Homesteaders

[henless]

You do 48 hours in the slow cooker, I think I would be afraid to leave it on so long. The cord area of mine gets kinda hot after 10 hours.

Really? Mine never gets hot. I wouldn't leave it on long either if the cord was getting hot. I cook mine for 24 hours. I will go longer if for some reason I can't take it out, cool it and freeze it in a timely fashion.


Common core math. I really don't understand it. I can get the answer faster the old way, without having to go around the block 3 or 4 times as you do with common core. I show my granddaughter (2nd grader) how to do it the old way, but she still has to do it using common core so that it won't be counted wrong. It reminds me of hooked on phonics. Our school used phonics back when my kids were going. They still have to ask me how to spell things since the hooked on phonics really messed with their spelling ability.

 

[Little Fuzzy]

Really? Mine never gets hot. I wouldn't leave it on long either if the cord was getting hot. I cook mine for 24 hours. I will go longer if for some reason I can't take it out, cool it and freeze it in a timely fashion.


Common core math. I really don't understand it. I can get the answer faster the old way, without having to go around the block 3 or 4 times as you do with common core. I show my granddaughter (2nd grader) how to do it the old way, but she still has to do it using common core so that it won't be counted wrong. It reminds me of hooked on phonics. Our school used phonics back when my kids were going. They still have to ask me how to spell things since the hooked on phonics really messed with their spelling ability.

What kind of slow cooker do you have? I got a cheap one I guess. I'v been looking st the expensive Cadillac models but I just can't pull the trigger on $250.00 for slow cooker. Also I so agree with you about that Common Core Math, I did the same thing with my 3rd grader nephew, but he still had to do the long way after we got the quick answer. I was no help to him in math. Hopefully with the new Administration coming online soon, Common Core will be a past nightmare.

 

[Beer can]

What kind of slow cooker do you have? I got a cheap one I guess. I'v been looking st the expensive Cadillac models but I just can't pull the trigger on $250.00 for slow cooker. Also I so agree with you about that Common Core Math, I did the same thing with my 3rd grader nephew, but he still had to do the long way after we got the quick answer. I was no help to him in math. Hopefully with the new Administration coming online soon, Common Core will be a past nightmare.

I don't think any need for a Cadillac model, ours I'm sure were cheap, a big Hamilton Beach and a small West Bend that I just made split pea and ham soup in from a left over ham with onions and carrots also. Usually make it with white beans, haven't had it with split pea in a decade, had my heart set on it...DW came home with split yellow peas ?? said the green one's were gone, what the heck are split yellow peas? Turned out scrumptious anyway

I've never noticed our cord get hot but I've never had it on for more than morning to night. Does yours have high and low? I usually start on high and then forever later hrs it seems on high switch to low and it's still really hot for hrs. A hot cord sounds like a electrical problem, either bad slow cooker or bad wiring. IMHO of course I am no expert. We have a very old house with inadequate wiring, never had a problem.

 

[Talithahorse]

I have a Cuisinart which I love because I can set it for up to 24 hours and then it automatically shifts to warm. I don't remember how much it cost but it didn't break the bank and I use it Oh so much. I also have a "Crock Pot" which I also use all the time. It works well and wasn't that expensive. I have a third one but it is very small and mostly good for warming up dip for company (which I don't have a lot of as most people think I am too far out to visit often). My last round of crocks (I am on my third or fourth round) I got on sale at Costco and they came as a pair. I have three different sizes and inevitably one of them is being used. Today I had the two bigger ones going, One for Corned beef and cabbage, the other to make sweetened condensed milk and then yogurt. Gotta have my slow cooker! Almost as important as my cast iron.

 

[Beekissed]

Homestead dogs, the hard working and oft unsung heroes of the homestead. If you have 'em, tell us their names, breeds and how they make your homesteading life easier.

This is Jake, a 10 yr old Lab/Blue Merle Border Collie cross. I've had him since he was 2 mo. old and he's mondo smart, obedient, loyal, quiet, mannerly and sweet...a quiet and sure death to all four legged wild preds that dare come in his territory. He's a great dog and I can't sing his praises high enough. He has guarded my flocks his whole life, even when I had sheep...he loved the sheep and they loved him. He also loves his chickens and will mourn them if I let him...will carry a dead chick or chicken around for days, trying to put it back in the coop, sleeping with it, etc. That doesn't mean he won't eat chicken parts on butchering day, but he does pout at a distance while I'm killing them.

I could go on for hours about Jake stories, so I'll stop now, but he's been a great partner to me and has made training up his new recruit a breeze.






