|
|
Post by feather on Aug 1, 2021 7:23:42 GMT -6
Everyone is welcome please join in.
Are you prepared for emergencies and prepping projects large or small? Flashlights, water, food put by, emergency bug out bag? What are you getting done this month?
1. year's supply of tomatoes this month, canned and dehydrated. 2. year's supply of garlic seed and for eating, trimmed, sorted, bagged. 3. year's supply of onions harvested, dried, trimmed, bagged and hung up. 4. sweet peppers harvested, ripened, chopped, frozen for the year.
5. serrano peppers harvested, ripened, dried and canned hot sauce for the year.
6. Focus: try to get more dehydrated vegetables put away this year, run the dehydrator full whenever possible. 7. Prune the plum and apricot trees.
8. Rearrange and clear shelving for dehydrated goods in basement. Move all the canned tomatoes to the bottom right side of pantry shelving, making room on the left side for all the new canned tomatoes. Group fruits, jams/purees to one area of pantry.
Have a well prepared year!
|
|
|
|
Post by midtnmama on Aug 1, 2021 8:07:45 GMT -6
Well, it seems pretty puny next to feather's list, but I am going to make some tomato sauce to freeze and maybe two pint jars of pickles. |
|
|
|
Post by susannah on Aug 1, 2021 9:10:14 GMT -6
I'm going to start small. Because I hate to fail at anything, and I'm notorious for failing if I put too much out there. And it'll be more of a to-do list than a prep list, since we're not canning anything beyond the pickles we did last week.
1. Keep watering the raised bed and all the container gardens. This summer, rain was NOT a given. If we got a half inch a week, we were doing good. A lot of times, any precipitation that did fall was just, well, mist. My rain barrels have gone dry SO many times this summer - I only remember them running out once in the past. Even big storms like Monday's one have been mostly wind, with very little in the way of measurable precipitation. My next door neighbor - a seasonal property owner - her permanent home is around 100 miles south of here. And last month she got 9 inches of rain in two weeks. We got half an inch in that same time period. Rainfalls split and bend around us. I can't control the weather but I AM able to lug gallon jugs of water. Still, my watering just isn't the same as a good soaking rain or two each week would be.
2. Stain the deck rails. Earlier this summer, we sanded the living heck out of the top layer of the deck and actually were able to get all the old stain off. We had originally figured we'd have to paint the deck - and I hate painted wood - but we (okay, mainly my husband) managed to get it in stain-able condition. And stain it we did. The deck boards are once again a gorgeous western red cedar. We had planned to do the rails in July. We did not do the rails in July, so hey - project for August.
Well, that's two things. The grandchildren are coming up next weekend for a week (or two if they can talk the parents into it), and yes, a whole lot will get done. But it'll be fun stuff like swimming, kayaking, knee boarding, scavenger hunts, hiking, bird watching. Although Wyatt loves cutting down small trees - it takes him forever and I usually ask if I can take a turn with the ax, just to avoid being out there all day. He has a lot of fun doing that. I know of at least two small dead trees that need to come down. So, tiny tree removal, but that's not going on the list. Or should it?
Oh, yeah:
3. Pick up more fire wood from the neighbors - easy enough. Split and stack all the wood we take - not quite as easy.
|
|
|
|
Post by nbc3mom on Aug 1, 2021 10:28:10 GMT -6
My August to-do list depends on how much rain we get. Being optimistic, I will:
1. Can salsa
2. Can tomato sauce
3. Can whole tomatoes
4. Plant lettuce and spinach in the cold frame
5. Clean out garden as plants get past their prime
6. Pack green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini bread and refrigerator pickles to take to DD’s family. Our baby granddaughter is getting baptized next Saturday which means a trip to Nashville. The older 2 start school the following Monday. We are going to stay a few extra days to help out. They are going to a new school, Pre-k 3 and Kindergarten. Both have 1/2 days to start—different 1/2 days, of course, —which means a lot of driving for drop off and pickup. DSiL is traveling again for work. Their summer babysitter is going back to college and needs a few days off to pack. Getting ready for a 5 day visit takes a lot of prepping! 🙂
|
|
|
|
Post by midtnmama on Aug 1, 2021 10:48:48 GMT -6
nbc3mom, A question about number 3: Why plant in the cold frame? Our family likes to share produce back and forth. We save the thick bags that sugar and flour comes in to pack things to stand up in a box and to protect canning jars from banging on each other. It always makes me smile to see a sugar sack come into the house with goodies! Congratulations on the baptism and birth of little one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ohio Dreamer on Aug 2, 2021 9:17:51 GMT -6
August...Hummmm...
