Fall is slowly sneaking up on us

Fall is actually sneaking up faster than I would like. But dang I guess it is past the middle of August already and not long till cooler nights and days. I guess I really didnt pay much attention to the calendar till I noticed the spent sweet corn stalks turning yellow last week. Geez, we just planted that stuff other day. At least it sure seems that way. The damn crows finally finished off the remainder of the sweet corn that was not even ready to harvest. Those things are the most aggressive feeders I think I have ever known. If you shoot to scare them off, in just a few minutes they are back in larger numbers. And it sure dont take long for them to destroy a patch of corn. Not to mention they have eat on some of the tomatoes, peppers and pecked at some of the unripe pumpkins. Mean lil devils they are.

Our peppers are in full productions right now, with lots that are getting red and ripe. We use a lot of bell peppers during the year in cooking. I only planted a few jalapenos this year as I am the only one that eats them and sure dont need that many taking up freezer space. My big freezer is mostly full now with the carrots, corn, okra, peppers among other things I cant think of right now. The tomatoes in the garden are starting to slack off producing now and some of the plants are spent. The Money Maker variety I planted have produced tons of small tomatoes that are mostly used for juice but are small enough to be a total pain in the arse to wash and get the seeds out of to juice. I take the seed pockets out to reduce the amount of water or clear liquid that comes to the top on the jars of juice. It actually makes better tasting thicker juice. Also when I peel tomatoes to make my salsa I peel and squeeze out the seed pockets and it makes the salsa nice and thick. Yummy!!

The mustard and turnips I sowed a couple weeks ago are up. Oh my, and did I forever get them thick enough on the ground. I didnt use the seeder I just sprinkled the seeds on by hand cause it was a small space. The poor little seeds just laid there on top of the soil for well over a week till we got some nice rain showers. And they ALL came up. So soon or later I will have enough mustard and turnip greens to can. And I do love a nice sweet raw turnip in late fall after they have grown in cooler fall weather.

Tomorrow will be a grape harvesting day here. About 90% of the grapes on each cluster are ripe so its time to cut them and make jelly, juice and wine. If allowed to all ripen they will start to fall off the vine. Then its on to the peaches. I have a few left that the crows didnt get after I put aluminum pans in the branches to keep them scared off. Lots to do here as fall fast approaches.

I got a comment and question from an older blog post on gumbo. The sweet reader ask if it was possible to half the recipe to can. I would think certainly you could half or double or what ever suits the needs of your family or canner size. If I make the mess to make a batch of gumbo I just go whole hog and make a lot. Takes no longer to clean up from a huge batch as it does a small one. Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

Comments, questions, and answers

I have had several sweet comments on my last several blog post. It is nice to know people still read the nonsense.
Jennifer has posed a few questions on my soap making post asking about molds and such. I use really just what ever looks like it will hold the amount of soap I am making at the time. It may be a Velveeta cheese box or a soup box I have cut an taped to reshape into the size I want at the moment. A nice wooden mold would certainly be nice. Maybe I can ask hubby to make me one when he gets in the shop this winter to finish Liam's toy box. I am gonna plunder around some yard sales and such too and try to find a cheap miter box with a back saw to cut soap. I know at some hardware stores you can buy the cheap inaccurate ones that are not good for precision wood work and that is kinda what I am lookin for. It would make for cutting nice even slices of soap. Not that I mind if my soap is funky shaped. Also in soap making I do not keep an extra set or special set of pans dedicated just to soap making. After all it is just soap and most of us use soap of some sort to wash our dishes so does it matter that you have had soap in your pan. Although to make soap you do need to steer clear of anything aluminum. I use stainless steel stock pots to make soap. I think my small one holds about 3 or 4 quarts. Just need enough room to hold all the soap volume when it is mixed together. I need to buy another stick blender for soap and lotion makin tho. I gave Amoy my other one to use to make food for lil Liam at home. That lil man is growing way too fast. Cant wait to see him again in April for his birthday. And yes Jenny we think that lil fellow is pretty special too. I sure have missed you as well and all our long fone calls till the fone battery dies. I will call you someday when I can get time to stay home for more than a few busy days at a time. Geez, I ain't even home right now. House sitting again.
Deja I am glad the pina colada jam turned out good for ya. I am not sure about cutting the sugar in jam and jelly recipes. It has something to do with the pectin/sugar ratio that makes it set nicely without being tough and rubbery. Also when buying sugar for jam and jelly making, make sure it is "cane" sugar. You can get both cane and beet sugar. They differ in molecular structure and beet sugar will not set in jams and jellies. I know at one time I noticed 25 lb bags of sugar at a Kroger store and thought about getting it as the price was much cheaper. But after I got to looking closely, no where on the bag did it say cane sugar so I was suspicious that it was beet sugar and decided it was not worth the money not to mention a product that would be for the most part useless to me. So be aware when purchasing sugar.

