Our carpenter friend, Tom, was here yesterday, working on our latest addition to the house, which will be a living room and entryway, including a small laundry room. It looked stormy all evening, but as he was packing to leave, we walked out of the house and saw REAL scary looking clouds just east of us. There was one ugly green one that dropped a big white cylinder-shaped cloud that called our attention. There was actually rotation to it and the outside kept pulling up into the cloud above.

We looked north, toward Cook, and saw big black clouds with plenty of lightening and two big white sheets of precipitation dropping toward the ground; hail! Hail: the gardener’s dreaded enemy, right behind frost.

Would we get sucked up in a tornado? Or would our garden get wiped out by hail? I turned on the weather radio to keep track of the storm. We continued to watch our tornado in the making thing; it was heading slowly to the south. Tom left and I did chores, keeping an eye on both storms.

Later on I heard that there WAS a tornado, or several of them. One was 15 miles away at Sand Lake and the other about the same distance south of us at Buhl. Neither did any damage, fortunately. There was also hail, but we didn’t get any of that, either. This time! Whew! Sometimes Mother Nature is sweet and gentle, but sometimes, she plays hard and for keeps. It’s the challenge that keeps us on our toes, I think.

Readers’ questions:

Canning meat

I have started canning for the first time. Yesterday, I canned deboned chicken in my new pressure canner. It looks like two of my jars leaked some liquid during the processing, but the lids look like they’re tightly sealed. However, about a half inch of meat at the top is not covered with liquid. Is this okay or do I need to add more liquid and reprocess? I also read where you can your own ground meat. Do you add liquid to it after packing it in the jar? If so, what kind of liquid?

Pam Dietz
Eunice, Louisiana

Congratulations, Pam, good job! No worries on the chicken. It’s quite common for some foods to exhaust liquid out of the jar during pressure canning. This happens most often with meats that are processed for quite a while. The chicken is fine; no need to do anything. Yes, I can ground beef. Some I just brown and pack into jars and squish down. I add no liquid. Some, I can with tomato sauce, seasoned for spaghetti sauce. Other times, I add taco seasonings for instant taco filling. But there is no need to add liquid. I do add a bit of water to plain browned hamburger and pack that with it, but I never pour water or broth on it in the jar. — Jackie

Canned bacon

In the current issue someone asked about canned bacon. I found a site that sells some precooked and canned bacon but they only sell by the case. mredepot.com is the site. hope that helps.

Jerald Lupinek
Wasco, California

Thanks for the information; I passed it on to BHM a couple of weeks ago, but some readers may have missed it and will appreciate your tip. Thanks! — Jackie

Gardening in the desert

I just recently subscribed to BHM and love it. I have been reading off the website for months. My question is this: We live smack dab in the middle of the Mojave Desert. I would love to have a small garden but have had a hard time growing things. When your summers start in May at 90 degrees and last all the way till October with plenty of days that are 113 or higher causing some of your tomatoes to actually cook on the vine it gets frustrating. What do you do? Thankfully we will be moving to middle Tennessee within the next two years. But in the mean time, any suggestions?

Johanna Labiosa
Ridgecrest, California

Your best bet is to plant where there is shade, at least part of the afternoon. For instance, try on the north side of your house or another outbuilding. If this is not possible, build a rustic shade arbor (4 posts and cross poles on top) over the plants. You want some sun, but shade, too to moderate the sun’s rays. Drip irrigation helps ensure that the roots stay cooler and the plant gets enough water without wet leaves to “cook” the plant. Work in as much organic material under your plants as you can, before you plant, then pile a thick mulch over your drip lines and all around your plants. This also helps moderate the temperature on the roots, keep moisture from evaporating and cuts down your weed problems. — Jackie

Canning summer squash

My husband and I are new subscribers to Backwoods Home Magazine. We’re learning a lot from the magazine and your articles. This summer we have an abundance of yellow squash. We like to cook it in stir frys and smother it with onions and butter. Is there any way of storing or preserving this vegetable that we love so much? I’ve heard that yellow squash should not be canned. Is this true? I would greatly appreciate your input.

Pam Dietz
Eunice, Louisiana

Summer squash CAN be home canned, but you probably wouldn’t like the product; I don’t. My friend, Jeri, slices summer squash onto a cookie sheet and quick freezes it in her freezer. Then she pours it into freezer bags to use in her stir frys. She said it works well this way. Maybe you’d like to try that. — Jackie

Hulling buckwheat

In a previous issue you answered a question about hulling buckwheat. Unfortunately, that issue 105 is not in the archives and I cannot find mine. Could you please answer the question of is there a way to hull buckwheat on a small scale? All of the machinery I can find on line is for large commercial hulling.

J. Michael Ledbetter
Jamestown, Tennessee

Sorry, but you can’t hull buckwheat effectively at home. I just grind mine, hull and all when I add it to multi-grain bread. This wouldn’t probably work for buckwheat pancakes, etc. as there’s a lot of fiber. — Jackie

Floating tomatoes

HELP! I just canned 4 quarts of home grown tomatoes but the water in the canner had a tomato smell to it like some of the tomato came out during processing. I processed at 6 lbs for 40 minutes. All the seals were good but all the tomato is at the top of the jar and the liquid is at the bottom. I’m going to eat these even if it kills me (I hope not). Boy that was alot of work if it all goes bad, but I really want to learn this art.

