Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[chickflick]

I got a notification that there was a post on RaZ’s page. This is a close friend of his.


He was cremated. I still plan on a memorial at his place but it’s all in probate so I can’t really schedule anything

 

[uchytil]

I posted on his FB page. Anyway, keep me/us posted on your thing

 

[1muttsfan]

Thank you Rose for keeping us updated.

I'm not on Facebook, what did the post say?

 

[Folly's place]

We are a quiet group this week!
It's been too hot out there, and now that the mosquitoes are here, inside, in the AC, seems very nice.
Watching the newly fledged songbirds is fun, as they try to figure out to get around and what to eat. Very cute and funny.
Update on our bantam EE chicks hatched June 4th: two cockerels and five pullets! Yahoo!!! There is a trio needing a new home any time now, pictures coming up. I'm keeping a cockerel and three or four pullets, and it's amazing that the numbers worked out like this!
The Chanties are developing, and at least four (more?) cockerels out of ten. It figures, that's how straight run usually works out. Nice white cockerels, anyone? Haven't sorted them out yet at all.
Mary

 

[saysfaa]

This came home with me from the cherry orchard. It stayed on the bucket through moving the bucket several times and even getting splashed with cold water.

I think it is a sphinx moth but I'm not sure.

 

[saysfaa]

Does anyone have ideas on how to speed up the process of dehydrating cherries? I am trying to get them processed fast enough to not waste any.

I picked about 100 pounds of cherries and carried them home in six pails (each is roughly half full). I have about a third of them either done drying or in the dehydrators. About a third of them fit in the refrigerator. And about a third of them are in the shadiest part of the yard. The stem bruises are now visible, barely, so I have some more time but it will be close.

I have 2 dehydrators. One has a fan and temperature settings. The other has only a heating element. They each have six trays. In each, the cherries on a lower tray dry a little faster than those on a higher tray.

If I move the cherries periodically so they don't dry around the bars of the trays. That is much more of a problem with other fruits but happens with cherries too sometimes. When I move them, I shift them closer together and put more cherries on the trays.

I don't know if they dry faster with more space between the cherries.

I don't think spreading each cherry open lets it dry enough faster to offset fitting fewer cherries on the trays at a time. But I'm not sure.

I put the most dried cherries on the bottom. I don't know if that matters.

I finally realized I can pit cherries before I need to refill trays. Then then trays are out of the dryer for a smaller percentage of the time.

I tried putting some in the oven at 170F which is as low as it wil go. Either to start them drying until the trays are ready to refill or just let them dry in there.The first batched burned. We took them out to make dinner and put them didn't wait long enough for the oven to cool back down to 170. I tried again and they turned brown too fast. It seemed to be more like the bruising I'm sorting out as I pit than the darkening color of the cherries in the dehydrators. Am I missing something about dehydrating in the oven?

My latest idea is to dehydrate them most of the way instead of all the way. Then put them in the refrigerator until I have no more to start drying. I think it will stabilize them and I can finish dehydrating them later. Do you think that will work?

Can you think of anything else that might help?

 

[Sally PB]

I don't think spreading each cherry open lets it dry enough faster to offset fitting fewer cherries on the trays at a time. But I'm not sure.

Spreading them open is what I do. I don't have a cherry pitter, so they're torn open anyway. I "folded" a couple back together, and they took a lot longer to dry. I lay them out flesh side up. I estimate about 15-18 hours dry time at 135 degrees.

I have an Excalibur dehydrator. Because heat rises, the top trays dry fastest, and the fan is at the back of the unit, so the back of the tray gets more air flow. About half way through the dry time, I swap the trays around, exchanging top for bottom, and rotating them front to back. If you have a round dehydrator, this information doesn't apply.

I have 2 dehydrators. One has a fan and temperature settings. The other has only a heating element. They each have six trays. In each, the cherries on a lower tray dry a little faster than those on a higher tray.

The heating element is on the bottom, then, I take it? Which makes sense. No fan on one of them? Did that one dry slower? What temperature are you using?

 

[saysfaa]

Both are round. Both have heating elements on the bottom and vent at the top.

The directions for the one where the temp can change said 135F for fruit so that is where I set it. I think the other may be just a little warmer. I don't have a manual for it.

They dry at very nearly the same rate.

 

[saysfaa]

Ugh. Nevermind. The raccoons found the pails outside. They ate about 2/3 of what was left.

They didn't dump the pails but I'm not sure I want to eat what has been soaking in the debris they left in the pails. I don't might the grass and leaves much but I know it didn't blow in. I don't want to think about what was on their arms, hands, and mouths. I know how they eat.

They left pits and half eaten cherries in pails too.

I did think about putting lids on the pails and decided not to. I did that the last couple of years and it seemed to decrease the time they kept. I thought maybe cherries give off gasses like apples and potatoes.

I will store them differently next year.

Edit to fix typos

 

[Folly's place]

I wouldn't eat them either!!!
Maybe next year freeze some? Cherries Jubilee? Jam or jelly? Pie?
What a waste, rotten raccoons anyway!
Our overgrown patch of wild blackberries is about ready to be picked over. At least it won't be 90F this week! Plan to wear 'armor' and lots of bug repellant, it's not a fun project. The jam is good, not as good as wild black rasberry (favorite) but god.
Mary