Tomatoes and green beans will become ripe this month, so canning will begin. I hunted and searched for things to can last year, so our shelves are still well-stocked.
I have the load of wood we bought (about 2 1/2 cords) moved and stacked. It's rather green....so will more than likely not be used this winter. This means the wood that we have that needs cut and split needs cut and split. Hubby has a pinched nerve in his neck so he can't do it. I don't use a chainsaw. We will spend August figuring this dilemma out.
I have decided that weeds are a crop this year. I try to get out and harvest some a few days a week to feed the chickens. So much less stressful than thinking of them as weeds, lol.
|
|
|
|
Post by nbc3mom on Aug 2, 2021 17:39:32 GMT -6
midtnmama. We use the cold frame like a raised bed in the fall. The cover will not be in place until night temperatures get near freezing. We will open it during the day. We then have greens to eat into December. DH made a new cover for this year; maybe we can stretch the season until January! Today we pulled the dead cucumber vines from the garden, weeded, picked vegetables, and watered. The tomatoes are coming slowly but they are so good. I made salsa yesterday for dinner and gave several tomatoes to DS#2 when we met him after work this afternoon. He lives 30 minutes away but drives within 1 mile of our house on the way to work which is great for meeting up when we have anything to exchange.
|
|
|
|
Post by midtnmama on Aug 2, 2021 18:38:52 GMT -6
nbc3mom, Makes sense. What did you make the cover out of? Last year, I showed Feather a "cover made from thick plastic stapled to a long board that you rolled up and down like a shade. feather, how did that work out? Maybe this year will be the year we finally make a cold frame. susannah, "Split and stack all the wood we take -" Well at least it's great exercise. Speaking of which, you asked on another thread last month about my plan to use my kayak as a paddle board. We bought "sit-upon" kayaks because we liked the feeling that we would not be trapped if it rolled over and also because it could be used as a paddleboard. SIL tried it and it works. I'm not brave enough to just stand atop, I'll start by kneeling, I think. But paddleboarding is supposed to be great exercise because you not only use your core but many other muscles by trying to balance. I intended to begin this summer but between vertigo, travel and company, I haven't yet. Maybe I can before it gets cool.
|
|
|
|
Post by adinwnc on Aug 2, 2021 19:16:32 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer can you use a circular saw instead of a chainsaw? I love chainsaws, I'm just not found of the axes or hatchets that split wood.
|
|
|
|
Post by feather on Aug 2, 2021 19:17:14 GMT -6
midtnmama , We put TWO layers of plastic, stapled to horizontal logs, then rolled the logs up to the top. The top is angled up to the back, down in the front. It worked great and probably worked better than before, with one layer. It's super easy maintenance.   The raised bed part is easy if you have the lumber and corner clamps..then layer with cardboard, lots of tree trimmings, lime, soil, manure...really pretty easy. The small angled frame above it, a little more complicated.
The cover has a board or log at the bottom, and half way up and sits on top of the frame. It rolls up. It sits there at the top of the frame.
It worked best to have the raised bed, edge, twice as wide as the frame, so it was a 4x4 raised bed edges, the frame to hold up the cover, a 2x4 or 2x6. The frame sits on top of the raised bed edge. It can sit there or be wedged up there with screws, there are many ways to hold that frame over the raised bed edge. You could do the raised bed and frame edge as one piece if you designed it that way. The cover logs/boards don't matter in size as long as you can roll them up and they sit across the top of the frame. At the top of the frame, there needs to be a small area, 4 or 6 inches, where the rolled cover can sit when rolled up.