Here it is winter time. Not to mention near the end of January already. Its about time to get started pruning grape vines and fruit trees. Maybe we can manage to get those chores behind us in a couple weeks. Weather permitting of course. This chick don't do well in really cold weather. I know what happened to me last time I got cold. I got this damn flu, sinus infection and bronchitis. I am better but no where near well from it. It seems this congestion just keeps hanging on. I don't sleep really well anyway and sure as heck don't when I wake myself up coughing. My ribs feel like someone took a ball bat to them. But trees and vines need pruned. I am not by any means a pro at tree pruning but will take advice from someone who has cared for fruit trees successfully. Our buddy Butch in west KY has many wonderful trees and his advice it to make sure there is good air circulation inside the trees. He highly recommends taking the center out of most fruit trees as that allows sunlight and air to get into the foliage and keeps down diseases. So when I prune ours that is my goal. Hopefully when we get this process started I can post some pictures. OK I know you are laughing because I always forget the camera when we do these kind of things. Maybe I can remember this time. Just maybe. When I prune grape vines I intend to start more cuttings from the Concords. I have a friend in Virginia that wants some starts and hopefully I can manage to get them going for her. Grape vines are pretty easy to start from cutting in spring. As soon as the cuts are in soil and in a warmer place they will start making leaves and thus make roots. Its winter time and I am getting itchy to get in dirt. Might be while getting in dirt tho as the weather forecast is for extreme cold and more snow for us in East Ky. I think Rodger said they have about 2 inches at home right now. In west Ky it is cold, not unbearable, just cold but no snow. I should be hibernating by now. Such is life..

Not much else happening around here. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Making gumbo to can

It has been a long hard day. I made a big batch of gumbo to can and with Rodger at work I had to do all the choppin, browning, and making the roux by myself. Talk about a long day. My friend Deb from Mississippi taught me how to make it a few years ago. The recipe is here from another post on this blog.  We had fun but the fun ends when ya have to do all the work alone. I think I have cuts on every finger I own, a few burns from the Cajun napalm called roux. Not to mention the hurty feet from standing all day, and oh my aching back. I get a feeling tomorrow will be spent in bed recovering from today. Story of my life. If I can get out of bed in the morning I want to make some plum jelly. My buddy Randy gave me a quart of plum juice when we went to the meet up in central Ky last weekend and I have not had time or energy to make the jelly yet. But the hard part is done already an thas makin the juice. So surely I can get the jelly made.

Rodger will be out of town deer hunting this weekend and Jason an Mary Kay will be hunting here on the farm. I have big plans of my own. I hope to get the carpets cleaned in the house while there is no one to interrupt me and wonder where meals are. I might even get to stay up late an read as long as I want an not worry about waking anyone up. The linoleum in the kitchen needs to be scrubbed really well too. All summer of just mopping leaves it in pretty sad shape. I will have to wait an see if we get rain this weekend tho as the carpet might not dry well if its wet outside. We shall see.

I got some composted chicken manure I want to move and spread on my strawberry bed an asparagus bed out back this weekend too if time permits. Or if my body holds out long enough. I should soon be picking the last of the raspberries to get in the freezer this year. I would like to freeze more on cookie sheets an bag them up to use in cereal this winter. Oh an to add to homemade granola. Which I will likely make in a crock pot this time to save the constant stirring and risk of burning it. I really like granola with lots of nuts an dried fruit and it is very filling not to mention good for ya.

So thas my plan, now lets see how far I get. I will let ya know. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Just what I needed.........

........more lil orphans to take care of.

