Okay, after months of doing this and that to my computer, having a repairman out, talking to the BHM’s computer guru and getting nowhere, we finally had the Hughes Net guy out and he put me on a different sattelite because the computer was so slow that the photos wouldn’t attach to my blog in less than 15 minutes…if at all.  What a pain!!!  But tonight I did three photos in less than 2 minutes!  Horray!
 
AND two days ago, our four year old doe, Velvet, kidded.  I was hoping for a doe kid because I lost a doe last year and really need more milking does.  Our old Nubian/Boer doe has a poor udder and fights with mastitis every year, so I need to have youngsters in the wings for when she is done producing for us.
 
It was warm at chore time and I have Velvet in the new birthing stall.  I watered her and she wouldn’t drink.  Oh oh, I thought, she’s going to kid tonight…and it was going to get real cold; zero!  Without electricity, I have no heat lamp and was worried.  But by the time I got her grain and hay, there was a little brown and white kid lying on the straw!  Now I’m talking about maybe three minutes here and she wasn’t even straining!  That’s fast.
 
And in less time than it takes to type it, she delivered two more kids, a brown and black one and another huge multi-colored tyke.  As I quickly dried them all off, I checked their sex (of course!).  The first was a doe!  Wow, the second was a doe, too.  Holy mackerel, the third was a doe, too!!!  Now to keep them alive over the cold night.  So after they were cleaned up, I carried all three into the house and put them on towels in the bathtub…my not so fancy goat kid pen.  Hey, it works!
 
As newborn kids often won’t nurse a bottle, I tube fed all three with warm colostrum.  In the morning all three were baaing for breakfast.  So I took them out to Velvet, hoping she’d recognize and take care of them.  She did.  All ate well.  It warmed up, so I left them out there all day with her.  But I brought them back in at night because it was again going near zero.
 
But now, two days later, the weather’s warmed up a lot and they’re doing fine.  And David and I can again use the shower.
 
We’re spending a lot of time in the barn these days, playing with our new goats and the other critters too, especially our little Friesian, Ladyhawk.  Oh, she’s already trained to ride; a rooster flew off the rafters and landed on her back.  He spent ten minutes sitting there while she walked around, unconcerned, looking at the new kids next door.  We just laughed and wished we had the camera!

Readers’ questions:
 
When do I plant Hopi Pale Grey squash?

I need to know when and how to plant hopi pale grey squash.And can I plant them as a early and late crop here in the southeast where we have very long growing seasons?I realy like your blog.I hope you get to enjoy lady hawk.She is a beauty in the picture.Thanks for all the advice.

Brenda Jarrell
Varnville, South Carolina

Plant your Hopi Pale Grey squash at the same time you’d plant any other winter squash; they are about a 100 day squash, but if you have a longer season, they’ll continue to pump out the squash for a long time.  In New Mexico, we’d get a wheelbarrow full of sqush from every plant and the plants would run 20′ or more, clear into our blue corn patch and we’d have squash hanging from the stalks, come frost.
 
I’m already in love with Ladyhawk.  She is simply the sweetest, smartest horse I’ve ever owned, and I’ve had a whole lot of them. — Jackie

Do not can meat in vacuum bags!!

Can you "can" meats in these new vacume sealed bags. I’m planning a very long hike and I would like to take meat that has been cooked and preserved in its own juice. I have seen pot roast dinners by "Hormel" in what appear to be aluminum pouches. I prefer to use my own meat. and limit salt and other chemicals used by main stream meat producers.

Jeff sexton
LaCrosse, Wisconsin

Sorry, but no.  You cannot "can" meat or anything else requiring processing, in vaccum bags.  You probably don’t want to know what the big companies do to get the food to stay edible in the on-the-shelf foods…..  Your best bet is to dehydrate vegetables and buy some freeze dried meat to add to dry foods along the way.  While you can dehydrate meat yourself, the freeze dried meat is really better tasting and worth the money in the long run; you don’t use much. — Jackie

Stove won’t bring canner up to tempeature

Your new filly is adorable - congratulations on both of the new babies.