|
|
|
|
Post by susannah on Aug 2, 2021 19:30:45 GMT -6
midtnmama , our inflatable kayaks would not work well as SUP's. I mean, can you imagine us trying to stand up in them? I just pictured my husband - who does NOT have the best balance - trying it and I'm laughing myself silly. Not that I'd look graceful with the front and back of a kayak bending up around me. I know what you mean about the "trapped" feeling. Inflatables - ours, anyway - are what I call a kayak/canoe hybrid. There's a lot of wiggle room in them, in Banana especially. Yes, I named our inflatable kayaks - "Banana" because it's mostly yellow with a little black, and "Yeti" because it's mostly white and that was the first thing that came to mind for me. Dh said he totally gets my naming one banana but was surprised that with all the choices of white items, my mind went to Yeti first. Nice to know that I can still surprise him.
|
|
|
|
Post by midtnmama on Aug 3, 2021 6:24:38 GMT -6
susannah, Our dd has an inflatable SUP and it is rock hard. Don't know how that can be, but it is like a real one ( and also expensive even if not AS expensive as a standard SUP).
|
|
|
|
Post by nbc3mom on Aug 3, 2021 17:38:53 GMT -6
midtnmama. Last summer we got a new storm door. The old door had a full glass window that was in perfect condition. We built a box out of boards we salvaged when we tore out DS#1’s deck. The box was built to fit the glass door frame which is attached with hinges. We can prop it open at any angle using poles that are attached on each side. We have a smaller cold frame that we use as an herb garden because the window cracked. This year was a complete failure. Chipmunks took over, burying sunflower seeds. What they didn’t kill by digging up the soil, the sunflowers killed when they grew. Next year I’ll put a screen of some sort over the box to keep the chipmunks out but still let in rain and sunlight. Made more salsa to eat with dinner. I’m trying to get the right amount of seasonings to the way we like it before I can any. Shredded 2 more zucchini for the freezer. I also found one lone peach on the tree that I must have missed. This one I will eat; the others are in the freezer.
|
|
|
|
Post by midtnmama on Aug 4, 2021 6:41:15 GMT -6
nbc3mom , Good plans for the cold frame. Sounds like someone needs a cat or two. For now, I've decided not to start canning as I am overwhelmed with all that must be done (after so much company and traveling). When I started to gather what I needed, I kept thinking of something I couldn't find, forgot to buy or couldn't remember how to do. So I made refrigerator salsa, sweet pickles and garlic pickles. I couldn't find my big jars I use as a pickle crock. Well, I found one that I forgot that I was making pear wine (it's vinegar now  I found myself stressing about food that needed to be processed and thought," how stupid, I can gift it to others who don't garden and will enjoy." I just need a bit of time to catch up. Also, it does not make me happy to spend 10 hours a day cooking and cleaning the kitchen days on end. I want to make some special fresh meals out of what we have. I'm really wanting to make butternut squash and mushroom ravioli and that will be time consuming. Normally, I would cook the butternut squash and pumpkins with skins on the grill (cut in strips) and then freeze. But my electric grill died and smoke from an open fire pit would really mess with my allergies. So I will bake in the oven or boil. The skin peels off easily after being defrosted. Edited to add: The three baby chicks are integrated into the flock and amazingly, somehow, are roosting with the others (high up--how did they fly up there?). The Mama and babies that she sat on were in a cage in the coop for weeks, then the door was opened and wala! I want to quickly increase the banty population, but I'm not getting eggs regularly from the two hens. I hate to run my big fancy new incubator with just three or four eggs, but I will if I have to.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ohio Dreamer on Aug 4, 2021 13:17:28 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer can you use a circular saw instead of a chainsaw? I love chainsaws, I'm just not found of the axes or hatchets that split wood. Yes I can, but at least half of it is too big for that. BUT....that would allow me to get at least half of it cut.... GREAT IDEA!! |
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnomore on Aug 9, 2021 6:04:03 GMT -6
Good grief, I haven't even posted a to-do list this month! Been too busy doing other things to even post, but I really need to make the time to list what needs doing, if only so I'm reminded occasionally that time's running out to get some of these things done before the weather turns.
