The first thing I do every morning is to turn on my weather radio.  We’ve lived by it for years and years, as the weather dictates what we will or will NOT be doing today or tomorrow and it gives us a good heads up when bad weather threatens.

This morning dawned sunny and bright, but the weather radio had winter storm warnings posted for tonight and tomorrow.  EEEK!!!  At first they were talking about 6" to 12" of wet, blowing snow, following freezing rain.  Now tonight it’s 12" to 18" inches.  How lovely.  Just after most of our snow has melted and everything is drying up.  The frost is mostly out of my garden and I was even thinking about tilling it to chop up the rotted manure clumps that I’d spread on it last fall.  Yeah.  Right.

So we regroup!  I spent most of today chopping and picking up firewood, hauling hay, picking up lumber, tarping down the big haystack…again, covering the ATV and wondering if just maybe the storm would swing south of us like they often do.

But tonight you could see this big huge black cloud bank swinging in from the west.  It gave me cold chills.  I would have taken a picture but my digital camera somehow got locked and I couldn’t make it release.  My tech guy, David, has gone bowling with his youth group, so my blog is photo-less.

Now we’ll just wait and see!  They are predicting power outages and down lines.  But, of course that won’t affect us.  With our new battery bank, we’re getting three days worth of power out of a five gallon can of gas.  A huge improvement, and when we get our two little solar panels hooked up, we should do better yet.  As the price of fuel goes up and up and up, we’ll be cutting down our use every way we can.

Wish us luck on the storm!

Readers’ questions:

What about chickens?

We are new to homesteading, and have just moved onto our 70 acres in the Pacific Northwest. We are starting our garden and chicken coop first (using the diagram from John Silveira’s article). My question is, what kind of chicken breed do you recommend for first timers? I’ve read a few articles that discuss meat production vs. egg laying and I confess I am a bit overwhelmed.  We would just like a manageable, friendly flock (maybe 15 or so) to lay eggs (brown would be nice) and eventually have some fresh meat. Could you offer any suggestions?

Brenda Palmer
Marblemount, Washington

Boy do we have the book for you!!  I just finished helping edit the new Backwoods Home chicken manual for beginners. It’s cheap, it’s thorough and I’m sure you’ll find it a great help.  There are many, many breeds of chickens suitable for beginners.  The heavy breeds are the ones that lay brown eggs.  I like Araucanas because they lay blue and green eggs.  That’s a lot of fun!  Whatever breed you choose, I’m sure you’ll love having chickens!! — Jackie

Canning onions

I just love your blog. Wish I had known about you years ago!! My question is I have gotten a bunch of beautiful big yellow onions and I can’t use them up fast enough. Can you "can" onions alone? I know you can chop them up and freeze them or dry them. I’ve been canning for years but have never thought about onions except in the "meals in jars" that I can.

Nancy Hanson
Washburn, Wisconsin

Yes, you can home can onions, but I personally like them better when they are dehydrated, but they are fine, canned, too.  To can onions, slice or dice them, then slip into boiling water and simmer just 5 minutes.  Pack hot into hot jars and cover to within 1/2" of the top of the jar with the broth.  Add a tsp of salt, if you wish, to pints. Process at 10 pounds (unless you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet and must adjust your pressure; consult your canning manual)) for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.  These are good in different recipes and also when used for fried or creamed onions. — Jackie

Want to move to the country

I want to move away from the south. I want some place far north away from everything. But I dont know where the best place is or would be to have a garden and farm animals. Also what state does Marjorie Burris live in? I want to live how she does and learn from her as well. I read she would take children in and teach them the old way. I want my children and I to learn the old ways.
 
Ann Milam
Foreman, Arkansas

I can’t tell you where would be "best", because that’s a very personal decision.  You need to sit down and write yourself a list of "must haves" for your new homestead.  Do you need power?  Availability of a job?  X number of acres?  Sketch out your "ideal" homestead on paper, then decide what you absolutely CAN NOT tolerate and include that too.  This may include neighbors, sub zero weather, poisonous snakes, wind, bears or whatever.  Now decide on about what you could possibly scrape together for a downpayment and what you could spend for your homestead.

If you have little resources, you could rent, exchange work for rent or find creative financing from an agreeable owner. Using all of this you can pretty much decide what areas you would like to live in most or what would work for you.

Sorry, but Marjorie has retired. –Jackie

Canning meals in a jar

I have been utilizing the recipes from your "Canning Meals In a Jar" article (Issue #110 March/April 2008) and was hoping that you could direct me to a source that has even more recipes that I can use.

Kevin Johnson
Waxhaw, North Carolina

Sorry Kevin, but there isn’t a source of recipes for "meals in a jar." What I do is just make a big batch of my own favorite recipes, then can up the whole thing.  Just remember to process the food for the longest time required for any one ingredient…usually meat.  Use a little restraint when adding rice, noodles or macaroni, as they swell and can make a very dense product. — Jackie

More signs of spring up north.  Yesterday I woke up to a musical sound.  Wolves?  Nooooo…  It sounds like geese.  It IS geese!  I threw open the window and the air was filled with the musical honking of Northbound Canadian geese flying low over the house, heading for the beaver pond.  Of course it is still frozen, but they landed, nevertheless.  I’m sure they’ll go on to one of the bigger rivers that is open now, but they’ll be back.  We have at least three pairs nesting on our creek and ponds.  What a wonderful sound!

And when I was walking out in the front yard to inspect the flower beds that have just cleared of snow, I spotted little red pointy noses poking up through the soil.  Tulips!!!  Unbelievable.  Three days ago, there was a foot of snow on that bed.  Spring happens pretty quick up here sometimes.
 
You really notice it on our mile long driveway.  The winter ice pack is melting and breaking up in huge chunks.  Dirt.  Puddle.  Eeek HOLE!  I think they call it "breakup" because you break up your vehicle on the rough roads.  But it makes you go so slow you notice the swelling buds on the popple and birch trees, the catkins on the alder.  Gee I’m already wondering when I’ll hear the first frog.  Now THAT’S a little premature….
 
The triplets are doing fine and are starting to bounce around.  I’ve got to disbud them tomorrow.  I don’t like doing it, but I’ve seen too many injured goats and people from leaving on the horns.  The smallest doeling has blue eyes!  I have never seen a goat with blue eyes before, and wonder if she’ll keep them.  (Now she would be the one to name "Blue Velvet"!)

Readers’ questions:

Moving canned goods to higher altitude

I have canned some strawberry jam where I live during the week, at sea level. I want to bring my jars of jam to my weekend cabin in the mountains at 7,000 ft. Is this ok or will the change in altitude
cause the jars to crack or break?

Sara Lauridsen
Big Bear City, California

I don’t think you’ll have any trouble.  When we moved from Minnesota to Montana, we moved from 900 feet to 7,200 feet and I took all my canned goods in a stock trailer.  I had no problem with jars, whatsoever.  The whole bunch, both jams and jellies to meats, sauces, tomatoes and vegetables made it just fine.  I wouldn’t worry. — Jackie

Ladyhawk, Moose, and Beauty

LadyHawk is gorgeous. And you’re looking pretty sharp yourself Jackie! What’s your beauty secret? I’m guessing - Lot’s of fresh air, hard work, healthy diet, and luuuuv.

Joanna Wilcox
Boone, North Carolina

Gee, you’re making me blush!  Maybe it IS love.  Heck, I’m happy to be alive.
 
Ladyhawk, Moose and Beauty will be used, as well as enjoyed.  We’ll eventually be hauling wood from our woods with them and driving them on various farm implements and vehicles.  If the price of gas keeps going through the roof, we may be driving them to town, too!!!
 
Also, they are terrific manure makers.  We need lots of manure for not only the garden, but also the flower beds, pastures and orchard!  One can never have too much manure!!!
 
And, yes, our animals are all pets, too.  We work harder than they do, so no one could ever accuse us of animal abuse!  Ladyhawk is fitting in very well, and she’s a very personable little girl.  She loves hugs, petting and attention. — Jackie

Glasstop stove canning problem

Jackie, thanks for the milk re-processing times. I’d love to have your recipes on ice-cream; yogurt and cheeses. I’m game to try anything to save a buck. A lot a people scratch their heads at why I do it, but, living in hurricane country, my family doesn’t want to become a future "Katrina" statistic. We’d rather fend for ourselves. So, all recipes and tips are always welcome.

Andrea Del Gardo
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

That is a possibility.  But one reason that canning on a glasstop isn’t recommended is that some canners have cracked the glass top on the stove, doing irreparable damage to it. — Jackie

Gasketless canner

Where can a steel on steel presure canner with no gasket be purpused? Have checked around and no one here has heard of one.

 Arthur Price
Jacksonville, Illinois

Actually, it’s "aluminum on aluminum", but you can buy several sizes at Lehman’s Hardware on line or through their catalog.  I’ve used one for over 30 years and have only had to buy a gauge when water got in mine when we moved and I left it sitting outside where it froze.  Not bad, considering the thousands and thousands of jars that I’ve processed through it! — Jackie

Chicks have curled toes

This is my first year as a chicken owner and 2 out of 15 Rhode Island Red chicks have curled toes. They are about 4 wks old. Have you had this problem in any of your chicks? Were you able to fix it or do you put them down? What breeds of chickens do you keep?

Stacie Lancaster
Manhattan, Kansas

Curled toes in chicks is generally thought to be a genetic problem.  Sometimes they grow out of it; sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes if they don’t it doesn’t seem to bother them; they adjust.  Other times it does and they are lame and don’t do well.  You can try taping the toes straight, if they will manually straighten out without undue stress.  Wrap adhesive tape relatively loosely around each toe to make a soft spling.  This often does the trick.
 
Right now my chickens are mostly Araucanas and banties with a Araucana/Cornish rock rooster.  I love the colored eggs and the way the chickens rustle for their own food like wild fowl.  We do raise Cornish rock broilers for butchering; you can’t beat them.  They’re huge! — Jackie