Posted on 03/23/2008 11:36:40 PM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Have you ever read the Ruth Stout books, she wrote about gardening without tilling.
I thought she said she pulled back the mulch, scattered the pea seeds and covered them well, before the first snow, so they came up when ready.
LOL, I tried her methods, and it does not work in Arizona, here we have to water all year.
On the horn worms, all I can say is, that I never found any thing that would eat them.
I did find that having a Datura plant in the tomato area drew them in, after they ate the datura, they ate tomatoes.
I have gone miles out in the desert and found them munching on the datura plants.
I have not tried the worms for fishing.
Growing herbs in the kitchen is excellent, right there and ready to use.
Welcome to you and do join in, anytime.
Want something good and cheap?
Buy:
25# bag of pinto beans from Costco for $13.50
3# package John Morrel smoked sausage; hot or regular for $3.00 at Winco/Cub Foods.
Three boxes of Jiffy brand corn bread mix.
Two large jars of jalepeno peppers from Costco for about $6.00
Prepare 2-3# pinto beans, add 1/2# sliced smoked sausage and diced jalepeno’s to taste. Ladle over cornbread and enjoy.
Makes a meal for six or more and costs less than $5.00; and you will have leftovers. I make a pot of it once a week and eat it for 5-6 meals for myself; but I live alone. I really like it and I don’t eat it because I need to save money.
Eggs might not be that cheap right now, but I often cook up some brown rice or barley, then scramble two eggs with a bit of diced hame and a couple ounces of cheddar cheese (5# block from Costco for $13.50) and put it over the rice/barley for breakfast. Good for you and tastes great. Usually don’t need to eat lunch on those days because it stays with you. Figure it costs about $.60-70 per breakfast when I eat it.
I can eat great on $5-6/day at home.
You need to find a Costco. Look here for locations in VA:
http://www.costco.com/Warehouse/Location.aspx?country=United%20States&whse=BC&lang=en-US
Not everything is cheaper, but you will find eggs and butter about 20-25% cheaper there along with savings on lots of other basics. A good discount grocery store will have many items cheaper, but Costco beats them by quite a bit on many items, and it’s all excellent quality.
Yes, on baking day, I went through the eggs too.
If you are going to have chickens for the eggs and not for cooking, then consider the Banty chickens, they are small and lay well, but eat less, are easier to raise and love bugs.
Again, if baking eggs are what you want, consider ducks, they will eat more weeds and scraps than a chicken, even table scraps.
In the summer, we would hang a light bulb, close to a washtub of water, it would draw the bugs away from the house lights and they fall in the water, the ducks come and eat them.
One year we had a cricket invasion, we timed the ducks, they ate one every 20 seconds until their craw would be so full they looked clumsy.
You will never laugh as hard as I did, when company did not show up for a spaghetti dinner that I like a fool, had all fixed and ready, sauce on it.
When we had had enough of it that week, I put the rest out for the animals.
The ducks would take the end of a strand, shake their heads back and forth, until it was swinging and then throw their heads back, and it would slide right in their mouths.
We had ducks for a month with red heads, from the sauce.
For eggs, try the Indian Runner duck, they walk upright, look like a penquin and are the top egg producers, but are small birds.
Goats, my first love.
I prefer the Nubian, it has a richer milk.
There is no reason to feed a goat that does not give over a gallon of milk a day.
A good nubian, will give 5 quarts in the morning and about 3 at night.
You must check the udder, if she has lumps are is misformed do not buy her.
There are test strips that you can buy that will test the milk for mastatis or bacteria.
In Wellton, I never had bad milk, up here, most of the goats will not pass the test.
The bad milk is not as good tasting and you cannot make cheese with it, it will not set up/curdle.
Goats that I had were rarely sick and I did not give them shots, etc.
I used the whey that was left for baking water and added it to the hog grain in a barrel, with left over milk.
We also kept pans of milk out for the poultry.
LOL, if you get bugs in flour, don’t throw it out, make a sour dough starter with it and feed it to the animals, as in dogs, cats, and poultry and of course the hogs. gives them vit b.
Thank you, it helps to know that others can use what you do.
