Backed out of planting the quick corn - cutting it too close and already pretty cool at night. Will plant some cool weather stuff instead, since I can throw a row cover over those and they'll do pretty good to finish up and last for a while.
One XMAS we even had lettuce from the winter garden. I ordered some of the winter wheat, would like to plant some white winter wheat, but I don't know if that even exists.
I have garlic to plant from last year, but I'm thinking that I should order some more to increase the harvest, since I'm using more fresh garlic in recipes these days.
Since the produce from many crops has been short this year, rather than gearing up the canner for just a couple of qts or pints, I decided to experiment with the dehydrator - I LIKE IT.
I can whiz around and in no time it's loaded - lots easier on the feet and legs - getting harder to stand and get the job done.
I do have 15 lbs of hamburger and ground turkey to process and can. I want to can some sausage too, but I need to find some with out the sage, because sage changes flavor in the canning process - at least that's what I have read. Any one know of any sausage that doesn't have sage in it?
I'm thinking about getting a lower kitchen cart, or a taller stool so that I can sit for part of the prep work.
I did potatoes, lemons, tomatoes, blueberries, and bread. I eat low carb bread or make my own, and Hubby likes the oatmeal nut bread from Walmart, but he never eats the heels, and sometimes he leaves the last slice in favor of the new loaf.
So I figured I'd just dry it and then blenderise it and I'd have bread crumbs to use for meat loaf or whatever.
I was checking my book on preserving without refrigeration or electricity. This lady bakes her own bread. Slices it and then lays the slices in wicker baskets - and lets them dry out that way. Then she puts them in a container. They will last at least a month without molding she said.
She toasts it the first few days, but later, she puts the bread on top of the steamer, and it fluffs up a bit. Her grand kids call it "cake bread".
So I had half a biscuit left from a recipe I tried, and just for kicks and grins, I dehydrated it. Half of it I spread with butter and ate - nice crisp cracker type texture. Then I took the other half the next day and steamed it. Pretty good.
The other thing I did this week, I spent my XMAS money and Birthday money from last December. I bought the Versa Rocket Stove and a Solar oven. Hubby can't hardly wait for me to use the rocket stove. He gathered up a bunch of twigs and branches and got them all ready.
So tomorrow we see what we can make on the stove. I'm thinking chicken vegetable soup. It's a backyard campout. LOL Haven't decided what yet for sure though. Oh yeah, I baked biscuits today on the stove top. I found a description on some Nigerian site.
I took an old beat up granite ware 5 qt. pot and emptied a box of salt (that will be saved to use again for stove top baking)in the bottom of the pot. Put down some canning rings for a trivet, and put a rack from an old Mirro pressure cooker on top of the rings.
Put the biscuits in a pan and covered them with a lid, then put the whole thing in the improvised "oven" and put the granite wear lid on. So it worked. The biscuits get brown on the bottom instead of the top, but great taste.
So I may try to bake a cake next, and then see if I can repeat that on the rocket stove. I got the one that can also use charcoal, so that's my new BBQ grill. LOL
So I am finally getting around to doing some kraut. I've been told to just put it in a mason jar with some salt, and screw on the lid. Is that right? No heating or sealing the jar or anything?
Well, I've been noodling around with my emergency supply stuff too. I am thinking that I might just dehydrate a bunch of stuff to use that would be quick to go with the 2 week rations - basic plan of no cooking. So we have pork and beans, Vienna sausages, crackers, peanut butter, tuna, canned beef, peanuts. etc. all just pull open a can and eat. Water and powdered milk chocolate or plain, and protein powder - vanilla flavored.
We decided to redo our emergency water too. Instead of the gallons of Ozarko, or putting stuff in 2 liter bottles, we have decided to use the Primo water from Walmart. At less that 2 bucks for 5 gallons, that's a bargain compared to the other stuff, and we just recycle the bottles, but if we need to we can keep it to reuse at home.
Since the coffee pot clogs up fast due to our hard water here, hubby likes to use that to make coffee. So that takes care of the rotation. There's room under the kitchen work table for 8 of those jugs, and 75 gallons in the water heater.
Well I sure have posted a rather chatty monologue, so I better get this thing posted before I conk our for bedtime. Have a great weekend. Prayers up. God Bless.
Pinging the list. Oh I forgot, I now have more celery growing - that’s three plants now from the ends that I used to throw away.
I had a question about grass grown in small containers for caged birds to fiddle with. I just started doing this two days ago.
