Homesteaders

[newbie32]

I check craigslist all the time for rentals none. Maybe if I had an experienced-ie OLDER canner that would be willing to teach me then maybe I would feel a little more comfortable

 

[Raech]

Is the acid levels different in kinds of tomatoes? If so I might have to figure out which kinds of tomatoes I get and keep track of it. My son tends to just grab the seeds and toss them in the planters when we start. I learn something every day. So far I bounce between Roma's and the Early Girls(?) and some other large tomato along with my cherry tomatoes. It depends on which garden it comes from, I grow 2-4 varieties and my grandpa grows 2-3 I think. I just peel the skins then put them in a jar and squish them in so they are canned in their own juices, then process.

Does anyone dry herbs, like mint, oregano and boxwood basil? I'm trying to figure out what to do with my boxwood basil, its looking good but I have some brown leaves from the bottom/inside falling off so I trimmed it and hung them up to dry but I don't know if I should just add them to my store bought basil or not. And I don't drink tea, but I love them smell of Chocolate Mint and Citrus Mint, so I got a plant of each and now its growing like crazy and I don't really know what do to with it. I have Catnip that I grow and dry, for obvious reasons, but the strays killed it by knocking it out of its pot and rolling on it after swatting it around. So I have to transplant some next spring and leave it in the house this time.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Is the acid levels different in kinds of tomatoes? If so I might have to figure out which kinds of tomatoes I get and keep track of it. My son tends to just grab the seeds and toss them in the planters when we start. I learn something every day. So far I bounce between Roma's and the Early Girls(?) and some other large tomato along with my cherry tomatoes. It depends on which garden it comes from, I grow 2-4 varieties and my grandpa grows 2-3 I think. I just peel the skins then put them in a jar and squish them in so they are canned in their own juices, then process.

Does anyone dry herbs, like mint, oregano and boxwood basil? I'm trying to figure out what to do with my boxwood basil, its looking good but I have some brown leaves from the bottom/inside falling off so I trimmed it and hung them up to dry but I don't know if I should just add them to my store bought basil or not. And I don't drink tea, but I love them smell of Chocolate Mint and Citrus Mint, so I got a plant of each and now its growing like crazy and I don't really know what do to with it. I have Catnip that I grow and dry, for obvious reasons, but the strays killed it by knocking it out of its pot and rolling on it after swatting it around. So I have to transplant some next spring and leave it in the house this time.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_intro.html
this should help you
Don't rely on tomato types...just add the ingredient recommended as described. I am printing this out for myself too- I haven't done water bath canning of tomatoes but may someday.

 

[cyndischicks]

Is the acid levels different in kinds of tomatoes? If so I might have to figure out which kinds of tomatoes I get and keep track of it. My son tends to just grab the seeds and toss them in the planters when we start. I learn something every day. So far I bounce between Roma's and the Early Girls(?) and some other large tomato along with my cherry tomatoes. It depends on which garden it comes from, I grow 2-4 varieties and my grandpa grows 2-3 I think. I just peel the skins then put them in a jar and squish them in so they are canned in their own juices, then process.

Does anyone dry herbs, like mint, oregano and boxwood basil? I'm trying to figure out what to do with my boxwood basil, its looking good but I have some brown leaves from the bottom/inside falling off so I trimmed it and hung them up to dry but I don't know if I should just add them to my store bought basil or not. And I don't drink tea, but I love them smell of Chocolate Mint and Citrus Mint, so I got a plant of each and now its growing like crazy and I don't really know what do to with it. I have Catnip that I grow and dry, for obvious reasons, but the strays killed it by knocking it out of its pot and rolling on it after swatting it around. So I have to transplant some next spring and leave it in the house this time.

I always do the water bath method for canning my tomatoes and have never had any problems. Also I dry my herbs in my dehydrater or hang them upside down. Also basil can be chopped up put into icecube trays and add olive oil or water and freeze. If you have chickens they love the herbs in their nest boxes and many repel bugs.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Where in northern Wisconsin, I was born there. My parents owned a farm in Pound.

I grew up in Crivitz, and spent way too much time in the Beaver Bar as a young adult. lol

We are now in the process of buying a place near Oconto Falls that has some acreage. Keep your fingers crossed that they accept our offer.

 

[ChickenFootFarm]

Wow, it's so nice to talk with someone who knows the area! My parents owned a farm in Pound and then my mom bought a house in Coleman. We used to go to Crivits for fish fries. Good luck to you on your acreage offer. How are prices up there now? My husband and I were thinking about possibly relocating. I loved it up there, wish I could go back.

 

[Raech]

I always do the water bath method for canning my tomatoes and have never had any problems. Also I dry my herbs in my dehydrater or hang them upside down. Also basil can be chopped up put into icecube trays and add olive oil or water and freeze. If you have chickens they love the herbs in their nest boxes and many repel bugs.

I just did up 7 pints and quarts, mixed, the night before I left town. I'm really happy that I didn't wait to can them when I got home because after flying with 2 kids on 2 planes, then driving for 2 hours, I had about an hour of picking tomatoes to do.But he did clean the house and everything else so I it was pretty nice. Hubby was sweet and waited for me to get home to pick them, "because he knows I love to pick them with the oldest." I had half a large mixing bowl of cherry tomatoes to pick, and my plants are now reaching my roof of the shed. And to top it all off 2 nights before we came home we had a storm and it knocked my son's sunflowers over flat, so those had to be tied up and now any wind and they start to tip again. Any ideas on that? Hubby wants to just pull them up and throw gravel down, but I really don't want to do that because I want to plant pumpkins there again next year without having to dig through peat gravel.

