home made and canned barbecue sauce

I am tomatoed out!  I have been putting up tomatoes like crazy.  and then I brought in more!

The one thing that I buy but have not made was barbecue sauce.  I like mine thin to mop on rather than the thick sticky stuff so I usually buy Head Country and then "fix" it.  So I was on a mission.

First I halved, de-seeded and squeezed the tomatoes.  Then chopped some onions and bell peppers to go in.  Then on the stove to cook.

After they were nice and tender I put them thru the blender and then thru a sieve to remove any remaining seeds and bits of peel.  By not peeling them I save time and end up with more yield than I would if I peeled them.

What I had left was a nicely flavored tomato puree.  Back in the pot it went with some seasoning.  I had about 42 cups of puree so I added 4 cups of apple cider vinegar, 4 tablespoons Paprika, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 4 tablespoons salt and 4 cups Brown Sugar.

Then I let it simmer until it was the right consistency, while stirring frequently.  It still did not taste right and so I put on my thinking cap of what it is I fix sauce with so I added a small jar of prepared mustard and some maple syrup.

Ahhh ... Perfection... then

Then in the pint jars and with my Tattler lids of course.  I pressure canned it at 10 lbs for 20 minutes.  ( I could have water bathed it but I prefer to pressure everything I can)

I ended up with 25 pretty pint jars of barbecue sauce.  I won't have to buy any for a while!

Pigging... What fun! Meet our 12 new babies!

Pigs do not mess around on the whole due date thing 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days and she popped! I knew she was due yesterday by the calendar so I went to go check on Monster our pig.  We had been pulling grass out of the garden and the girls had given her several loads of it.  That pig carried the grass all into her house and made a nest.

So as the day went on I went to check on her every little bit.  The kids and I started trying to dig some potatoes one of the times we went to check on her we found her laying down breathing hard and looking miserable

Now mind you we have never had a pig give birth and did not know really what to expect.  So I got on the trusty Internet and looked up the process for farrowing.  It said 30-90 minutes from the time they lay down and be still.  Well at 2 hours I was getting worried and still no pigs.  I decided I would give her 30 more minutes and then go get my neighbor who used to work in the hog farms. 

30 minutes later I went out to check on her and this is what I found

Twelve year old daughter got called out to help we got the birthing bag and put pads down behind her to contain the mess and those baby pigs just started coming out.  One every few minutes.  We were wiping baby pigs down as fast as we could!  They are feisty little buggers when they are born.  We did not expect them to be running around the pig shed as soon as they were dried off!

I like this one.  It has some interesting colors on it!  And it is a girl so we are probably going to keep this one to replace her mother!

Monster is a good mom she was being careful not to lay on any.  If she heard a squeal she moved.  Except they were only squealing because two wanted the same nipple!
We ended up with 12 little piggies in all.  7 girls and 5 boys! 

Our pigs are mutt pigs so we ended up with an assortment of colors!

Monster is going to the butcher when we wean these babies.  That was always the plan.  Our pig is sweet and loves scratches and her tummy rubbed but she is just too big to handle anymore so she will have to go.  We will all miss her but we also know that is why we have them.

My neighbor is going to come and help in about a week or so to castrate them.  I can do castrations with a band and I have assisted with human castrations (worked as a RN for 20 years) but I have never seen or done pigs and the have to be cut.  So I am thankful for the assistance and guidance.

We are going to keep 4 of the barrows (castrated males) to raise for the freezer and two of the cute red females for breeding and probably sell the rest to pay for their feed.

We have been out of pork for about 2 months so we will be glad to get some bacon again!

Pork chops in the making!

Life on the farm and random pix

It has been crazy around here.  The grass grows faster in the garden than I can pull it.  I had the garden totally pretty a couple weeks ago and now I have trouble finding my plants! 

We butchered 12 chickens and are doing 7 ducks today.  I hate plucking them so I made a plucker.  It cost me about $20 to build and we can pluck a chicken clean in about 2 minutes.  It took us 3 hours to do 12 chickens that averages 15 minutes a bird for killing, dunking, plucking, cleaning and packaging.

If anyone wants to know how I made this plucker then write a comment and ask and I will put up a post detailing the way to make this yourself.

