Daelith

Thank you Jeepers, dogmom4, Homesteader & Annarchy! That's the only part of our 4 acres that gets enough sun to grow a garden. The rest is a mini national forest. I get a lot of leaves. The soil is mostly clay which is normal for our area. We've always had to add good soil to grow anything. That was another reason we've been putting in raised beds. Never had the ditch flood in the 20 years we've lived here. Gets pretty full and is washing away more of our front yard each year. We're going to have to start investing in some rocks to stop it.

Forgot to add picture

Got the garden about ready to go. Got two more raised beds added.

Mt. Rider - By preparation, I meant that I would not cook it completely as if I was going to serve it that evening. BBB recipe has you cover the combined ingredients with boiling water, then bring all that to a boil. Then can it. I'd have say the seasoning is better in the recipe above. The stew in BBB was just so bland. I appreciate everyone's input on this. I think I will probably try Jeepers' suggestion on the half and half ratio. When I get around to trying this, I will let ya'll know the results.

I've canned the Ball Blue book recipe for Beef Stew with Vegetables and it has cubed, peeled potatoes in it. The recipe just lacked flavor to me though.

Found this recipe last year. It is one of those recipes that is better the second time around. I had fixed it in the crock pot and then froze the left over we did not eat. Since this is a soup recipe my husband liked I want to make more, but I would rather can it than freeze. Is this recipe safe to can as it is using the preparation instructions (so the potatoes don't get overcooked) & processing time for the beef vegetable stew in the Ball Blue Book? I would omit the oil as well to be safe. http://www.simplecomfortfood.com/2010/09/19/steak-and-potato-soup/

Well cured manure I would till in and plant. Add more in the fall after the harvest. Maybe even start a compost pile with some and add to it through the winter to have some ready for next spring.

We are getting an earlier start this year. Got 3 more 4 x 8 raised beds in and 3 beds that are 2 x 4. Got 8 yards of pro mix dirt delivered yesterday. So the boxes are all filled now. Both hubby and I feeling the effects of moving the dirt around today. The 2 x 4 beds were free from work. We receive sheet metal in them. We applied some paint to keep the wood from rotting so quickly. I'm going to plant strawberries in 2 of them and lettuce in the other one. We have them on a hillside and are going to try something to try to keep them from washing out too bad. So this is experimental year for those. We have so very little area in our yard that gets enough sun to grow a garden. Trying to make the best use of what space we have.

Canned 8 lbs of asparagus last Sunday. Got 6 pint & half jars and 1 pint of pieces.

Keep yourself hydrated WE2. Hope you get to feeling better soon. We're still having the fluctuating weather too. I've not even started any seeds yet. Going to wait until mid March to start anything I thing. I usually only start tomatoes indoors anyway and I won't plant then in the garden until May.

I never thought of them dropping the price either. I don't know why the just don't make it .50 and leave it lone for the next 10 years or so. I've not given in to paying bills online yet. Every time I consider it, I start reading the fine print and find that most place charge a "convenience fee" to use it. It's usually $2 or so. Funny thing is it's more convenient for the companies to receive instant payment and not have to process the mail. I figure it's cheaper to keep mailing payments on things it that's the way they want to be.

Did a little work in preparing the garden area for spring. Burned the leftover stems and stalks from last year. Set up 2 new 24" x 48" raised beds which I'm going to put strawberries in. Still have to put dirt in them. These were freebies from work. We get in sheet metal in these crates and I take them home and paint them so they'll weather better. Weeded the 2 established raised beds. One still has spinach growing. Picked enough to make us some spinach mashed potatoes. Anyway, it's a start.

I'll have to try to watch some of these this weekend.

I'm going to continue to use the ones on the jars too. I just hate to waste them. I've not gotten any Tattlers yet, but when I do, I will be putting them aside for just in case like WE2. Ya'll are very lucky to have such great in-laws. Mine would be useless to us if SHTF.

Since this was mentioned here, I thought I would ask...is anyone still using the lids that come on the jars? Or do you toss them and use new ones? I have used the ones that came on the jars in the past and not had any issues. But this and having seen BexarPreper's video made we wonder.

I personally would remove the skins. Just not worth the chance. Definitely must pressure can them.

Just had a pancake breakfast. Going to head to the range for a little practice. This evening going to our church's Christmas service.

Since mine have writing on them, I know their used.

Need more pictures!

Does any one use their old lids that have been through a canning process for storing dry goods? I saw somewhere that they work good for this if they haven't been bent up upon removal from the canned items. Thought it would be a good way to get some extra use out of them.

Yep, that is what we have. Still trying to get the feel for it to be accurate.

I got new glasses last year so it was Mr. D's turn this year. I can go another year.

I had not thought about doing that. You would think 70 minutes would have done it already though.

I had time to soak them overnight and thought seriously about doing so, but I always try to follow the recipe to the letter the first time I try a new one. Especially on canning. Next time I will follow my instinct when it comes to dried beans. At least the dogs enjoyed them. And I have 3 and 1/2 more jars for them to enjoy.