  Not like I dont have anything else to do. Gosh it takes an hour twice a day to just feed the lil orphans that I have now. A total of 4 lil chicks that the momma hen kept tossing out of the nest and wouldnt take after hatching. One of them was wet and his body so cold I almost tossed him thinkin he would not live. I am glad I didnt because when I brought him in the house and put him in the incubator and got him warm and dry he is doing fine. So I got 4 babies with no momma that will take em. The lil orphan kittens are doing good. They have learned that I am their food source but they still dont let me pet them. But thas ok too. As long as they get food and water is what matters. I have to refill water pans several times a day for the animals and birds that are out in this unbearable heat we have been having. We havent had rain for most of a month now. There are no water holes or creeks for the critters to find water. With the mild winter we were kinda prepared to have an abundance of insect pest like mosquetos and fleas, ticks and the like. But there has been very few. I guess because there is no water for them either and they died. Not saying thats a bad thing tho.
We on Saturday as I was going down the hill to feed the lil kittens I took a tumble. Not a pretty sight for sure. At first I thought for sure I had broke my arm and maybe foot. But as time went on my pinky finger side of my right hand hurts really bad as does the big toe on my left foot. Of course being hillbilly I was barefoot and got my feet caught in some netting that I had placed near some landscape plants to keep the chickens from digging them up and hit the ground hard. Any way I went to the doc today for other things and had them do an xray of my hand to make sure I didnt crack the bone. I am sure it is not a complete fracture but maybe a crack due to how much pain it gives me. Not the time of year for me to be handicapped too.
Guess I will get the results tomorrow if its broke or not.
We had planned on butchering off the cornish cross chickens this weekend as they are now over 7 weeks old and still not big enough to butcher. They should have already been in the freezer. They have had high protein feed 24/7 and that makes em grow. Not these. I always ordered my chicks from Marti poultry farms in Missouri and found that they have closed down due to illness in the family. It was a family operated business from what I gather. I orederd from McMurray hatchery this year and not sure if they dont have good breeding stock or what , but this group of chicks have not grown like the ones I got from Marti. So I guess I will try another hatchery next time I get birds to see if I can find one with better quality.
We have been picking strawberries again and raspberries every other evening. I have enough raspberries now to make a batch of raspberry jam I think. Maybe I will do that tomorrow if its not so hot I cant breathe in the summer kitchen. I really need to go get a load of mulch to use on my herbs and go ahead and water them I guess or I may lose a lot of my new plantings. Probably the only things that will get watered will be the new stuff that is not established good yet. The rest of the plants will be ok I think. So thas my options for tomorrow I suspose.
Not much else happening here ,so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Pickling peppers, making jelly

We got a few things done today that we wanted to accomplish without working ourselves to death. We had picked almost a bushel of peppers last evening and we planned to pickle some of them for Deb to take home. We had them in the salt water over night. For the 2 gallon of peppers you need 1 gallon of water and 1 1/2 cups salt.  This morning we drained and rinsed them and packed them into jars. While Deb packed the peppers I made the pickling solution. It consist of 10 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar and about 1 tablespoon chopped garlic if you like the garlic flavor. Heat to boiling and pour over peppers in the jars. Cap jars and they will seal. If you want you can water bath them to help with sealing, this would need 10 minutes for pint jars. I don't water bath.

We had picked wild plums earlier in the week to make jelly and I got as far as making the juice. We went back to the tree today and picked a few more plums to make a lil more juice as I didn't have quite enough. After straining the juice I had enough to make a batch of jelly and 1/2 cup left over. Plum jelly is one of Rodgers favorite jellies. It is a really pretty jelly once it is made.
Debs hubby Danny will be here tomorrow so I thought I might try to have some extra things cooked to feed everyone this weekend. So I have 2 pies in the oven, 1 apple and 1 cherry from the pie fillings I made and canned a couple years ago. They are sure smelling good. Am thinking they would be good with some ice cream.
Our weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend. Saturday day temps are posed to be mid 70's, and night time lows of high 40's. Just perfect for a get together with family and friends. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Canning Gumbo

My friend Deb has been visiting with me for a week and she makes the best gumbo. After all she is from Mississippi and they do have that talent down there. I taught Deb how to butcher chickens, something she had never done. Now she can go home and butcher her chickens. Yesterday after butchering my old laying flock we canned the meat and made stock. We had about 2 gallon stock left from the canning and decided to make gumbo to use the stock. I wanted to make a bunch of gumbo to can for us here. So this is the recipe Deb taught me and we used it to make 14 quarts that we got canned.


Debs Gumbo

2 cups flour
2 cups oil (we used peanut oil)
4 lb okra
7 lb cubed chicken meat
2 lb beef polish sausage (sliced thin)
10 cups sliced onion
10 cups sliced bell pepper
10 cups chopped celery
2 gallon chicken stock
2 tablespoons or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons liquid shrimp and crab boil or to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Heat the oil in a large kettle and add the flour. Slowly brown to a rich brown color. Do not burn. This needs to be done on low heat.