August To-Do List:
1. Price, buy and install the metal roof my house must have this year!
2. Build more sheds for hay, lumber, firewood, and equipment storage. Haul home more hay.
3. Sand and prep the hood, quarter panel and other areas of the Nissan so TL can paint it.
4. Cut up downed trees into logs for lumber and firewood.
5. Finish getting the riding mower and trailer functional, both for mowing and hauling.
6. Tighten up chicken proof fencing for both chicken pen and orchard.
7. Continue working with Angel on her manners around chickens, walking on a lead, riding in the pickup, and bath time.
8. Groom and bathe Muttley and keep up on his coat, also work on getting him to ride in back of the pickup with Angel.
9. Get the hoses set up correctly and without leaks so I can water the garden more efficiently. Weed along fenceline and other areas that have been neglected while my ribs healed. Keep up on the watering - garden, orchard, planters and flower beds. Weed the rest of the flower beds. Pull tansy before it goes to seed. Pull out the nettles, thistles, cut out spent canes and fruit tree suckers in orchard.
10. Keep beans picked and put up, dig potatoes and plant back seed potatoes for either fall crop or next year's spring crop, plant more peas, carrots, lettuce, broccoli for fall. Replant my pots and planters.
11. Give the house a good cleaning and touch up exterior paint, rehang gutters on new wood. Generally get everything buttoned up for the rainy season while it's still dry.
12. Save seeds from flowers, herbs, bramble fruits and broccoli.
13. Replace flapper in my toilet tank. Flushing with a bucket is getting old!
14. Spend some quality time on the back of my horse.
15. Replace plastic clamps on intake/outlets on pool with metal hose clamps and run filter, add bleach, change/rinse filter, add more water, scrub outside of pool and pool ladders, trim around pool perimeter, put together pool vacuum and use on pool floor.
16. Sell extra horses and extra chickens.
So far, I've been working with the new pup, 5 month old Anatolian Shepherd girl, Angel (was Amber, but I like Angel better), but she has a long way to go before she's safe around chickens unsupervised. I've picked beans twice from one short row of bush beans, got about 2.5 gallons of green beans this time. The purple bush beans have inch long beans on them, and the pole beans are blossoming. I dug potatoes from plants that have died back and planted back small ones for seed. I pulled all the huge pigweed out of my potato patch, along with other weeds. I pruned the blackcaps and fruit trees, pulled out most of the nettles and some of the tansy. I added more water and bleach to pool.
To do the whole list this month will be pretty much impossible, but I plan to give it a good try, anyway. If I make a daily list and stick to it, I can get quite a bit of it knocked off.
To-Do Today:
1. Get some sleep!
2. Take apart the hoses, add splitters, replace leaky fittings.
3. Water the garden and orchard while I:
4. Pull tansy and nettles.
5. Pull apart the area where I want to build my first shed and level it properly, then replace the pallets and start building a nice hay storage shed.
6. Find the toilet flapper valve and change it out.
7. Gather eggs and feed chickens.
8. Work with Angel and Muttley on loading into back of Nissan truck (easier for an old dog to get in).
9. Groom both dogs.
10. Spend more quality time on Angel's manners on lead and around chickens (on and off lead)
11. Snap beans, blanch and foodsaver them.
12. Pull more weeds in raised beds and along fenceline in garden.
13. Swim and skim pool.
14. Saddle up Sunny (no one likes the name Fly) and go for a ride.
15. Find the parts for the pool vacuum and try to assemble it.
16. Get up on roof and measure for the metal roofing.
Maybe all that will tire me out enough to sleep. 5am and I'm STILL awake.
|
|
|
|
Post by midtnmama on Aug 9, 2021 6:48:46 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore, Oh I just hate when there is so much I want to do but lack of sleep makes it hard to get it done! I don't sleep on the days leading up to guests coming and the first few days of their being here because I'm so excited. Like a little kid. Then I'm too tired to really enjoy my company! Certainly August and thereafter will be dedicated to seed-saving for next year. Every year I say that I will plant out all the old seed, but I never get it done because the weeds get ahead of us. Sigh! This month I hope to get a hitch put on the car and buy a bike rack so we can do some bike riding in the fall. The guy at my car dealer told me that it would be cheaper to have a U-haul place do it.
|
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnomore on Aug 11, 2021 14:45:54 GMT -6
I got about half that list done before I crashed and slept, lol. Spent yesterday catching up on sleep. Today, it's already 93° on my phone app and 98° on the front door alcove that gets morning sun, so it's probably a little high. Probably somewhere in between for the actual temp. I'm going to have to go back to getting up at dawn to get things done and then taking an afternoon break in the ac. It's supposed to top 102° the next few days...ugh.