 

[cyndischicks]

I have 20 pounds of tomatoes to can today, not sure if I want to make a sauce and can it or just can them . Either way I will be busy all day, glad it is raining here today!

 

[MoonShadows]

Great thread. We have lived on 15 acres for the past 18 years here in Northeast PA. Only about 3 acres are cleared; we cleared one ourselves. As we get older, we are becoming more self-sufficient. We make our own shampoo, laundry and dish soap, glass and counter cleaners. I just erected an outdoor clothes line and haven't had naturally dried clothes since I was a kid. Our vegetable garden had never been that successful until we learned that it was a mistake to place it within the vicinity of a huge Black Walnut tree. We stumbled upon an article that explained that Black Walnut trees have a chemical in their leaves, nuts and roots that is harmful to many vegetable plants. We decided to plant 6 fruit trees in that space instead and moved the vegetable garden. And, because the growing season is so short here in the Pocono Mountains, we have already drawn up plans and will be building a 4 season green house next spring. Next year we want to plant corn and/or wheat in the 1 acre field we cleared along with starting some grape vines. We started with chickens this year and are thinking about two milk goats next year and maybe pigs after that. We would like to move faster, but we both still have to work "regular jobs" to pay off the mortgage and our business loans, but we are getting closer to that day when we can probably live off our land and our home business of making natural foods and personal care items that we started a few years ago. Life is good.

 

[naadarien]

Hi. I am slowly turning my husband into a homesteader. He used to work a job he loved but at a company he hated. Since I make good money, he quit, went back to college, and is now responsible for most of our animal husbandry while he studies. He is enjoying the outdoors (after 15 years of being cooped up in a machine shop), and really getting interested in raising and growing things on our land. I have wanted to homestead since the mid-90's so when I moved to Vermont (from Los Angeles) 14 years ago, the goal was to buy a property of 50 acres or more to start living a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

We live an 80 acre property that used to be used for raising deer for commercial sales so we have tons of fencing, a decent barn, a maple sugar house that has been converted to a 240sqft chicken coop, and a variety of wood sheds (besides the main house), one of which was converted in a pig enclosure. We have 24 chickens, combo layers/meat birds. At some point we'll get a rooster and start raising our birds from the egg. Maybe next year.

We have two pigs, one for us and one for my in-laws, and are about to pick up our spring pig really soon here. The vast majority of our meat intake is chicken and pork so the goal is to be at least 90% self-sufficient. I don't want to raise cows/cattle and can't raise salmon so that is the closest we'll get to 100% of our meat needs, but that is fantastic in my mind.

I started a garden last year, and like most 1st year gardens it gave only a so-so yield. This year, some of last year's crops failed while the new crops did well. So maybe next spring/summer, both groups will do well? Fingers crossed. We hope to have lots of good fertilizer from the animals this time and that should help. I work (albeit mostly from home

) and the kids are still small (ages 3 & 4) so I need the garden to function fairly well on its own with only occasional tending. I have purposefully bought plants and seed that are local, heritage varieties. This fall we will quadruple the garden's size, fence it in and put up a frame for a greenhouse (hopefully; this might have to wait til next spring if it gets too cold early). Next year, the kids will be old enough to do some work in the garden and help take care of the chickens.

We have a small apple orchard (which is in need of serious pruning), acres and acres of raspberry and blackberry bushes, and wild strawberries (hoping to add blueberries). I have yet to make jams/jellies/butters, but I make lots of syrup/sauces and we freeze many pounds of berries for the winter. This year, a local farm had huge quantities of organic peaches that were some of the most gorgeous things I had seen in years so we bought 20 pounds or so and made peach juice, cobblers, and diced up the rest for freezing. I am going to love those in December.

Someone asked about growing strawberries from seed. There are some inexpensive varieties sold on Amazon or you can buy these dried plants. We just got them this year (so no fruit yet), but they were quite hardy. I would recommend trying them out and for $15 how can you go wrong, right?

http://www.amazon.com/25-Evie-Everb...=1378216676&sr=8-1&keywords=strawberry+plants

I don't can. I freeze everything. I have never cared for the taste of preserved food, but I have no problem eating something that was frozen for months. Call me crazy.

The freezer doesn't use a lot of electricity (it is new and energy-star rated) and we are working on generating either solar or wind (or both) energy so hopefully this will be more self-sufficient at some point.

My father-in-law came to us about 5 years ago to start making our own maple syrup, and at first we started small, but now we make enough for both families for an entire year. We need about 5 gallons. The inlaws might barely use a gallon. We are mostly paleo-style cooks so the maple is used in the place of sugar for most things (honey and date sugar fills in the rest of our needs).

Like a previous poster, we have a wood furnace that heats the house, and we use a lot of dead fall to manage that and a small wood stove we have as a backup. So we take care of our woods so that they stay healthy and can continue to provide us with maple syrup and hardwood to burn.

Oh and I forgot, my hubby and daughter are celiacs so I mill a lot of our gluten-free flours. I have a Blendtec kitchen mill. I buy millet and rice in 10 pound volumes and mill that into our flours. I buy almond flour because the mill cannot handle nuts with a high oil content (it gets warm and gums up the machinery). I leave out a couple of pounds in ball jars and freeze the rest for later use.

Happy to see this thread. Would love to share ideas.