This makes a rich roux for the gumbo. It sure helps to have 2 people doing this so says Ms Deb. While 1 makes the roux the other can saute the veggies and brown the meats. Mix the veggies and the meats in a large container.

When all this is done its time to add the roux to the chicken stock and make the gravy. Add roux to 2 gallons of chicken stock in a large stock pot, bring to boil, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, and shrimp boil. Let simmer for a few minutes to thicken some, whisking constantly. Remove from heat.

Prepare jars and put the veggie meat mixture in the jars up to the shoulder of the jar. This makes 14 quarts. Divide the roux among the 14 jars. Put on lids and put in pressure canner and process quarts for 90 minutes at 10 lb pressure.

Let pressure go down and remove to rack to finish cooling and seal. You might notice the contents look like they have separated, this is fine.

This is some good gumbo. To serve, cook about 1/2 cup of rice and add the cooked rice to one quart of gumbo or you can add the rice straight to the gumbo as it heats up.

You can also add shrimp at re-heating if so desired. This is a good hearty meal in one kettle and quick if you have your own home canned gumbo. Enjoy! Compliments of my good friend Deb.
After we fed the guys some gumbo for supper we went and picked some wild plums to make jelly. We are planning on making that in the morning and then we can see whats next. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Canning pickles, pickin tomatoes

Yesterday we started a batch of sweet lime pickles and finished them today. I had cukes that I did not need as I have made more pickles than we can eat in 2 years so we made these for Deb to take home with her. We have had a nice time visiting and just relaxing. This evening we went to the garden and picked tomatoes. I might have a half bushel that we are gonna make juice with tomorrow.
It is time for the wild plums to ripen and I hope we can get some this week to make jelly with. It is Rodgers all time favorite jelly. I like having bagels or English muffins with butter and jelly for breakfast. I think the garden season for us is kinda winding down as  far as vegetables go. We are now at the stage of starting on fall fruits and jelly making. The pears should be ready to pick in a couple weeks. Some of the apple trees here on the farm have apples ripening now so they should be picked and made into something. I don't need pie filling as I have many jars still left from a couple years ago.
While Deb is here and after we get all my laying flock butchered we are going to make some gumbo and can it. We had gumbo the night we arrived at Debs house in Mississippi and it was so good. She makes and cans her own Gumbo base then adds the meat and shrimp when she gets ready to serve it. Hopefully I can post the recipe for ya on here when we can it. I can tell you it was delicious.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Yard work, cannning jam

I finished up a few things outside today. But once again it was hot as blazes out there. Ya know, I should have lost a lot of weight by not but it has not happened so far. I think I sweated at least 10 lb off just what little time I was outside. I picked up the rest of my ground cherries that had fallen when I pulled up the plants yesterday.

I had already picked some before and had them in the fridge.

I got online and did a search and found a jam recipe that sounded really good. It was Ground cherry and orange jam. This is how its done.

4 to 5 cups of ground cherries, husked.
1/2 cup water.
1 orange, flesh finely chopped, an the zest grated
1 pk of sure jell
4 cups sugar.

Cook ground cherries till soft or you can use a stick blender to mash them up. Add the prepared orange  and sure jell to ground cherries. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Add sugar all at once and stir to dissolve. Boil hard till it test done for jelly and sheets from the spoon. Put into hot jars and seal. If you water bath your jam and jelly do so for 10 minutes in boiling water bath. This is really some tasty stuff. I know cause I got to lick the kettle. This recipe makes about 5 - 1/2 pint jars of jam. It has a taste reminiscent of orange marmalade and hint of pineapple. A really nice treat to make from a fruit that grows wild here in Kentucky. The plants look somewhat like a tomato or tomatillo and the fruit grows like tomatillos as well. They will grow in poor soil and ripen in late July to mid August. These little treasures are also loaded with beta-carotene or Vitamin A. So a jam that might just be good for the body on your morning toast.
I have been saving some seed from  a tomato plant that hitchhiked its way to the flower bed in front of the cellar. It is the heirloom variety called Abe Lincoln. A very hardy plant.

This particular one got broken over by some kittens playing in the limbs. It still has lots of maters and this is one that I have saved some seed from. I like them really well for juice because they don't have a core to speak of.

