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Mt_Rider

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Everything posted by Mt_Rider

  1. Note: my initial post edited to add more links, quotes of data, and a really cool picture of a Conestoga wagon. You can see from that one why they called them 'boats'. Anarchy....did I forget to mention that our route will NOT take us into any {gasp} snake country? Yeeeee-iiiick! :frying pan: <------for snakes! Speaking of which, PCS, you'd better get yourself well enough to join us too! More expertise needed! MtRider [...what else would I need for the rest of my life?? ]
  2. Ok, I think I have a chance to get this started. I'll add to it later. We've still got time....we can't leave on our trip until Mother gets back anyway. But she'll know exactly what she wants to pack...having done all those reenactment deals. Participants: MtRider & MrMtR Skills: chiro/health care/herbal/acupuncture/First Aid knowledge of horses, goats, ducks, dogs, cats....including some vet care. gardening experience minor canning experience campfire cooking experience some wildcrafting experience lead women's Bible study..& dh knows Greek some hunting/fishing some constructing of shelter/building Animals: I'll chose an OXEN team for our wagon. Sturdy, strong, steady.....(are they as dumb as they seem?) 1 horse, 1 donkey, ------and equine tack, brushes/hoof picks, blankets, water buckets, packs & saddlebags a dozen ducks in a cage strapped to the side of the wagon ------water dishes, buckets of feed for layers, egg cleaning "buff" glove, waterglass bucket to preserve without refrigeration, 4 Nigerian dwarf milk goats-does [need to breed them before we leave...or Steph, is your buck a dwarf/mini??] ------5 gal bucket with birthing supplies, picnic basket with normal milking equipment, minerals, some grain/alfalfa for milkers, hoof trimmers, guardian BIG DOG -------Dog's BOB, harness, collar, lead rope, chews, bed cover (can be stuffed with dried grass for her to sleep on), cat has to come for rodent control when we get there -------Cat's BOB and carrier, food, dishes, string toy,......and earplugs cuz she'll be howling her unhappiness the whole way. Kitchen: --Lots of cast iron...but I don't have any larger fire pit dutch ovens for the communal kitchen. Fry pans to share tho. --Family [manual] grain grinder...with 4 attatchments: grinder, veggie slicer/dicer, meat grinder, grain cereal flaker. --Sherman [the tank] canner....all implements, and a tote full of salt, pickle spice, canning lids, etc. And all canning jars padded with all my towels and sox stuffed inside. --Stock pots - I'd select the SS ones if I had no room for the enamel ones [they chip/rust]. --Two wooden box set of kitchen storage. Like the back end of a chuckwagon. Custom made for me loooong ago. Stuffed with the basics of flatwear, utensils, camping pot set, spices, etc. --bakeware: bread pans, muffin pans, etc --mebbe the long, fold-up table? --Hmmm....thinking of the weight... can I afford to bring the coal/wood kitchen stove that resided in my garage? I think it would be EVER SO useful when we got there. [i can see that we won't have room to sleep in the wagon bed at this rate. --ALL of my kitchen knives. --I think I'll forgo the "china" that the ladies usually insisted on. Or even Correllware. I'll opt for my several pie plates, 1970's tupperware glasses [indistructable], and a couple of modern insulated hot beverage mugs. [bring Your Own Mug around the nightly campfires!] [i might try to sneak in a pair of authentic German steins for use when we're settled...and not as likely to break them.] More later.....
  3. Ok Steph. If you can provide drivers, you've got a 3rd wagon. Yes, this helps us think of the things right in front of our noses in different ways. Like: the BBQ tools make good fireplace/campfire tools. The disability commode makes a good privy. I'm still working on my list..... MtRider [waves to Rusty and Emma.... ]
