We’ve been having nice weather here, with the sun out for a change and we’re really getting a lot done. So one day has melted into another. David had a super football season, playing defense for the Cook Gophers. He was also their kicker this year. I think everyone in the area was rooting for him, especially knowing he was coming back after his bout with flesh eating bacteria in his arm. Seeking him breaking through an opposing team’s tough line to go on and tackle their quarterback almost brought tears to my eyes. We are so grateful he made a quick and complete recovery.

Tom was over working on our new greenhouse/porch this week and I asked him if he’d rip off the crappy OSB “temporary” roofing on the east side of our goat barn. David and I had sheeted the west side with nice green metal roofing but the east side, we just slapped something on ahead of a early winter blizzard two years ago and it was pretty disgusting.

So he agreed, and in an hour, the old stuff was off and I started bringing out old greenhouse Filon roofing (that wavy clear fiberglass). The goat barn was kind of dark because goats will stand on their hind feet and knock out windows up six feet high. So the only windows were in the very peak of the gable ends and in the two doors in front. Now the sunshine beats into the goat pens and makes the whole barn light and cheerful. And the roof won’t leak any more! Horray!!!!

It’s always nice to recycle….even if it’s your own stuff, re-used in a different application. I didn’t want that Filon laying in a pile all winter to get ruined. Now it’s being used in a good way.

I got so into it that I’m going to order the last 3 pieces of sheet metal roofing for our horse lean-to in the pasture and we’ll finish off that, too. I got the rest of the roofing at the dump, but came up short the 3 pieces and we never “got round to it”.

We get nuts this time of the year, because we know winter’s just around the corner, so it’s this project, that project, finish this, pick up that. You never get it all, but every year we’re further ahead, and that’s encouraging.

David bought his own car today. He did the whole deal; found the car, talked to the salesman, went to the bank, filled out credit applications, went to the insurance company; the whole ball of wax. It’s a Lincoln Continental (1994), and only cost him $1,600. $500 came out of his savings, and he had to borrow $1,200, paying $56 a month.

He turns 17 next week, paid the $500 from his haying money and will pay the car off when he sells his old trusty Taurus (Grandpa’s car). But he now knows the ropes of doing business in the “real world”, and I think that’s a good thing. The Lincoln is a bit “fancy” for my tastes, but it’s a smaller car, gets 25 + mpg and has been well maintained. I’m crossing my fingers!

Readers’ questions:

“Gaugeless” pressure canners

Jackie,

Thanks for the advice on the use of tomatoes… sadly here in NW Washington it has been a cooler summer and very few of them have ripened… but the bushes still have not died, so even in October they will stay on as long as possible. My question today is about pressure canners. My mother bought 2 of those ingenious “gaugeless” canners with a 3-piece weight set that allows you to arbitrarily set the canning pressure at 5, 10, or 15#. I have an old Presto 21-B that has a gauge, and I have been told by 2 out of 3 people that presto’s 3-piece weight set will work on mine. It would be very helpful, especially when I am doing marathon 90 minute venison canning sessions. Your opinion would on this matter be greatly valued. Your column is so helpful; My wife and I really enjoy it. Keep up the good work.

Ben Skelton
Sedro Woolley, WA

Hang in there with those tomatoes. When it threatens to get too cold or the tomatoes just quit putting on size, pick them and put them in shallow boxes, buckets, bins or tubs and bring them into the warm house. No need for a “sunny window sill”, just plunk them down somewhere out of the way where you can watch and sort them. They will ripen a bunch at a time, beginning in about 3 days.

Boy, you’ve got me with your weight question. Personally, I’d stick with the gauge. I like them a whole lot better than the little weights. You see right away when your pressure is beginning to climb and can adjust the heat to keep it even. Usually, and I DO say “usually”, you’ll hit a sweet spot and the canner will hang pretty much in the right pressure without too much fooling around. But you still need to watch it closely. The little demons in the kitchen always bump the heat up or down when you’re not looking! We’ll soon be canning venison too. Luck with the hunt. — Jackie

Gift salsa

I make salsa using canned whole tomatoes and would like to bottle the salsa to give as Christmas gifts. Is this possible without having to cook (can)? My fear is someone becoming ill if not properly bottled. I make fresh daily and distribute the following day and let them know to keep refrigerated and should remain fresh for 2 weeks. Also do I need to add vinegar? I add chicken broth to my recipe.
Fena Cuadra
Phoenix, Arizona

This a little “iffy”. Especially with the added chicken broth. Chicken broth is very prone to going bad if not constantly refrigerated….and even sometimes when it is for your 2 week period. Without the chicken broth, you could probably get by, IF it was ALWAYS held in refrigerated conditions, i.e. no wrapped under the tree, set on a table for people to admire, carried home in a bag in the back seat, etc.

I’m a whole lot more confident when I give home canned salsas. It is so easy to can it, only taking 15 minutes in a water bath canner to make it safe to store at room temperatures. Yes, unless you can salsas with tomatoes that you KNOW are an acid variety, you should either add lemon, lime juice or vinegar to make the recipe safely acidic enough to water bath process. — Jackie

Yellow jacket elimination

I have eliminated a yellow jacket nest by leaving my shop-vac hose next to the entrance and turning it on for a couple hours. They attack the hose and away they go. My shop-vac is small enough to run off of my inverter so the electricity was free.

After turning it off I waited a day before opening it up to dump the dead pests.

The shop-vac also worked well to pick up a rat living in the kindling box. I “grabbed” it from the back, put it in an old wide-mouthed jar, grabbed my shovel, and took it outside.

Steve Ahrendt
Petaluma, CA

Talk about ingenious! Way to go, Steve! I’ve used my shop vac for a whole lot (don’t own a regular vacuum cleaner), but never for getting rid of a yellow jacket nest. Good thinking. — Jackie

Lemon juice

I need to know how to can lemon juice from fresh lemons.

Nancy Foster
Dallas City, Illinois

Cut the lemons in half, remove seeds, ream juice out with a cone-shaped citrus extractor to prevent bitter white peel from getting into juice. Strain if you wish or else pick out bits of floating seed, membrane, etc. Heat juice to simmering and pour into hot, sterilized jars. Water bath process for 20 minutes unless you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet. If so, consult a canning manual for directions on increasing your time to suit your altitude, if necessary. It’s neat you have enough lemons to can the juice. It is very good! — Jackie

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Food Preservation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.