This is Ben, a 1 yr old Anatolian/Maremma/Great Pyr cross that I've had since he was 2 mo. old. He too is incredibly intelligent, an intuitive thinker that tries to anticipate my needs. Within a week of his being here, he was living alongside the free range flock and has done so since. Learns like lightning, easy to train, a quiet, mannerly, sweet and loyal dog, eager to please and eager to work, and a comical dog. He's never harmed a chicken and takes his job very seriously...he's the muscle here, though Jake still rules the food and the play time...Jake is incredibly fast and Ben's just now almost able to keep up with him.

Jake taught him to be a quiet dog, only barking when it's necessary, which is a huge blessing to me...I love a quiet homestead and my animals seem to sense that. The rooster is quiet, the hens are quiet and the dogs are quiet. I love that!

Ben is very primal, his jaws and teeth are very large and powerful....a scary kind of powerful. Most dogs gnaw on large bones, Ben consumes them....quickly. He's still in his puppy stage, so he tends to tear up anything left in his area and will steal tools to gnaw on them if my back is turned. He's a homesteading dog in training and so far, I'm very impressed with Ben.





They've formed a good partnership and I'm glad they've got each other and that we have them both. I would never even attempt to have chickens back in these woods without these dogs, be they penned or free range. As it is, these dogs help me let the chickens live a good life out on range here and I think the dogs live a good life too.

 

[Beer can]

 


What kind of slow cooker do you have? I got a cheap one I guess. I'v been looking st the expensive Cadillac models but I just can't pull the trigger on $250.00 for slow cooker.  Also I so agree with you about that Common Core Math, I did the same thing with my 3rd grader nephew, but he still had to do the long way after we got the quick answer. I was no help to him in math. Hopefully with the new Administration coming online soon, Common Core will be a past nightmare.

Common Core is a sick sad joke, I should just shut up but I'll have to rant on this, we have five kids like chickengirl and near each other so I'm sure we deal with the same.
Help a kid with homework ? Lol! What! Can't. So glad our two oldest kids are super smart and doing great, #4 doing great also. 2+2 is four, no you have to do it this way Dad....that's the minor side, so much more ridiculous. Kids are scared of certain numbers, so they eliminate them, no sense in a bully number right? Kids are more familiar with certain numbers, they are their friends.....
I thought, well, more work, more thought, maybe It'll help them work towards their mental ability...seems like a lot of work to beat around the bush for a number that we had on the tip of our tongue.
School actually said China was way ahead of us academically...
OK, that's why they force their children and families to make Apple Iphones as slave labor seven days a week for pennies.

 

[Talithahorse]

Great story. We have a 10 year old Lab/Rotty mix named Scrounge. We named him that because he came to us as a dumped rescue with a bad case of mange. Although he is not trained to be in with the animals he does a wonderful job warning us when animals are in the wrong place, when the other animals sound the alarm, he takes up the call, or lets us know when their are predators about. His pen runs alongside the chicken paddock on one side and the horse (soon to be goat) paddock on the other side. This allows him to see without interacting directly with the animals. We got him as a youngster about 4 months old but our situation did not provide the time to really train him. As a result if a chicken ends up in his yard it is his lunch (but no other animal is allowed to eat them). Unfortunately due to being older, he sometimes goes "off duty" leaving the flock vulnerable but my son adores him. We have another dog Trico who is my daughters dog but she comes in at night to sleep so goes off duty. She will sound the alarm when she is out in her yard. I am considering a LGD on one hand, or just finding a good rescue with the right temperament and working with them.

 

[Beer can]

A good dog is the best defense against predators. We lost lots when we moved, a whole mile down the road with no outside dog anymore, previous was just a beagle but kept predators at bay, haven't had ducks since the move but I'm looking forward to it now. Lost random chickens also just the free ranging no coop ducks was the worst. Long story short we ended up with at a no kill shelter picking up what we were told a boxer mastiff mix, we got from down south a Tennessee mountain cur, terrible house dog, loves being outside, did great when he was a pup inside, no problems, now long story short he's outside and no predator problems. We have coyotes howling just outback, coons, tons of fox, mink, fisher, bear just out back, etc...
Don't have much pics of him, he's like a chicken always on the move can't sit still.







One of the few pics, lots of pics when he was a pup with the kids, no predators bothering us now.

 

[Beekissed]

I wouldn't mess with him either! Look at those jaws and that athletic bod....looks muscle bound. I bet he's quick!

 

[1cock2hens]

Lol I thought cuddle-muffin when I saw him / I love cur dogs, I would love to have one. // I am partial to lean muscley dogs though, I have 3 Pitbulls and a bulldog that keep all the pests away / I'm about to start teaching one to pull a cart but she's limping this morning, has a tiny little scab on the bottom of one of her toes, probably from running around through the woods chasing deer or rabbits