tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88732169158235077282024-02-18T17:47:18.285-08:00Adventures in Country Living at Shalom Engedi FarmWelcome to my blog about the everyday happenings of soon to be countrified family from the little city. A long awaited adventure of God proportions!anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-83566106845166930872015-06-18T15:41:00.000-07:002015-06-18T15:41:16.311-07:00A New Beginning.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes you go away and take a little break and don't come back for a year and a half.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's kinda like going to the garden to bring out the compost after breakfast and not coming back in till you're starving for lunch. That's just what happens to me sometimes. My short break from blogging went a little longer than I thought it would...time just slipped by and I was busy doing lots of fun things and then the more time went by the harder it was to get started again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So here I am. Some dear friends have been <strike>nagging</strike>...I mean... gently encouraging me to get back to work and I thought today was as good a day as any other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This building is the newest addition to our farm buildings built by our SIL. It's a10x10 - the largest we could legally build without a permit and it's right next door to my garden. It's a peaceful spot for tea with a friend or a place to sit and sort seeds and it held my vegetable plants for a few weeks when the house was overflowing in early spring. It has a tin roof so it's also a great place to sit and listen to the rain. We found the old windows and the French door in the garage when we moved here. As much as possible was recycled but I did want a leak proof roof so that was new.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It's filled with tools and gardening bits and bobs plus an old wooden table and chairs dragged off the side of the road and brought home by my loving husband who knew I would find a spot and a use for it. The Sweets & Treats sign was repurposed from my daughters wedding last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I still look around myself every day and am filled with gratitude for this life we've made here out in the country. Next week we will have been here 5 years...it's as good as I imagined and better!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm looking forward to sharing some of the things I've learned...I've just got to run out to the garden with the compost - be right back!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-49423077727260806482013-12-02T06:42:00.000-08:002013-12-02T06:42:18.917-08:00A Cozy Barn in the Wintertime - doing chores<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter showed up early this year with a snow fall last week. I'm not a fan of winter and do all I can to stay warm and cozy IN-side but there is one thing I love about a fresh snow fall - spending time in the barn. That might not sound like it makes sense but we have a lovely old bank barn that is snuggled down into a hillside which protects it from the worst of the wind and blowing snow. Inside there's a quiet that's hard to describe. The snow deadens sounds and even the wind blowing past the open doors sounds different. It's a peaceful surreal experience to stand at the back doors and look out over the snow covered hills - I always sigh with contentment and say to myself (and anyone who will listen) - wow - we live here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe-the-Donkey and the sheep seem content to be left to decide for themselves if they want to go outside. They check out the weather and usually decide that warm and dry in the run-in is much more appealing. Although they are noisy while waiting for their morning hay as soon as I throw it down they settle in to munching quietly. They seem to have a little conversation each morning to decide who's day it is to eat beside Maybe who can be a bear when she's hungry! Meanwhile t</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">he barn cats peek out from the bottom of the feeder warm and lazy from spending the night in a kitty pile under the leftover hay. Once the watering trough is refilled and augmented with a stock tank heater to keep it from freezing chores are done for a few hours on that side of the barn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The other side of the barn holds all our poultry. Right now we have chickens at various stages. One pen holds mama and 11 late season hatchlings - these are the babies we heard peeping as we walked up to the house after being away for the Thanksgiving weekend. Mama had hatched them out somewhere in the garden. The chicks are feathered out now and sitting high up on the perch with mama. I love listening to their contented sounds and how excited they get when mama wants to show they something - they all come running and peck and scratch just where she tells them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Pen two is a feather-footed banty Cochin Mama with 4 teenagers. Even after adding our last batch of 75 store-bought meat birds chicks to the pen for mama to take care of in late August these 4 original chicks are bonded to her. They go everywhere together and since we had an extra pen we decided to let them stay together instead of being thrown in with the general population.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Our ducks stay together in a pen throughout the winter but in the spring time we have to separate them when spring-fever hits because the males tend to fight. Rain or shine, snow or howling winds the ducks want to be outside. They don't seem to mind even the worst weather - although huge snow drifts are a challenge. They drink out of the potholes in the driveway when the snow melts and beg when I'm pumping water out of the cistern to water the other animals. They particularly like to hang out around the back door in the winter because it's sheltered from the wind and on the south side so it catches lots of sun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Our main pen holds our layer flock. Brave and industrious they travel to the far reaches of the farm in the summer but when the snow flies they lose all ambition and are happy to stay inside where's it's warm and dry. Entertainment comes in the form of pumpkins to peck - oh happy day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">One great blessing recently came from an unexpected source - Hydro One. Our local electricity provider called and asked if we would like to be part of a new program for farms designed to help reduce our energy consumption. They offered to install up to $3000.00 in LED light bulbs in the barn at no cost to us. After double-checking the details - which seemed too good to be true - we said yes. They sent out a nice young lady to make a count of how many bulbs we needed and several weeks later an electrician arrived to install them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lighting has always been an issue in the barn. Perhaps it's because I am getting older but I like to see what I'm doing! In the past we tried to reduce our expenses by purchasing what we call curly-fry light bulbs. We never had any success with them. In cold weather they don't work well and we have had a few break which was a hazard to the animals. The new lights are rather strange looking specimens and don't look like any light bulbs l have ever seen before but I can tell you this - wow - they light up the barn in a way that no incandescent bulb ever did. I was pleasantly surprised and they make doing chores even nicer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Winter chores consist of refilling feeders, keeping pens tidy and trying to find ways to keep the water containers from freezing. We've tried just about everything over the past years and have an assortment of waterers to rival TSC. The east side of the barn has two windows which I replaced with hardware cloth for the summer but that side of the barn gets it's share of wind and snow blowing in so last year I covered the hardware cloth with plastic. It didn't work as well as I had hoped. This fall I had an epiphany - I have a collection of old windows (we drag all kinds of useful stuff off the side of the road) and wouldn't you know - I had windows that fit perfectly. I screwed the wooden frames right in and will be able to unscrew them in the spring in less than a minute (why didn't I think of that before??) The pens are much warmer and even though we had a couple of nights at minus 16 the waterers didn't freeze. We also have more chickens this year so their combined body heat also helps to keep the coop warmer. Our other trick is heated dog bowls - it's a mixed blessing for birds. It keeps the water defrosted but it makes a great perch and when birds perch they poop. Eww. I have plans and all the parts for a super-doper new heated watering system for the chickens but since my plumbing skills are nil I will need to watch some videos first and it probably won't get finished until next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Every year things get easier - or maybe we just get smarter! Through trial and error that you can't learn in a book we have changed and adapted our routines and found what works best for us. When I'm having a bad day I remember the first winter and having to climb over a fence with pails of water in the blowing snow to get into the barn - things are so much easier now!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I never look forward to winter but once it's here I remember it's not that bad. Spending time with my son in that peaceful stillness beats living in the city ANY day!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-24420973146271686172013-11-13T03:57:00.001-08:002013-11-13T03:57:16.701-08:00Eight is NOT enough<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was out shopping the other day at one of my favorite stores. If you know me at all you might guess that it wasn't a high-end clothing store or an expensive boutique but instead the lowly local thrift store. Thrift stores fascinate me on several levels. It's fun to laugh at the horrible/awful clothing choices that someone decided to finally get rid of after actually PAYING for it in the first place. It's a treasure trove of useful household goods, a bizarre assortment of home decorating items, a graveyard for countertop appliances, plus the leftover flotsam and jetsam of someone's life and occasionally a wondrously-amazing-find.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I spent all of 50c on my find this week and of all the things I bought it wasn't the 2 wide mouth pint canning jars, or the 50c gardening magazines (for the bathroom magazine rack) or the really cute vintage bridal shower invitations and napkins or the vintage wedding congratulations card (that my soon-to-be-married daughter requested that I buy to give her on her wedding day) that was on my mind at 4am - it was a cute little package of cards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had to dig for them. They were buried in a basket and had obviously been there for awhile already after languishing in someone's drawer for the last 20 years. Still wrapped in the original cellophane they look brand new except you know they aren't simply because the art of paper letter writing is almost lost to our generation. Why write and mail a letter when you can send a quick message via email or instant messaging...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Don't get me wrong I love email as much or more than the average person but these cards are from a different time. Remember those days when you had to pick up the phone and actually catch them at HOME in order to talk to them?? or when you wrote a quick note and had to find a stamp to mail it...I remember getting a computer and having email for the very first time and swearing I wouldn't stop writing hand written cards and messages...it was with good intentions but I failed to keep my vow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So what is it about these little 3x4" cards with mini envelopes that has me so intrigued?? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The message on the front of the card reads: </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I Treasure your Friendship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That's it. That is what is keeping me awake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've written before about the struggle of moving here and all the changes that have come of leaving some of my friends behind. Perhaps it would have happened anyway but some friendships came to an end all at the same time which just happened to be when we moved here. In all that time I have been pondering and perhaps grieving that loss while wondering what the future of my social life would look like. Crazy Cat Lady-like? Hillbilly Princess wearing a skirt and poopy boots or maybe Minnie Pearl-esque with the price tags hanging on the outside of my clothes...although that might not be too far a stretch since I went out to lunch today with my sweater on in-side-out...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've been busy so I haven't thought about my "friend-dilemma" much lately - that is until I found the cards the other day. There's 8 cards in the package and that's what excited me! Eight was NOT enough. Without realizing it over time new friends have slipped into my life and taken over a piece of my heart. Family are of course the best friends I have and who have always been there, some others are old friends I'd lost touch and reconnected with, some have just moved around from the fringes of my life to the center and some are brand-spanking new...I feel so blessed and loved. Here's just a few examples:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Two weeks ago my DH and I went away for a weekend. We had such a wonderful time. We were treated to Bed and Breakfast like accommodations and wonderful company. We canned and chit chatted and laughed and had a few serious conversations as well. What a great weekend. Everything was going so well until our vehicle broke down on the way home in the middle of nowhere. DH and I sat and looked at each other and decided we were not going to be upset - we were just going to relax and try to find the humor in our situation. We texted our friends who got back to us with phone numbers and concern, called CAA, texted our mechanic friend 3 hours away and asked if he could fix our vehicle and put us up for the night (and then cracked open the still-hot-chili we had canned that day and had supper). What really struck us was how wonderfully supported we felt. Since then I have become more aware of what was right in front of me - all those lovely old and new friends (and my dad who rescued us and drove us the rest of the way home - thanks Dad!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Last weekend we attended the funeral of a much-loved uncle and there surrounded by family and friends I was struck again by how many loving connections I have in my life, how I often take it all for granted and how incredibly blessed I am.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">...but then of course there's the friend I went out for lunch with yesterday who didn't mention my wardrobe malfunction until AFTERwards! ha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I wish I could send each and everyone of you one of these sweet little cards. Whether I know you in "real life" or "the net" - </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">I Treasure your Friendship</span>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thanks for being there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-24306878384727586152013-09-09T07:50:00.000-07:002013-09-09T07:50:41.022-07:00What DID get accomplished at Shalom Engedi Farm this summer?