way to make a living off that land without messing it up.
Ah well, back to work tomorrow!
After cutting it down paint the exposed cut portion of the root with a “kill-it-all” weed killer. Cut it at an angle so there’s a lot of exposed cut area to paint.
Works for honeysuckle too.
“I’m trying to think of some new ways for a Hi-tech scarecrow.”
My experience with a “scary” owl to frighten off birds:
Man, he was fierce looking and turned around on a swivel as the wind moved it. Well, all the birds landed on it and took a free ride on the owl...
Johnny, good to see you posting. Hot water goes well with the cold weather we’re having.
So, I spent two years learning how to grow food from seed and actually get food to eat and I did it. For this year, I plan to:
Plant three or four rabbiteye “Tifblue” blueberry bushes in half barrels. Tifblue is self producing, no need for other strain to be planted. From Texas A&M: “Some blueberry varieties require cross pollination so variety selection will be critical. However, Tifblue has been shown to be self-fruitful and is the most universally outstanding rabbiteye blueberry grown to date.” Now, I have to find where these bushes are sold.
Going to buy fresh seed of plants I grew well, and freeze them for posterity.
Will buy tomato plants from Lowes – four different types. I brought large planters from my house for tomato growing.
I brought my Egyptian Walking Onions from my house – stuck them in two slim planters to keep them alive. I’ll get a square raised bed for their home.
I’m considering growing more Deck Corn since I had to leave those at my house and they died without care. Hmm, need more large containers for those.
My Mandarin Orange tree has lived through winter by being in the kitchen next to a window. It will go outside when there is no more danger of freezing.
All plants will have to be covered with netting as there are over twenty birdhouses (birds are murderers of veggies and fruits) in the backyard of this house. If it were me, I’d stack the birdhouses and burn them. However, Bob made these birdhouses himself, so he likes them. Yuk. For Christmas, my son gave me a Texas bird book since there are so many birdhouses here. If it were me, I’d identify each bird as I shot it with my pellet rifle. :o)
I have to comment on the deck corn. They were beautiful plants, and looked lovely on our front patio. They need to be watered every day. Mine produced very small ears, but it was delicious. My husband and I were somewhat entranced, but plan to look for a deck corn with a larger ear, and so consider our first experience to be a great success.
That’s incredible. Well done!
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