  4. Thanks for the inspiration. MtRider [hoping for great things from yellow squash/zuke this year.....mebbe.....]
  5. Glad I stopped by to see this. I've heard of this thru the decades but have never tried it. With our ...um..."stiff" soil, this might be a better solution for me. Garbage bags....DH just got two boxes and the durned things are way smaller than for the intended use. Mebbe I can grow taters? Heaven knows I have WAAAYYY more seed potato than I can ever dig up the dirt for. And I'm LATE this year. Aaaiiieee! MtRider [...off to read all the links and see if I can do this]
  6. Ugh! I hate snakes. Don't like spiders either. Yuk! Almost don't even read a thread with this kind of title....LOL I'm no expert...having positioned myself so far up in the mts. that we don't have snakes....except that one I stepped on last year. [did ya all here my yell? ] BUT would making the ground around the woodpile really sharp gravel help? Or mebbe something like oyster shell we use for calcium for poultry? Is that sharp enough that they won't slither across? Just guessing here. But I don't think the tarp is a good idea. MtRider [ yiiiieeeee.....sitting here typing with my toes curled up....yuk! ]
  7. How? Haven't got the book. Might try the library too. MtRider
  8. Oh WOW, Darlene's mamma! A big welcome to you. Now some folks here are ......a bit..... Some might be ..... Some are And most of us do a lot of This is some place that Darlene and the early ladies constructed. Hope you enjoy yourself! MtRider [...staying up WAY past my bedtime again... ]
  9. Thanks Rita. Checking that now. For you all that use alfalfa heavily during milking.... [yes, I keep hearing that everywhere... alfalfa for sweet milk ] Do you use only alfalfa hay free choice? An alfalfa/grass blend of hay free choice? Alfalfa pellets? Alfalfa cubes? Alfalfa growing in the pastures? Any preferences and why? Knowing how horses need to be regulated in their alfalfa consumptions.....does that apply to goat-critters too? Haven't bought alfalfa hay since my OLD dear horse got so it didn't agree with his system. MtRider [QuestionsQuestionsQuestions....I do thank you all!!!]
  10. Quote: If you start out drinking milk from scrub eating goats how would you know that there is any other flavor? Good point! And I still have to convince dh that goat milk is good stuff... So far, when they are out grazing for their daily half hour, they are nipping off young wild rose plants, some dandelion, plain grass, clover, a bit of alfalfa that volunteers from horse droppings, ...... But then, I'm not milking yet. LOL Does anyone know if goats get the same "ice cream and pickles" cravings when they are preggers? MtRider
  11. Anyone know where I can find a list of plants ....and how they affect goats. I need the good ones, the toxic ones and the milk-affecting ones. Off hand, how is scrub willow? Not the big trees. The scrubby brush willow. I've been foraging for the goats and watch what they choose from my offerings. I also watch when I have them out choosing for themselves. But I'd like to know the basics. I've heard of some of it. I have noted that they ignore the local pest, loco weed. And they ignore the wild sage. THAT might be milk-tainting. MtRider
  12. By Mother Quote: It will also help us get it all together in one spot even if we use links to other Mrs. S posts to do so. I love the idea of links to all the wonderful threads of the past. Somewhere "8thSinner' posted a pictorial on how to make a toothbrush.....I'd love to find it. It looked doable, just a bit tedious. LOL and it made me think to buy up a few more 'ready-made' ones. MtRider [ready to take notes on any&all topics.... ]
  13. You could can anything in the stores. Some folks get a great bargain on bags of frozen veggies and decided to can them. Cuz they don't want to have all of their stored food electric-dependent. Or they don't have the room in the freezer. Carrots seem to always be available for reasonable price, aren't they? How 'bout onions? Some apples go on sale. Pressure can meat? Have you checked out the forum, Preserving the Harvest? Lots of canning ideas there. Dehydrator tips too. I've been dehydrating leftover celery if I think it's going to go to waste. ...which it seems to do rather too quickly! Edited to add: Ah, I see you have found that forum and you have caught the bug Good for you!!!!! and welcome to the club! MtRider
  14. Censorship: MrsS style! Do NOT mess with these home canning ladies...and gents!!! MtRider [i have Sherman. I'm safe!]