I enjoyed yesterday so much, that I called my sister to tell her, at the 431 post mark.....she was amazed and will not break down and read Free Republic.
It is a welcome break from all the terror that I post.
I am on the 11th thread for the terror thread, see no reason we cannot top that, I was sorry they moved us to chat, but we are here and it is working, so will not complain.
Tell your husband that I am proud of him, he did not make it to the top without hard work.
Like all groups of people, some are excellent to be a part of.
I do not know the Moose lodge here, but have heard their ads and it always sounds like they are having fun.
Speaking of eggs . . .
I have found the whole powdered eggs at Walton Feeds are great to keep on hand.
http://waltonfeed.com/self/labels/eggwhole.html
They work perfect in any recipe like cakes and breads. And they keep forever on the shelf. The only thing I have found lacking is cooking them alone as scrambled eggs. They don’t hold together and you end up with egg crumbles . . . [sigh]
Absolutely.
(1) 5-Gallon bucket
(2) 1-Fish Tank Air Pump -w- 3-leads going into the bucket
(3) Fill with water and pump air into it for about 3-4 hours.
Pumping air into the Bucket removes all the chlorine, which can
(Chlorine) kill the good bacteria that plants just love to eat, YUM!
(4) I add about 3 garden spade scoops of natural compost:
Then add 1 scoop of manure compost:
Then add 3-4 tablespoons of molasses to the mixture.
Allow the mixture to do it's thang for 24-48 hours,
depending on the heat index. 3 days max, or it'll spoil.
I add it to my plant water every 2-Weeks to fertilize them.
For Corn?, Well, you just add cheap fish, or canned pollock for only 24-hours.
This year I'm growing over 600 Vegi plants because, well, it's fun.
And who says you can't have two full-time jobs? It's a labor of love,
Just like Children, and danm_good_old_school_Cookin.
/God Bless
Yes, I would like to have dinner with you, your beans sound good.
It is not that difficult to make cornbread from scratch and is even cheaper.
Next time you make cornbread, add a can of corn, creamed or whole, you may want to hold back some of the water or buttermilk, that you are using, pour half in the bake pan, cover that half with cheese and slices of the canned greeen pepper that is used for making relijanos, then add the balance of the dough, over the cheese and chillis.
Put in a 350 degree oven, after a couple minutes turn the oven down to 325 and bake until done.
Since you like eggs, take several, beat them well with a little milk and salt, pepper and a few spices, to me that means, oregano, garlic and maybe cumino or even basil.
Now take the chiliis for relijanos layer them with cheese, I use a good goat cheese or Jack cheese or whatever cheese that I have on hand. And pour the egg mix over them, bake at about 350, until done ...[until done means I forgot how long..]
It makes a quick and easy dish, that saves all the frying and standing over a stove.
Yes, I use the Walton egg for baking, but had not tried them alone.
Would adding cheese to the mix before cooking, cause them to hold together?
I would be tempted to add a quarter teaspoon of corn starch, and see what happens when cooked, if it thickens gravy, why not eggs?
I have an open can, but it has been open for at least 2 years and I am afraid to use it.
What do you think?
It is a product that I will reorder, but then there is nothing that I have ordered from them that I do not reorder.
I did not intend to stop using my bread machine, but my sister came and cleaned my kitchen and I never found all the parts, until she came back last week.
I have missed smelling it bake and was more tempted to eat, than I am sitting here, trying to think of something to eat.
For me it was cheaper to buy and pay shipping from Walton’s than to buy in the Kingman stores.
Thank you, a very interesting method of making the tea.
I like your pump idea and reasoning, sounds right to me.
It is good that I never got around to filling a big barrel and dumping in the manure, afraid I would have had a stinking mess.
Here we can buy a ‘cooler pump’ that wets the pads on our evaporative coolers, they cost about $30., it always seemed that they should have a use in a fertilizer/tea barrel, they use about a quarter inch pipe/hose, and push the water to the top of the pads.
The indians are said to have buried a fish and then planted above it.
We were not a fishing family, but any that I got, I buried in the garden.
Spring at last.
Stay in touch, I'll post Pics..
