Posted on 02/04/2014 6:49:25 PM PST by Kartographer
I was thinking your screen-name suggested Pacific Northwest or Alaska.
So what bad? Getting a gun is bad? My first firearm purchase was one a shotgun. I didn’t have the money to buy multiple weapons. Learning to can is bad? How so? Prepping a First aid kit? My first was one just something I piece together, but per you it was worthless? In fact as I would realy feel bad about posting this if its half as bad as you say so if your wouldn’t mind please go into detail on why each of the nine prep starters list are bad?
“How to you keep chickens warm in a bad cold spell? And don’t they attract rats and snakes?”
I don’t know. I keep bees, not chickens. I thought about it some time ago, but concluded that they’re not worth the grief. I’ll trade honey for eggs if need be.
If you are ever in the mood to share those jam recipes, I would very much appreciate being on the ping list.
Ive wanted to learn/try canning for EVER and finally have the time and plan to start this year. Also, if you have any canning tips I would love to hear them.
Thank you, FRiend!
I use Pomona’s Universal Pectin. You can make triple recipes and the jam still sets. This makes a batch that comes out to 7 pints, exactly a canner load.
The basic recipe is:
12 cups crushed fruit
3-4 Cups sugar (to cut the tartness)
Then follow the recipe from Pomona’s for the correct amount of pectin for each kind of fruit.
I ALWAYS mix the pectin with the sugar and slowly pour it in the fruit while stirring continuously. That way the pectin does not clump.
I check my set by taking a teaspoon and putting a little jam in the freezer to cool it quickly and see what the set is like.
One thing I learned the hard way is to not over process the jams.
I put the hot jam in hot jars (I do exactly what the canning book tells you not to. This doesn’t mean that I am advising you to do the same as I can’t do that. However....... I’ve NEVER had a jar crack on me that way. Anyway, I put my jars in the oven and set it to 200 and NO higher. It gets the jars hot enough that there is no cracking from thermal shock but not too hot to be dangerous. I use a towel to take the jars out of the oven.)
So I fill the hot jars with the hot jam, put the lid on and process for only 5 more minutes. Any longer and the jam is likely to come out runny. I’m not sure why but I’ve noticed that over processing does something to the set.
For the blueberry jam, I add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, putting it in the sugar/pectin mixture. Blueberry jam with cinnamon it is is out of this world and makes better pb&j sandwiches than grape jelly, and doesn’t get those annoying crystals in it. It’s AWESOME.
If you have any more questions, never hesitate to ask. I can so much that it’s very likely I left something out that I take for granted but someone else will not think of.
And peach jam does real well with cinnamon too, and I’ve heard the key to good peach pie (and I would presume jam) is also a little nutmeg. I never tried the nutmeg but imagine it would work well.
You can get day old chicks shipped to your house. Keep under lights for about 4 weeks depending on your weather. 22-26 weeks later pick up eggs. I have 40. Most are older and laying less but they were my first batch. I will give them the good life until summer then I will practice the other use for them.
I gave away unneeded heat lamps to a friend who’s raising chickens (50 so far). This has been their first winter molt, and he while he laughs at his bare-arsed ‘girls,’ he’s also surprised at their choosing to go outside nekkid on even a bitterly cold day.
He moved the heatlamps, one to the egg shed to prevent freezing before sale, the other to the barrel serving as their drinking water shed. It’s a white plastic barrel with a large square entry hole for their access. At night, it’s like he’s operating a hen-sized redlight district.
But even during this lighter production season, he feeds them good, high quality food that warms them from the inside. So they roam outside the nice warm spot he’s provided for their repose.
Predators haven’t been a problem so far. He made sure to line the ground outside their fence with mesh too, to deter tunneling critters. Once he expands operations into meat fowl, he may get a Great Pyranese or some other flock protecting dog.
Hah! My chicken-raisin friend can always rehome somebody else’s unwanted rooster. If’n ya knowhutimean.