I need to add figuring out how to keep the pool filter hoses from sliding off the fittings to my list. I've tried several things that haven't worked. Abby came up with drilling a hole and putting a screw through it to hold the 2 parts together. I think that will work if I can waterproof it to prevent leaks around the screw. I'm trying to make myself get out there and do it, heat or no heat.
I really need to get the filter running to take the iron out of my pool water...Abby forgot to turn it off after an hour and my pool water is now so full of iron that you can't see the bottom. If I tried to swim in that, I'd turn orange!
I have to go get round bales today, too, but at least the truck is air conditioned. I'm just waiting to hear back from my round bale supplier.
Called my insurance agent to have her look into options for homeowners insurance, looking to see if there are better options and prices available. I'm putting on a metal roof this summer, so that should lower my premiums, I think. Having big dogs and horses may up them.
What prompted me to look at any changes needed for my insurance was having a small fire in the neighborhood today. I want to make sure I'm well covered for wildfires, but not so overinsured that I'm paying for more than the insurance will actually pay out in the case of a total loss.
It also prompted me to repack my essentials into totes that can quickly be loaded in the back of one or the other of the trucks, and making sure I can hitch up the older trailer to the Nissan to haul out one of the horses. Seriously underpowered for that, but in an emergency....
|
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnomore on Aug 11, 2021 14:50:49 GMT -6
midtnmama, you sound like me! I have a hard time sleeping when I'm going someplace the next day, or when something exciting is going to happen. And then there are just the random nights that I just can't sleep, so I lie there thinking about what I'd like to be able to do around here. Once I start that, I can't turn off my brain! I might as well get up and do something, but it's dark out, lol. 😊
|
|
|
|
Post by feather on Aug 11, 2021 15:22:56 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore, About home owners insurance, we switched ours to a different company last year. I was seeing the one I had, taking liberties that made things difficult when we had water damage in 2008. It saved us a little money, and we put the homeowners with the vehicles and that's all paid up yearly in the fall, so glad I don't have to LOOK at it anymore. My eyes and math were severely taxed figuring out quotes and why they were so different. One thing I am happy with this new company, is that they will do quotes by email, explained in intimate detail and they never become frustrated at getting multiple quotes depending on how much the deductible changes are. So we could pick and choose exactly what we wanted. Real estate prices are making the price of homes, huge. Here. I'm not sure how that fits in with insurance, but I'm happy that we are done examining it for the year, so far. I've heard one of the areas north of us is having tax reassessments done during the real estate surge and they are none too happy. I don't blame them for complaining. I woke up at 3 am couldn't sleep had to eat so came downstairs. I woke up mr feather to tell him I was leaving and he couldn't sleep then. I shouldn't have woke him and I won't in the future. He needs his sleep and he's a bear without enough. I feel bad that I did that and won't do it in the future even if he is surprised by it. He doesn't like waking up and seeing me gone and not having heard me leave. DS is going to mow tomorrow. Mr feather is mowing the trim, around everything with the small mower. The wind is terrific today, all kinds of branches falling, things falling on the deck, noise. The neighbor's 'shed' flying things out of that going in the yard, they are picking up things now. Our new neighbors seem happy and very impressed with their new old house. I'm so glad and anything that happens they are just kind and respectful and reasonable. All good things to have in a neighbor. NOTE TO SELF: get them our phone numbers and emails to make communication easier. I ordered the 12 Rules for Life. By Jordan Peterson, second hand or 3rd hand. It's thicker than I was expecting. I'm looking forward to reading it. We have been through the wringer about getting the trees cut down that must come down. I am going to try to find new people that can fell a tree, 30 ft, trimmed up 15 feet, a pine. I don't know why doing this is so hard but it is near the house somewhat so that complicates matters. There is a clear area for the fall even if no one trims the top of it, more than enough space for that. If it falls on its own, onto the house, then we have a big issue. Manygoats, we also have rusty iron water, that goes through a softener for inside things but not outside things. I am with you in spirit on that problem. Take care!