/God Bless
Barley is a source of good carbohydrates and fiber. It
has
almost twice the fiber of brown rice! It’s grown
around
the world, but the United States, Australia, Canada,
Russia,
Germany and the Ukraine are the major producers. Most
recipes use a hulled barley, or pearl barley. Don’t
substitute
a “quick” barley since it will cook quickly and may
get too
mushy. The following is a good assortment of recipes
to
give you different ideas for using this healthy grain.
(Note:
Remember from last week you can make your own oat
flour
for the bread recipe by using oatmeal)
From the Washington Barley Organization:
Barley Confetti Toss
Combine 3 cups hot cooked pearl barley with 1/2 cup
diced tomato, 1/4 cup each chopped red, green and
yellow bell pepper, 2 tablespoons minced onion, 2
tablespoons minced fresh basil, 1 teaspoon minced
fresh garlic and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar. Toss
gently and serve.
Barley Apricot Pilaf
Combine 1-3/4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup orange juice,
1/4 cup white wine, 1 cup pearl barley, 1/4 cup
chopped
dried apricots and 1/4 cup raisins in saucepan. Bring
to
boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 45 minutes or
until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed.
Sprinkle
pilaf with 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds and 1 tsp.
grated orange peel just before serving.
One-Loaf Barley Bread
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast
2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
1 cup barley flour
2 tsp. vegetable oil
2 cups oat flour
Mix first five ingredients together and let stand 10
minutes.
Stir and allow to stand 15 more minutes. Add oil and
flour.
Knead for 3 minutes. Shape into a loaf. Let rise in
pan until
double in size. Bake at 350 F. degree for 45
minutes or
until toothpick inserted in the center comes out
clean. This
bread doesn’t rise as much as other breads but is
good-serve
with soups or stews.
Hungarian Barley Stew
From The Quaker Company
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 Garlic clove, minced
28 ounces canned whole tomatoes-undrained, chopped
3 cups water
2/3 cup Medium QUAKER Barley
2 Beef bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Caraway seed (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
In 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, brown meat in oil.
Add
onion and garlic. Cook until onion is tender; drain.
Stir in
remaining ingredients except sour cream. Bring to a
boil.
Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 45 to 50 minutes or
until meat and barley are tender, stirring
occasionally. Top
each serving with sour cream, if desired. 8 1-cup
servings
Roasted Herb Barley
Ingredients:
1 large sweet onion, minced
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup pearl barley
1 tsp. salt
3 cups hot chicken broth (can use other broth)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/4 tsp. dried sage
1/4 tsp. summer savory
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). In a large ovenproof
pan,
sauté onion in butter for 3 to 5 minutes or until
soft. Add
mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in pearl
barley,
salt, thyme, marjoram, crushed rosemary, sage, and
savory.
Sauté over moderately high heat, stirring for 3
minutes to
coat barley. Add hot broth and bring to a boil. Bake
in oven,
covered for 55 minutes.
Barley Kielbasa Stew
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound small button mushrooms, cut in half, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup pearl barley
2 bay leaves
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 pound Kielbasa sausage, cut into 1/2-inch thick
slices
In large pot with cover, heat oil over medium-high
heat. Add
half of mushrooms (about 1/4 pound), onion and garlic.
Sauté
for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add oregano
and basil;
sauté 2 additional minutes. Stir in chicken broth,
barley and bay
leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer
for 25
minutes. Mix in carrots, broth and remaining
mushrooms. Bring
to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add
sausage
and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
Serve in
bowls. Makes 8 servings.
I know the feeling, there is always something else you should have planted.
More than once, I have planted stuff that I did not know what it was going to taste like...and liked it.
The way I would get in trouble, was planting seeds in the styrofoam coffee cups, so nice, sitting there at the table with the woodstove going on a cold January night, and every seed was a promise of the sun.
The last year that I could garden, and not knowing it would be my last, I finished with 800 plants in the ground.....they had to be hand watered, so I did.
No, I am not sorry, as now I look out at the weeds and remember all the plants that I grew.
Most people do not know that if the kitchen onions sprout in the spring, and you plant them, you will get 4 onions and seeds, they split.
In the past, I have bought the onion sets and grown them in pots, so I could cut the leaves to use as seasoning.
You should try something new each season.