Wanda Towles
Laurel, Maryland

Here’s an easy and pretty cheap remedy; buy a two-burner propane stove.  These are advertised in catalogs such as Harbor Freight and Northern Tool, as well as sold in many sporting departments.  I’m not talking about a Coleman camp stove but a sturdier, more substantial stovetop you can sit on a counter, picnic table or whatever.  It is fueled by a small propane tank like you use for a grill.  My grandmother used to can on one in our basement, and one of my first memories was of Mom and Grandma canning peaches down in the cool basement on that old propane stove. — Jackie

Canner brand preference?

First and foremost, I want you to know that I have such a deep respect and admiration for you and everything you have accomplished. I check almost everyday to see if you’ve put something in your blog. Love your advise and knowledge. Thank you for sharing, when I know how busy you are. That being said, I recently inherited a 30+ acre farm in northeastern Pennsylvania. It’s my family farm and my 2 brothers & their families live on the other 70 acres. I am not living there full time yet, but will soon. I am saving for a new pressure canner and have been looking at the Lehman’s brand. The prices are usually consistent .. about $200 for the size I want at Lehman’s and other sites. Do you have a preference for a brand name? Since I will be "very new" to canning, I’ve decided to buy new, rather than try to find something used. I’ll soon be turning 61, so I’m getting a late start, but with your
great advise and Backwoods Home articles, I’m feeling pretty good about t!he move. In advance, thank you so much for a suggestion on the canner. I look forward to many more enjoyable articles from you and others at Backwoods Home. God bless you and your family. (P.S. Good luck with the new man in your life!)

Rosemarie Wesolek
Mahaffey, Pennsylvanie

Thank you for the kind words!  And congratulations on your new farm!!!  No, I don’t have a preference, as to a canner brand, although I do like the ones that are steel on steel, with no gasket, simply because sooner or later you’ll have to replace the rubber gasket when it gets hard and brittle.  But that’s really not such a big deal, as they last for years and years.  Whatever one you choose, you’ll be happy with it.  I promise.  There’s no such thing as a late start!  Some people NEVER start, and that’s sad.  All the best on your move, and let me know if you have any questions along the way. — Jackie

Lots of extra milk

I’m able to get my hands on extra gallons of milk from my grocery store, since I receive WIC coupons. Since milk is so outrageous in price, and I’d hate not to get use out of my WIC benefit, I’d rather recan the store milk for other uses. Since my family can’t drink it that fast, and my freezer is at maximum, could you please let me know how to reprocess it for canning, with pressure and time.

Andrea Del Gardo
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Sure thing, but have you considered making cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream or yogurt from this extra milk?  All of these things are easy to make and real tasty to boot.
 
To can milk, simply heat it gently, then pour into hot, sterilized quart jars.  You can water bath process it for 60 minutes or pressure can it at 10 pounds pressure (unless you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet and must adjust your pressure to suit your altitude; consult your canning manual for directions) for 10 minutes.  That’s it!
 
Canned milk isn’t like fresh milk, rather more like evaporated milk, but it’s great for all types of cooking and can sure be whipped up to drink, especially if you add chocolate mix to it! — Jackie

Peeling hard boiled eggs

Why can’t I peel my hard boiled eggs? We have five hens and enjoy hard boiled eggs ocasionaly but our shells come off in small pieces and tear the white. I have let them age in the referigator for up to three weeks with no better result’s. What is different about store
bought eggs?

Jim Beauvais
Joyce, Washington

You can’t peel your hard boiled eggs because they are too fresh!  Store eggs are over a month old before you even see them.  The best way I’ve found to boil fresh eggs is to put a tablespoon full of vinegar into your sauce pan and bring it to a boil.  Then slip in the eggs.  When they are done, pour off the water.  Then toss them a bit, like popcorn, cracking the shells.  Pour cold water on them, drain and repeat until the eggs are cool, then let them sit in the cold water for an hour.  Then they’ll peel quite well. — Jackie