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summer is drawing to a close and honestly I always feel a little sad when September rolls around. Cooler fall weather will soon be here and the lazy days (cough cough) of summer will soon be behind us. As life changes gears once again into more activities away from home I have the sense that I need to cram as much into the next few weeks as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My To-Do-List-That-Never-Ends has a few items that if not done soon will need to wait till next year. I find myself re-prioritizing to bump up some painting projects and bump down some gardening plans like setting up the hoop house. I'm making some trade-offs when I wish I didn't have to.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't get as much outdoor painting done as I wanted to.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My gardens around the house are a mess - especially by the back door where the 8 kittens and three cats like to play. They sit in my flower planters and squish all the flowers, they have knocked my window box over so many times it looks like it's been through the war, they play hide-and-seek amongst the plants - which I have to admit is really cute...however!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My basement has exploded as I try to find places for all my canning plus the leftover jars and equipment.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I lost a whole box of cucumbers that a friend gave me because I couldn't keep up and I fed a half bushel of going-going-almost-gone apples to the animals (who loved them) for the same reason.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My garden scheme has far too much ragweed in it!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't hang as much laundry outside as I wanted to.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several friends have mentioned lately their frustration in not being to keep up with everything on their list of things to do and all of them have incredibly busy and complicated lives - what ever gave us the idea that we had to do it all - right now? <a href="http://backyardfarmyard.blogspot.ca/">Send some love to Mrs. T</a> if you have a minute - she just moved to her homestead this spring and has some great stories to share about how things are going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am guilty of this as well. My mother has told me many times: Rome wasn't built in a day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I decided to look back and celebrate what DID get accomplished this summer.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got the barn repaired - everything is nice and tight and the eaves troughs are doing their job.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We cleaned up an old burn pile/garbage pit that contained years of old metal and junk. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We built a chicken coop that has functioned wonderfully!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will have raised three batches of meat chickens this year - the most ever so far - and increased our layer hen flock to 100 birds.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I painted the garage and besides a little piece I can't reach - it's done.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I painted some outdoor furniture.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I fenced the front garden and expanded it greatly.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We added more fruit bushes and learned how to prune others for better production.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We cut and hauled firewood from some trees we had cut down.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got more total canning done this year than any year ever before and I am still in full canning mode.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I learned how to make soap and my first solo batch is drying and looking wonderful!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got the driveway fixed - more parking area and less bumps.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are almost finished fencing the back paddock - my fencing guy has gone AWOL - it will hopefully be done this week.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I survived a fridge meltdown in mid summer!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've become better organized in some areas. I'm still figuring out what works best in terms of where to put stuff for ease of access on the farm. It's getting better.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're getting to know our 80+ year old neighbour who used to live in our home and is full of great stories and information about our community and how things were way-back-when.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've taken time for family and friends and FUN.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In between all this there's all the regular stuff - like some of our kids getting married and another sweet couple engaged and then every day chores and just life chaos in general.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless of where you live and what is going on in your life are you taking time out to ENJOY it? There's always lots to do and the list never seems to end - time for a cup of tea and a walk around the garden. How do you manage your To-Do List?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-20552070330319616002013-08-20T15:07:00.000-07:002013-08-20T15:07:09.427-07:00A Dozen No Cost Ways to become more prepared <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Often becoming more prepared for life's curve balls has a lot to do with getting better organized and less to do with spending a ton of money. I've come up with 12 simple FREE ways to help us all to head down the road of preparedness while getting better organized. Maybe you've already got some of these covered - check it off the list and move on. If not why not add some of these to your to-do list.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Step by step to getting prepared for emergencies.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Make a contact list with phone numbers and ICE (In Case of Emergency) numbers. When the power goes out and your cellphone dies with all your phone numbers in it you will thank me. Years ago we were stuck on a highway in northern Ontario because an accident had closed the road. A woman was walking from car to car asking if anyone had a charger for her specific type of phone - not so she could make a phone call but so she could look up the phone number she needed that was only located in her dead phone. Keeping the lines of communication open in any situation is important. Post the list in a handy place - the side of the fridge for example and also keep a copy in your purse of wallet. Add an ICE contact to the main screen of your cell phone so emergency personal can find it quickly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Put away some water. When you're getting started you don't need fancy water storage containers - you can find all you need in your own recycle bin or the neighbours perhaps. Wash and fill juice or pop containers with tap water and put them in an out of the way spot. You can also place almost full jugs in the freezer to make it more efficient and to extend the freeze if the power goes out. If you re-use empty bleach bottles or vinegar bottles mark them clearly - FOR CLEANING or flushing PURPOSES ONLY.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Create a starter BOB/GHB with things you already own. BOB is an acronym for a Bug Out Bag and GHB is a Get Home Bag. It basically a bag full of helpful items that you might need if you ever had to leave home in a hurry or you wanted to get home in less than ideal circumstances. I wonder if the most common reason for not having a BOB is that you can't make a perfect one so you don't make one at all? Grab an old knapsack and look around the house. Throw in an extra blanket, some granola bars and a flashlight and you have a start. I recommend going beyond that but the key is to get started and to use what you already have.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Keep the BOB in your vehicle or close to the back door so you can grab it if you need to leave in a hurry. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Make a binder with super simple recipes. I'm all for gourmet meals but when life gets complicated I just want to eat things I am used to and the simpler the better. I know how to make many things without a recipe but no one else can make it like mom if it's not written down some where! Start a recipe box or a binder and write out explicit instructions for making your family favorites.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Search the house for all those random candles and put them together with some matches in a closet or drawer where you can find them if you need them. Look for flashlights while you're at it and check the batteries. Leave a little LED flashlight beside every bed or hang them on the back side of the door on the handle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Find time to do the most important things. We all have an idea about the things we would like to accomplish but often we end up doing things every day that waste time - too much Facebook or surfing the net maybe?? - cut down on the time wasters and put your plans into action. Find ways to incorporate more good things like exercise and healthy eating into your routine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Find money to purchase the most important things by checking your spending - look for money-wasters as ways to save so you can use the money for stocking up or taking a First Aid course. Eating out or fast food - count the cost of what your meal would cost you at home - take note however because somehow it doesn't taste as good then!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />8. Use what you have! You know you have that certain item somewhere but you can't remember where it is so you buy another one. Get organized so you can find it and then get creative using up what you already have. Need bathtub cleaner? Why not use that horrible shampoo that's been languishing in the back of the closet. It's still soap! Use the random cleaners up (and then switch to vinegar for cleaning and make your own homemade laundry detergent to save even more!) Eat to the bottom of the freezer or the pantry and use up the little bits and the leftovers - it may save you a week or more worth of grocery money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />8. Get prepared for being prepared by cleaning out a closet or an area in the basement/garage/laundry room where you can keep some shelf stable food or keep some camping gear a little more handy. Being organized will spur you on to do even more!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />9. Search your home for containers and organizers to stash your preparedness supplies. Got baskets, fancy boxes, leftover shoe boxes, Dutchman's Tupperware (aka yogurt containers)? Keep them all together to help you keep your purchases organized when finances allow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. While you're cleaning out your closets take a hard look at what you have and what you actually need. Donate the good stuff to a thrift store and dump the rest. Make room for things that really matter.<br /><br />11. Clean and organize your vehicle and add basics supplies. A clean vehicle is one less stressor in the day. Keep it tidy. Do you have a set of booster cables in the garage - they won't help you if your battery dies in the Costco parking lot! Put a plastic bin in the trunk and fill it with windshield wiper fluid, oil, fix-a-flat etc. Look around for what you already have and make a list if you still need some things. Think about what else you might like to have if you're stuck on the side of the road with hungry and bored kids. Hand sanitizer, water bottles, snacks, a few books to read. Keep them corralled so they don't end up under the seat with the squished up cheerios!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12. Start a change jar and keep your quarters and toonies and loonies.(or $1/$2 if you aren't Canadian) OK this last one will cost money but starting the jar with the change under the couch cushions </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">will hopefully start a good habit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What your favorite no-cost way to prep?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-36779210848558286772013-08-07T07:06:00.000-07:002013-08-07T07:06:18.819-07:00Canning in full swing 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's summertime and canning in full swing! I am grateful that this past week has not been as hot as earlier this summer - it certainly makes canning and gardening a little more pleasant. My garden is coming along but it is in a multiple-year process of going from a weed-tree-plastic pot-garbage filled total disaster to a lovely-mulchy-productive patch of vegetables, herbs and flowers. In other words - I'm still working on it! This year we've been dumping loads and loads of mulch and spent hay and straw on it. For it's size it's still not nearly as productive as it could be but that's because there's only so many hours in a day. Oh but next year...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime I am preserving much of the bounty but I obviously don't grow pineapples in Ontario Canada. WE do however love pineapple. So why don't I buy it in a can at the grocery store and save myself all the trouble? I could wax poetic about canning jars again but I'll restrain myself and just say </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bisphenol A</span><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: small;">. </b><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2010/10/13/bpa-toxic.html">BPA </a>is </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.890625px;"> found in resins that coat the interior of food cans to prevent corrosion, has been shown to mimic the hormone estrogen and does not occur naturally in the environment. It's nasty stuff that has been linked to breast cancer, fertility issues and behavior problems in children (maybe adults too??) Almost all canned food has the lining and we are working hard to get rid of cans but we have a way to go. Although Canada has labeled BPA as a toxic substance it is still allowed in certain instances. I buy as much as possible in glass jars - like tomato sauce when I run out of homemade - but what to do about pineapples?? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.890625px;">I decided to can it myself! I waited for a sale - No Frills this week was $1.77. The fruit was on the small side but I was still able to get 18 pints out of ten pineapples so when the cost is broken down it was either the same as on sale in a can from the grocery store or slightly cheaper to can them myself. Not eating BPA and seeing the golden yellow jars sealing on the counter was the bonus!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.890625px;">The process was simple. I prepared the pineapple by cutting the top and bottom off the fruit and sliced down the sides to remove the peel. Using a pairing knife I sliced off as many of the eyes as I could - there were still some little black flecks but it didn't seem to matter. I sliced off the good stuff and chopped it into chunks that were added to a large pot. I threw in the whole cores as well and added enough apple juice to just barely cover the bits and heated it through. I pulled the cores out before I filled the jars - they were just in there to draw out as much juice as possible. Everything was water bath canned following proper canning techniques for 15 minutes for pints. It would be 20 minutes for quarts but that's a lot of pineapple to use in one day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.890625px;">My goal with canning anything is to put away enough for a whole year but I have discovered a problem with my math. If we would normally eat 1 can of grocery store pineapple a week on average it seems we eat twice as much as soon as I home can anything. I'm starting with 20 pineapples this year and we'll see how it goes. Homemade Hawaiian pizza is on the menu for this week!