I thought that would get your attention. Actually, David helped his two friends, Zak and Patrick, with firewood splitting and roofing for several days, then they came over to help him with our wood. Wow, with three young, strong men, does the firewood pile ever shrink fast!

They chopped and hauled two truckloads, tossing it in to me to stack on our enclosed porch. Of course I couldn’t keep up, but that was fine…I got it done when they were hauling more wood. With winter roaring down on us like a freight train out of control, I’m real glad to have our wood for the kitchen stove stacked and indoors.

Taking a breather tonight, I went down to open the horse pasture gate for David, who was hauling two big round bales in for the horses and donkeys. Ladyhawk thought that huge blue tractor was a great excuse to spook and run around with her tail up in the air. Although we have good grass on the pastures, we still keep a round bale of hay in there so they won’t eat the grass down too far, damaging the plants before winter. We want a great stand of pasture grass and clover down there next summer. And from the way it looks now, we’ll get it.

Readers’ Questions:

Pantry temperature

Thanks again for all your advice - that was a LOT of questions in your last blog entry!

Hopefully Will can be there with you full-time soon

My question is about canned goods storage temperatures - I’ve read that a max of 75F is best, is there a minimum? I’d guess below 32F is bad.

I’m getting ready to build a very large pantry out of Dad’s old house; it’s decently insulated, I just need to know what temperature ranges I need to keep it in. Active air conditioning in the summer is a given here in Texas, how warm do I need to keep it in winter?

Aaron Neal
Fort Worth, Texas

Yes, sometimes there ARE a lot of questions. But that’s a good thing, I think. Will will be here permanently in January. His flight is already booked for January 9th. And YES! I’m excited! The ideal temperatures for your storage pantry range from about 40-60 degrees. Cooler is fine unless you are also storing vegetables. Potatoes will be okay at mid thirties, but will get black spots near freezing. Your jars will be fine, just above freezing. But if they freeze, pickles, fruits, potatoes and some other vegetables will get very soft; mushy. — Jackie

Chokecherry jelly

I made chokecherry jelly for the first time and am concerned because it has been over 4 hours and it is very runny. My jars sealed without boiling the filled jars in water. Is there a trick to getting the jelly to set up? Please help! I made 24 jars and am afraid I may have a lot of syrup.

Peggy Lynn
Alta Loma, California

Sometimes chokecherry jelly can be a bugger for setting. Sometimes it takes several weeks to set; sometimes it just won’t. If you are stuck with tons of syrup and would rather have jelly, get some boxes of SureJel. In the jelly making directions are directions on reclaiming jelly that doesn’t jell. This process will work; you’ll only be out new lids and maybe a little high blood pressure. It’s also a good idea to water bath process all jams and jellies, to ensure a good seal. Some jars seem to seal without processing in a water bath, but then, later, the seals fail. Better safe than sorry! — Jackie

CHAMPVA Insurance

Not a question, but a comment. It would appear you are in love. I saw your post about CHAMPVA. Make sure if you tie the knot that your coverage won’t be cancelled. My MIL was married to a pilot killed in WWII, remarried to my wife’s father, lost her benefits until my wife’s father died, and then they were re-instated. She also has CHAMPVA.

Jack Arnold
Annandale, Virginia

Thanks for the concern. Of course, this was a concern of mine, too. According to ChampVA, if a surviving spouse over the age of 57 remarries, she doesn’t lose her benefits or ChampVa coverage any more. This is a big improvement over the past. — Jackie

Canning meat

I was wondering if canning homemade chili beans would require a pressure cooker. With or with out meat. Also homemade stews and soups if the meats are already cooked?

Wendy Sater
Sandpoint, Idaho

YES! All vegetables and meat products and recipes MUST be pressure canned to be safe to eat. It does not matter whether the stew or other meat has been cooked already or not. Meat, poultry and vegetables are all low acid foods and require a higher than boiling temperature during processing to make safe eating. — Jackie

Dairy goat book

I have enjoyed your column as long as I’ve know of BHM. At the end of the most recent video on your blog, it shows three books of yours: the Chicken book, Starting Over, and a book on Dairy Goats. Where can I find the Dairy Goat book? At the BHM general store the only Dairy Goat book I find is Storey’s. Can you point me in the right direction?

Susan Eizenga
Earlington, Kentucky

The Dairy Goat Handbook has just now been printed and will be available very soon through BHM. Drop them an e-mail for more information. The cover brings me a huge smile; it’s David, age 11, with his wether, Oreo. We still have Oreo, and he’s a huge ham and such a funny goat. And David was sooooo young! — Jackie

Storing potatoes where it’s hot and humid

I have read numerous articles on how to store potatoes, but I live in South Carolina. What would be the best method for storing potatoes after harvest to make them last more than a few weeks? The climate here is quite hot and humid in the summer, somewhat hot and humid in the fall and winter finally hits us around the latter part of November. Our winters are fairly mild, rarely dropping below 20 degrees. Help! I really would like to plant far more potatoes than I currently do, but not if I can’t use them!

Suzannah Byerly
Pelion, South Carolina

Unless you have a cool basement, in which you can partition off a corner and insulate it against warmth, your best bet might be to dig a barrel into the ground at an angle, add a tight cover, then when you put sound potatoes in it, shut it up and cover the whole thing with bales of straw for extra insulation. This works great for many people; kind of a mini-root cellar. — Jackie

We’re finishing up the harvest and getting the fields ready for winter. I also spotted a rainbow out by our apple orchard that I wanted to share with you. Here’s a video of it all.