Stephen Joseph
Denison, Texas

You don’t have as much of a problem as you think. It’s common for some tomato juice to blow out of the jars during canning, especially during pressure canning. As long as the seals are fine, you’re good to go. If you hot pack your tomatoes, they won’t float to the top like yours did. This happens when you put cold tomatoes in the jars, then either squash them to make juice to cover or pour boiling water over them. If you first heat the tomatoes and juice to boiling, ladle them into the jars and process, they won’t float. Floating tomatoes are perfectly fine, just not beautiful. Enjoy. — Jackie

Canning bacon grease

My son thinks bacon is it’s own “food group,” and we always have tons of bacon grease around. I am trying desperately to keep from freezing anything that isn’t vital, as our freezers are getting very old and we are VERY rural, and prone to power outages in the winter. We have a generator, but at the cost of propane, I hate to use it to run a bunch of freezers. So, can you pressure bacon grease? If so, for how long?

Patricia Crowder
Holyoke, Colorado

I honestly have never tried to can bacon grease. But if I did, I’d pour melted grease into pint or half pint jars and process them at 10 pounds for 75 minutes in a pressure canner (bacon grease is from meat). I’ve canned butter and it canned up fine, even though it was greasy, so maybe bacon grease would too. Let me know. — Jackie

Remember our two donkeys, Beauty and Moose? Moose was a jack, or an entire male donkey. We do not plan on breeding donkeys and a jack can become a problem when you have other horses/donkeys. They sometimes bite viciously, trying to “chase” a jenny into heat. I’ve seen their ears ripped and gashes in their body. Moose is such a sweet guy, I did NOT want this kind of behavior to begin. So reluctantly, I called our friend and veterinarian, Dr. John Fisher, from Cook.

I was a nervous wreck. I’d heard that donkeys often had problems with anesthetics and also with bleeding following castration. Moose is a great pet, and I sure didn’t want to lose him. But it needed doing before he matured.

Luckily, the anesthetic worked perfectly, and the surgery was routine. He was a little staggery, but was up walking fifteen minutes from the time the surgery began. John left and I went back up to the house when Moose started eating grass.

Two hours later, I went down to check on him and he was bleeding pretty bad. Panic! I called John from the pasture and tore up to the house to get elastic bandages and something to pack him with. Luckily I had some Depends pads for urinary incontinence from Mom. I grabbed those, a Depends, the elastic bandages, some blood stopper powder and a kitchen towel.

Would Moose even let me work on him after what had been done to him? David was gone haying, and I had no help. I was relieved when Moose seemed to know I was trying to help him. He never lifted a leg, but stood while I worked. My hands were bloody and I began packing, wrapping and packing some more. It was a hard spot to put pressure on. Finally, I had him wrapped pretty well, but he was bleeding through the pads, etc. I folded a kitchen towel and pushed that up against the area of the incision. It was hot and I was scared.

About then, John came and he also had some elastic wraps, but these had adhesive on the back, making them hold in place better. We wrapped some more, and the bleeding stopped. Whew! I was a wreck.

I washed my hands at the water tank, then rode the four wheeler around the lower trail Will had pushed next to the woods. I stopped by the spring, where he had dug a nice holding pond for the water and washed my face in the cold water. I stayed there for a few minutes, getting settled down, enjoying the dappled shade and sparkling water. Wouldn’t this water be great, when pumped up to our garden next year? It’ll save on our generator and the well pump, too.

I kept Moose tied for 24 hours, then cautiously unwrapped him. No bleeding. Today he’s just fine and I brought him lots of treats for being such a good boy when I desperately needed him to be. Animals are SO smart.

Readers’ questions:

Using splenda in canning

I planted lots of extra beets this year because we loved pickled beets. The only problem is that they have so much sugar. Do you have a canning recipe that uses less sugar? Can you use Splenda in canning? Thanks for such great information. Your garden looks wonderful!

Donna Clements
Hoquiam, Washington

Sorry, Donna, but I’ve tried sugar substitutes because of my late husband, Bob’s diabetes, and really wasn’t too happy with the result. Why don’t you do up a small batch with Splenda and see if you like them?

We’re tickled with the garden this year! My potatoes are blooming as nice as flowers. — Jackie

Making pickles

I hope you have some cucumber advice. I usually don’t have a lot of luck with them, so I didn’t plant many. But this year they are doing so well I’m getting more than we can eat fresh. I thought about making pickles, but all the recipes I’ve found call for more cukes than I’m getting at one time. Do you have a recipe that makes small patches or have any other suggestions for them? Or can I save the cukes in the fridge until I get enough for a batch?