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's green bean season as well. Momma Mia there's lots of beans this year. I have to admit I am not a big fan of canned beans but I did do some - the rest are frozen and some will be used to make canned soup later in the summer when more vegetables are ready. I bribed the guys with ice cream to get them to help prepare the beans and they happily obliged. Well actually I told them they couldn't have dessert until the beans were done - ha!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been using up the leftover layer hen chicken in the freezer by making layered soup. I found the recipe on Canning Granny's site. Here's a link:<a href="http://canninggranny.blogspot.ca/2012/02/grab-n-go-canned-soup-part-3-layered.html"> Layered Soup</a> I added salt, pepper and garlic to her recipe. It's pretty flexible on how much and which vegetables to use - I ran out of beans at one point as you can see in the picture and used peas instead - it's our favorite soup.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ipeD3MFSgYaz8mLECVPgTrqiO8dBuen4IUMOOIQI8sG30NxajA_qpZ-RghM1EWHPXwz3-7J1mxrMvrJdikJz1Ohvz7SImfJD2xfFLEkJ8KX6fUnIyBh4xMgOc18dRGkFtsxuUz0krQY/s1600/canning+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ipeD3MFSgYaz8mLECVPgTrqiO8dBuen4IUMOOIQI8sG30NxajA_qpZ-RghM1EWHPXwz3-7J1mxrMvrJdikJz1Ohvz7SImfJD2xfFLEkJ8KX6fUnIyBh4xMgOc18dRGkFtsxuUz0krQY/s640/canning+004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried something new this year - red currant syrup. We have lots of red currants and they are a fruit I don't always know what to do with. There's only so much jam a family can eat. It's not exactly smoothie material because it's tart and the seeds and the skins just spoil it for me so I made syrup instead. I washed the berries and added 1 cup of sugar for every two cups of berries. I brought it to a simmer for a few minutes and then put it through a manual food mill to push out the juice and separate it from the seeds and the peels. It was canned in 1/4 pints and will be used for some special desserts I am planning for the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are you canning right now??</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-35445131152826330382013-07-10T07:38:00.001-07:002013-07-10T07:38:17.689-07:00A Preppers Meet<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a busy time of the year - when isn't it busy! -but last weekend my husband and I took off and traveled quite a distance to meet with some like-minded-soon-to-be-friends. You might wonder why that would deserve a blog post all it's own but it was such a great event and I want to share some of the highlights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We weren't a big group - a bakers dozen in all - who had "met" on the internet through a website called the International Preppers Network - we were the Canadian contingent of course. Each of us came with different skills and abilities, lots of questions and admittedly some fear of the unknown as well. This is the internet age and cross-country or cross-continent communication is all the rage but meeting someone face-to-face has more risk to it. I could comment and say - how sad that we've sunk so low that meeting with a stranger has to be such a big deal. However - we all braved the unknown and what we discovered was beautiful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We met at a conservation area and were thankful to have the use of a picnic shelter for the day as it did rain off and on. The weather was warm and muggy and the mosquitoes were in their happy-place eating us alive until one very smart prepper pulled out the new <a href="http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Camping/MosquitoRepellents/PRDOVR~0593540P/OFF!+PowerPad+Mosquito+Lamp.jsp?locale=en">OFF Powerpad Mosquito Lamp </a> - It worked really well and reduced the bugs to almost nothing. They are definitely on my list!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With so much in common from our shared interests we started the chit chatting right away - in fact we had to rein in the conversations long enough to eat the wonderful potluck meal. Lots of laughter and fun and great conversations about building a chicken coop without giving up the man-cave, how to raise rabbits for meat and ear muffs, the basic needs of being prepared for an emergency, life in your community, how to grow garlic and how not to grow garlic and what mylar bags are used for. Later we shared what we wanted to learn next on our prepping journey and opened the conversation for others more knowledgeable to give us some advice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We talked about canning and did a canning swap - I can't wait to try out some of the new jars of food I brought home. We brought some things to barter and had some good-natured conversations about whether some homemade buns were worth 3 or 4 mylar bags? or who wanted the homemade salve the most and what they were willing to trade for it. We traded for cookbooks, sewing needles, an Esbet stove, homemade soap, homemade buns and of course toilet paper!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a demonstration on how to make <a href="http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2012/06/going-homestead-hippie-home-made.html">home made deodorant</a> and we talked at length about how to make <a href="http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2011/12/homemade-laundry-soap.html">homemade laundry soap</a>. The tips flew as new friendships were made and old ones more deeply established.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later in the day a nature walk was organized to look for plants that could be used as food or medicine. I admit to staying back and huddling around the mosquito lamp as the bugs LOVE me but in the meantime I had some really great conversations with some others who stayed behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you've ever thought of going to a meet but chicken'd out I want to encourage you to give it a try. Please do be wise and meet in a public place and use common sense but don't let your fear stop you from attending. You may find what I did - a great learning opportunity and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a group of new like-minded friends</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-25697141035226731912013-07-04T17:25:00.001-07:002013-07-04T17:27:19.844-07:00Chicken Feeders, Nesting Boxes and Outdoor Runs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought I would take some pictures of my red-neck/simple set-ups for the animals. Below you can see a portable outdoor run made from a dog kennel we found on kijiji. I wanted a safe place for the chicks to go outside without being bothered by the other chickens and ducks. Their mothers were very protective and weren't letting them out at all through the main door. I can't say I blame them it's like rush hour in there when all the animals are being let out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was cheaper than building anything out of wood and hardware cloth. I added a small tarp for shade and some chicken wire to the bottom around most of it to keep the chicks contained to some extent. They are still able to sneak out through some holes but they can also get back in when no one else can - a very handy place to run if they feel threatened. It looks a little messy so it won't stay there permanently. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJZwtIohOHvBTIb83BnHSXMEgWIOwmZFtQh6L_d2z4W78n7XfxbTnM6TYy-SztzYDYhw3c-vVVK3PVayfg6Pn-9554hwdvvoQrQOgPm3t7nJ0ACMwFkcXjBPIHJet79474tsFtsywJWc/s1600/chicken+coop+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJZwtIohOHvBTIb83BnHSXMEgWIOwmZFtQh6L_d2z4W78n7XfxbTnM6TYy-SztzYDYhw3c-vVVK3PVayfg6Pn-9554hwdvvoQrQOgPm3t7nJ0ACMwFkcXjBPIHJet79474tsFtsywJWc/s640/chicken+coop+016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the inside of the same pen. The chicks were too small to fly up to the window sill so I built them a ladder out of an old piece of barn board and some shims for the "steps". It works pretty well. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiboWM5XpGjcJkzw5GjvxpUsbaNqdn18m-Vvbd1mgeddj7f6YmanDuzYgZAgAaxYH9h72G6J5EwEWg8Dhx_27BSxyKyZiHtMIAgjlVcQarA_WHlVRjOK2p6zyuWJ9ptEI9HUmog4y1E70U/s1600/chicken+coop+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiboWM5XpGjcJkzw5GjvxpUsbaNqdn18m-Vvbd1mgeddj7f6YmanDuzYgZAgAaxYH9h72G6J5EwEWg8Dhx_27BSxyKyZiHtMIAgjlVcQarA_WHlVRjOK2p6zyuWJ9ptEI9HUmog4y1E70U/s640/chicken+coop+022.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a close up view of the chicken feeder I was writing about the other day. It's so simple and I am more than pleased with it. We ended up building an extra one for outside because getting into the coop and filling it up was risking your life some days! The chickens were so hungry they would peck and scratch your feet trying to get at the feed bucket. Adding another feeder outside means we can fill it up before we let them out and refill the inside one while they're busy eating we fill the inside one and shut the door.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFTdcvo9nqIBOgG76_hrBKkxJPQ5m_3Tx_7OZeuuwDSTrS3LbpDUW9Rlvs6SZMTZ164DsFubS3F8_g1_qMn1MmmHxPT-H44VZgLEkIBptwhpH9pYNw5eD0ymrCGIGVzIpYaR6GZJnT_Y/s1600/chicken+coop+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFTdcvo9nqIBOgG76_hrBKkxJPQ5m_3Tx_7OZeuuwDSTrS3LbpDUW9Rlvs6SZMTZ164DsFubS3F8_g1_qMn1MmmHxPT-H44VZgLEkIBptwhpH9pYNw5eD0ymrCGIGVzIpYaR6GZJnT_Y/s640/chicken+coop+007.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One 10 foot eaves trough and two ends plus 4 feet of 2x4 and a few screws: total cost brand new is under $20.00 and it's better and more efficient than any plastic or metal feeder I've ever bought!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKA45kyiZWqzC9P77XmzleNvYPH4F0fYf-nxAS6VgLCX8g7bkYUe60NHyWVVoUv3jdZbOEHVzzn5lS1ilMcam2Tsnj8KXM37YEtDIcSkE8teWmOjEg9YnugPkV9iRu3GEAuV_YYtrN0kw/s1600/chicken+coop+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKA45kyiZWqzC9P77XmzleNvYPH4F0fYf-nxAS6VgLCX8g7bkYUe60NHyWVVoUv3jdZbOEHVzzn5lS1ilMcam2Tsnj8KXM37YEtDIcSkE8teWmOjEg9YnugPkV9iRu3GEAuV_YYtrN0kw/s640/chicken+coop+012.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One other great idea is using these storage buckets as nesting boxes. We already have almost 20 nesting boxes in their coops but as soon as we let them out there are a few chickens that just gotta do it THEIR WAY! They want to lay in the hallway so I beat them at their game and left nesting boxes there for them too. It's better than searching high and low for missing eggs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn0jH2tr2OoojWFrvFmqGonypF2s11D7OYtpuJv8SsRyjNCEmLAJPJlC25ZoAiRTyZ1h-g70Wdwkl2I3MaXtuQSBDxb1X2TNTp1dllUR99XRNfWYdvrdl0FZPU-u4Q-SMCG5s21WIdLSQ/s1600/chicken+coop+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn0jH2tr2OoojWFrvFmqGonypF2s11D7OYtpuJv8SsRyjNCEmLAJPJlC25ZoAiRTyZ1h-g70Wdwkl2I3MaXtuQSBDxb1X2TNTp1dllUR99XRNfWYdvrdl0FZPU-u4Q-SMCG5s21WIdLSQ/s640/chicken+coop+043.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since there's always room in a post for a picture of a kitten here's my favorite one this week. She's sleeping on the window sill. We have 8 little fur-balls growing up right in front of the kitchen window this year. There were two litters about three weeks apart. All of them are black with little white hairs. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWM6DHFbsxLCJteNfY6jIcb6UAvLMdZsFZOlQdFyJyneCotRlj37hD_JxSuT37CNfKOaN_rfxYtSthumv6YHrcCtCJgUL3V4K9tdtllnHSPR7QMMDGlfNimKReee5Vlod7ZVdMTwJq_lk/s1600/chicken+coop+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWM6DHFbsxLCJteNfY6jIcb6UAvLMdZsFZOlQdFyJyneCotRlj37hD_JxSuT37CNfKOaN_rfxYtSthumv6YHrcCtCJgUL3V4K9tdtllnHSPR7QMMDGlfNimKReee5Vlod7ZVdMTwJq_lk/s640/chicken+coop+003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sleep well little kitty!</span></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-30471206627133544492013-06-28T20:08:00.001-07:002013-06-28T20:08:24.136-07:00Our homemade chicken coop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphtc6OtfUK69ETcNlLtWx3hhwaXo4ywVhMxoWIRv-1FTk3TwiS2sp0WmD9rHm4zk7AYwkwoTS1kOYg5yA5l14Ne8Htb7gZcs9mOFVxG8iAuWVVN2fTdAnCH8LW2M2DolZohwpWgpkhxY/s1600/painting+garage+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphtc6OtfUK69ETcNlLtWx3hhwaXo4ywVhMxoWIRv-1FTk3TwiS2sp0WmD9rHm4zk7AYwkwoTS1kOYg5yA5l14Ne8Htb7gZcs9mOFVxG8iAuWVVN2fTdAnCH8LW2M2DolZohwpWgpkhxY/s640/painting+garage+013.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've been raising meat chickens for a few years now and each year we've learned a few things to add to our list of disasters and a few to add to our triumphs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me explain how we started. A few years ago when we lived in the city we built the worlds most expensive chicken coop. You can read about it <a href="http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2011/12/urban-chickens.html">here</a>. In many ways it was fabulous - for 6 chickens. When you get a few more - like 50 meat birds - it won't do at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every summer that we've had chickens at the farm they've been in different pens. We would solve one problem by making a change the next year only to create more problems we didn't anticipate. The first year we used the only pen we had available in the barn but it was a little small for the 60 chickens that lived in it. We figured they would be outside most of the time anyway and it WOULD BE FINE. Leaving the feed in their pen at all times was also a mistake as it caused them to grow too fast. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We didn't get the chicks until September which meant they needed 8 weeks to grow to full size which also meant we were getting into wintery weather by the time they left. Oh dear - can you say chicken poop? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> They were the laziest chickens you ever saw. They hated going outside even though we chased them outside every day. They just sat and got fat and pooped. End of story. By the time they were ready for the butcher we were REALLY happy to get rid of them because the coop was impossible to keep clean. Without enough exercise and with too much food they got so big they had leg problems too so we lost a few birds in the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fast forward to the next spring when we had the great idea to build them a huge pen. You can read about that <a href="http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2012/06/new-chicken-pen-in-jesus-tomb.html">here</a>. It was such a good idea except now we couldn't get them to gain weight because they got TOO MUCH exercise. They didn't have any leg problems though!. After a few extra weeks of feed before we brought them to the butcher we ended up with really yummy but rather scrawny birds. Sigh* I don't think we got close to breaking even when we sold them that year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So - lets try that again!!! We recently purchased an old dog kennel through Kijiji - it's 5x15 feet and made of chain link with a good sturdy door. We know from our past coops that Overkilled Fort Knox is the way to go. There can be NO WAY for animals to get in or reach in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We started by wiring the chain link fencing on far more securely than it was originally - we wanted to keep a dog (and others) OUT! We used two 4 foot pieces of hardware cloth on the ground and zip ties to connect them together - slightly overlapping the pieces. This provides a strong bottom so predator animals can't dig under the coop.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0COu2X_pcXyfhM1rO4uH_Y56uRlRzI63TbGd38xXm-egltbZPeUop_HVsz4bQTe82M3lY-8lbWUYz_gTuuaDXvkq8kdMvI1DqT8ACzTaJHo-xtoIHPtRCULc2DiycXAdpcHSv7Zo1Ds/s1600/lawnmowers+sheep+073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0COu2X_pcXyfhM1rO4uH_Y56uRlRzI63TbGd38xXm-egltbZPeUop_HVsz4bQTe82M3lY-8lbWUYz_gTuuaDXvkq8kdMvI1DqT8ACzTaJHo-xtoIHPtRCULc2DiycXAdpcHSv7Zo1Ds/s640/lawnmowers+sheep+073.