We have been canning and putting up the harvest nothing fancy is why no detailed articles.  We have had a bountiful harvest and feel blessed by God for all the rain!

onions

mixed berry jelly and pickled beets

Roasted Tomato Soup
 

The pig is due to have her piglets in 2 weeks and she keeps getting out!  As soon as her babies are weaned she will have a date with the butcher and our freezer!  One of my doeling Alpines is terrified of the pig.  She gets up on the spool and will stay there for as long as the pig is out!!!

Birds everywhere

I found this guinea nest in the field there were about 100  eggs

We got 2 new furbabies for the house.  The Dog sons are named Freddy and Hoyt.  They are wonderful and getting spoiled already!

My oldest daughter finally got pregnant after ten years of trying (and two adoptions)  so we are working on finding baby things.
I picked this treasure up at a yard sale for her  for $10.

My neighbor makes beautiful hand carved spoons and stuff.  He gave me these for helping out his parents and they are food safe to use.  But they are just too pretty to use!  If anyone is interested in some I can get you hooked up with the family that makes them!  The top thing for those who don't know is a dough cutter.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. 
Keep your garden growing and your powder dry!

Doing Laundry with no machine

I have to admit the SHTF here at my house in my laundry room.  Our washer died (it is a pricey front loader, high efficiency with all the bells and whistles and only 3 years old!!!!) and with no way to immediately replace it I went into survival mode for this matter. It was a good learning experience for my kids and a way to test survival methods before everything comes crashing down!  It is my desire to have a manual wringer washer before that happens...But if I do not get it than I can manage this way!!!

For centuries before a washing machine laundry was done by hand.  Initially it was done by only using the hands and rocks and then the wash board came along.


Washboard image from Bing images

Then came wringer washers, which I wish I had one of!

Wringer washer image from Bing images

Then there is my way of doing it!  A plunger (Cost $5.40 at the local Ace Hardware) and three wash tubs which are re purposed barrels from the local Little Debbie factory (Cost $8 per barrel used 1 1/2 barrels)  Total cost for survival washing machine $17.40




The first tub is wash water with laundry detergent, the second is rinse water and the third is a final rinse with Downy.  I put them on the tailgate of my truck to make it easier on the back and also the black bed helps to warm the water on a sunny day!

3 tubs, you can barely see it because of the sun but I have a 5 strand clothes line right behind where the tubs are

First you put water into the wash tubs, add your soap (The cheap non-HE works best for this or you can grate home made lye soap to use) and fabric softener to the respective tubs.  Put your dirty clothes into the wash water and using the plunger with an up and down motion agitate the clothes well.  Any spots are rubbed out with extra soap and knuckles (wish I had a rub board for that!) Then wring out well and put into the rinse, repeat agitating and then wring and into the final rinse.  After the final rinse wring well and hang on the line.  I wring them out using a twisting motion but it is still very hard to get the water out by hand especially large towels and jeans.  So it would be unwise to put them in the dryer like that as the weight may damage it. Hang them on a line until they are dry.  If you have the convenience of a dryer then when the clothes are just damp you can bring them in and place into the dryer to finish drying and "fluff" them.

And there you have it a way to do laundry without a machine, or power.  I am just thankful that I have a well pump and a garden hose to fill the tubs!!!  It actually only took about 3 hours to do about seven loads of laundry and it would have taken the washer over 7 hours to do all of it, and the clothes are cleaner and smell better.  But the work was tiresome and my 12 year old and I both were exhausted after completing our task!

A Garden to feed 9 for a year. Hallelujah it is planted!!!

The weather here in Arkansas has been absolutely CRAZY, I mean really??? Snow on May 3rd???  So my garden is later getting set out than usual.  Yesterday evening we got the last of the seeds planted.  I have left to buy some herb plants and get them set out but other than that it is done.  I still have room for about 4 more rows and my friend wants some mustard greens so that may get set out if she brings me the seeds. (we do not eat mustard greens).  I may also plant a couple more rows of dry beans. 

Between my daughter and I we have 9 mouths to feed.  Which means we have to have a HUGE garden if we do not want to go to the store.  I also have many critters to feed  and some of it to is for them.

We still have to get the rest of the mulch down.  We go to a neighboring town and get mulch.  It is chipped up wood and here is the great thing.  It is only one dollar for a truck load!  Good Bye weeds!!!!