Homesteading, canning

I just discoverd the Backwoods Magazine last week and I really like your articles. I just did my fist test batch of canning today, hamburger, steak, and the left over broth. We’ll see in a week or so. So far everything looks good. I was surprised to see you moved to Minnesota the stories I had read only mentioned your Canada ordeal and living in Montana. I live in a small town in southern Minnesota called Ellendale (pop. 600). I’m sorry to here of your loss. But happy that you may have found someone new. My wife and I are trying gardening this year in pots, beans, carrots, cuc’s, and tomatoes. All to can. We are almost debt free (- house payment and truck). We would like a homestaed but lack the funds at present, both work at Mystic Lake Casino ( and I like my job security supervisor). So I am trying to do the best were we are. One of the reason for the canning and garden are because of the high gas prices (we spend 1200.00$ a month on gas for the cars and the last 2 months the gas bill for the house was over 400.00$). I would Love to see your homestead. Any suggestion for homesteading in a small town you have for me would be great.an.

You can "homestead" wherever you are, even if you don’t really have a homestead.  Well, kind of.  You can grow and can up your own food.  Even if you can’t grow all of it, or even most of it, you can find alternatives.  Local growers, farmers markets and even sales at local stores will give you plenty of food to can up for your pantry.  This not only saves you a ton of money but allows you to have a say in what is in your food.  I only put spices and salt in my canned goods (sometimes!), not chemicals you can’t even pronounce!
 
Working toward being debt free is a huge step down the homesteading path.  You can’t be self reliant if a mega giant is hovering over your head, ready to snatch away your security.
 
The term "homesteading" has come to mean being as self reliant as possible, not living on a remote rugged piece of land.  Of course you CAN also homestead on that rugged piece of land!
 
The best of luck. — Jackie

 
Take a look at our tom turkey!  He’s been strutting up a storm, thruming his wings so he makes a roaring sound as he dances for the hens.  Even the ducks are nodding and bowing, getting ready to breed and nest.  We have a lot of fun watching all that activity in the barnyard right now.  Our old Tom is half wild turkey and can fly like his wild parent.  Where the hens roost on the straw in the barn, Tom flies up to the rafters, eight feet high.  But you don’t want to be standing in  his landing strip when he comes off the roost in the morning!  One day I opened the barn doors and he flew down, hitting me in the chest.  I ended up on my back, wondering why I keep turkeys.  He weighs over 20 pounds and with all that momentum, he really hits hard.  I learned to open the doors then go do something else until he is on the GROUND.
 
Today I canned up the leftover Canadian bacon I had roasted for Easter dinner, complete with the pineapple and cherries.  I just baked it again until it was very hot, then quickly cut it to fit into hot wide mouth jars, poured hot juice over it and processed for 90 minutes because I did two quarts and three pints.  All sealed and look oh so good.  That’s at least five more meals out of the two two pound pieces of Canadian bacon I got for $1.99 a pound.  No fat, no gristle and no waste.  Best of all, we had a lucious dinner and plenty of leftovers.
 
I’m canning all the meat I can because in a few months I predict that the price of meat will go sky high.  Both grain prices and fuel prices are outrageous and that will soon affect the prices of ALL agricultural products.  We’re trying to figure out housing for a couple butcher pigs and a steer calf; they’re cheap now, but that’s only relatively temporary.  Then they’ll go way high for quite awhile.
 
We hope to raise a batch of young turkeys this year, along with the 25 meat chickens I ordered with my friend, Jeri.  Now if our turkeys will just cooperate!

Readers’ questions:

Vegetable garden fencing

We are preparing our vegetable garden out here in the Colorado plains. It’s 50′ x 150′ divided up into 3 long strips similar to John Silveira’s dad’s garden in the chickens book. The coop is not yet built, that’s next years project. I want to fence it in to keep out the numerous gophers and rabbits around here. I know to concrete in my corner posts, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get the fencing to extend below the ground, to keep out burrowers like I’ve read in my gardening books. They say to fence 18" below the ground. Unless I submerge my concrete below the ground that much too, how do I stop the burrowers?