They will have 3 or 4 lil green core like things but they are so small ya hardly notice them in there. A very meaty tomato with small seed and seed pockets.
Now there is ya a whole post of useless information. Not much else happening here today with the heat.
Although Rodger did get the tractor put back together and running and did some bush hogging this evening. The tractor water pump had gone out and broke the fan belt. So that was replaced along with the alternator that had not worked in a long time. So its all fit as a fiddle now.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

It was hot today!

This is one of the hottest days we have had this year. I know the weather man says a lot of things but my thermometer spoke up today and confirmed my suspicions. It was 100 degrees and the thermometer was in the shade today around 11 am.

If red means danger, then it was in the danger zone today. Late this evening near dark we got a lil bit of rain, and I just know it will be that much hotter tomorrow.
I got another 7 quarts of tomato juice made and canned today in spite of the heat. Tomorrow evening I will need to check on the green beans and see if there are some to pick and can. Yesterday I had harvested the rest of my grapes and was thinking of making wine with those as I had already made 12 pints of grape jelly. But this evening I just went ahead and extracted the juice from the grapes and made more jelly. That should do us for a few years. This weekend I need to check on my pears and see if they are about ready to be picked. I sure do like pear preserves or as some call it, pear honey.
I weeded the onion bed out back where I have walking onions growing and I have a bunch of lil green onions in the bed. I planted some cucumber vines down there as well in case I didn't have any in the garden. Garsh, I got more cukes that I know what to do with. I will likely make more dills with the cukes that I am getting now. Jason ate a quart of dill pickles this evening while he was here messing with his computer. AND drank the dang juice. He did that when he was wee little too. Ya go to the fridge to get dill pickles and they were in the jar and the juice was all gone.
I think this watermelon here on the table needs a few slices taken out of it, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Making jelly, canning tomato juice

Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen a little more now. The other night when we were in the garden we picked almost a bushel of tomatoes and put them in a small tote so they wouldn't be bruised in 5 gallon buckets. For some reason they are bruising really easy this year and will rot in no time. I did find several that had gotten mushy in the tote but still had enough to make over 5 quarts of juice. For the smaller amounts of tomatoes I usually just wash, chop and cook them to release the juice and run them thru the food mill into a clean kettle and put back on the stove to heat to boiling. Let boil for about 5 minutes and then ladle into hot jars and seal.

I had been keeping eye on my grape vines and harvesting the grape clusters as they ripened. After we have had rain for a couple days, nearly all of them were ripe today. I got them picked and washed and thought of freezing them to make jelly later. Then had another thought. Why not go ahead and make the jelly while I had a little free time. So I put the grapes in a big kettle with about a 1/4 cup water just to get them started cooking. Then retrieved the one that I had frozen earlier and tossed them in the pot. I let them simmer for about 15 minutes to extract all the juice. Then set up my jelly bag and drained the grape juice into a kettle. I had enough juice to make 3 batches of grape jelly. I made it all in one batch. You know me, I never follow the rules. The recipe was 15 cups of grape juice, 3 boxes of sure jell combine, 1 teaspoon of real butter and cook to full rolling boil. Then dump in 18 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve. Bring this to a full rolling boil for 4 minutes. The package will tell you to boil for 1 minute after it comes to this full rolling boil. But when you do multiple batches it does need to boil longer. Also you can do the "sheet test" to determine if it is ready. Take a cold metal spoon and dip in the boiling jelly and let it run off. If the drops run together on the edge of the spoon and slide off forming a sheet instead of individual drops then the jelly is done. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a minute or so and let the foam settle then skim this off the jelly. It wont hurt the jelly but just looks nicer. Ladle into hot jars and seal. I don't do the boiling water bath. The jelly temp is higher than the boiling point of water, so to me putting them in a boiling water bath just cools the jars down quicker. Just make sure everything is really clean when you start and there should be no problems.
It was nice working out in the summer kitchen today with the nice thunderstorms that rolled thru our area. We got a good deal of  rain from all the noise too. We didn't try to go to the garden this evening after it had rained. But tomorrow we really will have to go even if its mud knee deep. I know there will be beans to pick, and prolly PEPH peas, and maters. Last time we were in the garden Rodger got the tobacco worm beans staked. Maybe I can get some pics so ya can see how we use river canes to stake them up. River cane is very much like bamboo only smaller. Cane poles are much sought after in Appalachia for staking beans in the garden.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Making pickles

Well today I finished the sweet lime pickles from yesterday. And oh my are they good. They are so crisp, more crisp than a Vlasic pickle if you can believe that. The recipe came from Paul in Kansas who posted the recipe on a forum that I frequent. So here is the recipe as Paul posted it.