I will be here some place and am looking forward to seeing you photos.
Which state are you in? Do you have to fight snow?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2603/is_0006/ai_2603000634/print
a good article on Rose Hips for healing.
Hiya, Granny!!
Thank you for your thoughtful and articulate answer to my questions — it appears that we, at least, are looking at the same circumstances and reached remarkably similar conclusions...
Regardless of the mechanism - economic collapse, major terrorism event, natural disaster, or any of a number of things - we need to plan for a world in which —
1) Money, as we know it, is irrelevant.
2) Government, except, perhaps, at the most rudimentary local level, is irrelevant - or nonexistent.
3) Cities/urban areas are uninhabitable - goods and services are unavailable, or too costly except for the most wealthy.
Given these circumstances, it’s apparent that only those prepared to be completely self-sufficient will thrive — and after some 4 generations of increasing nanny-state dependency, that’s an alarmingly small portion of us - mostly older - folks.
That’s why this thread - and other discussions like this - is so important, and I, for one, thank you for having the courage to start it....
Thank you
Ike
Ps. I hope others will read these posts and add their thinking, too.... I’m always open to things I haven’t thought of, yet.... ;~)
Yes, your thoughts are very accurate.
We may not be able to live in the cities, not for the reasons you are thinking of, such as food and heat, but rather, due to the fact that we are loosing them to the gangs.
Most are not aware of how many gangs we have, or how the leaders of them, are working towards some goal, that is bigger than dope, etc.
Again the media does not cover what is really happening.
I wish people would shut off the tv and listen to the police scanners. For just one week, hell one day would be a wake up call.
To find a scanner for your area, google for:
listen to police scanner on the internet
Dig around and they are there.
Las Vegas and Denver are as bad as San Diego.
Weapons, threats, gang attacks.
Some days it is one call after the other, knives, guns, and baseball bats, skateboards are used as a weapon and then he gets on it and rides off into the sunset.
They are taking over the cities and other towns.
They are also associated with al-qaeda and run the weapons, smuggle in the terrorists and of course the dope.
They drive down the street and shoot people that are not connected to gangs, just a wee bit of joy killing.
You are right, money will be useless, there won’t be any, it will be a matter of what do I have that you will trade for.
When we lived at Wellton, we would be flooded in, not our property, but the roadway a mile away.
We made sure to be home for the floods, so we could have the day off....LOL a mini holiday.
It has surely come to your attention, that I like to try new recipes, so when the Welch grape juice recipe came out to make wine in a jar, with a balloon on top I started a couple of them, got tired of the smell, and out to the storage shed they went for the next 2 years, this is in Yuma weather, 120 in the summer.
Came a flood and we could tell that the water was still up, as the 4 or 5 old men who lived down the road, kept driving over to look.
Bill went for a look and they waved him in, so he stopped, and talked to them.
Soon he was back and wanting to know “what ever happened to that wine you were making?”
He dusted it off and took it over to the men, and traded with them for a bunch of stuff they would not sell him a month before, the compressor alone, was worth $120.
And they were so anxious for booze that they were willing to pay the price.
LOL and told Bill that if I made more, to let them know.
I will never know what it tasted like.....
But that is what the brandy, whiskey, etc is worth, when a drinker wants a drink.
People who saw the bottles of booze that we kept on hand, were always surprised as we didn’t drink it and I learned to not serve it, if I wanted to talk to sober folks.
Things like herbs are important, if one knows how to use them.
The main thing, the most important, is to be aware that we are in danger and could be hit at any time, with that mindset, one is able to react in a cool manner.
I fear for the young people, they do not listen, will not learn and may pay a price that is their very life.
I join you in wanting a thread that the others will talk on, as I have one already that is read, but few comment on.
I have 17 on my ping list, and may have missed some, that isn’t bad for 48 hours, I do not know why we are in chat, but we will survive.
I think that more self-employment on a shoe string ideas are needed, a subject that always interested me.
Take care and stay safe, thank you for being here,
granny
Thanks again for your response....
I have to take off for (ugh) work, now — so I’m going to have to owe you my response when I get home... ;~)
Have a WONDERFUL day, Granny!!
****trail of breadcrumbs****
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