  15. Hi Herbal. Welcome to MrsS!! Are you looking for menu plans for a month using these basic ingredients? As was noted, food fatigue would be hard to avoid...esp. for those of us who are used to incredible variety and off-season accessibility of nearly anything in the world. BUT we're talking basic fill-up and nutrient solution, not opulence, huh? And as much variety in how to prepare these ingredients would be helpful. There are many books out about cooking with the basic ingredients of wheat, honey, oil, beans, powdered milk. But I'm not so aware of ones using corn as the grain. [grain + legume = protein] MrsS has a gazillion recipes in Kitchen forum but if anyone knows of some threads that address these ingredients, maybe they'll help out. Or maybe I have misunderstood your request? MtRider
  16. Quote: (If you've ever *Fibbed* about what your using the buckets for to the supplier give yourself 5 extra points). *cookie looks pointedly at Mountain_Rider with lifted eyebrow* WHAT fib???? My horse feed bucket DID break....4 yrs ago...... And the mice DO chew up things like winter sox & mittens if they aren't kept protected! Seeeeeee, I'm totally as as Darlene! ...er....more innocent....yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. But you're definitely IN THE GROUP if you whine and moan cuz you forgot to beg buckets after going out to have a pastry. You're worse if the measure of trust in family members is whether they beg buckets for you.....and they're in on what you REALLY do with them. MtRider [kicking herself cause she forgot to beg buckets on her recent big trip. ......not that there would have been room in the vehicle... ]
  17. StillSurvieving....it's these kinds of stories that motivate me to Grow My Own as much as possible. Makes the hair on the back of my head stand up. I've seen enough to have no trouble believing this does happen. CGA, I've been pondering this since you posted. This is the very thing many people could afford to do. Get just a few basics and maybe garden seeds for the rest. Even many Urban folks can grow some greens. Definitely not fancy and one would get pretty sick of the limited diet after what we're used to now. But its FOOD if it all goes very bad. 'Course I don't digest corn well at all...so I'd have to substitute. (Oddly, I don't have trouble with popped corn.) It's better, of course, to get the variety but starting with basics that will give you a great deal of calorie/nutritional count is important. Good thread. MtRider
  18. See, now we know the REAL reason she left Miami....... "Is that duck following?"
  19. I just talked to the lady I was going to ride with to get the salmon. She'd forgotten about a doctor's appointment tomorrow and WE CAN'T GO.......... I still need to know about this stuff cuz once in a while, I catch fish or dh catches fish. Our dear friends are good at but too busy and too sick this year to go much. But one never knows what will happen next in my pinpoint on the map. So no learning is in vain. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. NEXT YEAR..... MtRider
  20. Oh good, Darlene. Qts would be a lot faster. I'm still feeling sick so I'm not even sure if I'll get to go fetch them tomorrow. Have to be there in person; can't just send my fishing license. But it's hours away and I don't travel well in the best of conditions. Yesssssss, c'mon over Cat and Necie. Canning party. As for Cat's suggestion of anyone else to help here.... Nope, everyone I know 'round here is not physically well this 'season' of life. Great survival lot we'll all make, huh? Wonder if the gal I'll ride with would mind if I slept the whole way there instead of keeping her company? I don't know her well. I'm gonna try to do this if at all possible! Considering all that, I may have to just throw them in the freezer and can them later. Will that make them too mushy? Considering they are 'spent' already? Initial freezing would buy me some time. But I'm trying to use non-electric methods of preserving if I am able. Necie, do you brine yours before canning? The raw ones, I mean. I was going to say that I could probably get one canner load going as dh cleans them tomorrow. (He's got a temporary schedule change and will be coming home on Fri nite......I'll have the fillet knife ready.) But I was just indisputably informed by my friend who knows my limits, that I'm being extremely unrealistic....and that's not how she worded it! LOL Please tell me I can freeze first and deal with canning later???? I'll just have to see how my 'ole body does. MtRider
  21. ThankyouThankyouThankyou!!! Cat...I copy/pasted and printed a bunch of stuff from that site. Thanks! I'm getting the idea that to smoke/cook on a BBQ grill would be a tasty thing to do with some of them but then we'd eat them or freeze them. Probably give that a try with a few. We have a cast iron thingie to put into the gas grill to "smoke" the grilling meat. ....I've never used it...but from reading that site, I think I understand what it's for now. Would need to buy a different kind of wood. Pine is our only option 'round here. That's not good for taste..turpentine? The cold smoking method involves many hours of maintaining my non-electric smoker.... I don't think I'm physically up for that right now. Canning: Yep, this is what I wanted Sherman for. Meat and meat dishes. So I looked that up in the Blue Ball and the All Am. books: Can fish in pints or half pints only. Yikes, gotta get some of those quick. [i'm still cuz a lady I know threw out her parents huge stash of canning jars just a few wks before she realized I was wanting lots of them...] Anyway, the directions for canning fish sound simple. Have you guys done this? Do you brine first and drain or just pack the fish? Any special instructions from the Wise Ones of canning fish????? Being new at canning, I'm going directly from canning turnips to canning salmon, y'know. [eeeeek....anxious to do this one right!!] Yep, Skagitgal, these will be spawning mamas and papas. Hens and Bucks? Glad to hear advice from Washington state. Mine will be kokane (sp) salmon. Don't figure that makes much difference, does it? Smaller than your river to ocean to river runners tho. Still going to be a BIG job. .......I gotta be nuts but how can I turn down an opportunity like this??? MtRider [Priority #1: get over sore throat & yuk. Priority #2: Get ready for salmon.]
