Homesteader

When working in other countries, I carried glucose tablets. I think they were OTC in the pharmacy section. We would work too hard in the blazing sun in the antenna field and I would run short and suffer hypoglycemia. The glucose tablets worked.

If I didn't get cases of 'seconds' from the food pantry, I probably wouldn't have bought the contraption. It takes up a lot of space on my small stove and the same when trying to store it. DH will just have to build an addition onto our garage.

The steam slowly cooks the fruit enough to pop the skins and get the juices flowing. I found that apples give less juice and lots of sauce. I run the apple sauce thru the Kitchen Aid to remove the skins b4 canning it. Not sure the steamer is the better choice for fruits with low juice production.

There are three parts to the steam juicer (besides the lid). The top is a colander where the fruit is loaded. Next layer down is the juice kettle. It looks like an angel food cake pan whereas the steam goes up through the center and holds the hot dripping juice on the sides. It also has a hose coming out of the side of the kettle that can be sent to another large pan or into mason jars for canning. It also has a portable spring clamp that keeps the fluid from coming out of the hose until you are ready to siphon the liquid off (during those times that you're jabbering on the phone too long and forget about the filled mason jars). The bottom pan is a stock pot. It holds about 6 quarts of water that is used to steam the fruit, above. It takes 1-3 hours depending on the fruit. The stock pot can be used for other cooking, like soups or stews. I have plenty of those pots, but the juicer is unique. Since I volunteer at a food pantry once a week, I sometimes get cases of fruit that can't be given away. If I don't grab it on my way out the door, it gets carted off to the farmer. This past week was peach juice. There wasn't much left of skins and fiber as the peaches were so juicy. Yummy. The whole contraption is quite large and needs space to store. 16" x 14"

We lived in Scotland and really enjoyed the Queen. She was one of a kind leader. God only knows what her son will institute.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased an inexpensive steam juicer. I'm tired of canning and freezing so many fruit butters, jams and sauces. Now I can turn much of it into fruit juice. Today is the first time I've had enough chokecherries to can. I'm looking forward to cherry jelly this winter. DH will too, if I make homemade bread to go under the jelly. This is a year that I miss my chickens. The girls ate everything after I was done canning.

Happy birthday. Really miss your endless hours of research and "lists". They have been invaluable since Y2K.

A friend's son was deployed to the Middle East last week, while serving in the Air Force. His basic training earlier this year was going great until half way through they told him one night in the barracks that he would have to get the Covid jabs or be mustered out the next morning on his own dime. He was devastated! He was trapped. He wanted to be in the military most of his life. He and his six siblings have only the minimal vaccines to travel on mission projects to other countries. They are homeschooled and aren't forced to get shots that the public schools require. He's in top physical condition. Did I mention that he's extremely handsome, too? He took the jabs and we're praying for his health. That stunt was so cruel and unjustified in my opinion. The evil oozes out of the Dept of Defense, and we seem powerless to resist. I've worked with this fine young man as we're weekly volunteers at the local food pantry this past year. We couldn't have asked for a harder working teenager who is smart, extremely polite and willing to set-aside his life to help others.

From Liberty Counsel July 2022 - Huge win for religious exemptions through the courts: Throughout last fall, NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois had been approving medical exemptions for its staff members, but not religious exemptions. Pregnant nurses and staff were allowed to continue working without taking the COVID shots. NorthShore accommodated these employees with no problems. Yet those with religious exemptions were repeatedly told that no accommodation would be made for them. The different treatment between the two classes of people was obvious and blatant discrimination. If NorthShore could accommodate people with a medical exemption, then they could and should accommodate religious exemptions. Yet NorthShore made the conscious choice to target and discriminate against every one of its religiously observant workers who requested exemption. Our lawsuit (Liberty Counsel) brought NorthShore’s obvious discrimination and preferential treatment of medical exemptions over religious exemptions to the judge’s attention. If NorthShore was going to accept medical exemptions, which it must do, then it must also accept religious exemptions. Just one day before our court hearing, and without prior notice to staff members, NorthShore attempted to cover its tracks by summarily laying off all the people for whom it had already granted medical exemptions. It did not work out well for NorthShore. Liberty Counsel negotiated the more than 10.3-million-dollar ($10.3 MILLION DOLLARS) payout for more than 500 employees who faced religious discrimination because of their objections to the COVID shots. In addition to monetary payment, these former NorthShore health care workers will be eligible to be rehired at their former seniority levels. Just as important as the recompense for fired staff members, NorthShore will also change its unlawful “no religious accommodations” policy to make it consistent with the law and to provide religious accommodations in every position across its numerous facilities. No position in any NorthShore facility will be considered off limits to unvaccinated employees with approved religious exemptions. Praise the Lord! This forced shot settlement is the first in the nation and will serve as a major wake-up call to every other company that unlawfully denied its employees’ religious freedom RIGHT to reject the COVID jabs. This case will break the dam of religious discrimination that so much of America has been forced to endure under abusive COVID mandates.