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we wrapped the top edge of the kennel with 3 foot wide hardware cloth - attaching it with zip ties as well. The bottom section is a full sheet of lattice. It covers the hardware cloth on the top and is connected with zip ties again to the frame and the hardware cloth that makes up the floor. The roof is plywood sheets cut to fit so there is a 6 inch overhang ( 4 sheets cut to 6 feet each - the roof is 6 feet wide and 16 feet long) We cut an old tarp to size and stapled it on top. We were going to have the tarp overhang and peg it to the ground but it made the interior too dark. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took some creative cutting to fill in all the little spaces around the door to create a tight fit but with enough space that we could still open the door.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After adding shavings and a waterer we had to solve the problem of feeding 50 starving chickens at once without them killing each other in the process. They get pretty excited when they're hungry. We have multiple feeders but they never seemed enough. I solved the problem by purchasing a new 10 foot eaves trough with ends and screwed some 1 foot pieces of an old 2x4 across the bottom to act as feet - I used four pieces. When it's situated in the middle of the coop the chickens can access it from both sides and finally there is room for everyone to eat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The coop is bright and airy and doesn't smell bad at all...of course I am not really an expert on that subject! There is great air flow, plenty of space but not too much space and it's a safe place for them to spend the night. We also built the coop within sight of the kitchen window so I can keep an eye on them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In past years we let them free range as far as they wanted to - but sometimes they didn't come back. Our losses were just too great so this year they are kept in a large fenced area. They still have access to plants and bugs and sunshine but they don't disappear as someones lunch! So far this year we haven't lost any birds to predators.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also situated the coop in the shade of several large trees. Meatie birds are not that smart and sometimes when it's really hot they will lay in the sun and die of dehydration before they get up and get a drink.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNxkQN4Qis8ywj73H_nv9-iB0bXZONqSkCY_DCE7ICrNMtnaJJmPhdot8Xdzhllwmezovv9EGfOF46AIXGFPS97nHhkiO0xSugn_bzlILc6Ih6N3RYOU4TFNtnzCuxgXgDl60iMXJfcU/s1600/chicken+coop+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNxkQN4Qis8ywj73H_nv9-iB0bXZONqSkCY_DCE7ICrNMtnaJJmPhdot8Xdzhllwmezovv9EGfOF46AIXGFPS97nHhkiO0xSugn_bzlILc6Ih6N3RYOU4TFNtnzCuxgXgDl60iMXJfcU/s640/chicken+coop+007.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rake in the picture is my Chicken Encourager - I use it to gently encourage the chickens to leave the coop!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fencing we used is something we've also used to fence our vegetable garden. The material is a plastic mesh that comes in 50 foot rolls for less than $15.00. The posts are a little pricey but since they can be easily moved and re-used we thought it was worth it. You may be wondering why the fence is so short - it's only two feet tall. The fencing comes in three foot height as well but the due to a problem in the pricing for the fence posts it was more economical to buy the two foot fencing instead. We've found that our meat birds grow so fast that they don't fly very well. Occasionally one gets out but they never go far and the fence is more to contain them than to keep them safe from predators. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnY-9u9dkAeHPUB1jRoCXcjTi3iHMZor2DFk5bI8yi1wVq1FLKh9LXgy-BuUtuhZ1eX27qqCttnB9kr1RR0V-zUkpd7PmF7YBueoyDuVLwhB7eFud5bMa9x0vHuCkFG5BKoTk9ZLqaN9M/s1600/chicken+coop+025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnY-9u9dkAeHPUB1jRoCXcjTi3iHMZor2DFk5bI8yi1wVq1FLKh9LXgy-BuUtuhZ1eX27qqCttnB9kr1RR0V-zUkpd7PmF7YBueoyDuVLwhB7eFud5bMa9x0vHuCkFG5BKoTk9ZLqaN9M/s640/chicken+coop+025.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This coop is not going to be used in the winter - it's a little too airy for subzero temperatures but it could be modified in a pinch. Necessity is the Mother of Invention they say! If you can get a good deal on a kennel and shop around or use what you have already have you can make a similar coop and have the fencing like this for under $450.00. If all goes well it should pay for itself this summer and last for many years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chickens seem to like their new digs and are growing well! Three tries and I think we got it right!!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-79175655991745826562013-06-26T12:42:00.001-07:002013-06-26T12:42:15.578-07:00100 year old barn and cistern repairs <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our 100 year old barn has long been in need of repair. The eaves troughs were falling off, the soffit and facia were rusted right through in some places, hanging crooked in most places and the roof leaked like the proverbial aluminum sieve. This summer is all about barn repair!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The barn has a great history to go with it. There was another barn in it's place when the house was originally built - a large "L- shaped" wooden barn. Sometime around the turn of the century they were using a steam powered thresher and the barn full of hay caught fire. It burned to the ground leaving only the foundation. The metal barn was built in it's place - I guess the fear of fire had it's impact - no more wooden barn! It doesn't look too bad from the front since the two sides that show the most were painted at some point in the past 10 years. The other two sides look pretty bad...now that I've tackled painting the <a href="http://www.adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-garage-potting-shed.html">garage and the potting shed</a> maybe someday I'll get to the barn too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQl4tQ-8s1nDllJZGKRUMKmPNSHSATMq7vsMYw0b9whJYLneHPLyVLcqWH93HyCabc4fp14N4a8gP90oDpBlyDzM7SJPtcYh9IHLcDhh3PGpdD_XZ3LR0hZHFZM4Zu3BDyPN2SX0c5CsY/s1600/hammock+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQl4tQ-8s1nDllJZGKRUMKmPNSHSATMq7vsMYw0b9whJYLneHPLyVLcqWH93HyCabc4fp14N4a8gP90oDpBlyDzM7SJPtcYh9IHLcDhh3PGpdD_XZ3LR0hZHFZM4Zu3BDyPN2SX0c5CsY/s640/hammock+015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So back to repairs. There was no way sane and "normal" people would climb around on the roof 50 feet in the air! We hired some Mennonite men because they said they would!. They were a pleasure to have around and we are really pleased with the work they did. They fixed things that they noticed were wrong that we didn't even know about. The sliding doors for instance have never hung straight or slid properly - we just assumed that that's the way it was going to be - they fixed them and they now close perfectly. They also cleaned many years worth of raccoon poop out of the area where the soffit and fascia meet - gross.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leonard on the roof - 50 feet from the ground!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fact that they are Mennonite-of-the-type-that-doesn't-drive-cars meant we had to pick them up and drop them off after work. It was an hour drive one way so it added up but we took turns driving and somehow it worked out. The ride was usually pretty quiet on the way home as the men took the time to sleep in between their days work and the farm chores yet to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While they were working on the barn they nearly fell into an old cistern. A cistern is a large holding tank that collects water off the roof of a building so it can be stored and used - like a rain barrel but much better. I had heard that there was one around that area so I was excited - after I made sure everyone was OK of course! I asked a neighbour who is a member of the original family if he knew about the cistern and he said it had never been used in his memory. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I am about to change that! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I crawled in to have a look around. It was obviously dark and damp but it looked in reasonable repair except for a few large cracks. I checked with a waterproofing friend of ours and he told me what I needed to do in order to get it ready for use. With an electric pump we can pump the water right into the barn into a large-water-cube-in-a-cage-thing and not need to use the house well for the animals - a real boon in times of drought. In the winter time: no more lugging buckets from the house cistern when the pipes in the barn freeze! It will only mean a small change in our original plans for how to direct the water with the eaves troughs. I'll write a detailed post on how we do it when we get it finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm looking forward to completing the whole project and having a dry barn. We have lots of work to do inside but knowing that the everything will stay dry in a down pour will make the rest of the work required make more sense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't ya think the sliding doors need to be painted RED?? me too...</span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-16332139308841689102013-06-25T08:29:00.001-07:002013-06-25T08:29:23.818-07:00The Garage & Potting Shed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's been so much going on I have hardly had time to stop and write about it! We're having our barn repaired this month but that's a story for another day. They say the most expensive four words in renovating are: WHILE WE'RE AT IT... and that's what happened. We had to rent a man-lift for the barn repair and it was a great opportunity to use it to paint the upper story of the garage. After the men left for the day they would park it right in front of the garage and up and down I went on the man-lift 54 feet in the air. It was pretty nerve wracking at first but I actually got quite comfortable up there. In any case I was able to paint the garage without having to climb a ladder. I had some help from our friend Dan - it helped that he is already really tall and the ladder just extended his reach. (thanks Dan!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The garage had not been painted in many years - probably about 20 from what we can piece together so the paint/stain was very faded and the wood was very dry. It took twice as much stain as we thought it would. The plan was to paint it slate grey but slate grey on the paint chip and slate grey in real life were two different things - there is no getting around that the garage is now BLUE. I was trying to get away from blue but after we had already purchased the stain - blue it would remain. I actually really like it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course I had to paint SOME part of it RED. Since I wanted to paint the whole garage red (but was overruled) I chose to do the doors. I feel like a very patriotic American - except I'm not American. As one thing leads to another the whole farm will eventually be painted red, white and blue. I am still holding out for a red house - we'll see!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This little red door leads to my potting shed - now I will have to actually clean it up and "pot" something in it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I was painting the potting shed door I spent some time thinking about all the people who had painted it before me. The door is original to the farm from what I can tell meaning that it was nearing it's 150th birthday. It's been painted and re-painted many times - but this coat was it's first in RED. It was a humbling thought that I was adding to the history of this door. I wonder if someone will paint it many years from now and wonder who it was that loved RED so much! It has many latches and old hooks and since at one time it was used as a chicken coop it has a chicken flap at the bottom. The nesting boxes inside are still there and haven't been used for chickens in more than 25 years but there is still straw in each box. The last batch of kittens was born in one of them a few weeks ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I'm sure an analogy could be made about how our lives can look good on the outside but be terribly messy on the inside (notice I didn't take any pictures inside!) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This garage has a story all it's own related to our move here to add to it's already long history and I am so glad we could get to painting and fixing it up first - that just seems perfectly appropriate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-6361314865847791582013-06-10T13:14:00.000-07:002013-06-10T13:14:05.560-07:00Little cuties - ducklings & chicks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Momma Ducks are very protective of their young and there was no getting close today so I had to take the picture through the wire mesh! So far we have 10 white Muscovy ducklings and 17 black Muscovy ducklings. We have one Crested White Momma sitting on a nest but at the moment she is gallivanting out in the rain and I'm not sure she's planning to go back in!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our meatie bird flock is growing well. They have a few quail friends in there because we've run out of pens and so far they seem to be getting along well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a rainy day today and most of the chickens are choosing to stay inside where it's warm and dry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chickens behind bars!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-76308662819530022152013-06-10T09:33:00.001-07:002013-06-10T09:33:42.396-07:00My new kitchen shelves and MORE canning jars!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When will I stop talking about canning jars??? Probably never! Last week I was able to put all the older zinc lidded canning jars I had been collecting on to their new shelves. When we first moved to the farm I needed shelves in a-bit-of-a-hurry because there were so many other things to do so I bought melamine shelving from Home Depot and lived with it for a few years. The first the summer they were up it was very hot and sticky. The humidity had a rather strange effect on the shelves! They drooped on either end and I rescued my glass jars just before they slid off and fell on the floor. How strange. As soon as the weather improved I flipped the shelves over and refastened them all was well again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had an idea for what I wanted but being somewhat inept with power tools when it comes to fine work I didn't trust myself to make these shelves. A few months ago I reconnected with an old high school friend and his family. After a tour their home with many beautiful built in shelves in the closets I had an aha moment! Just the guy I needed to build my shelves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see in the picture below that there is a shelf/step on the back of the main shelf. It allows the jars at the back to stand just a little higher so I can see the contents more easily. The jars at the back are quart sized and the ones in the front are pints.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After staining and routering (is that a word?) I have the shelves I was hoping for!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ5OH07O2eVgCwUaRUP1DCQJup3O6BBGtEFoKWF1BXS0AIhpKt0sdpigb-Mzw7bDEBPRLKhVwYO9aVn4ej7z0HsXbPqCDiT85400f0sGyRWTIRyFvwMOJcnk0LNgCtXOIhDHxrZmyQqU/s1600/new+shelves+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ5OH07O2eVgCwUaRUP1DCQJup3O6BBGtEFoKWF1BXS0AIhpKt0sdpigb-Mzw7bDEBPRLKhVwYO9aVn4ej7z0HsXbPqCDiT85400f0sGyRWTIRyFvwMOJcnk0LNgCtXOIhDHxrZmyQqU/s640/new+shelves+018.JPG" width="426" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I have cooking inspiration at my fingertips and I can look at all those lovely jars every day. I am missing two more pint sized ones and after searching the entire house I've come to the conclusion that I will HAVE TO go to some yard sales this summer and right that wrong! There are worse ways to spend a Saturday morning!