Daelith

We have quite a variety. Hawks, owls, hummingbirds, finches, doves, woodpeckers of all sizes (Pileated to small Downy), turkeys, lots of little common birds, deer, foxes, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, squirrels, chipmunks, some little lizards and snakes (rat, king & cooperheads are ones we've seen). Of course, we have mice around too. Part of country living. I've seen in our area but thankfully not on our property - skunks, beaver, ground hogs and bob cats.

Good article with lots of good points. Especially the power outage situations. I have not yet gotten brave enough to can meat. Well, I did put up some beef stew this winter and some ham stock from my left over Christmas ham bone. But I'm getting there as I get more comfortable with my pressure canner.

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone! Now I have to figure out why my home laptop virus software doesn't like this site.

Yeah but you're closer to the mountains. Lucky lady!

Memphis area

Last year, we decided to do a small garden plot. We have not had a vegetable garden in over 20 years, but I still had some seeds from the last time we did at out old home. I really didn't have much faith in anything sprouting from my old seed stash which had been in the refrigerator crisper drawer since we moved to our current home 18 years ago. Surprising they did come up though. Had a good crop of dill, yellow squash, zucchini and beef stake tomatoes. This year I planted some of the okra seeds. I should be picking okra in a week or so.

Afternoon! I stumbled onto you web site some time ago while searching for something online. Been lurking long enough now and I figured it was time to start trying to be a little active. Mainly been reading to learn from those who have way more experiencing canning than I do. This is my third year of canning. A neighbor down the street got me started when she asked if I wanted to help with some peaches. We did a bushel and a half that day and I was hooked. So far this summer, I have put up 18 pints of green beans, 6 pints of potatoes, 6 quarts of Razzleberry pie filling, 8 half pints of bruschetta, 3 half pints of peach pie jam and 6 half pints of Blushing Peach jam.

Thanks everyone. I had a few bits of chopped tomato left over and I put some on my garlic toast that I was serving up with our spaghetti dinner Sunday night. Drizzled the left over brine over it and it was yummy.

I made bruschetta yesterday. Turned out very good. I used the recipe out of The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Ended up doubling the liquid brine portion because it was did not look like it would be enough and I was right. Had about a half pint of brine left over. I'm going to toss it with some chopped cucumbers for my husband since he won't eat tomatoes.