I have one cage with Parakeets, another cage with Zebra Finches. The Parakeets enjoy picking at their grass. After two days, there is still a small tuft of plant growth in the cage. The Zebra Finches grass went on demolition duty! From a bright green Mohawk down to a brownish beige Crewcut in less than a day. They loved tearing it apart. Maybe for nesting materials.
My question: I am using Wheatgrass pregrown and potted.
Any other kinds of grass that a caged bird could safely nibble at that grows easily and quickly?
I hope to find something that can last a little longer in the Zebra Finch cage.
I can’t recall a time that August was so delightfully cool. It’s as if we are already into the first of October. And the rain dispersion has been perfect for the soybeans and field corn.
I dug up two more rows of potatoes yesterday. Two more to go. Green beans and tomatoes still producing like crazy. Mrs. Augie started a batch of fermented pickles yesterday. Still getting peaches from one tree. Mrs. Augie picked a few pears on Saturday. They're ready so we'll get the rest this week.
This Friday is opening day of dove season. Pops came over and shredded part of the sunflower field last week. I went back there with the Kubota and cut about half of what he shredded, and blew the duff off to one side so I could get through it without balling up the tiller. The blinds are set up and the birds are flying. Looking forward to some fun back there over the weekend.
I got a bunch more dirt moved out of the pond, but at a cost. Was working in there Thursday evening and got the back blade bound up. The upper part of the hitch folded up, the bottom of the blade rotated forward and put a ripper tooth into both of Nanner's rear tires. I got the blade loose and the tractor out Friday morning and called the tire shop. Tire guy was able to get them both patched up and so far they're holding. It's going to take a bit of work to get the blade back in service.
The cut is getting bigger. After wrecking the blade I discovered that the tiller, while not providing the same amount of rear ballast, is even more effective at loosening up the ground where I want to remove soil on the flat. I've got the depth that I need, but I have to pay attention to the slope in there so the water runs to the trash pump when it rains.
Have been so busy dehydrating, canning, and freezing.Lots of tomatoes have picked and processed over a bushel (not all at one time) and there is still probably a bushel out here still green. The San Marzanos I have put into sauce and salsa but I also have dehydrated 28 racks worth. I spoon out the centers on the halves, put in a bowl, toss generously with lie oil and then add salt, pepper, granulated garlic, basil and oregano. hey taste so sweet and savory at the same time. One of the San Marzano plants which I started from last year's seed had over 60 tomatoes on it, they are all heavily laden. Not a single tomato worm this year!
Well tinypic is not working for me :(. I set up an account and uploaded 6 pictures but when I click on them it to get the html it says the page is unavailable. Frustrating! Will try again later.
Weird. I have one long planter that I put Sweet Snacking Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Serrano Pepper and regular Bell Pepper in.
Pulled some the last few days. They look like little barrels with cracks (spots like cracks) - kinda resembles a tiny watermelon.
They were dark green. AFTER I pulled them, they are turning BRIGHT RED on the table. I thought they were jalapeno. Now I’m not sure what they are.
Got one good Sweet Snacking Pepper. Pulled him at green - he is now BRIGHT ORANGE.
Sqash is all over - my aluminum foil-type baking pans were a bust. They were cheap. Some radishes growing in them, though. Little six-legged (I think) bugs were crawling all over the one squash out there. Must have been over a dozen of those little guys.
I think I would up with at least 3 dead tomato corn worms being eaten up. All the beetles abandoned the Sweet Basil plant a couple weeks ago. Maybe they moved. I’ll only get a few leaves on this 4th harvest of that plant.
My cherry tomatoes are just popping. that plant must have 40-50 going on it now. Some of those are just getting started though.
I’m in southern MO and growing tomatoes in containers, Tasti-Lee and Bella Rosa - both were doing great. This last week I had a bad invasion of tomato hornworms. They eat the leaves to bare stalks and eat holes in the green tomatoes, too. Besides eating an eggplant plant and seriously damaging one of my great, prolific Italian pepper plants. Anyway, I cut squares of cheesecloth that I have for sprouting in winter, and made little bags to bag up each good tomato on the plants, tying them with a baggie tie. It’s worked; the hornworms can’t get to them in their bags and the ones left are ripening to red just fine, bagged in cheesecloth.
Got the idea from remembering when I had to net my peach tree in Texas decades ago to keep the birds from destroying the peaches. So it works to “net” tomatoes, too.