Here's the pickle recipe that you asked for. It is a really good recipe. I only use sliced cucumbers for it.

Soak the following for 24 hours:
7 lb cucumbers
2 gallons water
2 cups lime
Rinse. Let set 3 hours draining.

Mix the following:
2 qts vinegar
4 ½ lbs sugar
1 T salt
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp cloves
Pour over cucumbers.
Let set 12 hours.

Bring to boil and simmer slowly for 40 minutes.

Pack in hot jars and seal.

(No pressure or hot water bath needed.

I hope you enjoy it. I know this recipe is at least 100 years old. It came from my great-grandmother that died in her 90's in 1944.

NE Kansas - 100% off-grid since May 1998.

Visit my blog at:

http://cedarshillfarm.com
"Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or do without"

 

 

 

Yeah I know, I know it says to simmer them for 40 minutes and you are thinking this will make them soft. Well I am here to tell you it wont. I kept mine hot enough to see a few bubbles occasionally and they were like super crisp when I put them in jars. Just trust me and try em!
I went to the garden this evening and picked more PEPH peas and will get those shelled and canned tomorrow. It was cuke pickin day too so I started another batch of the pickles from the recipe above. Earlier today I tossed another bag of grapes in the freezer till I get time to make juice and jelly. Not much else happening here on the farm.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Holiday celebration, canning

I hope everyone has had a nice holiday weekend and came thru all safe and sound. We had a nice relaxing weekend here. Rob came home from Nevada on Friday and on Saturday he and Amoy came home. Jason's buddy Josh and another friend Joe came down and spent the night. Anytime you get those guys together you can bet there will be fire works of some kind. They spent most of the afternoon shooting and having fun.

And sometimes they even let us girls play with em.

It was hot out all weekend but we were lucky enough to have shade where we have target stands for shooting. Later in the afternoon they guys shot skeet for a while. I think they got tired of shooting stuff so we all came back to the house an ate, drank and just chilled out and tried to keep cool.

 
Today we got in the garden and picked some cucumbers and pulled some of the carrots. I made 3 quarts and 3 pints of kosher dill slices and canned 19 pints of glazed sliced carrots. I had about 4 cukes that were too big for slices and I like to use chopped dill pickle in different things. So I chopped the big cukes really fine and canned them with the same dill pickle solution that I used in the slices. Now I have chopped dills when I want them without the hassle of chopping. That was enough for one day. Now I am tired. Yesterday before the kids got here I got 10 more pints of blackberry jam, 6 quarts of canned black berries and some blackberry syrup. I might go out tomorrow evening and pick more to make juice, syrup and wine. We shall see. Till next time blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Rambling around

Haven't done a lot here today. Had to take my buddy to therapy this morning and got back a little bit after noon. Checked the chickens as usual and made sure they had food and water. The weather was a bit cooler today and nicer to be out. Riding in a vehicle makes my back hurt much worse than usual so I came inside and rested this afternoon. After supper we went out to get the weed eater from Jason's house. I had taken my berry picking containers with me because I knew there were lots of ripe berries behind the old corn crib. I picked probably a gallon in a very short time, big plump sweet berries. Rodger was picking on the hill above me where I couldn't get to. He also picked almost a gallon.
We took the weed eater and headed for the garden to weed eat where the electric fence will be. The deer are making tracks in the garden and nibbling the tops off the beans and such. So we think we can put an end to this now before they do some real damage. Rodger got one side of the garden mowed for the fence and the rest they will do tomorrow evening. While he was doing that I did finally get my celery mulched. And with the celery near the tomatoes I spotted several ripe tomatoes and picked those. Cut a cabbage head and some broccoli and brought it to the house. I am going to cut several of the cabbage tomorrow and get more kraut started. I will be planting more cabbage and broccoli for a fall crop a little later. I may get more beans planted tomorrow evening as well if all works out. I cant put this off much longer or it will be too late in the year for them to mature. Hopefully I can go thru my garden seeds and see what else I can plant that will make it before frost.
I have to get back over there in the morning and spray for tater bugs yet again. They just simply don't give up. I checked on the cukes and I will prolly get to make some pickles this weekend or early next week. The first patch of corn should be ready in a couple weeks.
After we got back to the house I washed the blackberries and made about 10 pints of blackberry jam. I still have a big bowl full of berries that I might make syrup with. I am thinking blackberry syrup would be good on pancakes. But thas a project for tomorrow as well.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Making Jam, weeding beds

I took time today to make the strawberry jam with the berries that I had been picking. Some I had frozen till I had enough.Thawed those and got the jam done. I had 5 pints and 8 half pints. That should be good on a hot biscuit or over ice cream or melted on pancakes. Uses for strawberry jam is limited only by your imagination.