I can’t thank you enough! I will take you up on the offer to answer questions. you are so kind! And I’m so excited to try this. A might even start as early as this weekend. Woohoo!
Chickens have mites, and I don’t think I would want them in the house or garage...hmmm Maybe a building detached from living quarters would be ok.
I took in ONE rooster because this City Slicker literally BEGGED me to do so - and in FRONT of his adorable 4 year old. I told him we could ‘take care of it’ behind the barn and I thought he was going to burst into tears himself, LOL!
He was a BEAUTIFUL rooster, but such a JERK! He’d barely let me in the coop; I had to bop him with a shovel more than once.
Luckily, ‘Nature’ (Mr. Raccoon) took care of him when he hopped the fence one day. I kept his long, luxurious tail feathers, though. They’ll make a pretty pin or other crafty item.
RIP, ‘Cooper.’ *SMIRK*
Not where I live. We have lots of people who can stuff. Our local Walmart, and several other stores stock canning supplies, pressure cookers, water bath canners etc every spring.
We have a farmer’s market where you can still buy some of the stuff like pickles and jams and jellies.
I only take about 5 minutes to make, and 12 minutes to cook, So I cook the eggs, bacon whatever while the biscuits bake. I have a mix already made up, and use 1/4 a cup for regular biscuits, and 1/3 cup mix for each big biscuit. Add the liquid, stir till moistened well and drop into greased pans or on baking sheets.
The less handling of the biscuits, the more tender and flaky it is.
One of my recipes calls for mixing and dumping into an 8 inch square cake pan, and cutting the biscuits after they have cooked, so the biscuits are square.
Yep. I got flogged when I was just a mere snip of a girl. Gained a healthy respect for roosters as well as a certain dislike.
If I had to chop of a head for supper, believe me it would be a rooster head, even if it was tough.
:o) A rooster named Cooper. I gotta remember that one.
A couple of my friend’s roosters were invited - guests of honor, you might say - for Sunday dinner, and the - er - host picked them up early that morning. My friend pointed out how nicely the man was dressed, and that worthy gentleman said he was on his way to church at that very moment. But did he think the birds would be okay sitting in the pet carrier for a few hours outside church, waiting for dinnertime?
My friend said that certainly they would be fine. Little need to mention that if they suffered, it would not be for long.
But I digress. It was a temperate enough day, and just to be sure, the Host rolled down the windows before leaving his tender guests to attend services.
So...
The Preacherman was getting right into the swing of things during services, but was rudely interrupted by a faint noise which all in attendance heard: the sound of a rooster announcing the sun.
“Not to be unkind, but it is only the considerate thing to turn off all electronic devices during services, my brothers and sisters!” cried Preacherman.
Host shifted uncomfortably while others tittered in amusement, trying to spot their fellow churchgoer with the cockadoodledoo ringtone.
“Thank you, “ said Preacherman, and resumed his sermon.
A few minutes later: Cocka-doodle-doo!
“Now look, I’ve asked time after time that people silence their iPhones and pagers and what-not! Please turn off all electronic gizmos before services!” Preacherman huffed.
Host shifted lower in his seat, while the restive congregation wondered who among them could be so rude as to allow yet another interruption of Preacher’s sermon.
Well, you see how things went. Eventually Sunday morning services ended and the church’s doors spilled out its attendees to their dinners.
My friend heard the story the next day, when Host returned the borrowed pet crates.
Host said first the children discovered his live ‘pets’ in the car, and once the story got around, Preacherman asked why he’d said nothing during the services. But Preacherman was having himself a good rant, and last thing Host wanted was to take the blame.
lol...that is just too funny. A neighbor had a rooster flog him and they had it for dinner....revenge.
Thanks Marcella, will look you all up come Friday.
May God bless.
Tatt
Here is the link greeneyes started Friday - someone is usually on there most of the time - if you go there, add a post to greeneyes to add you to the list. If you ask a question, you will always get answers. We have fun on that thread.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3120471/posts
Yum BookMark!!
Thank you, and God bless:)
Tatt
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