Mother

I hope your day’s were filled with joy!

I do believe it works Joyfilled. I will put you down. For those wondering, this is the challenge. It will be interesting to see how each of us challenges ourselves and how it is working out. There’s room for more, lots of room. (Still waiting on Mt_Rider cause she has so much going on in her life right now but hopefully she will be joining us soon with her bucket tomatoes challenge)

Those strawberries are beautiful, DM4. The slug, not so much. We have snails. Yuk! It has been in the 90’s here but today it was 74°. We finally got the big deck planters and the smaller containers almost all filled. Today I planted seedlings and seeds in some of it. Pictures coming soon.

This is actually a very old 2005 thread. At one time I believe there was a thread with links but .

Nice to see you on, Deb. It sounds as if you have had a lot of changes in your life. As Dogmom4 said, take it one step at a time but you know you have support here.

It’s nice she can get paid for it. Illinois is mostly volunteer.

LS. DH and I were rehabitators for almost 30 years and have seen many diseases come and go in the wildlife populations, many of which are zoonotic. In fact it was Lyme disease contracted from a tick, that came in on a tick infested owl, that eventually ended our work. Please tell her that a very long term rehabber said to be extra cautious about zoonotic diseases. Also tell her thank you for her work. There is a definite need for people who care for wildlife.

As a former wild life rehabilitator I have wondered if this would eventually be found in mammals. We were warned in earlier bird flu outbreaks to watch for that in both avian and mammals. It’s how viruses often mutate to be transmissible to humans. Not good.

I hope your day is really special.

The Mormons have (or used to have at least) kitchens where members could do their canning. I’m not sure how they divide things but I’m sure someone here will know. My thought are that division might depend on how much produce is brought in by each person. I would be concerned with the quality also. Poor soil gives a nutritionally poor product. Also chemicals used vs. organic. It might be possible to bulk buy produce with each person sharing in the cost and the work and then each taking an equal share home. With canning supplies being scarce or expensive probably each would bring their own. Kids should always be welcome but not in the canning area because of safety concerns. Perhaps the common room that is often attached to the kitchen might work as a play area and two or three parents or older siblings trade off to oversee the children. Considering this might be a long day it would work for each participant to bring finger foods for lunch and snacks for all. Sandwiches, chips, cookies, and drinks would work and be easy to serve and clean up after. It would be a great way for people to learn about canning safely, though if there are a lot of those it might be better to hold a canning ‘class’ before holding a canning event. We have a community group near us that are trying to set up classes in canning, dehydrating, baking bread, prepping, gardening, old fashioned living skills, and all sorts of survival skills. It is slow getting going but a lot of people are ready to sign up for them. The interest is phenomenal.

I agree, Joyfilled. Our grandson did great on it when he couldn’t handle formula. Admittedly he was also nursed when his Mom was not working and at night but he avidly drank it from only a few weeks on with no problems and we had two friends get goats milk from me when they couldn’t nurse their newborns. Their doctors advised against it but told them to at least pasteurize it but I don’t believe they did that even after the first couple weeks. I will say that my goats were extremely healthy and I was meticulous in my sanitation. You can buy canned and powdered goat’s milk both. I’ve seen it in the grocery stores but haven’t looked recently so it may be scarce as well.

DM4 are those top beans Anasazi’s? Annarchy, glad you are home safe. Wychwood. Congratulations on your decision. Lots going on with our members.

Welcome, Joyfilled Redhead. It’s really nice to have you here. Don’t hesitate to join in or ask questions. Even us old timers are still learning every day. And we love to share what we do know.

I haven’t canned much beyond meat for several years but I used to can zucchini and summer squash in a mixture along with tomatoes, onions, and peppers. The key safety feature is the acidity and liquidity of the mixture. I used lemon juice to bring acidity up and pressure canned it. I haven’t checked if this is considered ‘safe’ now but cannot see why it would be any different than canning soup. We especially like this with pasta and in casseroles or even the old fashioned way with bread or croutons crumbled into it.

Thanks MM. Nice to know I’ve been doing it right. I never add salt or sugar and have noticed no problem using them for anything. I sure love having eggs ahead especially with the prices so high.

What? No mustard seeds on hand? It’s easy to whip up some very tasty mustard. I keep them on hand at all times. BTW, did you know you can grow kitchen mustard seeds? Most whole seed spices germinate well. Dill, on the other hand normally fails.

MM, do you have a link to the post for freezing eggs? Or tell how you do it? When we had poultry I always froze the excess. I rarely separate eggs except for making Mayo and I use only fresh for that. I crack the eggs into a bowl, lightly whisk them, and spoon them into ice cube trays to freeze. I use the number of eggs that I have ice cube sections so that 1 cube equals one egg. When frozen I pop them out and store them flat in plastic bags. It’s easy to take out the number of eggs needed that way. I have occasionally frozen egg whites left from making Mayo or noodles. I do one or two egg white to an ice cube section and treat them the same as whisked whole eggs. On the rare times I have frozen egg yolks I have mixed them before freezing. This has always worked for me but I’m always ready to try new ways.

I think it would depend on if you have bird flu in your area. While wild birds can spread it most places are not even recommending you remove bird feeders unless you do have poultry. Song birds are not known carriers. It is found in migratory water fowl though. Covering the runs may not keep small birds out and might just concentrate the pathogens where free range might not. In our area young laying hens and other poultry are expensive and losing them could be costly but with the cost of eggs and meat it could be worth a try. If we had a secure coop we would probably consider having a few.

We are VERY slow getting the deck planters filled. Hopefully this week. We are going from fifties to high eighties. The weather is definitely going to be a challenge.

Those are beautiful, DM4. We just started cutting asparagus. Very small patch..

I believe the reality about turkey (and other poultry as well) is that they can only be produced so fast. Eggs can only be laid one at a time, they take time to be incubated and hatch, and though they have some incredibly fast growing birds now, it takes time to get a bird the size for market. Add to that the rising cost of feed and the extra precautionary measure that need to be taken, and the rising costs of processing and transportation. It is possible there will be turkeys but they will be smaller and more expensive.

I love these videos. They are humorous and touching and give us wonderful glimpses of a life changing journey. Many of us have had our own life changing journeys but few are willing to share them with others. Thanks, Dee. Please keep them coming. 🫂

ALL of you. Hope your day was SUPER!

Thanks, Euphrasyne. I have made candle wicks in the past with these methods as well as using a borax solution. I’ve also used wood shavings or splinters and various other ‘burnables’. Strips of cardboard, thin strips of paper tightly rolled and twisted, cotton balls pulled and twisted into wick shapes all work but are better if soaked first in wax or oil.