Homesteaders

[henless]

@lazy gardener ~ I use bacon grease, butter (Kerry Gold is my fav), coconut oil or olive oil to season my cast iron. I usually rinse mine out with hot water, dry it off and put it in the oven to finish drying. Then I will season it. I hope you are able to find some good, old cast iron. I love to look at garage sales for it too.

I just got some more cast iron a week or so ago down at my Mother-in-law's. Most are numbered, but I need to clean them up to really see what I've got.

@Beekissed ~ Thanks for that tomato soup recipe! It sounds yummy. I hope to be able to can some next year out of the garden. This year was a bust.

 

[lazy gardener]

TY, henless. I think if I keep at it, I will get it. I used to use it all the time, and it was pretty good then. But, I got away from using it as it's only 8", so it lost it's seasoning. I think that butter, and perhaps cooking some bacon in it may help things along immensely. Plan to have BLT's some night this week.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I pickled 7 quarts of beets today and tomorrow I'm canning 7 jars.

 

[Beekissed]

I so wish I liked pickled beets...they are so pretty in the jar and are good for you! But, can't stand 'em.

Little by little the harvest gets preserved, doesn't it? I did 4 qt. of peaches today, but didn't can them...just froze them after sugaring them and letting them make their own syrup. If the power goes out long enough to threaten their integrity, I can throw them into a jars and do a quick canning.

I need to work on getting the rest of the tomato soup done tonight...that should be just a little batch as well...maybe 12-16 pts. Then I'll be done with the tomatoes this year, though more are still coming on we'll likely just eat them.

Then it will be beans....not very many, but a few pints here and there as the season comes to an end.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

My kids love pickled vegetables of any type. So far I have yet to find a vegetable they don't like though.

 

[Beekissed]

That's wonderful!!! And so unusual....I've got one that likes all veggies and two that are very picky. Now I have a picky granddaughter too, which makes it hard to find something to prepare when she's out here.

 

[rancher hicks]

READ THIS:

How important is that BEST BY date on your product? Well I just finished off the store brand Yogurt given to me by the head of the school cafeteria dated. 4/28/16. That's right. The last carton of blueberry I ate yesterday. Still good and I did not get sick. I do store the yogurt upside down.

Oh I did pick the Crandall black currants. Not many this year. Crandalls aren't popular because they don't ripen all at once. BUT the ripen later so that means you're not scrambling to use them, while scrambling with other fruits that ripen early.

TTFN,

Rancher

 

[Molpet]

READ THIS:

How important is that BEST BY date on your product? Well I just finished off the store brand Yogurt given to me by the head of the school cafeteria dated. 4/28/16. That's right. The last carton of blueberry I ate yesterday. Still good and I did not get sick. I do store the yogurt upside down.

Oh I did pick the Crandall black currants. Not many this year. Crandalls aren't popular because they don't ripen all at once. BUT the ripen later so that means you're not scrambling to use them, while scrambling with other fruits that ripen early.

TTFN,

Ranche

yep, just so the store knows when to sell it by and hope people through it our so they buy more
http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/18/is-your-food-expired-dont-be-so-quick-to-toss-it/
"Because food dating was never about public health, there is no national regulation over the use of the dates, although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) technically have regulatory power over the misbranding of products. The only federally required and regulated food dating involves infant formula, since the nutrients in formula lose their potency as time goes on.
What regulation does exist occurs at the state level — and all but nine states in the U.S. have food dating rules but these vary widely. “What’s resulted from [the FDA letting states come up with regulation] is really a patchwork of all sorts of different rules for different products and regulations around them,” says study co-author Dana Gunders, a staff scientist with the NRDC’s food and agriculture program. “Sometimes a product needs a date, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes a product cannot be sold after a different date. Or there is no requirement at all. Even with different categories there is so much variability.” The result is a confused public — and tons of wasted food."

 

[rancher hicks]

yep, just so the store knows when to sell it by and hope people through it our so they buy more
http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/18/is-your-food-expired-dont-be-so-quick-to-toss-it/
"Because food dating was never about public health, there is no national regulation over the use of the dates, although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) technically have regulatory power over the misbranding of products. The only federally required and regulated food dating involves infant formula, since the nutrients in formula lose their potency as time goes on.
What regulation does exist occurs at the state level — and all but nine states in the U.S. have food dating rules but these vary widely. “What’s resulted from [the FDA letting states come up with regulation] is really a patchwork of all sorts of different rules for different products and regulations around them,” says study co-author Dana Gunders, a staff scientist with the NRDC’s food and agriculture program. “Sometimes a product needs a date, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes a product cannot be sold after a different date. Or there is no requirement at all. Even with different categories there is so much variability.” The result is a confused public — and tons of wasted food."

There may be exceptions to the rule but we should keep things in mind so we're not tossing good food. I stress to DW NOT to buy produce to soon. Still the chickens are the benefactors of wilted lettuce.

 

[Beekissed]

Fermented items tend to last well past their sell by date, which is likely the reason your yogurt was still good, as is my buttermilk...the buttermilk seems to get better the longer we keep it.

Canning season is winding down except for fall things like pumpkin, squash, beans, chicken, deer, apples, etc. All the tomatoes I'll be canning are in jars, got our quota of corn canned and even some qt bags in the freezer. Peaches are in the freezer too.

Now is the good free ranging time as the forage at this time of the year is designed to really lay the fat on the birds and even the dogs. The tall fescue and clover increases in sugar content as the nights get cooler and different bugs appear...grasshoppers, crickets, and such. Grass and weed seeds, wild cherries, and acorns start to become part of the diet. Garden excess and canning scraps abound and hunting season is just around the corner, so meat scraps will be available too.

Happy free ranging, homesteaders!