Got my ceiling fan installed in the summer kitchen too. This will help a good deal and maybe I wont need to run the A/C so much. When I am busy out here it is a waste to run the air conditioner with me going in and out all the time. Its a little fan and its so cute.

It was really hot here today. I got out early and got the onion bed and asparagus bed weeded this morning. I think there is room on the south side of the onion bed to put up a little trellis and plant some gourds. I really would like to have some luffa gourds to dry and use for scrubbing things outside and to use indoors as well. I think it would be cool to have the luffa gourds sliced into chunks and then make some homemade soap and embed the luffa in it. Would make a really good scrubber for the bath. Hmmm, maybe I will do that soon before the garden stuff comes in. Not much else happening here today. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Summer is back

Summer is back with a vengeance. It was hot today, in the 90's,  not that I am complaining. We had planned on working in the garden today but the ground was still soft and muddy. So tomorrow evening we hope to get some more potatoes planted, peppers and the vine crops in. I am going in there early to spray for the potato beetles in the volunteers. A guy that used to run a farm store here in town gave Rodger and Jason a 50 lb bag of Yukon Gold seed potatoes that have good sprouts on them. Seeing as how the ones we planted didn't come up we are going to try this again. Everything gets fertilized tomorrow too as well as plowed out.
The yards finally got mowed today and trimmed. Gosh it looks so much better. I do need to rake the front part of the yard. I plan on putting some of the grass clipping in my new compost tumbler along with the manure out of the brooder house. We made  a run to Tractor Supply today and got one of the Wizard compost tumblers. Considering the material it is made of, I think it will last much longer than a regular metal 55 gallon barrel. I just cant manage to turn a compost pile like it needs to be to work well. Just one of the bleeps of my work injury.
The plants all get taken out of the greenhouse tomorrow as well and go to the garden for transplanting. Then I can clean out the greenhouse and tidy it back up and get ready for fall seed starts. I do plan on starting some cabbage, broccoli and probably get some lettuces going for use in the fall and winter. By then I should have some compost ready to use.
I still have some weeding to do here in the beds at the house. So many little things to do around a place in summer. I got the strawberries picked today and strawberry preserves are on the agenda for this week as well. While we were out today I went looking for some Sure-Jel for jam and jelly making. I have a few boxes here at home but like to keep a good stock of it. The Walmart we went to had 2 boxes left and that was it. So I got those and I need to keep an eye out for more. I do make a lot of jam and jelly during the summer. I have a pretty good stock of sugar for that purpose as well.
Not much else happening around here, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Cool fall rains

It has been nice and cool for the past few days. With some rain almost daily. We have had enough I guess to settle the dirt down where we covered over the root cellar and contoured the hill. Jason got the grass seed sowed today and then we got another light shower after that. So the seed should sprout and not get washed away. We still have a good bit of clean up and raking to do to really call the area finished. But that will be after some drying time.
The trees are taking on their fall colors right now and are gorgeous. Next week our temps here are supposed to drop to the 40's at night. That's almost cool enough to turn on the heat. Well I sure am not ready for that. Where the heck did my summer go?
I made some of the Pina Colada jam today and dang was that stuff good. Was thinking it would make a fine treat on top of some homemade ice cream. Now if I just had an ice cream freezer.
I will be leaving here on Saturday morning for a couple week of vacation. Just need a change of scenery once in a while. I will be visiting some family and spending time with some special friends.
I do know that when I visit my aunt in the western part of the state I will have the assigned task of making some muscadine grape jelly. Then the following week when I visit some other friends, there is no telling what kinda projects we will undertake. I am really looking forward to this road trip. Then back home for about a week and I have surgery on my right elbow to fix the tendinitis that started 2 years ago when I got hurt at work. Not sure yet how long the recovery will be for that, but I have all winter. Just as long as I got Internet and can type with one hand, I will survive. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Making blackberry jam

