Homesteaders

[Raech]

Well we didn`t get chased by deer, but I did end up spooking a big elk and got a white tail doe, so we will at least have some meat in the freezer. Dad got another doe after I left to come back home, so that was a nice suprise and freat ending to a rough weekend. Our total damage from the week of hunting is down a pickup and camper, bruises all over Grandpa. 2 does hanging, and great memories for all of us. Possibly one more hunting trip this year to see if we can get an elk in the freezer.

 

[RustedOak]

Picked up loads of pecans yesterday for baking/freezing. Although I've never eaten them before, on a whim, I also gathered a bunch of acorns. With a little research, I found that there is quite the process in order to make them palatable. Anyone have any experience with that? Any tips would be appreciated. Also, I'm curious about the end result. Just wondering if it's worth the effort. Worse case scenario, I gain the experience for a necessity type situation and they supplement my winter chicken feed stores... win/win I guess.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Put the acorns into a bucket of water. Any that float are bad -typically those are the ones that have worms/bugs in them.
Plant the ones that sink, then shoot the wild turkeys and deer that come to eat the acorns that fall off the trees.

As for treating them for eating, my experience is they are still bitter after the soaking. Maybe they were not soaked enough...

 

[trsturself]

Put the acorns into a bucket of water. Any that float are bad -typically those are the ones that have worms/bugs in them.
Plant the ones that sink, then shoot the wild turkeys and deer that come to eat the acorns that fall off the trees.

As for treating them for eating, my experience is they are still bitter after the soaking. Maybe they were not soaked enough...

 

[outlander]

Picked up loads of pecans yesterday for baking/freezing. Although I've never eaten them before, on a whim, I also gathered a bunch of acorns. With a little research, I found that there is quite the process in order to make them palatable. Anyone have any experience with that? Any tips would be appreciated. Also, I'm curious about the end result. Just wondering if it's worth the effort. Worse case scenario, I gain the experience for a necessity type situation and they supplement my winter chicken feed stores... win/win I guess.

A couple years ago I gathered buckets and buckets of white oak acorns. Spent several days shelling them (pliers work well). Probably 70% of them had worms - no biggie if you're going to use them for feed? But they were for us, so I only retained 30% of what I originally gathered. Spent a couple days simmering out the tannins. Then another day roasting them in the oven.

I would add a handful to cooking rice, or in a stir fry. I liked them, but then again I did all the work... My family wasn't that enthused, but had witnessed all the effort and ate them graciously.

Acorns are free and readily available. I'd do it again during a good mast year, but you'd have to individually decide if the return is worth the effort for you.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Outlander - did you float test the acorns before cracking them open?

I have 6 acorns that were selected for me by a chipmunk. He put them in my box of gloves and scarves that I had in the barn. I am saving them to plant in pots next spring. I believe they are from the white oak in the back yard. I would love to have more of those to plant on the north property line. I am hoping the chipmunk only stored the good ones.

 

[boxofpens]

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[rancher hicks]

I was not subscribed to this thread but am now.

I came to ask a question. Does anyone have a favorite "Homesteading" book ? I've reserve all the ones at the public library and there are quite a few.

I did the same with canning books and bought the three that I liked the best. I'm in NYS, though my heart is in Alabama.

So anyone in NY we have a NY chicken lovers thread and I'm there often too.

Thanks for any advice and I'll try to follow this thread closely.

ta,ta for now.

Rancher

 

[boxofpens]

I was not subscribed to this thread but am now. 

I came to ask a question.  Does anyone have a favorite  "Homesteading" book ?  I've reserve all the ones at the public library and there are quite a few. 

These are three of the five I have open on my desk right now. The others are Texas Trees (for edible landscape) and Gaia's Garden (for permaculture techniques & edible landscaping).

I checked these five out so many times from the library, that I just went ahead and bought them.

What canning books do you recommend? We've started canning, but just mostly experimenting with recipes I find online. I'd much rather have a good book. Internet is pretty sporadic where I live.

 

[trsturself]

These are three of the five I have open on my desk right now. The others are Texas Trees (for edible landscape) and Gaia's Garden (for permaculture techniques & edible landscaping).

I checked these five out so many times from the library, that I just went ahead and bought them.

What canning books do you recommend? We've started canning, but just mostly experimenting with recipes I find online. I'd much rather have a good book. Internet is pretty sporadic where I live.

I haven't read that first one but I like and own the second two. I also checked out everything I could at the library and sat in book stores and perused, bought the ones I liked. I have The Ultimate Guide to Self Reliant Living by Casell on my coffee table right now. It's a good start to a lot of things but I have found some of his information to be incorrect (like he says you HAVE to feed goats grains because they won't get all their nutrition on pasture, which is BS, goats digestive systems are made to process grain). But other than that I like it for a book that has a little of everything to get you started with resources to delve further.

For canning I have found that I use the Ball canning book the most. I checked out a lot of them at the library and they were too much info to weed through for a reference book to have on hand. I reference my Ball book constantly though.