I've never tried it, but military equipment can be covered with dark netting to keep from being spotted from the air or satellite. I'm wondering if something like that could help cool your crops a few weeks longer. I've seen where different nettings have been used to cover chicken runs to keep out hawks. Just a thought. I usually enjoy experimenting on something different each year.

Same here. We did have auto-pay on the c.c. from our credit union for many years. That way, we weren't caught with a balance at the end of the month if we weren't back in the States from a project. We checked the charges each month just in case anyone stole our card number. I do remember one time when DH asked me where my new $1,000 camera was.

DH and I were talking about the differences between a Depression today and the one in the 1930's. One of our main talking points was credit cards vs cash. They didn't have cc's back then and did without if the cash ran out. That's probably how Lay-Away started. My grandma depended on Lay-Away for many of their basic household necessities. Anyway, here's what we're doing today when we run out of money. It's a whole new avalanche of bankruptcy's that's coming in the coming months. This data came from Dave Ramsey.

I am hearing this same story from many of our friends/family. SIL waited three months for appliances in their new home. The used their camping gear in their half-million dollar house. We have a standing order with our carpenter friend. If he's out of work, he can come over and pick up where he left off last year. Time and material. So far, he's swamped as he's a perfectionist and works alone. Great guy. Good thing DH has the electrical and plumbing skills we need. We do need some repair parts for our Champion engine on our woodsplitter. DH spent yesterday searching for ANY KIND OF PARTS. Seems Champion is made in China and parts are impossible to get right now. I told him to buy a Briggs and Strattan and put it on the shelf. It will cost $500 but we will have wood heat for the next 10 years. Electric was $370 the first January we were here. Never again. We'll invest in the engine. I'd better keep that guy fed and happy. He's my blessing in a world that's falling apart.

Happy birthday, Jeep.

We had lunch with friends after church today and the were surprised at how many veggie plants were still available at the local farm supply stores. They were running late on garden planting and figured that everything would be gone. Not too many Victory Gardens, I guess, this year.

A dairy farm wife taught me to lay a board over the row. She started checking after a few days. She did have clay soil so didn't have to water like I do in my sandy soil.

It is blanched with a bit of baking soda. Keeps the color very nicely. Yes it is my new dehydrator. Stayed with the cheaper mfg, only got the bigger diameter trays this time. Am up to 10 trays now. I vacuum-seal most foods in Mason jars for long term storage (usually only one year).

We were gifted a case of celery last week. I've been giving it away, eating it, and finally dried the rest of it. Came to almost 17 pounds, not counting all the chunks that disappeared into our tummies.

I used to use a yogurt maker. Then a friend asked why I didn't do it in quart jars in a small cooler? Ever since then, after cooking the milk, cooling it, adding 1/2 existing yogurt (I use Stonyfield with all the active cultures), I just pop the jars into a cooler with 110F water (an inch over the top of the jars), and let it sit for 4 hours. Put it in the refrig and you have all the yogurt you'll ever want. I can reuse a 1/2 cup yogurt a few times before getting another small carton of Stonyfield from the store.

Bought a Nesco for $12 at our friend's garage sale. He cleans out houses after foreclosures and stores everything in a huge barn until his yearly garage sale. It was my first garage sale buying trip with my dear SIL. We laughed and laughed and bought a bunch of things for her new RV. She talked me into buying the Nesco and cooking up those seven rabbits in my freezer. Easy Peasy. Now I need to find a storage spot for that revved up slow cooker.

I forgot to mention that the beehives are on pallets. The carpet strips are tacked to the pallets. As the opossums try to stand on the pallets, they get nailed.

Here is a rather concise explanation of monkeypox by Dr. John Campbell, UK. He has almost 2.5 million followers and is certainly less political than our own healthcare providers. It is endemic in Africa, which accounts for most of the cases recorded around the world. It's more prevalent, and begun, in the homosexual community due to the mode of transmission. He gives many great photos of what to look for and the duration/symptoms of the virus.

Being an authentic Cheesehead, American cheese is generally not found in Wisconsin homes. We do bring home lots of 'real' cheese and freeze it on a regular basis though. If thawed slowly in the refrig, it's not so crumbly. I have noticed that our cheese lasts longer if I bring it home already shredded. The house mouse can't cut off a big chunk of it during the night and doesn't like to deal with shredded cheese all over the countertop.

We keep opossums out of our beehives by adding carpet tack strips around the edges. I think they're around 3-4' long and can be found wherever carpet is sold.

Same here.