Homesteaders

[1cock2hens]

lacto-fermentation is how you pickle just using saltwater and mason jars. the pickles dont last as long but they do last several months

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

I was taught a trick years ago... but I don't remember if I've got it right....
Pour boiling brine over cukes, hand seal the jars, listen for the pop, tighten lids and then store upside down for a week. Turn them right side up after that and wait a few more weeks.

 

[oregonkat]

To all CANNERS. Could I get a recipe for pickles that does NOT require a pressure cooker. I get way more pickle specific cucumbers than I can eat but not enough to do a large batch before the 1st bunch gets old while waiting to get enough for a decent batch. Thanks in advance.

My FIL has a recipe for refrigerator pickles that is pretty good. I will ask him and post for you.

 

[wyoDreamer]

To all CANNERS. Could I get a recipe for pickles that does NOT require a pressure cooker. I get way more pickle specific cucumbers than I can eat but not enough to do a large batch before the 1st bunch gets old while waiting to get enough for a decent batch. Thanks in advance.

The Pickle recipes in my "Bell Complete Book of Home Preserving" call for Boiling Water Bath (BWB), not pressure cooking. I love my steam canner - it uses less water and anything that calls for BWB canning can be done in a steam canner. With less water, it heats up faster so less time and energy spent to can stuff. So just a couple jars of pickles can be done at a time.

Refrigerator pickles are good too. Looking forward to the recipe.

 

[NewPoultryMom2019]

Hello everyone! I am very new to all of this but I am very interested in going the homestead route. I told my fiance I'd like that to be our 10 year plan. We currently live on the outskirts of the city, but it's still pretty city-ish. I would love to be as self sufficient as humanly possible. For me, and my family. Not even sure where to start, but I'd love to own some land . Even if it's just a few acres to start out with.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Start now with some tomatoes in pots. Cherry tomatoes at the back door or spinach in the window box. Maybe some chives in a pot in the kitchen. Start somewhere and make it a part of your lifestyle. As you get stuff going, it will be easier to add more to your lifestyle.

 

[CLSranch]

Welcome New poultry mom.
The tomatoes in pots is definetly an easy and great way to start.
I work on the road and even bring some in the camper with me. Put them in the tub during travel and set them out when I set up the camper.

I haven't been on in awhile it seems not to many have.
How is everyone's chickens and gardens doing this year.

 

[wyoDreamer]

My chickens were let out for the first time this year... They gathered around me like kids at a campfire waiting for a good story, lol. I had to go get some BOSS for them to search for in the grass to get them to even look down at the ground. This last batch of layers I got are just so silly.
I got the garden rototilled this weekend. Let the weed seeds gerrminate for a week, then throw the coop cleanings out there, then till again. Till and plant 2 weeks later.

 

[CLSranch]

My chickens stay out all year. I don't have a big coop or run. I just leave them in the run during bad weather.
I've read on it but haven't got there yet. I'm trying the "no" till gardening with lots of mulch to keep the weeds and grass down. I have a lot of left over tar paper from roofing my house. I been thinking about using it then throwing more mulch on top of it.

 

[Molpet]

tar paper

tar is the leftovers from the petroleum industry refining
not something I would want in or by a vegetable garden

but it does block weeds