Drying corn

We had some food grade corn given to us and are wanting to store for use later as corn meal. We have gotten a few rain showers recently and are wondering if we need to dry the corn before we store it in 5 gallon buckets.

David Elmore
Martinsville, Indiana

Yes, you definitely need to get that corn dry before you store it. If it is shelled corn, spread it out on a clean tarp in a dry, clean area. We are finishing drying down our sweet corn on the floor of our enclosed porch, away from rodents, dampness, and insects. I’m going to use it for cornmeal. If you don’t get it very dry, it will mold in storage. — Jackie

Canning salmon roe

I am interested in smoking and canning salmon roe, but have not come across any recipes. Any suggestions?

Janell
Spokane, Washington

This is one food I have not smoked or canned. Sorry. Any readers out there who have? — Jackie

Honey

I have honey from our bees, that we put in ball canning jars. I sent you some, was wondering if you ever received it. I put raspberries in one jar of the honey, cinnamon sticks in another, lemons in another, and rosemary in one. Someone told me that with the fruit that I need to be careful of botulism. I just put the fruit in, I did not can it under pressure. What do you think? I put the lemons in so if someone gets a cold over the winter I could just dip out a spoonful of honey with the lemon already in it.

Lori
Mokena, Illinois

Sorry, Lori, but I never got the honey. Maybe somewhere a post office had it break in shipment? (Boo hoo.) I also called the magazine and they never got it to forward on to me, either. I really doubt that putting fruit in honey would result in botulism as fruit is highly acidic and with all the sugar in honey I can’t see that happening. You wouldn’t have to process it in a pressure canner. If you did process it you would just use a boiling water bath canner. Having said this, I probably wouldn’t add the fruit as you aren’t processing the honey and there are no guidelines for processing honey with fruit in it. Add the fruit just before you use it — just to be safe. — Jackie

Plantar wart

While this is not a question I thought it might be helpful for some people. My sister used this for a plantars wart on her son and said it dried it up and they just pulled it out with a needle.

Anyway, this is the recipe for the plantar wart recipe: Grate a bit of peeled potato (I use the red-skinned variety) — 1 or 2 Tablespoons will be plenty. Mix in powdered ginger, about 1/4 teaspoon per Tablespoon (or whatever looks right to you). Apply mix to wart, cover with gauze, and tape it up. The next morning, the potato will be black and dry and look nasty. Discard the poultice. Replace with new. Repeat for a few days until wart disappears. Actually worked overnight on him.

Marshall Owen
Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Thanks for the tip, Marshall. I’m always up for a natural remedy that works! As a child I had a plantars wart and the doctor burned it off. Not fun! — Jackie

5 COMMENTS

  1. I have to pipe in on this wart topic and add a remedy. My son had tons of warts on his hands and they were beginning to pop up on his knees and feet. Most were small, but some would form into clusters. At the last count ( he counted ), he had about 50 ! I finally got fed up with over the counter wart removers and tried tape. I had heard duct tape would cure them, but all I could find was clear packing tape. So, I tore off pieces and covered every one completely cutting off any air to the warts. Next day they were the same, and I think my son took the tape off. A few days later I got some duct tape and repeated the process, making sure to smooth around the warts so no air could get in. He wore this all night and we removed the tape the next morning. I forgot to do it anymore, but noticed a couple weeks later that every single wart was completely gone !! You can’t even see where he had the big clusters off warts ! Great remedy, easy and other than a little stinging, painless.

  2. My son had planters warts an i used the milk from milk weed 2 times a day for two weeks an they went away. We started out with a Dr. burning them off an because he yelped she refused to finish them an still charged 150.00 so i found an natural way an it works well, if you keep at it.

  3. Hi Jackie – Great blog, I always look forward to your updates on your homestead. I thought I’d add a tip for warts (works on plantar warts but is especially good for regular warts). Take a knife and skim off the inside of a banana peel (the pithy white bit, no outer skin). Ensure the site of the wart is clean and dry and put the inner peel directly over the wart and cover it with a waterproof plaster and keep dry for 4 – 7 days. Remove the plaster at the end of the week and the wart will have turned black and will usually come off with the plaster leaving behind clear pink skin. If it is stubborn and still there, repeat the process…have never known it to take more than 2 goes.

  4. The issue with adding things to honey isn’t botulism. The issue is that it will increase the moisture content, allowing fermentation to occur. Also, adding foreign material could create a starting point for crystallization, which is also less preferable.

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