  22. I have a chance...if I feel well enough to make the trip Friday....to get 20 - 40 salmon. Free. Just by showing my fishing license. [Anyone reading my posts knows that I'm lousy at catching fish so this is a real boon! LOL ] The Fish&Game folks 'milk' the salmon for eggs and raise them up to stock lakes and streams 'round here. If you can get the correct information in the fall, the public is invited to take home those fish to eat. They would die after laying the eggs normally anyway. The location near to me had a bad year so they are giving away only a couple fish each. But by driving half way across the state...(well, I'm riding with someone and maybe not 'half way'...LOL) ...I can get 20 or perhaps a second bag of 20 if they have more left over. SOOOOOOoooooooooo what do I do with 20 - 40 salmon? DH is home that evening and the fillet knife is sharp. But I don't want to freeze all that many. I have a (non-electric) smoker. I've never used it and don't know how. I'm looking up stuff on the Net. But does any one have personal experience with smoking or canning salmon in particular? I'm open to both types of preserving. Or anything else? Anyone have a homemade brine recipe that works well for fatty fish like salmon? I'm reading this document by Oregon State Extension office that was posted earlier. Anything to add? http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/pnw/pnw238.pdf at the drive-through window MtRider
  23. Mt_Rider has!!!! My canner's name is Sherman ......as in...Sherman Tank .....cuz of how much that AllAm. thing weighs!!!! And he's only a 915. Sherman and I have had a long acquaintance...since Nov. He's gotten loving attention for cleaning and refurbishing. I used dental floss to clean the threads of his big bolts!!! He got new dial and transformed to have a jiggly thing instead of the other valve. Initially he sat (in the way) on my kitchen floor. (My kitchen floor space is 9'X 2') Finally, he got a place of honor.... under my coffee table. I refuse to put him up high or in a back cabinet or other inaccessible places. He has to remain in sight and handy. ............ :sEm_blush: ....but he's never been on the stove yet....... Y'seeeeee, we have all these plans, Sherman and I. We dream of beef stew, canned turkey, pickled beets, & canned turnips. We will can such great mountains of food together someday. We really will. But we're a bit shy. He's just not sure how well he can can. I'm not sure how well I can orchestrate the process. I mean, what if we make a mistake? Maybe we need therapy? So do I qualify if I bought canning salt, Ball Fruit Jell, rings & flats last summer? And I have always picked up a few jars from garage sales/thrift stores if they have them. Am I DISqualified if I don't have hundreds? Am I DISqualified if I don't know where all the jars are in the garage? [summer project: major garage cleaning/sorting.....Project status: as yet not completed] This is all Darlene's fault. She got me into this. She got us ALL into this! I was innocent of the potential of canning before a year ago. Now look where it's got me. Just one more thing on my TO DO list that I haven't gotten around TO DOING. OK, I can do this in baby steps. I will put Sherman on the stove with water and make sure all his parts are in place. I will turn on the stove and watch the gauge jiggle. I can do that. So what time is our group therapy going to meet??????????? And HSmom........ I have such plans for your payback, gal!!!! MtRider and good pal, Sherman.
  24. I'm glad you bumped this, cookie! I missed it the first time 'round. Hilarious..... but SO TRUE! Quote: Humor???? I was ticking them off, I thought it was a checklist. UKguy -- I'm with you...... Mother could put up a whole lot of these --- checking out possible "skill sets" from the blue-haired old ladies in the neighboring RV space. How 'bout..... your decoré is "pioneer antiques" - cast iron and granite ware, oil lanterns, rug beates, school slates, and hand fans hang from your walls. (says MtRider as she takes a look around) ...and you know how to use them. MtRider
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