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you live somewhere nearby and need something built email me and I'll give you Jerry's number! Thanks Jerry! I am thrilled and they look great!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-75632628812957031652013-05-29T07:03:00.002-07:002013-05-29T08:30:28.041-07:00Chicks with Momma Hens<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By now you must have figured it out - I am a child at heart. It's the simple things in life that bring a smile to my face and yesterday was a great example.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've had three broody hens locked in a separate pen sitting on eggs. I honestly didn't expect much because "everyone" says: They have bred the broodiness right out of the hatchery hens. Well - it seems that is not the case. My son and I have been pecked and squawked at so much this spring that we decided to find the three worst offenders and see if they were serious about sitting. THEY WERE!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know why this amazes me so much but I am. We've been checking every day and yesterday there they were. Two momma's and 5 chicks down on the floor and one more momma still sitting in the nesting box on top of at least 6 more chicks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The instinct to nurture is still there and considering that the momma hens were raised in a hatchery incubator and have never been "sat on" or taught how to be momma's...well - I just love it! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chicks are every colour of the chicken rainbow! Black, yellow and beige - it quite a mix. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BIWAF - Before I Was A Farmer I had no idea about how this all worked so let me explain in Magic School Bus language. Chickens lay an egg an average of 5 or 6 times a week - basically once a day in the early spring/summer and a little less in the late fall/winter. It has nothing to do with it being cold and everything to do with the hours of daylight available to the hens. That's why traditionally there was a glut of eggs in the spring and summer and much less in the fall and winter. The number of eggs can be manipulated by adding lights to the coops to extend the "daylight" and confuse the hens. It's a long and troublesome conversation to have with chicken owners - some believe the hens should have a rest and therefore no additional lighting. Some seeing the financial/practical side and leave the lights on because consumers have lost touch with the cycles of life and don't really understand when suddenly there are no eggs to sell them in December.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chickens may be tricked into laying eggs all winter but somehow they know when it's spring-for-real because they get broody. Broody - means a generally quiet and contented hen turns into the Terminator and will peck your hands to the point of drawing blood. They are really great little protectors! Those meanies are the ones who want to be momma's!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a coop of 60-70 chickens with several breeds represented. We have about 14 nesting boxes for them to share but sharing to chickens is all about seeing how many of them can cram into one 12x12 box at the same time and still be able to lay an egg. I've found as many as 4 in one box - with many empty boxes available. Of course there are always some hens that cross their legs and wait till you let them out and no-joke - they come tearing out the door to find their favourite hidey-hole no matter how long you keep them cooped up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our egg-layer pen is actually two pens with a little mini-door connecting them. Most of the year the mini-door is open so they can go back and forth between them but coming sittin' time we allow for one day of egg laying in the nests and then lock the broody hens in and everyone else out. That means that in our situation the hens are actually sitting on everyone else's eggs - thus the colourful offspring!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The really interesting part is when you have a hen that sits on her own eggs. She will faithfully lay an egg a day in a nest in some out of the way place in the barn (that usually ends in disaster when a raccoon finds the nest). Day one - one egg. Day two - one egg and so on until she has what she considers enough - usually 10-15 eggs. The day arrives and she decides - today I will sit. She will barely leave the nest to eat and drink and 21 days later the little cuties will be peeking out from under momma. Stop and think about that for a minute. They all hatch the same day. That means the egg she laid on day one has been sitting there for 2 weeks before she sat on it and then another 21 day afterwards. Isn't that something!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our 50 hatchery chicks who are now a week and a half old were out growing their brooder box so we decided to put them in the pen with the momma's and the babies and see what happened. We added just one at first to make sure the momma's wouldn't go psycho and kill it. She just sniffed it and under it's wings it went. I'm sure she must have thought - MY - WHAT A BIG CHICKIE YOU ARE!!! All went well but when we added the other 49 chicks the momma's weren't fooled so easily. They have become two camps in the same pen but seem to be co-existing quite well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chicks are so much fun...so let's do the math: 70 layers plus 50 meatie bird chicks plus at least <strike>10</strike> 16 new chicks= lots of chickens... and next week the ducklings hatch! Oh my!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-83802786083478717912013-05-28T16:55:00.000-07:002013-05-28T16:55:32.029-07:00Masked Bandits at the Farm<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't worry - all is well and we have caught the thieves We've been dealing with nightly raids for weeks - they were certainly getting the best of us. We thought it best to keep the authorities out of it given the circumstances. However the theft and damage was becoming very costly. In true Mission Impossible fashion we conducted surveillance, decided on the best course of action and thankfully everything turned out OK and no one got hurt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did however catch some really cute raccoons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The little buggers were in the walls of the barn for weeks and found a way to make daily forays into the duck pen - which we thought was as fortified as Fort Knox - where they ate themselves silly on duck food. How convenient - we put out food for them just like the dog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We put the trap right in the pen on Saturday night and by Sunday morning we had number 1. We delivered her to the local conservation area and reset the trap. This morning we caught Number 2 sneaking around in the pen so into a cage he/she went. After waiting for several hours in hopes of catching some more siblings (and hopefully saving us a trip) we gave up and made the second trip to the conservation area. We arrived home and thought - let's go check the pen right away - and there were Numbers 3,4 & 5 pestering Momma Duck who was kicking up a really loud fuss about them invading her space. Back to the conservation area we went AGAIN! I was feeling rather like we needed to name our unorthodox animal taxi service. The Masked Bandit Express? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ14lX9m4IKJPTNHaQEAChYFr4SMQmoWcb3FoYzihF4oajmVwIMbYKkdefesWTL6JFFLVVgHpVsPz7rL2THslcN2t8pHSnEps_fs3zcXY8B-IznPnwCiK9GfTKgtM16w1o-LeUmaKmmsw/s1600/raccoons+and+chicks+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ14lX9m4IKJPTNHaQEAChYFr4SMQmoWcb3FoYzihF4oajmVwIMbYKkdefesWTL6JFFLVVgHpVsPz7rL2THslcN2t8pHSnEps_fs3zcXY8B-IznPnwCiK9GfTKgtM16w1o-LeUmaKmmsw/s640/raccoons+and+chicks+009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are adorable-looking but we have seen first hand the damage they can do in the barn and how much they EAT! Bye-bye raccoons...problem is I heard at least one more! The trap is set - we'll see what we catch tomorrow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-54462187103247427292013-05-24T14:09:00.003-07:002013-05-24T14:09:38.851-07:00Information about Botulism<h3 style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">I was having a conversation today with someone I love
dearly. The topic of canning came around as it usually does when standing
in my kitchen filled with canning gadgets and tools at this time of year. She proceeded to tell me about the carrots she had
water-bath canned two years ago and how she did it as an experiment and was going
to test taste them soon. Sigh. I know many older people who have
canned for years are not up on all the latest canning information and some people who have just started canning who need to know this information - PLEASE - do not
can low acid foods in a water-bath canner. Canning is incredibly safe if
you do it right and incredibly dangerous if you do it wrong! It's not hard to figure out you just need to know the basics of canning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Health Link BC did a great job on the article and said it better than I could. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Please read and take heed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Article found at: <a href="http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile22.stm">http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile22.stm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What is botulism and how is it caused?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Botulism is a serious form of food poisoning that can
cause death. The poison is produced by <i>Clostridium botulinum</i>, a
bacterium that is commonly found in soil, or on raw fruits and vegetables, on
meat and fish and many others foods and surfaces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Botulism spores are tough, and cannot be killed with
boiling water or heat without including canning pressures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Botulism bacteria (the bacteria that grow out of
germinated spores) can multiply quickly in a moist, oxygen-free environment and
create a very powerful poison. One teaspoonful is enough to kill 100,000
people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Improper home canning creates the perfect environment to
grow botulism. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Because food contaminated by botulism may look and smell
normal, you cannot tell by looking at the food whether it is poisoned by
botulism bacteria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What steps can I take to avoid botulism?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Home can properly using extreme care to avoid botulism.
Do not take any short cuts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">High-acid foods are resistant to bacteria and only need
the "boiling water bath" method of canning. Plums or rhubarb are high
acid foods. The "boiling water bath" is a food preservation method
commonly used in making jams. It involves dropping a basket of sealed jars into
a large pot of rapidly boiling water. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Low-acid foods such as most vegetables,
meats and seafood must be canned at a higher temperature using a pressure
canner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What do I need to know about pressure
canning?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A pressure canner is a large, cast-aluminium pot
with a locking lid and a pressure gauge. By cooking under pressure, you can
bring the temperature of boiling water up to 116°C (240°F). This is the minimum
temperature necessary to destroy botulism spores, and the only way to guarantee
safe canning for food items such as vegetables, meats and seafood.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Your pressure canner should come with complete
instructions. Always follow them carefully. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Keep these points in mind:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Foods
can be processed at 5, 10 and 15 pounds pressure. Consult a chart provided
in the instructions to determine what pressure is safe for the food you
are canning.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Processing
time will vary depending on the type of food being preserved and the size
of the jar. Never shorten the cooking time that is recommended in the
instructions.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">If
you live more than 1,000 feet above sea level, the pressure and cooking
time will have to be adjusted. Consult a chart.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Once
the right pressure level is reached during cooking, it must be kept
constant throughout the cooking step.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Both
weighted gauges and dial gauges should be checked for accuracy. Read the
manufacturer's directions carefully for recommended testing and frequency
procedures, to make sure your canner is being operated safely and correctly.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What jars are best for canning?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">It is important that you use heavy-duty jars made
specifically for home canning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">"Mason" type jars - which screw shut with a
threaded neck - are the most common choice. Do not re-use the lids: after a lid
has been pried off once, a perfect fit can no longer be guaranteed. The jars
themselves can be used many times, as long as the rims are perfectly smooth and
there are no scratches or cracks that would prevent a perfect seal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">It is important that you do not use commercial jars, such
as empty peanut butter jars for home canning. Commercial jars are not strong
enough to be safely used.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What should you do if the home-canned food
does not seem right?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Never eat, or even taste any home-canned food that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Appears
to be spoiled;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Foams;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Develops
a bad smell during cooking;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Has
a bulging container lid or is leaching;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">You
are not sure if the food was properly canned or not.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Place any questionable containers and food in a
waterproof container and throw it in the garbage. Do not feed the questionable
food to your pets or any other animals. After throwing it away, wash your hands
well with warm soapy water. Also wash any utensils or surfaces the food,
container, or your hands may have touched.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The importance of cleanliness<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">All work surfaces and your hands should be kept clean
during all stages of the canning process. The food being preserved must be
rinsed clean. It is very important to sterilize the jars and seals before use.
To sterilize jars, boil them for 10 minutes. If you live at higher elevations
(over 1,000 feet), allow 1 extra minute of boiling for each extra 1,000 feet of
elevation. To sterilize tops, follow the manufacturer's instructions. Wash your
hands often with warm soapy water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For more information<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Home canning is perfectly safe but needs to be done
correctly. It is a good idea to read about home canning before you try it.
Books are available on the subject, either at the library or in the stores.