Between canning, root cellaring, freezing and dehydrating we should be able to preserve enough to last a year, God willing.  If there is no drought, floods or grasshopper plagues we should be good.  My ducks will be sent to the garden to eat bugs as soon as all my seeds and plants are well established.

Here is what we have (remember each row is about 70 feet long):

7 rows of potatoes
1 row of garlic
4 rows of green beans
1 row of peppers
1 row of tomatoes
1 row of sweet potatoes
1 row of dry beans
1 row of cucumbers
4 hills of zucchini
1 row of okra
1/2 row of honeydew melons
1/2 row of cantaloupes
1/2 row of Acorn squash
1/2 row of butternut squash
1 1/2 row watermelon
4 rows of corn
2 rows of radishes
2 rows of sweet peas
2 rows of turnips
1 1/2 rows of beets
1/2 row of rutabaga
2 rows of carrots
2 rows of lettuce
2 rows of spinach
2 rows of onions
1 row of broccoli
1 row of cabbage
1 row of pumpkins
5 hills of yellow squash
1 row of sunflowers

I think that is it!!!  Anybody want to come and learn how to can and preserve everything in a couple months???? LOL

All of these plants/seeds are heirloom non GMO.  This means that they are healthy and we can save the seeds for next year.  This way our garden will cost much less.  Right now to plant all of this we have about $75 invested plus we will have about $15 invested in mulch.  Last year 1 row of potatoes produced about 100 pounds of potatoes we have 7 times that and are expecting about 500-700 pounds of potatoes.  Enough for both families to have potatoes all year.  Since we do not have a root cellar we will be digging cairns to preserve them.  We will do the same with the winter squash.

Savings on potatoes alone: Yukon Golds are $4.96 for 5 pounds at Wal-Mart.  I spent $10 on 100 pounds of Yukon Gold seed potatoes.  If we get 500 pounds of Yukon golds that would be about $500 to buy them at Wal-Mart savings is $490 dollars.  More if we end up digging more than 500 pounds of them!!!  I think that is a BIG savings myself and that alone makes the garden worth it!!!

My oldest daughter has been an immense help.  I could not have done it without her.  But this garden feeds her family also.  This is how families are supposed to be.  Instead of bickering and fighting it is much more productive to get together, work together, pray together and love each other!

Snow!!! In May??? History has been made in Arkansas

Before in my blog I had complained about Jack Frost not looking at the calendar... Well I guess Father Winter is confused also!!!  Here in Northwest Arkansas we set a record last night.  It has NEVER snowed this late in the year!

We got over an inch of snow!!!  This pic was taken at 3:45am

My poor garden.  Hopefully it wont bother the few greens, radishes and turnips I have up.  But the tomatoes and peppers are done for.  I will have to go buy plants to replace them.  I would imagine the volunteer celery is done for also!  I also pray that my green beans had not sprouted yet.  I had not been to that end of the garden in 2 days.

By late afternoon it had all melted off.  There was a 50% chance it would do it again tonight but so far it has not.    I hope mother nature is done now!!!

Spring time on the Farm

It is Spring which is a very busy time.  We have started getting our garden out but Jack frost keeps interfering.  He has not looked at the calendar and realized he needs to go away!  I have Soda Bottle greenhouses over my tender tomato and pepper plants.  The town next to us sells mulch for one dollar a truck load we just have to load and haul it.  Next week we will be going to get five loads for the garden to keep the weeds down.  Plus my son-in-law has been saving large sheets of cardboard from his work to put under the mulch to further fight the weeds.

We have 4 additions to our milk herd

The incubator is running constantly and I have hatched so far 57 chicks and 18 ducks, currently there are 41 Guinea eggs in the incubator.  Soon the first batch of Chicks will be headed for the freezer.

Three ducks are setting on their own nests and so are 3 chickens.  I really thought the black sex links would not set so I bought some baby bantie's.  Then 3 decided to go broody!  Yeah!!!

The rabbits are producing and we are able to have bunny dinner frequently.  We have eleven in the grower cage right now.

Spring is in the air for the pigs and Monster should have her piglets in 3 months.  Husband pig is much smaller than monster but he somehow managed to do his duty!

