Homesteader

On 11/1/2022 at 10:37 PM, Jeepers said:

When I was at Meijers yesterday I checked out the turkeys. They only had the Meijers brand and they were $1.99 a pound.

I think our Walmart was $1.29 for their local brand. I heard the manager of our local pantry say that they're ordering 550 turkeys for the week before Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful the guys carry them to the cars each year and pack them into the trunks.    We'll take two. One for ourselves and one for our Ukrainian refugee family at church.

From what I read, turkeys are ordered in January/February every year by the distributors. The stores get what has been allocated to them.

32 minutes ago, Dee said:

More ideas please.  This is fun!!!

I still use your recipe for freezing pies. You must have given it to me about 50 years ago. 

28 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

This is one of the signs I saw on the toll road in Ohio.

DH was wondering if they are referring to vending machine food. That would make more sense. Scary though. We always ate at those places on long trips on I-80. 

45 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

I guess the moral of the story is to dress down when out shopping. 

Our landlord in Indiana used to wear his WWII veteran ballcap everywhere. He usually got his meal for free. Not many of those guys left and we need to respect the fact that we didn't have to learn German or Japanese. He is still alive and just turned 100 y.o. several weeks ago.

I had been researching a freeze dryer this year. My SIL would consider buying half of it. Then she came down with Lyme disease and has been laid up ever since. I think that was our answer from above to purchasing the apparatus. Heading into winter, we don't have the garden volume that we had earlier this summer. All the kids are raised and gone. There is only so much that older people can eat now days. 

I've been running lean on canning jars this year. DH said to start eating some of the food.  Wintertime is when I frequent the charity shops. I can usually get pints for .30 and quarts at .60 each. I check the rims before piling them into my cart. I don't find as many as I used to.  Most of our auctions have remained online since the China flu hit. I don't like to buy sight - unseen.

The past several weeks, I finished off harvesting choke cherries. They are very astringent before ripening. I wait until the birdies can be spotted flying into the bushes. This is the first year I had enough to harvest. I ended up with juice, pulp (for pancakes), and jelly. It requires sugar, even the juice to drink, but makes an excellent cherry juice for consumption. I hope the bushes are just as productive next year. Our drought caused me DAYS of watering those huge bushes.  

On 10/4/2022 at 9:12 PM, Jeepers said:

When I start feeling faint in public I sort of think it might be low blood sugar so I get a small bottle of O.J. thinking that will help. It never does though.

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. 

10 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Homesteader, I bought a steam juicer last year but haven't used it yet. I

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. 

14 hours ago, Darlene said:

Understood. But I don’t think I understand how the steam gets the juices to extract. Might be a question I’ll have to research. 

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. 

On 8/4/2022 at 9:54 PM, Jeepers said:

Same here Miki. Decades ago my MIL worked at a local canning factory in a tiny town. She said after the cans were filled and processed they would stick labels on the cans from all different companies. Same product just different label. 

Back when I started working full-time (dinosaur timetable), my boss's wife worked for Continental. It sold food labels to manufacturers. Heinz catsup could also be a generic catsup brand. I was shocked to hear that. I was also very naive back then. 

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.

On 7/11/2022 at 12:15 AM, Annarchy said:

That’s all folks…..  I tried…. But with temps angering 105°+. It is what it is…

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. 

On 6/13/2022 at 9:04 PM, Jeepers said:

The key is to pay them off COMPLETELY EVERY MONTH! I haven't paid any interest on a credit card in decades!

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.

12 hours ago, Littlesister said:

Speaking of remodel, no one coming at all this week, and we talked a month ago about the fireplace and picked out the fireproof mat. Found out today he hasn't ordered that either.

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.         

On 6/1/2022 at 6:11 PM, Mother said:

I was shocked at how few veggie seeds they had left. They had flower seeds but not even as many of those as normal.

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. 

11 hours ago, Dee said:

My carrots won't grow unless I cover them with something and water them daily for about 3 weeks. 

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.