Pressure canners almost always come with instructions. If you have an older
pressure canner and cannot find the instructions, contact the manufacturer for
a copy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="" name="E46E224"></a><a href="" name="E46E225"></a><a href="" name="E46E226"></a><a href="" name="E46E227"></a><a href="" name="E46E228"></a><a href="" name="E46E229"></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An
excellent source of information on home canning is the Utah State Canning Guide
at <a href="http://extension.usu.edu/utah/htm/fcs/food-preservation-canning/usda_home_canning" target="_blank">extension.usu.edu/utah/htm/fcs/food-preservation-canning/usda_home_canning</a> and
at EatRight Ontario – Home Canning <a href="http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Cooking-Food-Preparation/Home-Canning.aspx" target="_blank">www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Cooking-Food-Preparation/Home-Canning.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Article found at: <a href="http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile22.stm">http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile22.stm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-11337892029190480692013-05-23T05:18:00.001-07:002013-05-23T05:18:43.316-07:00Lilac Jelly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I heard about Lilac Jelly from a friend and was just as astonished as anyone else - you can EAT lilacs????? I'd never heard of that before and couldn't wait to try it myself. You can read her lilac post here: <a href="http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/lilac-jelly/">Farmgal's Blog</a> Lilac bushes are one of the only bushes we don't have on our farm but no worries the side roads are covered with them! Lilacs come in white and many shades of purple. The most common is a light purple and as I was working with them I realised that they were not all the same either. What I REALLY wanted were the deep dark purple but I couldn't find any on the roads nearby. I'll have to do some scouting for next year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DH and I had an appointment in town and on the way back we picked one "green box" of heads with some leaves. It was probably half leaves and stems by the time I was done.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pGBQZgKb3j76JA_CwNRSis-AllgcY-RL_Rjopz0Sx__D6gZC9-VQZpgv4C3hA0DOCPlSWP_9f3iaYjN7ZXiAXXr9dcjtnETzzXdPoU4chQ7RDy3Hq3JHh5Al6-s3RuYZr8BmxyzVYMs/s1600/lilac+jelly+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pGBQZgKb3j76JA_CwNRSis-AllgcY-RL_Rjopz0Sx__D6gZC9-VQZpgv4C3hA0DOCPlSWP_9f3iaYjN7ZXiAXXr9dcjtnETzzXdPoU4chQ7RDy3Hq3JHh5Al6-s3RuYZr8BmxyzVYMs/s640/lilac+jelly+004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I got home I stripped the flowers off the stems. I started by picking them off - that took WAAAAY too long so I just ran my fingers along the main stem and stripped them instead. You want to avoid the green bits as much as possible but don't worry if some get in there.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTP2-PqnCgzu819n4D9fUuXmThBdaapiJbsrXa0iJjzX3ilXM1x7oZIYVnsCYF5ucoWxb9EPbPgpHQdKjOy3Ads_xMeosR6GK6BidqKACtglUWiOLQ7uYyRGobulRCUcuB61_Ibp_b3t4/s1600/lilac+jelly+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTP2-PqnCgzu819n4D9fUuXmThBdaapiJbsrXa0iJjzX3ilXM1x7oZIYVnsCYF5ucoWxb9EPbPgpHQdKjOy3Ads_xMeosR6GK6BidqKACtglUWiOLQ7uYyRGobulRCUcuB61_Ibp_b3t4/s640/lilac+jelly+010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used 1.5L jars and packed them almost full - tamping them down several times as I worked. I ended up with three jars full. I did NOT rinse them first as I made sure to pick the flowers on the opposite side of the bush from the road when possible. Once filled I poured a kettle of boiling water over them. You can see the progression in the jars as I waited for the next kettle to boil. I left them overnight and by morning there was no colour left in the petals and lots of lovely purple "juice" in the jars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I had so much juice to work with I decided to experiment a little with the sweeteners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batch 1: </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8 cups of lilac water</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup honey</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 packages No Sugar Needed Pectin by Bernardin</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batch 2:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 cups of lilac water</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 package No Sugar Needed Pectin by Bernardin</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batch 3:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 cups of lilac water</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups apple juice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup lemon juice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 cups sugar </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 box Pomona's Universal Pectin</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jS-Wp0rWrhaRs6dUySJDw0kKOb-QS-8ryyczLgBhi2qi5mGZstQcYLa8T77SOH9lBMeO-KoyAUck7Ucx8g8RoeG-C_jHpj2VpLidB1i4vH4PGhXcdDQEKFfCdc-q7xLhAyTkzSNHD2g/s1600/lilac+jelly+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jS-Wp0rWrhaRs6dUySJDw0kKOb-QS-8ryyczLgBhi2qi5mGZstQcYLa8T77SOH9lBMeO-KoyAUck7Ucx8g8RoeG-C_jHpj2VpLidB1i4vH4PGhXcdDQEKFfCdc-q7xLhAyTkzSNHD2g/s640/lilac+jelly+009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The No Sugar Needed Pectin is becoming more available in regular stores like Canadian Tire and Home Hardware. I hope I am able to find more of it because it does allow for more experimenting than regular pectin. It is used exactly like the regular or low sugar pectin most people are familiar with. I found Pomona's in a health food store after searching for years. It is available on line but I didn't really want to pay shipping. Both worked equally well to gel the jelly. Pomona's is made from a citrus extract and uses calcium to activate the pectin - it comes in the box along with instructions which were easy to follow. A box of Pomona's will set two recipes so the price works out about the same.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the results:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batch One tastes terrible! I was very disappointed. The combination of honey and the floral flavour was not a match made in heaven! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batch Two: was much better. The lilac flavour was MUCH stronger than I anticipated and DS said no thanks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batch Three was the best of all of them. I'm not sure of Pomona's has anything to do with the taste but the quality of the gel was much nicer. That could also be the extra sugar I used. The flavour was intense but not overwhelming. I know you want to know how it tastes and the best I can do is: like a lilac should taste - like flowers. ha ha! Next time I am going to try half lilac water and half apple juice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friend suggested this over lemon cake or on a very light tasting bread - it would not go well with heavy-duty rye bread. She also suggested using it as a glaze for meatballs... I'll let you know.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the how-to part just follow the instructions for grape jelly on the pectin packages. I water bath canned for 10 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only sad part was when I water bath canned it I lost all the colour. I'm not sure why. Here's a before and after picture.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJsoz7kZq69AYQM_qWpaIwhRUAUnFwejzHjnyw_guWHngv9xXgQa0jwVTSgFU7szY1BadSo-WjKHiDJKwjuyi0jjaQkKx5YgbOAXSsldjpMD_6aeQj4FRXCHjuEj0LCH0Rnkr7w7_8GI/s1600/lilac+jelly+025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJsoz7kZq69AYQM_qWpaIwhRUAUnFwejzHjnyw_guWHngv9xXgQa0jwVTSgFU7szY1BadSo-WjKHiDJKwjuyi0jjaQkKx5YgbOAXSsldjpMD_6aeQj4FRXCHjuEj0LCH0Rnkr7w7_8GI/s640/lilac+jelly+025.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The lilacs are still blooming - if you try it let me know!!</span></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-36740205469964637152013-05-18T08:57:00.000-07:002013-05-18T08:57:30.359-07:00Full house in the barn and Sheep Shearing<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're running out of room! I am trying to juggle animals in the available cages and pens and I'm not sure exactly how this is going to work out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fifty-two White Rock chicks arrived this week - one died within hours of getting here - poor little guy. White Rocks are meatie birds...and every year I say I'm going to go with another breed but I don't - so here's to hoping that most of them make it to the butcher this year. Right now they are in our home-made brooder. DH and DS overbuilt a brooder box for me a few years ago. It's as heavy as a box full of cast iron frying pans and looks like a coffin-for-two! Thankfully it's so well built it doesn't need to be INSIDE another pen. The problem is it will only last for a week and they will need bigger quarters.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY7YsIK8o3hNVNqSwE1X3WMyYFmbWyevs397OAhLLOrN9TTKns7OQdlUB0JZGATlFvZV7VcRLYytR73iCHIbrioj_Crknmq8Fgp0sFCgpcZNpY7lr7-xcXQMYQawFgA_zot0LlCPmJG0/s1600/sheep+shearing+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY7YsIK8o3hNVNqSwE1X3WMyYFmbWyevs397OAhLLOrN9TTKns7OQdlUB0JZGATlFvZV7VcRLYytR73iCHIbrioj_Crknmq8Fgp0sFCgpcZNpY7lr7-xcXQMYQawFgA_zot0LlCPmJG0/s640/sheep+shearing+024.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also have three very faithful hens sitting on eggs. These are the Red Sex Links that everyone says have the broodiness bred right out of them. I'm not so sure. I've had to fight a lot of the hens for eggs in the past two weeks so something is kicking in. We've never allowed any hens sit before so it will be interesting to see how successful they are. We have about 70 hens and only one rooster - let's hope he was a busy guy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also have 4 ducks sitting on eggs. One white Muscovy, 2 black Muscovies and Pom Pom Head our Crested White. These have all been good momma's in the past - we've just had some setbacks in their nesting boxes and had one family massacre by an angry papa duck. We just let the ducks nest in their pens last year and those girls sat and sat and sat. It should only be 4 weeks but I gave them a few extra thinking maybe my numbers were off. Nothing hatched. When I explained the situation to a farming friend she asked what they were nesting on. Apparently a concrete floor with some shavings wasn't optimal because the concrete would wick up any moisture which is necessary for the eggs to hatch. This year we got creative! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I had some leftover over stacking storage bins</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FxhQia7uvyX_HFIfAhV-6pyoU8pak6DbunmPOz-DiOzmDcIQjTbUgnozBFKvdjUyJhvrJMmG3qHncwjT4s8zst9lsm4k7yUNjrmiTvAU_fD2_ZHu9C_3Ppv8qsl14eIMWxf45tTGO_Q/s1600/23422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FxhQia7uvyX_HFIfAhV-6pyoU8pak6DbunmPOz-DiOzmDcIQjTbUgnozBFKvdjUyJhvrJMmG3qHncwjT4s8zst9lsm4k7yUNjrmiTvAU_fD2_ZHu9C_3Ppv8qsl14eIMWxf45tTGO_Q/s400/23422.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and used shavings on the bottom and a nice layer of leftover sheep wool that was headed for the compost pile. Hopefully that provided them with a toasted warm place but we'll wait and see what kind of hatch I get before I get too excited. P.S. I didn't stack them but I did place large sheets of wood on an angle against the wall to provide them with some privacy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In order to prevent another massacre by the papa ducks we need to put the fathers somewhere else as soon as the ducklings are hatched. The twist is the boys don't get along with each other either so they can't be in the same pen. They tend to work out their differences ok outside where they pester each other all day long - chasing, honking and beating on each other but in a small pen that behaviour could result in death. I may need a spreadsheet to figure it out! Springtime hormones oh MY!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday - we finally got the sheep sheared. We had arranged to have it done earlier this week but the animals had been out in the rain and wet sheep are next to impossible to shear. We kept them indoors for a few days to dry up and all was well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Sheepie looks ridiculous. I guess all sheep look funny after being shorn but you wouldn't recognize this guy. He's so tiny. We've never seen him shorn before - there was more wool on him than flesh. He looks a lot like a goat - a very tiny skinny goat.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIbrlli_RrZckbRf2k19fyVWK64jAf3jT_A0njGBfuwzb3nV1B6FVbK9uUfIrDrOJ7vpSqqKqxrLNEgdg6cdnit-Oz5SM3Zc6p_E_37RLfaE5c95jNGB1bvfHj7RQNVaurBVRoyc1xfo/s1600/sheep+shearing+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIbrlli_RrZckbRf2k19fyVWK64jAf3jT_A0njGBfuwzb3nV1B6FVbK9uUfIrDrOJ7vpSqqKqxrLNEgdg6cdnit-Oz5SM3Zc6p_E_37RLfaE5c95jNGB1bvfHj7RQNVaurBVRoyc1xfo/s640/sheep+shearing+015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shearer was going to leave the wool but since I doubt I will have to time to learn how to spin this year I gave her most of it and just kept Mr. Sheepie's. His was so matted it would probably have been rejected by the wool co-op anyway. I'm sure there is enough for me to play with as it is. The colour of his fleece is particularly gorgeous...next year it will be better as he skipped a year getting sheared!</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUAGn4x9iaU-YgftC6Tq3cdfDlZIBub5dXsjLomOwvISJJR4iH16vEIJxjbRd92EsFr6eaJJ9T4ZkYkknZuTJg39EnA7CS3JfgRjtCvba5pzBCNnuJMNer7lQJTFLxuYCXzBjN2XkKHY/s1600/sheep+shearing+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUAGn4x9iaU-YgftC6Tq3cdfDlZIBub5dXsjLomOwvISJJR4iH16vEIJxjbRd92EsFr6eaJJ9T4ZkYkknZuTJg39EnA7CS3JfgRjtCvba5pzBCNnuJMNer7lQJTFLxuYCXzBjN2XkKHY/s640/sheep+shearing+005.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rebecca Parker - Sheep Shearer - Bethany Ontario <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="mailto:middlekingdomfarm@gmail.com">middlekingdomfarm@gmail.com</a> or </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span>905 259 1102.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have read that my daughter and I took on <a href="http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2012/07/sheep-shearing-newbies-and-very-bad.html">shearing the sheep last year</a>. We only needed to do two and it was an adventure that I'm not sure I want to repeat any time soon. Rebecca was great and we learned a lot of shearing tricks - maybe we'll try the calmest one and let her do the rest next year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-40745551449375610622013-05-16T07:33:00.002-07:002014-01-27T16:34:24.120-08:00Monkey Butter Canning Recipe<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>It has come to my attention that this recipe is not safe for long term canning. Make it and keep it in the fridge - it's yummy but canning banana's is not a good idea. My apologies.</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was in the mood to do some canning this week and I've read about this recipe several times. You have to admit the title sounds pretty intriguing already - Monkey Butter. What is that anyway???