|
|
|
|
Post by susannah on Aug 11, 2021 22:14:01 GMT -6
We have been through the wringer about getting the trees cut down that must come down. I am going to try to find new people that can fell a tree, 30 ft, trimmed up 15 feet, a pine. I don't know why doing this is so hard but it is near the house somewhat so that complicates matters. There is a clear area for the fall even if no one trims the top of it, more than enough space for that. If it falls on its own, onto the house, then we have a big issue. Oh my gosh, I hear you on the tree cutting. We've gotten lucky in that one of the few companies up here that didn't prove unresponsive/incompetent right out of the gate - or was initially good but later went downhill with no brakes - was our arborist/tree company. While we're both more than capable of using chainsaws and handling 90% of tree problems ourselves, the fact that we live IN THE WOODS - and our house and structures are surrounded by trees - means there are things we don't attempt. Such as the last tree cutting we hired out. Which was last month. It was a small-ish (relative term in the Big Woods) aspen which we would normally have handled without a problem. But it was less than a foot from one of our gazillion (okay, four) outbuildings, and if it took out the shed, it would have cost way more to replace/rebuild the shed than the price of having the tree place remove it. That's it; my laptop really IS possessed by demons/taken over by aliens. I can't handle it; I'm going to bed. |
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnomore on Aug 20, 2021 19:11:24 GMT -6
I decided to move the metal roofing purchase to later in the year when metal prices are forecast to drop. I will patch another section this month instead.
We have the shock collar on Angel and it is helping a lot, although she did still eat a chicken last night. She showed interest in the remains today and Abby zapped her...she now avoids them. She stays away from the hens with chicks that wander through the orchard...I think a mama hen probably taught her not to mess with them! If the rest of the chickens were smart enough to stay out of Angel's orchard, it would help, as she totally ignores the chickens when she's out of the pen. Her overall manners are pretty darned good for a pup of her age and size.
The apples on one tree are about ripe...edible now with only a hint of tartness, and the Santa Rosa plum tree is still loaded, as is the Clapps Red pear tree. The first plums are starting to ripen...I picked a few red ones today. The ends are split on them, probably due to infrequent watering this summer. I hope they all ripen without rotting at the split. I also hope I can pick them all before they drop and the chickens find out they're tasty!
I got some exercise yesterday in a way I haven't done for probably 35+ years. TL called and asked if I wanted to go hit a bucket of balls at the driving range. Sure! Boy, I have forgotten everything I ever knew about hitting a golf ball, lol. It was fun, though. It's important to take time for fun. 😊
I'm sure sore today...used muscles in a whole different way than I have been. Great for improving flexibility. I think I'll start taking a few clubs and some balls out in the pasture and try not to hit a horse, lol. Too bad my new dog isn't any better at retrieving than my old one - it would save me having to go pick up all my mis-hit balls! Oh, well, more exercise this way.
I haven't done nearly as much off my list this month as I thought or hoped I would. I'm just not all that motivated at the moment. Gathering eggs and picking garden stuff, working with the dogs and getting the pool in order has been about all off my list that I've done. And really? I'm ok with that. My preps are in pretty good shape, and I am taking a vacation from heavy duty prepping. Since the freezers are pretty full and so is the pantry, we have insurance against the food inflation being seen right now, and we are very well stocked on TP! 😁
|
|
|
|
Post by Ohio Dreamer on Aug 27, 2021 15:26:30 GMT -6
So...no one has prepped this week? Or are we all so busy prepping we don't have time to post, lol??
I have been canning this month. 200 jars so far. Lots of small batches of things. Also did my inventory and have topped off what was low.
Otherwise, I'm just trying to survive the heat and humidity.
|
|
|
|
Post by feather on Aug 27, 2021 15:36:50 GMT -6
So...no one has prepped this week? Or are we all so busy prepping we don't have time to post, lol?? I have been canning this month. 200 jars so far. Lots of small batches of things. Also did my inventory and have topped off what was low. Otherwise, I'm just trying to survive the heat and humidity. I've currently lost count of how many jars, but it's not 200 jars. That is fabulous! What a hard worker you are.