The Turkeys are growing and the brooder is full of baby chicks

 

 

Cow is getting big

determining sex of turkey poults

There is a little known fact.  You can determine the sex of a turkey poult with about 98% accuracy on the day of hatch.  Most people do not know this but if you have ever worked in a connercial hatchery you learn.  Back in the mid 80's I worked in a Cargil Hatchery as a "Sexpert".  It is a nasty proposition but if you want to know what you have then it is a neccessity.  The hatcheries must seperate them so that they can send the toms to one house and the hens to another for growing.
I will explain first and then if I can get someone to help me with pictures I will post them later.  You can check them as soon as they hatch.  In the hatchery this is when we sexed them.

Take a poult in your non-dominate hand and hold it upside down with the tail toward you.  Using your dominate hand place your thumb on at the tail and your forefinger on the other side of the vent, spread the vent toward the front of the poult so that you can visualize the inside. A Tom will have two very definate bumps pop up on the inside but at the edge toward the front of the poult and a hen will have a smooth place that is more rounded and not as defined.  After you look at a few you will be able to see the difference.

I just bought 12 poults from a local breeder and they sexed out to be about 50/50

The Chick or the Egg, Things I have learned

Night Owl

I have had an incubator now for about a year and by trial and error I have learned a few things.  I thought I would share.

1. Wash your eggs with dish soap.  Without cleaning with a anti microbial soap I had very low hatch rates.  But when I wash the eggs with dish soap then rinse well I had super good hatch rates for example 29 out of 33 eggs last week.
2. When hatching mixed batches of duck and chicken eggs put your duck eggs in the icubator 1 week before the chicken eggs.  I killed my first batch of duck eggs when the chicken eggs hatched and I had the incubator open.
3. I put a cup of water in the incubator for increased humidity.  When they are hatching if they do not get out quick then the membrane drys and effectively locks them in the egg.  The added humidity slows that drying process.  The humidity trays in the bottom of the incubator are not enough.
4. Chicks can wear themselves out trying to hatch thru a hard egg shell!!!  Some chicks just pop right out a few minutes after they break thru with the first hole.  Others can lag on for hours with that inside membrane drying and then die before they can hatch.  At first I was afraid to "help" them and I had several half hatched chicks die.  Now my rule is if they have a hole open to air for more than 4 hours then I break a line with my thumb nail all the way around the end of the egg just like when they do it naturally.  Then the chick can stretch and pop out comes the chick.  They do not bleed this way and they survive well.  I lost one this last week out of 29 hatched chicks.
5. Ducks drop their eggs all over.  It is like an easter egg hunt every day around here.  It is like they are walking, drop and egg and keep on walking.  I have found duck eggs in the strangest of places!!!
6. The poultry industry has worked with genetics to get big eggs, big breasts etc but they have done gone and bred all of the brains right out of chickens.  They will NOT go broody to save my life or theirs!!!  If anybody has any ideas on how to kick start them then please share.....
7. Eggs make great balls!!!   Just ask our Pug!!!!!
8. Pigs will do anything for an egg.  Including walk straight across a field to go get in the stock trailer.  Poor Pork Chop had no idea where that stock trailer was then going to!!!  We get him back from the butcher today or tomorrow and are planning a ham dinner in celebration of his home coming!!!  He was our first to raise and get off to the butcher...  He was 240lbs on the hoof and dressed out at 173lbs....

It's a Girl.... And a Boy !!!!!!!

Our very first goat babies delivered today.  Dot is the proud mama of two darling kids.  One little girl and one little boy...

 We are very proud!!!!!!!

If there is yarn then we will be warm!

I had not done crochet in over 20 years when I picked back up the hooks and got busy.  Yarn can be spun fairly easily using a drop spindle and wool or angora hair if Wal-Mart ceased to exist.  But for now I will buy it.  Crochet or knitting are good skills to have.  They can be useful in a survival situation if there is an extended grid down period.  Yarn is something easily stocked up on in your preps when it goes on sale or from thrift shops.  I have bought a lot of yarn at yard sales and such for just a few cents.  It doesn't have an expiration date and can be kept in a plastic tote.  As long as it is dry and rodent proof is all you need to store it.

scarf, stocking cap and mittens

mitten up close

Hubby's new sweater