Kevin Long
Elizabeth, Colorado

IF it is reasonably possible, it’s best to bury 1" chicken wire 18" below ground to keep out diggers.  The best way to do this in a large garden is to rent or borrow a trencher and use that to dig your trench for the wire.  A DitchWitch type trencher is quick and easy to use, UNLESS you have lots of rocks.  You CAN do it by hand, but I’ve never found that it was worth it.  I’ve lived where there were lots and lots of rabbits and gophers, and really didn’t have trouble with them digging under the fence.  I used chicken wire all the way to the ground, then made sure it was turned toward the outside of the garden a few inches.  This "skirt" I buried with soil and rocks.  I didn’t have anyone dig underneath.
 
There’s always a BEST way to do something, then there’s reality.  Of course the more you do the best way, the less headaches you’ll have later on down the road.  But sometimes it just isn’t real to do it the way folks do where the soil is nice and loose; easy digging. — Jackie

Should I move to the wilderness?

I’m a single mom of 2 children and I’m tired of living in town. I’ve alway wanted to live a wilderness life style and my question is "Is it unrealalistic for me to want to take my children and move to the wildrness when I don’t really know anything about the wildrness?" I feel a conection when I’m in the woods or when no ones around. I really want that conection with the wilderness and I want my
children to have that same kind of conection as well!

Shauna Starner
Troy, Ohio

I guess it all depends on the level of "wilderness" you’re talking about.  I would hesitate to recommend that ANYONE who is totally unfamiliar with wilderness skills and living to pull up stakes and move to, say, interior Alaska, to a fly-in-only wilderness homestead.  It has certainly been done with success, but the chances of a dream come true experience are much less than if the person had a lot of experience doing for themselves.
 
How about a compromise?  Or perhaps your idea of "wilderness" is less wild than mine, which it could certainly be?  You can find some pretty wild country that is still accessible by four wheel drive, on a maintained dirt road.  Whether you choose on or off grid could still be quite flexible here.  We live in the middle of big woods, hear wolves howling at night and regurlarly see lynx, bears, wolves, fishers, deer and an occasional moose.  You see the stars at night, the northern lights and huge moonrises.  There are no traffic sounds, sirens, neighbors or a paved road past our house…or any road, for that matter.
 
But in reality, it is not my idea of "wilderness".  We have a mile + long two track dirt trail for a driveway.  However when we get out that, there is a blacktop road.  People live a mile from us.  Not wilderness wilderness, but we knew we would probably be taking care of Mom and Dad and knew we had to have a place accessible to them for medical reasons.  So it is wild enough to satisfy the need for wilderness, but it is also realistically do-able in our situation.
 
Perhaps something like this would work for you and your children.  Wild country calls to a lot of us, and there is definitely a good life out there!  The very best of luck in finding it.
 
In the meantime, how about learning some wilderness skills?  Wood gathering, splitting, gardening, driving in backroad/off road conditions, building a wood fire, maintaining a chain saw, raising chickens, digging fence posts, etc.  If you are in town, offer your labor in exchange for the learning experiences in an add in a local shopper that reaches rural areas.  Read all you can and build up a library of how-to books.
 
Read and subscribe to Countryside Magazine, as a companion to Backwoods Home Magazine.  It tells of real-life stories from many people who have done just what you are talking about; their successes and failures and what could have been done differently.  It will inspire your dream. — Jackie

Forget the caponizing

I am ordering some Jumbo Cornish X Rocks from McMurray. I love having chicken in my freezer! Anyway, it says I should have the males "caponized" at 2-3 weeks.

Marty Rapisarda
Huntington, Massachusetts

Forget the caponizing.  It just isn’t worth it.  It’s not that hard to do, but those Cornish Rock meat birds get plenty big enough without it.  Too much fooling around and there always IS a chance of losing one or two.  Caponizing was popular in "the old days" when chickens just didn’t get as big and meaty as the current hybrids do.  Heck, mine were as big as small turkeys, especially in the breast department!  Save your time and energy…not to mention money.
 
I’m really, really enjoying my new filly!  She is SO level-headed and people oriented.  And today she was able to go into the donkey yard with them all day.  Yesterday my young jack, Moose, kept trying to pin her in a corner and kick her.  Today she kicked back and that was that.  Not buddies yet, but they tolerate each other! — Jackie