It is hot and humid here too. I drink lots of water and sweat. Lovely hey?
|
|
|
|
Post by Ohio Dreamer on Aug 28, 2021 6:52:27 GMT -6
feather, hot and humidy here, too. I can outside....so I put the jars in and close the door and walk back into the a/c, lol. I can see the canner through the sliding door. It doesn't seem to mind the humidity, lol. That isn't 200-quart jars, but all sizes. 12 1/2 pints of bruschetta doesn't take as much work/supplies. So it's not as impressive as it sounds like at first, lol. Reading on another site about the wheat crop that molded and the rice and tomato crops that failed this year. Schools not being able to get food and companies that contracted with schools canceling their contracts. Places that have warehouses with supplies can't get trucks in to get it out to the stores. Sure looks like it's going to be a very bumpy year!!
|
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnomore on Aug 30, 2021 1:50:17 GMT -6
Me thinks that if we can't can up our own food, we need to bite the bullet, pay the higher prices and make sure the freezers and pantries are well stocked. I'm also hearing more stories of shortages. The grocery store was fairly well stocked when I was there on Thursday, but the bottled water was gone. Again. A very first world problem, as I can easily filter water at home for drinking, but when I'm offering a bottle of water to someone, a refilled bottle might not be what they expect.
Still not seeing many tomatoes on my plants. 😪 Blackberries weren't worth picking...shriveled from lack of rain this year. Thankfully, the green beans, apples, red pears and plums are all producing abundantly, and the potatoes are at least adequate.
I bought a couple bags of baby potatoes at the grocery store to plant this fall for next year's potatoes. One bag is yellow potatoes, and one has red, yellow and blue potatoes. Hey, they are cheaper than seed potatoes, and I've had great luck growing potatoes from store spuds.
I went to Lowe's for solar salt for the water filter system and found 5 bags marked down to $4 because they had rips in the bags. They had been double bagged, but the extra bags weren't very sturdy. We were lucky to get them home and into the barrel without spillage. Still, so worth it to save nearly $2/bag. I used my Lowe's card to save 5% on all 15 bags of salt (10 at regular price), and immediately paid the card in full.
I took my little Stihl saw to the shop while I was running errands Thursday, to buy a new chain and leave the other chain for professional sharpening. I wanted a ripping chain for my larger Stihl, but the repair guy wasn't sure if I had a 16" or 18" bar, so he told me to bring in my saw so he can make sure I get the right size. New repair guy to me, and a very nice young man. We had a lovely conversation about chain saw mills, cutting live edge shelves, Covid vaccines, and much more. Anyway, tomorrow I'll take my saw in and pay for both new chains and sharpening the other.
We'll also go get more round bales for the horses, pick up the one med that wasn't ready Thursday (grr), and pick up a couple things we forgot at the grocery store on Thursday.
|
|
|
|
Post by feather on Aug 31, 2021 11:46:35 GMT -6
Most of my list is accomplished as it can be with carry over to September of 1, 4, and 5. Tomatoes, red peppers, serrano peppers. I cleaned another bucket of red peppers, we're going to smoke them then dehydrate. It looks like we'll be able to work with the borrowed smoker for 2 weeks, then they'll need it back to smoke some of the bear they'll harvest. We'll run a batch of red peppers, then in a day or two a batch of serranos and try to stay on top of that with the limited time we have the smoker. manygoatsnomore, I think it is a great idea to plant potatoes from grocery store potatoes. I would love to grow some blue potatoes to see how those work out. |
|
|
|
Post by Ohio Dreamer on Aug 31, 2021 13:16:13 GMT -6
Getting cloudy out and I think I'm hearing rumbles to the south. I think Ida might be arriving here. We are far enough north that it's just a normal rain with the possibility of a bit of wind (also normal for us).
Harvested most of the butternut and turnips today. Turnips were a "fill in a hole" crop....not originally in the plan, lol. Two butternuts are not ready for picking, so I left them for a bit longer. That plant is more alive, so I hope they will finish ripening. Also picked parsley and put it in the dehydrator. Should be able to harvest more parsley in a week or so.
|
|