Readers’ Questions:

Making baby formula

I would like to know how to make baby formula from evaporated milk?

Leona Martel
Wausau, Wisconsin

This is one “old time” recipe I wouldn’t advise you to use. While generations of babies, including ME, have been raised on it, which consisted of evaporated milk, Karo syrup and water, it is now not advised as it is not nutritionally complete and can damage the kidneys and cause dehydration, should the baby become ill and not be able to take adequate formula to keep the electrolytes balanced. Better yet, and older still, is good old Mom’s milk! — Jackie

Heating with kerosene

I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area where winters get COLD. I am from Memphis, originally. In one of the articles in the Survival issue you guys mentioned having kerosene stoves available and a 55-gallon drum of kerosene for about 2 months use. Are there any that are safe for indoor use, and can one hook up a vent to the outside? Do you have any suggestions as to brands or types. Besides worrying about the economy, I am really concerned about heating this winter up here.

John Harper
Peninsula, Ohio

I’ll trade you “cold”! Ha ha ha. We get -55 here! But I do understand you concern. Unfortunately, kerosene has taken a huge leap in price. Sound familiar? Now a better alternative for you would be a direct vent propane wall heater. We have one in Mom’s room for when nights get too cold for the wood stove to keep her toasty. She likes it 85 degrees. You can get them that do not run on electricity, nor require electricity to operate safely. They are great for emergencies and will keep you warm. So far, propane is the “cheapest” heating fuel, although not really “cheap” anymore, for sure! — Jackie

High altitude canning

I live at about 7,000 ft altitude and have canned successfully for many years - but never meat. I tried some sloppy joes yesterday - processed at 15 lbs pressure for 75 minutes/pints. The mixture has a definite burnt taste after processing. I wanted to try to can quite a few meat mixtures because I would like to not have so much meat in my freezers but am not happy with the burnt/overcooked taste. Is this something you just have to put up with at altitude or am I doing something wrong?

Cathy Edens
La Veta, Colorado

I had that trouble sometimes, too, when we lived at 7,400 feet in Montana. I found that when you use tomato products, especially those containing sugar, it could have that “scorched” taste. For this reason, I pretty much canned my meat with broth instead of tomato sauce containing sugar. It didn’t seem as the tomato sauce without it scorched during processing like the stuff with sugar. You may have to just can your meat and tomato sauce separately, then just dump the jars together into a pan at serving. — Jackie

Protecting grain from weevils

You advocate storing bulk grain for survival use throughout the year. How can the contents of a tight container be protected from grain weevils? Insecticides are out. Any type of gas such as chlorine or ammonia that would kill any bugs trapped within and leave the grain still fit for human consumption? I have wheat and corn to protect.

Generally if you will place your airtight storage buckets in the freezer for a few days, you will kill any grain weevil eggs or possible insects. If these are a problem in your kitchen or pantry, pick up a few pantry moth traps, available through many garden supply catalogs, such as GardensAlive!. They really work and the fewer moths, the fewer weevils in your food. — Jackie

Making potato flour and canning cheese

I would like to learn how to make potato flour from my own home grown potatoes. Do you know how to do this or where I could fine this information?

Connie Russell
Dixonville, Alberta
Canada

To make potato flour, simply dehydrate potato slices by slicing peeled potatoes, steam blanching them for 3 minutes, then dehydrate until brittle. Once this has been done, whiz them in your blender until the desired consistency has been reached. Then again dry the flour, using a fruit leather tray liner, to ensure complete dryness before storage. Any moisture will cause the flour to mold.

While home canning cheese is considered by some to be “experimental” canning, many books have been written with cheese canning recipes, and a whole lot of people have been canning this high acid (lactic acid) food with good results. I dice up hard cheese and pack it into wide mouth pint and half pint jars, placed in water half way up the open jar, in a roasting pan on the stove. The water gets hot, like a double boiler, and the cheese melts. As it melts, I add more until the jar is full, leaving half an inch headroom. The jars are then wiped clean, a hot, previously simmered lid is placed on them, the ring tightened firmly tight and the jars are then processed in a water bath canner for 40 minutes. I have pressure canned cheese, but the cheese gets a too-done flavor; not burned, but like the browned cheese on top of a pizza. — Jackie

Canning Pumpkin and sweet potatoes

I can’t find any information on pureed pumpkin or sweet potatoes to can. I know I have to pressure can them but I’m not sure how long to process them.

Nicole Bramm
Narvon, Pennsylvania

The FDA does not recommend canning pureed pumpkin or sweet potatoes any longer. It seems that some people did not heat the thicker puree enough before canning them and a bad product resulted. Instead, you can dice your pumpkin into 1″ peeled pieces, bring them to a boil in water, then pack into hot jars to within a 1/2″ of the top, pouring boiling cooking liquid to cover to within 1/2″ of the top of the jars. Process for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner (unless you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet and must adjust your pressure to suit you altitude; consult your canning manual for directions, if necessary). When you want to use the pumpkin, simply drain and puree before use and use as you wish. — Jackie

Canning Achiote seasoning paste

Is it possible to can Achiote seasoning paste? The recipe is a combination of ground spices, garlic, salt, vinegar and flour. It’s so thick I’m not sure if it is safe to can, which process to use and for how long to process. I would like to use 4 oz. jars.

You’re right; because it is thick and thickened with flour, it isn’t a good candidate for canning. — Jackie