INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000
Do you bale your hay or store it loose?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I used to can a lot but I don't like "cooking things to death" so I can less now. I do still freeze. And I try to ferment anything that is fermentable before doing either.

Fermented pickles are the best. (Not heat canned at all.) I use the Fido jars for fermenting and LOVE them. They off-gas but don't let in oxygen so you don't have any concern with yeasts growing. They keep the ferment truly anaerobic.

I didn't used to do will with ferments until I discovered the Fido jars. Now they're the best!

 

[Lengerich Farms]

I really just want fresh tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, and banana peppers. If my concord actually flowers next year, and I get enough grapes maybe make some home made grape juice. Eventually is like to make rhubarb sauce. I LOVED it as a kid. My Paw Paw passed while I was in boot camp and I was always the third set of hands when canning was done, so all I really got to do was run puréed tomatoes through a sieve with a wooden pestle. Haha. All my dad wanted was juice. In one year we did close to 300 quarts of tomato juice. The man would drink one a day. After he passed all my canning equipment went to
My paw Paw , and with 6 (aunts/incles) siblings and 13 cousins to compete with I'm not asking for that stuff. Luckily I hit the jackpot on jars and lids when we moved in to our new house, just gotta buy bands.... And a pressure cooker..... And a stock pot..... Lol. I've got time till next harvest though.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@jchny2000
Do you bale your hay or store it loose?

Loose, we use it so fast I don't get to store any past a week. Its bedding for the buildings, feed for all the animals also.This was 3rd cutting, so I doubt we will get more.

I really just want fresh tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, and banana peppers. If my concord actually flowers next year, and I get enough grapes maybe make some home made grape juice. Eventually is like to make rhubarb sauce. I LOVED it as a kid. My Paw Paw passed while I was in boot camp and I was always the third set of hands when canning was done, so all I really got to do was run puréed tomatoes through a sieve with a wooden pestle. Haha. All my dad wanted was juice. In one year we did close to 300 quarts of tomato juice. The man would drink one a day. After he passed all my canning equipment went to
My paw Paw , and with 6 (aunts/incles) siblings and 13 cousins to compete with I'm not asking for that stuff. Luckily I hit the jackpot on jars and lids when we moved in to our new house, just gotta buy bands.... And a pressure cooker..... And a stock pot..... Lol. I've got time till next harvest though.

Goodness, yes love home made tomato juice. I am not a very good gardener, so was lucky with tomatoes this year.

 

[Lengerich Farms]

Found a rooster!!! A young Ayman Cemani! Should make for some interesting babies when we decide to hatch!!

 

[Lengerich Farms]

@jchny2000
I follow theMarcus Lengerich Method

What ever your dort to compost ratio is supposed to be, flip it. Example:
I dig a small garden this spring, and doing the math (not my strong suit) I figured I needed 3 bags of top soil and one of compost. So I did three compost and one dirt. Everything took off so fast and so healthy that I didn't even have to weed the garden, the tomatoes peppers and brussels sprouts choked everything else out.

is your best friend gardening hahaha

 

[Leahs Mom]

My grandma (who lived next door) did tomato juice too. She would freeze tomato juice, make and freeze grape juice from their Concord Grapes that my grandpa tended, make plumb jam from the damson jam tree...left just a bit of the skins in and it was my favorite jam as those skins added a little "tang" to them, make apple jelly from the little orchard of trees they had, apple sauce - again frozen and much more.

I LOVE frozen flavor of all these as they taste more like fresh than the canned varieties.

She even made apple pies from the trees and put them in the freezer to bring out and bake later.


When I became an adult and had kids I'd buy tomatoes, green beans, apples and peaches by the bushel. Froze and canned all of them but the frozen always were the best flavor since they weren't cooked to death.



*************************************
We had the goats this year and they cleared a good amount of the woods. Had a local excavator come in and take out some of the "junk trees" and make the ground "mowable" by removing the little stumps in about 1/2 acre of that area. After they are totally finished in that area, I want to plant a little orchard.... at least 2 peaches (or nectarines if they will grow in our area) 2 pear trees, possibly 2 honey crisp apple trees.

I'd also like to look into hazel nut bushes. Not sure they'll do well in this area, but I'm thinking that would be good low cover for the chickens from hawks in that area.

A couple of the folks on the Natural Chicken Keeping thread told me that after running chickens in their orchard, they never had to spray for bugs. The chickens get the maggots that overwinter in the soil under the trees before they can mature and lay eggs in the apples. I'm pretty excited to try it and see how that works! This is a quote:
Quote:

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My grandma (who lived next door) did tomato juice too. She would freeze tomato juice, make and freeze grape juice from their Concord Grapes that my grandpa tended, make plumb jam from the damson jam tree...left just a bit of the skins in and it was my favorite jam as those skins added a little "tang" to them, make apple jelly from the little orchard of trees they had, apple sauce - again frozen and much more.

I LOVE frozen flavor of all these as they taste more like fresh than the canned varieties.

She even made apple pies from the trees and put them in the freezer to bring out and bake later.


When I became an adult and had kids I'd buy tomatoes, green beans, apples and peaches by the bushel. Froze and canned all of them but the frozen always were the best flavor since they weren't cooked to death.



*************************************
We had the goats this year and they cleared a good amount of the woods. Had a local excavator come in and take out some of the "junk trees" and make the ground "mowable" by removing the little stumps in about 1/2 acre of that area. After they are totally finished in that area, I want to plant a little orchard.... at least 2 peaches (or nectarines if they will grow in our area) 2 pear trees, possibly 2 honey crisp apple trees.

I'd also like to look into hazel nut bushes. Not sure they'll do well in this area, but I'm thinking that would be good low cover for the chickens from hawks in that area.

A couple of the folks on the Natural Chicken Keeping thread told me that after running chickens in their orchard, they never had to spray for bugs. The chickens get the maggots that overwinter in the soil under the trees before they can mature and lay eggs in the apples. I'm pretty excited to try it and see how that works! This is a quote:
Quote: I have that "don't don't cook my food to death" thing too. I love a fresh tomato off the vine and will eat it like an apple. Its also why I prefer using our foodsaver and freezing. The broken freezer thing is sure a reality, been there done that and ewwww~

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

We have decided its time to get out of keeping pigs. Love them, but I enjoy the cows a lot more. As I get older I realize its time to focus on a few things, and not EVERYTHING I want to do. My big sow, DoubleStuff popped the wires today, and all the pigs were out on the big pasture. We have enough wires crossed over to protect paddock control, but ugh. Big hogs trash a pasture fast! So her 3 gilt piglets, Oreo, Doublestuff and a york boar were all out rooting. They are social so thats not a problem. Its the rooting! So we have put them up for sale.
Probably going to regret it, love them all. Can't risk broken legs on my cattle, or us from deep holes.. and damaged pasture fences with broken wires. I won't risk them getting out to the road and causing an accident either! I have them listed on Muncie craigslist but my BYC friends will get a discount.

 

[Leahs Mom]

As I get older I realize its time to focus on a few things, and not EVERYTHING I want to do.

Very wise. I think I remember discussing that gem of wisdom before.