Back in the summer I had picked some blackberries and then didn't have the time to make the jam. I thawed the berries last night and made the jam today. Much to the amazement of some of my friends, I am not the organized person the some would lead you to believe. Some of the berries I thawed were wild black raspberries instead of blackberries. None the less they make good jam. In the jam recipe I use 5 cups of crushed blackberries and 1 pkg of sure-jell. Heat this to boiling and bring to hard rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil for 1 minute then add 7 cups of sugar and stir well. Bring back to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down and boil hard for 1 minute more, most times mine boils for 2 minutes or more depending on how long it takes the kettle to cool down after I remove it from the heat. Ladle into hot jars to within 1/2 inch of the top and put on hot lids. Let seal. I have a total of 6 pints and 9 1/2 pint jars of jam. And of course a sample proved it was delicious and it does have a slight hint or wild raspberry flavor. Or if you want to seal with paraffin, you can melt the paraffin in a double boiler or a small bowl wet over a pan of hot water then spoon the melted paraffin on top of the slightly cooled jam or jelly and then put on lid of any kind and set aside. This method is not used much any more due to the USDA canning and preserving guidelines. But I have used it to seal jams and jellies in years past with excellent results. If it worked for our grandmothers, I am inclined to think it will still work for us. But that's just my opinion. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

A successful canning day

I have had a very successful day of canning today. I went to the garden early today and cut the mustard and turnip greens. The cooler nights make the greens tender and less bitter than those grown in hot weather. I usually just take a big plastic tub and a knife and take hands full of the green tops and cut them off. This way you don't get all the grit and debris from the ground not to mention the weeds and grass. The bonus is the greens will grow back in a couple weeks and can be cut again for an extended harvest right up to winters hard freeze. But this is the back breaking part of the job, although the washing wasn't that easy for me either. I wash the greens in 3 changes of water and then put then in a kettle of fresh water to wilt down before packing them into the jars. My total for today was 6 quarts and 11 pints of greens canned.
I guess this motivated me to get my blackberries out of the freezer to thaw to make blackberry jam tomorrow. Maybe for dinner I can make some homemade biscuits and try the jam.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

New kid on the block and pear preserves

We have a new member of the family here on the farm today. We now have a Great Pyrenees puppy. She is 6 months old and already weighs 60 lbs. She is a sweet heart named Luna. She was introduced to the chickens when she got here and didn't get antsy about chasing or hurting them at all. And she don't mind the cats, but they are very uneasy around her. She has already let the cats know that they are not welcome to eat her food. This breed of dog are easily trained to care for animals and critters on the farm. This is why she is going to be a valuable asset here. Luna seems very content so far and I am sure much to the delight of her former owners. Thanks Eric and Crystal.
Some friends have ask me to post a recipe that I use for pear preserves. This recipe is very easy and delicious. So here goes.

Pear Preserves:

Pick pears from the tree a week or so before canning them as they do not ripen on the tree.
4 cups of pears, peeled, cored and sliced in small slices
2 cups of sugar

Let pears stand overnight covered with the sugar. In the morning put on low heat and cook slowly till thick and tender. They should be an amber color.
When the preserves are to desired thickness, ladle into hot pint jars leaving 1/4 inch head space and put on hot lids. Then you can process in hot water bath for 20 minutes.
I personally do not water bath jams, jellys, or preserves. But canning books recommend it.
*The liquid part of the preserves should be the consistency of warm honey. These have the richness of honey. Enjoy.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

Making Mulberry Jelly

Today was jelly making day on the homestead. A good friend had sent me some mulberries and I made some of the best tasting jelly. I can really understand why its not a good idea to make jam with mulberries, they have so many tiny little seeds, more than any other berry that I know.

First in the process was to extract the juice from the berries. I put the crushed berries and 1/2 cup of water in a large kettle and let them simmer for about 15 minutes. Then strained them through a double layer of jelly bags. I catch the juice in a large measuring bowl. Let the jelly bag drip for a few hours to get all the juice or the amount you need for the recipe. Do not squeeze or press the berries if you want the jelly to be clear, otherwise the tiny bits of pulp that are forced through the bag will make a cloudy jelly.

Measure out 9 cups of juice, add 1/2 cup of lemon juice (mulberries are very sweet) and stir in 2 pkgs of Sure Jell. Place on the heat and bring to a full boil, one that cant be stirred down. All at once add 13 cups of pure cane sugar and stir well. Bring back to a full rolling boil and boil for 2 minutes. Stirring constantly. Remove from heat and ladle into hot jars and put on lids and rings. When sealed this can be stored and enjoyed anytime of the year.
This recipe sets beautifully. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella