Remember that big 29 degree freeze we had that I had to run sprinklers in the icy garden to save the vegetables? Well, the first of that corn is ripe. Yes, the plants got freeze-burned leaves, but they lived and the corn is slowly ripening. My pantry is pretty skimpy in the corn department, so I planted lots and had high hopes. But lately, I’ve been living on a wing and a prayer, waiting and waiting for those corn ears to fatten up.

Yes! They are. And here’s the proof.

I’ve been busy this weekend, canning the seven chickens we butchered, making tomato sauce and more blackberry jam. Harvest and canning are in full swing here now. I usually love the race, but I got a whanger of a cold from David. So it’s NOT so fun! I do feel better, but my right eye hurts like heck. I guess I pulled a muscle or something, coughing? Oh well, as long as I’m headed in the right direction. The corn should be ready to start canning tomorrow or the next day. Yeah!

Readers’ Questions:

Canning broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots

I want to can broccoli, cauliflower and carrots together, that’s what is ripe now. I found that frozen broccoli and cauliflower becomes really mushy when cooked for roasts etc. I don’t like that taste. Do you have a recipe or any idea what to try. Thanks so much.

Dureen Hopkins
Backus, Minnesota

I don’t think you’d like the broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix canned. The broccoli and cauliflower both get “mushy” and strong tasting when canned. In fact, broccoli is the one thing I just don’t can. I dehydrate it or use it fresh. The cauliflower, I pickle and use fresh. When you want to use these vegetables with your roast, I’d suggest just simmering or steaming them just before your roast is done, instead of roasting them with your meat. It just turns out better that way. The carrots can join the roast, along with the potatoes and onions, about an hour before the roast is due to be done. Then you have those tender, juicy, browned vegetables to serve with your meat. Mmmmm — Jackie

Salting foods

On that note, do you have any experience with salting as a preservation technique? We had lots of green beans this year, and we were thinking of trying salting some to see if we like them. (And if we don’t, no big loss. We have plenty put up other ways.) The directions we found said to use a special crock. Maybe if I win the lottery I can spend $150 for a little jug, but not now. Do you know how this can be done without using a special crock? It was basically four parts split beans to one part salt by weight.

Sam Wise
Salisbury, Maryland

I, personally, don’t like salted vegetables and would only salt meat in desperate straits. (I also tend to have high blood pressure, so I watch my salt intake as much as I can.) You can use a food grade plastic bucket to salt your beans in, if you still want to give it a try. That way you won’t be out big $$$ to buy a crock if you don’t like the end product. I much prefer to either can or dehydrate my vegetables; it tastes much better, is cheaper (salt isn’t cheap any more!) and they are better for you, too. — Jackie

Minted pears

I am canning pears and wanted to make a few jars of minted pears, but I don’t have any peppermint oil. I do have some wonderful chocolate mint growing in my garden though. I picked some and put a few sprigs in each pint jar of pears and canned them in a water bath for 25 minutes. Then I got to wondering… will the mint cause it to have to be canned for longer? I put a 500 mg. capsule of Vit. C in the syrup water. Will it be acid enough? Will they be okay?

Colleen Fluetsch
Roseburg, Oregon

Generally spices, such as your mint, aren’t used in enough quantity to require pressure canning. I assume you canned your pears in a syrup, so you wouldn’t need to worry about making the product acid enough; the fruit will do that. There really isn’t much to mint; just dehydrate a few springs and see what you have left! — Jackie

Refurbishing a wood cook stove

Can you rework a burnt out wood cook stove to cook in? I have a friend who has one and I need to know if it can be refurbished for cooking.

Brenda Jarrell
Varnville, South Carolina

Most wood cook stoves can be saved, but it depends on what is burned out. Is it the sheet metal between the firebox and the oven? Or is it the grates? The top? Most times, you can find replacement grates around, in old stoves in someone’s barn or field, if you really look. Other times, a good metal fabrication shop can make replacement parts for you. Or the local blacksmith shop can weld plate steel between the firebox and oven. Have someone who works with steel take a look at the stove to see what is really involved. — Jackie

It’s amazing how fast little goats get big. Our triplet does from our best milker, Velvet, are now nearly as big as their mom and as fat as little piglets. Of course, feeding them armfuls of oats and clover from the orchard planting has something to do with it, along with nursing on Velvet, who produces nearly 2 gallons of milk a day.

The littlest doeling, Sparkle, has always been spunky and something of a pet. There’s a small opening in the inside part of the goat pen, and when I call Buffy, our new doe, out to milk her, it isn’t two seconds before Sparkle dives up on the milk stand to help her eat her grain. But that’s okay; Buffy doesn’t mind and it gives me a few minutes to handle her to get her tamer.

Today, Sparkle beat Buffy to the stanchion, firmly wedging her head in below Buffy’s. So when I shut the stanchion, she was held in place just like Buffy. She wiggled around a little, trying to get out. But when she found she couldn’t she just kept eating. Good girl!

I pet her and rubbed her neck while she ate. After milking, I turned both goats out of the stanchion. Sparkle made a bee line for the pen, but I’ll bet she’s first in line tomorrow morning. She’s learning to be a big goat.

Readers’ Questions:

Stacking full canning jars

I have been canning everything I can get my hands on but have limited space so I have triple stacked my full jars. Is this ok?

Beverly Crussemeyer
Bristol, Indiana

You’re really not supposed to stack your canned goods, but I’ve had to do it, too. It’s really best if you put a piece of OSB, plywood or other board between the layers, to distribute the load well on the rims of the lower jars so you aren’t putting too much weight on the center of the jar lids, which could affect the seal sometime down the road. — Jackie

Hurricane Gustav

I have been watching the Hurricane Gustav news and hearing about mandatory evacuations. Got me trying to visualize if my husband and I could actually leave our home behind. We have some age on us now and have so much love, blood, sweat, and tears in our little place. We have approximately 60 chickens and I can’t imagine that I’d leave “my girls” behind. We’re not homesteaders and most people would describe our house a little more than a shack, but our life is here, no matter the circumstances. Whenever they show the old people saying they are going to stick it out, I’m starting to comprehend that mentality now.

Joanna Wilcox
Boone, North Carolina

I sure understand where you’re coming from. Once, in New Mexico, a real bad grass fire tore 26 miles in half an hour, right toward our little ranch. Mom, Dad, and David hooked up Dad’s little travel trailer which was outfitted for a grab and git rig, complete with bedding, water, food, etc. onto their station wagon, complete with my son, David and our dogs and cats. My late husband, Bob, was a volunteer fireman and was out fighting the fire. I chose to stay home to fight the fire, the best I could, knowing I could take some shelter in the trampled center of our barnyard, where we had a 2,000 gallon stock tank filled with water. But I also know that I would also evacuate if need be, with my loved ones because stuff is stuff and you can usually replace what you’ve lost, at least to some extent. When you or your loved ones are killed because you should have evacuated, that’s something you can never replace. In Montana, we lived in a little valley up in the mountains. It was gorgeous, but in a dry summer, we were very concerned about forest fires sweeping down on us. So we packed our big travel trailer with enough survival stuff to live out of for quite awhile. The stock trailer was parked in the pasture, ready to hook up and go at a moment’s notice. We knew our chances of defending our home were slim, and had made the decision to go if necessary. Of course, once our rigs were in a safe area, we’d have returned without the trailers to fight the fire right along the firefighters and our neighbors. We don’t give up. — Jackie

Canning meat

I may have made a canning blunder. Yesterday I making a meat sauce, following the basic recipe in the ball book. I had about 15 lbs of tomatoes, 3 small cans of tomato paste, 4 medium onions, two big green peppers and 3 jalepenos and about 6 cloves of garlic. I also added some fresh herbs from the garden and salt and sugar. Instead of using the 5 lbs of beef I used two pounds of turkey. I forgot the added acid. I pressure canned them at 1 hour and 15 minutes which is what it says for quarts. I got 8 quarts and 3 pints. I used the same time for the pints.

So now the big questions is: is this recipe safe to eat? Do I need to re-do it? Freeze it, or chuck it out?

I don’t understand how people can if they have to follow the exact recipes in the book. What if we don’t like the recipes? How do you substitute ingredients safely?

Mary J. Bolin
Elk River, Minnesota

Yes, your meat sauce is safe to eat. If you had used beef instead of turkey, you would have needed to can your quarts for 90 minutes instead of 75. The meat (or poultry) requires the longest time, processing. When you make up your own recipe, all you have to do to be safe is to check through the ingredients to see which take the longest time in the canner, then process the whole batch for that time, which is what you did. You didn’t need to add vinegar or lemon juice when you pressure canned your sauce for that length of time.

Your pints only needed 65 minutes processing time, but over processing them did no harm at all. The more you can your mixed recipes, the more confident you’ll become. It’s like anything else, the more you do it, the better you’ll become. Good luck! — Jackie

Canning little potatoes

I have some small Yukon Gold potatoes, smaller than golf balls. Is it absolutely necessary to peel them before canning or would a really good scrubbing be adequate?

Michele Zipf
Amelia, Ohio

You can just scrub the little potatoes. I use a green scrubby and most of the peel just rubs right off. They make excellent new potatoes, creamed or boiled. The processing time is the same as if you had left the skins on. — Jackie