</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a totally yummy tropical tasting jam...made with pineapple, bananas and coconut (and sugar) it is not very 100-mile-diet. I know I know!!! I adore all three ingredients - oh what to do!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my Methods-For-Success is to make a recipe the way it was written first and THEN make adjustments. So in went ALL the sugar called for - it was really hard to do! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqutX59rda1EMG9PKSLCBTDM4BLqSMsGHQJzxayUo_bkjlAu1O6Aa-Bc8IoS_yp6WehK8NmG5lrZSAjO2aBOLxqj9eRfg5J2oS1W2Ui-Pv9Efp0z_M2o0tCuX1uhOpgaNo-Uo7hXFiq_I/s1600/Monkey+Butter+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqutX59rda1EMG9PKSLCBTDM4BLqSMsGHQJzxayUo_bkjlAu1O6Aa-Bc8IoS_yp6WehK8NmG5lrZSAjO2aBOLxqj9eRfg5J2oS1W2Ui-Pv9Efp0z_M2o0tCuX1uhOpgaNo-Uo7hXFiq_I/s640/Monkey+Butter+002.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway - on to the original recipe for MONKEY BUTTER.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 ripe bananas (but no brown spots on the inside)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 - 20oz can of pineapple with the juice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup of shredded coconut</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 cups of sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 Tbsp. of lemon juice</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK - I almost followed the recipe exactly! First thing I did was double the recipe. The canned pineapple didn't have ounces on it so after some time with google I decided three small cans equally approx. 42 ounces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slice the bananas into a large pot, add the rest of the ingredients and set the stove to a medium heat to heat it up and then turned it down to low - don't leave the stove - that much sugar will burn if left unattended for too long. I wanted a jam that spread without huge chunks so I used an hand-held immersion blender to blend it down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Monkey Butter simmered for about an hour on very low as I washed my jars and set them in the canner to sterilize them. We have hard water so I added a little vinegar to the canner to prevent cloudy-looking jars. Simmer the flat lids in another small pan to soften the seals and prepare your counter so you have enough space to work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the Monkey Butter has reduced to a nice thick jam it's ready to can. Remove the jars with canning tongs (but don't empty the water out of the pot) and fill them using a funnel to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Top with seal and a ring and water bath can for 15 minutes. That means place the filled jars in a large pot/water bath canner with a lid with enough water to cover the jars by an inch or more and bring to a rolling boil. Start timing the 15 minutes when the boiling starts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remove jars and place on a cookie rack covered with a tea towel and cover the jars with another tea towel and do not disturb until completely cool - which is usually the next day. Check to make sure each jar sealed by pressing on the tops - there should be no wiggle. If there is a wiggle just put it in the fridge and eat it right away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remove the rings from the jars and use warm running water and a clean dishcloth to wash each jar thoroughly so there is no jam on the outside to mould after a few months or years on the shelf. By washing the jars this way you'll know-that-you-know that the lid is on tight and sealed. Don't forget to label the jars - I use a permanent marker on the lid because I hate scraping off stickers later. Without a label these will look like apple sauce in a few weeks! I was able to make 10 - 1/2 pint jars from this recipe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So for what I could adjust... I had lots of ideas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First off honey instead of sugar - maybe 1 cup honey for 3 cups sugar - it would probably require a longer simmer. Or part honey and part sugar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could make pineapple out of zucchini - yes really you can. It's basically chopped zucchini, lemon juice, pineapple juice and sugar - a weird but wonderfully inventive idea from back in the days when pineapple was unheard of for most people due to the expense and the lack of transportation made it unavailable anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no substitute for bananas in my world. I love banana's. We buy them three bunches at a time and always run out. The coconut - hmmmm - dried shredded apples maybe?? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can spread it on toast - I think it would be great with peanut butter! It would be delicious on ice cream or yogurt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless of the 1000 mile recipe or maybe because of it - it tastes like a million dollars!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-54626313920498114182013-05-10T03:15:00.000-07:002013-05-10T03:15:12.845-07:00Dandelions - free e-book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOINqiisBpAK51HTr1b4IWQM_p0c-p8rkjAvLxBZ3viJQ118hukURKeRnX4S2USjv_gHQYc7uofDLn6TkGPu1jiSHyE1UkUnTfXb3uRcAOL97EjPaydLl7aqYadNabj9ldm6bYzlyQaw/s1600/spring+2013+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOINqiisBpAK51HTr1b4IWQM_p0c-p8rkjAvLxBZ3viJQ118hukURKeRnX4S2USjv_gHQYc7uofDLn6TkGPu1jiSHyE1UkUnTfXb3uRcAOL97EjPaydLl7aqYadNabj9ldm6bYzlyQaw/s640/spring+2013+010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found this great FREE e-book about dandelions with many ways to get the benefits of dandelions. There are recipes for vinegars, tinctures, infused oils, salves, honey, soaps and salads. Since I am surrounded by acres of dandelions - many of which decorate my lawn - I was very interested and will be trying out some of the recipes soon. If you live nearby and need a source of un-sprayed organic yellow "weeds" come and get 'em.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Things-to-do-with-dandelions.pdf">http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Things-to-do-with-dandelions.pdf</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLq_ox3YXsV-dvxzQ7_OK4_kbgmVwTMSXmW-IOhGMifs61CHcU6xR099Hrp9_erMq4fewHMUwNmU6IqPLxfLBTrFgjbRsoqx1nsjkNY546iMK-2Bp4f64q0db9y_PTWhcghDTUE39Gt90/s1600/spring+2013+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLq_ox3YXsV-dvxzQ7_OK4_kbgmVwTMSXmW-IOhGMifs61CHcU6xR099Hrp9_erMq4fewHMUwNmU6IqPLxfLBTrFgjbRsoqx1nsjkNY546iMK-2Bp4f64q0db9y_PTWhcghDTUE39Gt90/s640/spring+2013+012.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-6102824357137593062013-05-09T12:21:00.000-07:002013-05-09T12:21:24.078-07:004 Acres and Independence <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love how creatively this man uses his property. Tons of good ideas and just an enjoyable video to watch for fun. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">What do you think? Any ideas you would want to try??</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-49891994404891880592013-05-05T13:04:00.002-07:002013-05-05T13:04:41.969-07:00Springtime photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie44PTy7iernNp3ohTOqgAFk_GI45OFcJrQkTazabm5cheJ4IFO-SPj_o7Q-EG11GUK_zMg0y_AC9HJs1EeMDRJr6-g6IvK8Cv4MMRJSQfZzz-rtdcF-FGN692hyViMbVdJIa96YS8KQo/s1600/hammock+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie44PTy7iernNp3ohTOqgAFk_GI45OFcJrQkTazabm5cheJ4IFO-SPj_o7Q-EG11GUK_zMg0y_AC9HJs1EeMDRJr6-g6IvK8Cv4MMRJSQfZzz-rtdcF-FGN692hyViMbVdJIa96YS8KQo/s640/hammock+007.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our zig-zag fence - I love how it looks but it's not the best for keeping baby lambs where they belong.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmogazwe1RLh1RnK_nIJcrYScPiJCuxjd833RUbDXUz1rUJTEqgy_OlQVW8mu7vHTEAAm9e7cyIBl23_09Hylp5bZ38yx7dhNpf_f4tj7-2WtjbF4H0YhvNNc6da5fWIYgmIZAyUxO7I0/s1600/hammock+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmogazwe1RLh1RnK_nIJcrYScPiJCuxjd833RUbDXUz1rUJTEqgy_OlQVW8mu7vHTEAAm9e7cyIBl23_09Hylp5bZ38yx7dhNpf_f4tj7-2WtjbF4H0YhvNNc6da5fWIYgmIZAyUxO7I0/s640/hammock+022.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This would be one of those baby lambs! She's so small she fits through the regular page wire fence holes.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXQkYAmGJCwPRO055bPCwRJIMHIM4SfRANNMg0W1vJCDsS9FZbxaHmU6cQJI94DeEx8jCuePQ0iaYUuhzz_6EinzIp1p-gbVG_YXHS2hWV57U3xE1ONgR648C2qeK5a035ZOol1EBbWM/s1600/hammock+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXQkYAmGJCwPRO055bPCwRJIMHIM4SfRANNMg0W1vJCDsS9FZbxaHmU6cQJI94DeEx8jCuePQ0iaYUuhzz_6EinzIp1p-gbVG_YXHS2hWV57U3xE1ONgR648C2qeK5a035ZOol1EBbWM/s640/hammock+024.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the babies get separated from their momma's for even a few seconds it starts off another baaaaaa-fest until everyone knows where everyone is - then back to peaceful grazing. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbATMLetznSE_m-L7Xm26zxyhttWoyM31zVWtt0YvinUnfF-3xlOWwTtnQ9I3m1QGP-VNupo2HL17EFdErah0mn6GoAHYhdYeD3tzPQG5k390LyRRXYX-KWAC-DFU3Za-TEb6nWXhRy-Y/s1600/hammock+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbATMLetznSE_m-L7Xm26zxyhttWoyM31zVWtt0YvinUnfF-3xlOWwTtnQ9I3m1QGP-VNupo2HL17EFdErah0mn6GoAHYhdYeD3tzPQG5k390LyRRXYX-KWAC-DFU3Za-TEb6nWXhRy-Y/s640/hammock+034.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm sure she must be thinking - are you done taking pictures yet??</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HgNwu956sj67-wc4eVvJvs3N9HU-t1LaUokMx9_R2rWf1jXQfxgw5POJxVwWicEk9anuamhVyPIwfztPxKkNiIITkGf1doX27B_HNg_7pTV8-iC6mRH1r0RkBE-KndgLAOHiTA-rNi8/s1600/hammock+039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HgNwu956sj67-wc4eVvJvs3N9HU-t1LaUokMx9_R2rWf1jXQfxgw5POJxVwWicEk9anuamhVyPIwfztPxKkNiIITkGf1doX27B_HNg_7pTV8-iC6mRH1r0RkBE-KndgLAOHiTA-rNi8/s640/hammock+039.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A pile of kittens - 4 to be exact!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVvWir9c8i06oPjJHBVg3Hm89egrRHsNVooD7XQ_SbMpzM2UcssIElwpdNXywPxm0ebeY_O2oon_YHsuG2Q5fd1e2l-K1K7ciEfFBV2BC8O5D8BJqvzlGS8dVI1I4T_k9FxJGmU2ZppA/s1600/hammock+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVvWir9c8i06oPjJHBVg3Hm89egrRHsNVooD7XQ_SbMpzM2UcssIElwpdNXywPxm0ebeY_O2oon_YHsuG2Q5fd1e2l-K1K7ciEfFBV2BC8O5D8BJqvzlGS8dVI1I4T_k9FxJGmU2ZppA/s640/hammock+042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Duck Boss</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWGdvN-FBCoGve2jsdD2VWg6LtjeH9gfh0t41cuJSInZz8u2PM_-osUZJejqdOSHli43-k93ATq5hV9noZbGzPDhLgSgwZpT2RkSn-mjE5HJc7GsVpRgwHfcCzjAV3jVTBIrOAMRcc0A/s1600/hammock+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWGdvN-FBCoGve2jsdD2VWg6LtjeH9gfh0t41cuJSInZz8u2PM_-osUZJejqdOSHli43-k93ATq5hV9noZbGzPDhLgSgwZpT2RkSn-mjE5HJc7GsVpRgwHfcCzjAV3jVTBIrOAMRcc0A/s640/hammock+043.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...and one of the Duck Boss's wives.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdZ_C68u0ojclDZcPbYRypHqkCe58_U6dPFa9M2TbfIStKrPUxQauPR_KNVK0UyZd7OvLssOtZN1iWVYqOpAwFxRgEzerLD2Tl6wxO66EQxEKxGXruDE_P4wREWZmcfEqlZCvTJVP5RA/s1600/hammock+048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdZ_C68u0ojclDZcPbYRypHqkCe58_U6dPFa9M2TbfIStKrPUxQauPR_KNVK0UyZd7OvLssOtZN1iWVYqOpAwFxRgEzerLD2Tl6wxO66EQxEKxGXruDE_P4wREWZmcfEqlZCvTJVP5RA/s640/hammock+048.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Levi the guard dog whose favourite toy's are rocks and sticks and his basketball which he uses to play soccer by himself.</span></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-66225549220992782632013-05-04T06:10:00.000-07:002013-05-04T06:44:44.280-07:00A blogging milestone<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBCnADVfn1I2N2hnq9qek-MAmSUq5hqmN8gZRxJJjjWAHaEasOlg5Tl_FZ4KCcQtg3IcoHpve_E72uj6aHPE4NRuCULcJoWFsBIia7CKX4yJhb0DrTe4xO1OVkc2Ensm1YlanhGmwHbA/s1600/Farm-Animals-Thank-You-Red-Fall-Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBCnADVfn1I2N2hnq9qek-MAmSUq5hqmN8gZRxJJjjWAHaEasOlg5Tl_FZ4KCcQtg3IcoHpve_E72uj6aHPE4NRuCULcJoWFsBIia7CKX4yJhb0DrTe4xO1OVkc2Ensm1YlanhGmwHbA/s640/Farm-Animals-Thank-You-Red-Fall-Front.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lilduckduck.com/barn-animals-thank-you-card/19712">Photo Credit - lilduckduck</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was in high school my English teacher despaired of teaching me follow the rules. All those subject and predicate lessons - snore snore. The hours spent sitting in a classroom going over why you should not write run-on sentences, how CAPITAL LETTERS only belonged in certain places and what those special characters were for - you know the ones like (:) or (;) or (-). I specifically remember him telling me that I wasn't supposed to use (-)'s as much as I did and that "a lot" was not spelled "alot" - I remembered that one!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I admit that passing my Grade 12 English class was one of the first miracles ever recorded in my life. Oh how I hated English class and was glad to be done with it. The teacher wasn't a bad guy - I kind of liked him but we just didn't see eye-to-eye on HOW to write.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always had LOVED writing - MY way. That's the great thing about being an adult - I get to do it MY way. Years ago I picked up a magazine called Harrowsmith. It is no longer being published but it was a great Canadian magazine about country living, gardening and small scale farming/self sufficiency. The articles were fabulous but my favourite part was the letter from the editor that began each issue. He wrote like ME! He used CAPITALS and underlining. His sentences ran way too long (by English teachers standards) and reading it was a wonderfully crazy ride through his thought process. Ah ha! If he could write for other people to read - so could I.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always thought that 'someday" I would write a book. That was before the internet had it's impact on my life and long before blogging was even a word. I did wonder if ANYONE would actually want to read what I wrote. I was quite sure My English teacher would not!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I passed 50 000 visits to my blog. I'm not sure how accurate it is or if half the visits are internet bots (or if there's just a few of you who have re-read 50 posts - 100 times each) but I thought 50 000 was worth a mention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks so much for reading and allowing me to do something I LOVE while having instant feedback. Blogging is so much more satisfying than writing a book! (well - who knows!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I so appreciate every one of you! I love it that you are reading this blog all over the world and that you allow me a peek inside your lives by sending me comments and emails. Thanks for letting me share my stories MY way!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hugs!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anita</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-59925576487190183622013-05-02T01:16:00.003-07:002013-05-02T10:17:07.692-07:00A difficult day on the farm<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't like sad stories then you probably don't want to read any further but this is part of life on the farm and the "making of a farmer" as well. I've been procrastinating for a whole week trying to finish this post but apparently I needed to do some soul searching first.