Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

There are many techniques for laying a hedge. Easiest if starting from scratch is to plant the saplings in a row and bend every other (cutting it half way through at the bend point if necessary) and tie that to the base of the next sapling. To grow a more robust hedge one plants two rows of of the saplings half a metre apart and in the second row one bends and fixes opposite to the first row.

I am trying that (sort of) to make a living gazebo for my chickens. I am using the nasty invasive pears that I spend so much time destroying. I pick a few that form a ring and bend and tie them as you describe. I am hoping eventually it will create a dome like enclosure for them to hang out in and be safe from hawks.

 

[Sally PB]

Just in case anyone doesn't know...

Water bath canning is for high acid foods. Tomatoes, jams, fruit, etc.

Low acid foods like beans and meat MUST be canned under pressure.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Tax for off topic chatter: matriarch coming to say hello, causing broody to inflate, with chicks in the hedge bottom (as viewed from the bank where I was snapping off bracken shoots ) with roo watching from the edge of the shade in the distance (another example of how the open grass is empty and all the chickens are round the edges, which is how it is for most of the day) View attachment 4105953

Not exactly inviting the matriarch in for a cup of tea, is she? And lol at the roo, keeping a careful distance!

 

[Sally PB]

Canning food tax.

My lovely Sunny. I sure do miss you.

 

[notabitail]

I don't know anyone in the UK who cans in the American style. More trad preservation methods seem to be the norm here, for the few who have the kitchen or other space for lots of jars.

Yes I make these, though using vinegar, salt and sugar as preservatives.


Lining tins with plastic coatings is supposed to stop any chemical reaction with the food therein, but that might turn out to be just another source of contamination of our food https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12976
I think it would be better from that perspective if the food industry used glass jars like home cooks. They are endlessly recyclable.

Tax for off topic chatter: matriarch coming to say hello, causing broody to inflate, with chicks in the hedge bottom (as viewed from the bank where I was snapping off bracken shoots ) with roo watching from the edge of the shade in the distance (another example of how the open grass is empty and all the chickens are round the edges, which is how it is for most of the day) View attachment 4105953

They don't recycle glass here and my Mom hates how they don't do that (el Paso Texas)

 

[notabitail]

tax

 

[Molpet]

They don't recycle glass here and my Mom hates how they don't do that (el Paso Texas)

Here either anymore.
I investigated why and the answer was it costs less money for new glass and plastic is even cheaper.
By the time they collect, ship a couple times, disinfectant, inspect and use it's apparently a lot more. Depending on how far the recycling is from the bottling plant.
Used to be all local, now everything is own by one company with a couple plants.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

Tax
The prize:

Levitating chickens:

For bantams they get impressive air in pursuit of a tiny gooseberry

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I don't know anyone in the UK who cans in the American style. More trad preservation methods seem to be the norm here, for the few who have the kitchen or other space for lots of jars.

Yes I make these, though using vinegar, salt and sugar as preservatives.

My usual link for chow chow has vanished, but this one's pretty close. Note: do NOT overfill the jars before processing in the hot water bath as shown in one of the photos! Also, there's a pic of what looks like whisked eggs with some dried spice. That doesn't belong on this recipe.

https://www.southernplate.com/grannys-chow-chow-recipe/

tax for recipe chatter: Why does the smoke coming from the grill smell kinda like Uncle Fred?

 

[Perris]

I investigated why and the answer was it costs less money for new glass and plastic is even cheaper.
By the time they collect, ship a couple times, disinfectant, inspect and use it's apparently a lot more. Depending on how far the recycling is from the bottling plant.

but what about the cost of disposal of the new / old glass and plastic? Are they ignoring that because with single use it's not their problem? (it becomes someone else's, wherever the single use item ends up, and usually the bill is footed by the public purse, so taxpayers, there)