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tale begins with the weather which was exceptionally nice last week. My son and I were cleaning up fallen branches from the previous weeks ice storm and checking trees for damage. Once that was done - we were on a roll. We decided since we had all the tools out that we could cut down some shrubs so we can widen the driveway. No problem - they came down without too much trouble but that's when the real trouble began. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought - HEY free food for the sheep and donkey. They are looking hard for green food at this time of the year. I threw a branch over the fence to judge their reaction and they didn't seem overly interested but munched somewhat on one of the branches. I had a niggling feeling...so I pulled the branch out thinking it would probably be wise to check it out on google before I gave them any more. We got busy cleaning up and I forgot to check. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next morning my best ewe Bonnie was dead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew immediately what had happened - it was the shrub. It's all well and good to tell yourself that "everyone makes mistakes" but that wasn't helping at that moment. I was responsible. I had killed her. In my mind it became a wail - I killlllllled her. I was heartbroken. I spent some time kicking myself and crying - ok - sobbing. The wave of guilt was not a pretty sight. If Bonnie had died of anything else maybe I wouldn't have felt so bad - or so responsible - or so stupid. Ack. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My soul searching began when I recognized that if one of the kids had made this mistake I would have been much more forgiving. Hmmm... why was that? I could hear the words in my mind that I would have used to comfort them and realised they were NOT the same words I was telling myself. This was the beginning of wisdom - with more to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't have much time for a pity party because I had to decide what to do. I had only given token thought to this inevitable outcome in our farming career so I didn't have a concrete plan. After checking Google-that-never-fails and sending a panicked text message to a sheep farmer friend I figured out the best course of action. I needed to bury her. That would have been a terrible enough task if the weather had been sunny and bright but it was cold and pouring rain. At least it suited my mood. Have I ever mentioned that we don't own a tractor?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I learned more than one lesson that day. First off when you dig a hole in the pouring rain in the corner of our field you hit clay at the three foot mark. If you mix clay and rain water you end up with boots that weigh 50 pounds each and it gets really slippery really fast. If I believed in penance I think I would have been paid up by the time I was done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shrub we were cutting down was a yew. It's a very common landscaping plant in the city and as far as I know we only had one of them. It's now been burned in the fire pit so there is no possibility of repeating this specific tragedy. Google told me that it would take only 1 ounce of yew to kill a 150 lb animal and that it was a common spring time event because animals are extra hungry for green food at that time of year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday a farming friend quoted a common farming maxim - "if you have livestock - you will have dead stock". That's life on the farm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are human so we make mistakes. That's where forgiveness comes in. It would have been easy for me to forgive one of the</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">kids - it was much harder to forgive myself. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wondered why. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got to thinking that maybe it was because I'm a Mom. I've spent my life taking care of other people. I feel it's my RESPONSIBILITY to prevent bad things from happening. More than anything I work HARD to prevent</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> problems. I'm the one who sees the danger in swinging from the ropes in the barn - you could break your leg or fall through the floor in some spots! I'm the one who sees the danger in using an axe as a weight to throw a rope over a tree to hang the tire swing. I'm the one who says - be careful on the hammock to the kids when they get kind of wild - just before it breaks. Isn't it a mothers JOB to make sure everyone in her charge - and the occasional random stranger - stays SAFE? It's what I do and that day I felt like I'd failed in the animal momma department.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's life - isn't it. Despite all my warnings (or maybe because of them) no one fell through the barn floor, no one got hit in the head with the axe and the injuries from the hammock incident were minimal but some days no matter how hard I try things don't go right with life or kids or animals. Oh yeah - maybe I'm not the one really in charge. Maybe it's not ALL my responsibility. That's a thought.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went to bed that night feeling somewhat better having processed some of these thoughts but I woke up with just a touch of dread. I went out to the barn early - just make sure all was well - that's code for see-if-anyone-else-had-died. I felt a bit sick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God knew the exact remedy I needed because what I found was not what I was expecting. There in a little patch of sunlight was a new baby ewe lamb. Little Bonnie is doing well (and so is her friend Clyde who was born three days later.) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Death and life on the farm in less than 24 hours. I didn't even know the momma's were pregnant for sure!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2e1BWy-3xLvyIKo_LXTW5dsHm1AjUfU36JH5EhbpK1aGTvrV4mhvg_gz33CwaL6Cfwo-AJzR7R_7ql4gWJwvX9Es_SzbrRGTCFzpIJ_6V6wB-twj6zGb2HiQ5nkB6a84Tg9LJPRFc_NM/s1600/baby+lambs+020+b&w.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2e1BWy-3xLvyIKo_LXTW5dsHm1AjUfU36JH5EhbpK1aGTvrV4mhvg_gz33CwaL6Cfwo-AJzR7R_7ql4gWJwvX9Es_SzbrRGTCFzpIJ_6V6wB-twj6zGb2HiQ5nkB6a84Tg9LJPRFc_NM/s640/baby+lambs+020+b&w.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm glad I'm not in charge of everything. I am glad that there is grace for me when I make mistakes. I am delighted to have a front row seat to the miracle of life on the farm but I'm beginning to recognise that being a steward of life means having to deal with death too. That's a lot harder but part of becoming a farmer - because as I've often said: Being a farmer is hard on your heart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without LIFE there would be no death but without DEATH there would be no life. I choose LIFE. I choose to engage in LIFE. To snuggle baby lambs and baby kittens, to scratch Ben the Ram under his chin, to hug Maybe the donkey, to pet Levi the dog, to hug my kids and my husband and my family and my friends and tell them I love them. To LIVE because that's the kind of living that makes LIFE worthwhile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8873216915823507728.post-7065205048182123542013-04-12T07:02:00.002-07:002013-04-12T07:02:55.894-07:00Is canning really worth it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjXwNnmmLxdPzGPNb84UsIvHUfQtnIhFmGcDsJdMC9FJVVj1FLLrBruhJvz7C8v0UMa_Mg-_WRW6ADgWfuWEQp3ce9H3zznOSflWKBf12pQve0PNyJTSxunQoG_IFG4GI7hTr9LCEEI4/s1600/DSCF3028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjXwNnmmLxdPzGPNb84UsIvHUfQtnIhFmGcDsJdMC9FJVVj1FLLrBruhJvz7C8v0UMa_Mg-_WRW6ADgWfuWEQp3ce9H3zznOSflWKBf12pQve0PNyJTSxunQoG_IFG4GI7hTr9LCEEI4/s640/DSCF3028.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You probably only need to read about two posts on my blog to figure out that I love to can. There's something about the sense of accomplishment of seeing all those beautiful jars lined up on the counter filled with good hearty home grown food that makes me happy. Here's some of the reason I like to can.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's fast food in a slow food world. Popping a lid of a jar of canned tomatoes in mid winter reminds me of the days I spent canning all those tomatoes last summer...it took time but now I am reaping the rewards of time well spent.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home canned foods have no unpronounceable additives or chemicals and are not preserved in plastic lined containers. Glass jars do not have toxic chemicals leaching out of them like many of our commercially canned foods. Many organic whole foods companies are switching over to glass jars or tins that don't have BPA which are good options but usually very expensive.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canning preserves food that could potentially go to waste. How many pounds of tomatoes can you eat in the summer anyway! (the answer is A LOT - but not enough to keep up in a bountiful year!)</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canning saves on fuel because you process large quantities</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at a time and once it's done it doesn't need the freezer to store your food. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's food you would eat cooked anyway. My favourite recipe lately is layered chicken soup. Somehow canning it made it taste even better than eating it freshly made. Why does commercially</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> canned soup taste so bad anyway??</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a hedge against a time when there's more month than money. Gee - I never have that problem do you??? (that was sarcasm)</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a convenient way to share a meal with a friend or a sick sister (who is stuck at home with the worst cold EVER)</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It just makes me happy - isn't that reason enough??</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canning isn't the only way to preserve food. Dehydrating, freezing, fermenting and root cellaring are common ways that come to mind. I like each one for different reasons. I like dehydrated green veggies better than frozen of canned. I like frozen fruit better than canned or dehydrated. I like fermented cabbage (aka sauerkraut) I like apples best when they are root cellared.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also like raw food. I eat as much salad and raw vegetables as I can when they are available fresh and spend the money all winter long to continue to eat fresh greens...some day I hope to have a cold frame/greenhouse where I dream of eating fresh picked greens through most of the winter but until then I eat the store bought variety with some home grown sprouts thrown in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each method has it's own benefits.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m5ZQbaOI5YFziY3JeSYoJq4Y8vdGjtUGtO95W0qFk30WbfwM22EdndZzB0U_HX7hjzrLJXKYaT9McaGY-kLsjExw5vetSM67B7tQ7gfxsnwGFakDd0xklnyYsB6vjuTiuvqmZUU5-XI/s1600/canning+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m5ZQbaOI5YFziY3JeSYoJq4Y8vdGjtUGtO95W0qFk30WbfwM22EdndZzB0U_HX7hjzrLJXKYaT9McaGY-kLsjExw5vetSM67B7tQ7gfxsnwGFakDd0xklnyYsB6vjuTiuvqmZUU5-XI/s640/canning+002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So back to the monetary cost of canning. What does it really cost?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It depends. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I look at the cost of purchasing all the equipment brand new, having to purchase new jars and having to purchase the food because you don't grow it yourself - I can not promise you it will be cheaper monetarily - at least not for quite awhile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you need to purchase equipment and jars and you grow most of the food your self - you should break even within a reasonable amount of time. If you stick to water bath canning high acid foods (jams, jelly, tomato sauce, pickles...) you absolutely will find it worth the money because your cost output is lower for water bath canning than pressure canning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are given the jars because you have wonderful friends and neighbours who know how to <strike>fuel your canning addiction</strike> I mean - who are nice enough to give you their old jars because they don't can any more, you buy your lids when they have them at the dollar store for half the price of anywhere else and you grow most of the ingredients yourself or get them for a really good deal...then monetarily I believe you will be ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of that takes into account the quality of the food of course which is hard to quantify in dollars and cents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Water Bath Canning high acid foods you will need: 1 large pot with a lid and some kind of rack so the jars don't sit directly on the bottom of the pot. You can make a rack out of extra canning rings - just use twist ties to attach them together - so simple! The pot needs to be large enough that you can put the rack, the jars and enough water to cover the jars by an inch without the pot overflowing when at a rolling boil. You will need jars, lids, rings and a jar lifter. A magnetic wand is handy for fishing the hot lids out of the simmering water - the rest of your equipment can be found in a reasonable stocked kitchen - spoons, a wide mouth funnel, a heavy bottomed pot and tea towels. All of these can be purchased (not including jars and lids) for less than $40.00 or even cheaper if you check out a thrift store or ask around for "donations".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Pressure Canning low acid foods you will need: A Pressure Canner and all of the above. Just note that a pressure canner is not the same thing as a pressure cooker. A pressure cooker is not made to keep the pressure constant for the length of time required to can low acid foods. The Presto Pressure Canner is a reasonably easy to find item in stores like Home Hardware and on-line. I have one that holds 7 quart jars or 14 pints and the cost was about $150.00 including taxes. See my post on a comparison of <a href="http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.ca/2013/03/presto-vs-all-american-pressure-canner.html">Pressure Canners</a> for more information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An integral part of the cost of canning is the time it requires. When I first started canning many years ago it was a slow process. I needed to read and re-read the instructions. I fussed and fiddled and worried my way through the first season. It took me forever to figure out how to organize my space efficiently. I was fortunate to get one batch done in a day and I wondered at that point if all this work was worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I consider all of that time and energy the cost of my education. As time passed I found ways to be more efficient and I worried a lot less. Don't be discouraged if that's the stage you are at. You will improve with some practise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to answer my question: Is canning really worth it? My answer is a musically resounding YES with just a hint of something that sounds suspiciously like the pinging of sealing canning jars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join the conversation - what do you think - leave me a comment!</div>anitapreciouspearlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575584580341496734noreply@blogger.com3