Sandy Higgins
Allen, Maryland

What I do when I have this problem (usually at the beginning of the season), is to just divide the recipe to fit my needs. For instance, cut the amounts in half or thirds. That way you can put up a few jars at a time until the main crop hits. — Jackie

Worming animals

I remember reading the question about worming animals organically & your response that the touted herbs didn’t not work very well. In looking up info on another question I came across this page http://www.ayrshirefarm.com/wi.php

The owners of this organic farm had all the problems you described but finally found an answer. The best part is that they did the follow up lab work to prove the results. Maybe this might help others. (I love the improvised drencher.)

My question: is it possible to make turpentine at home? or would a can off the shelf work?

Stephanie Arnold
Corning, Arkansas

This is an interesting solution. Turpentine has been used for a “cure all” for centuries. And, it looks like it may help animals with internal parasites. No. You really can’t make turpentine at home. I would recommend using organic turpentine, as was suggested in the article; off the shelf turpentine might work, but I don’t have any experience/information about it. — Jackie

Canning from freezer

I am wanting to can some of the stuff from my freezer to make more room. Have you ever canned frozen vegetables and meat that has been frozen? If so, are there any tips so the vegetables don’t end up mushy?

Laraine Hanson
Kenai, Alaska

Yes I have canned both vegetables and meat from my freezer. And frozen game animals hanging in a tree outside, too!! The vegetables were when we lost power and were living on grid. I canned all day and night for two days before I began losing food.

What works best is to can up the vegetables with meat or broth, as mixed meals in a jar. Not only do they turn out pretty good, but these jars make quick, tasty meals when you’re in a hurry. The key to un-mushy vegetables is to bring them TO a boil, but not boil them before you put them into the jars to process. They boil enough during processing. Good luck. — Jackie

Lots of spinach seeds

My spinach crop did well and now I have spinach seed coming out my ears. I hate to throw it away. Do you know is it safe to sprout and eat on salads or can it be ground for flour. I am hoping there is something I can do with it as I have about a gallon of it!

Sandy Coates
Indian Valley, Idaho

Yes, you can use spinach as sprouts or let the sprouts grow just a little to use as micro salad ingredients. I’ve never ground it for flour. Another use would be to use the spinach seed in the future for wide beds, heavily seeded, to clip and can. Home canned spinach is very good! — Jackie

Electricity or solar?

I always look forward to everything you write and it is great to have your blog! I have this dilemma–and I figured your experience would be helpful to know what to do. I have a couple acres that I have a small cabin on. The well has just been drilled, and I am trying to decide whether to go ahead and hook up to the electricity which is on the road by my place, or try to go the generator/solar power route? It is just me here the majority of the time. I am putting in a half acre of gardens and raspberries, and have a small orchard with 8 fruit trees that is separate. The pasture is not irrigated at this point. I don’t have a lot of money, but want to use what I do have wisely! What would you do?

Lynn Royal
Olympia, Washington

If I was in your position, I’d go ahead and hook up to power, provided that it can be done relatively cheaply. I would have a backup generator and later on down the road, try to pick up some deep cycle batteries and a solar panel or two. It’s a great idea to be off grid, but it IS either kind of inconvenient if you’re poor or expensive if you can afford it. We’re off grid because it’d cost us about $50,000 to hook up to power. Yeah, right. I’ll do it tomorrow. Ha ha. So we got along first with the generator, then added a battery bank and saved over 1/2 on our gas consumption. Now we’re aiming at a couple of solar panels to help charge…and to cut down even more. Then it’ll be more panels and a wind generator, way down the road sometime. Be as prepared to be off grid, if it becomes necessary, but it’s cheaper to pay a light bill than fork out money for alternative energy components all at once. — Jackie

Storing potatoes

We took your suggestions of using tires to plant potatoes and the potato plants have been growing very well. Now I would like to know the best storage container for the harvested potatoes, especially here in the hot, humid south.

Veronica Hinkle
Hodges, South Carolina

I’ve had the best luck using slatted wooden crates. These allow some air flow along the sides and bottom and are sturdy enough to take the weight of the potatoes. I hope your crop needs lots of crates! — Jackie

Canning seasonings

I will have an abundance of jalapeno peppers this year. I would like to make some Italian Beef “seasonings” with the peppers. I thought I would try canning them with some onions, garlic, fresh basil, fresh oregano, about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of vinegar per jar. I plan to pack the above in 1/2 pint jars with boiling water and process them at 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes. Can you think of any reason why this would not work?

David Runde
Teutopolis, Illinois

I would up your processing time to 35 minutes for pints and half pints. Otherwise, I think your recipe would can up nicely. — Jackie

Canning mixed vegetables

What do you think of canning frozen mixed vegetables.? I use them alot, but what if we lost power, I would like to can them and want to know if this is possible. Also, I buy my chicken frozen and would also like to can it, What do you think and how would I do it? I have a garden and have been trying to make it bigger, but can only do so much. Thank you for your time and knowledge! I greatly appreciate all that you give in the magazine, and I too believe that times are fixing to get really bad.

Tina Ross
Eureka Springs, Arkansas

It depends on a couple of things. What frozen mixed vegetables? The corn/peas/carrots types can up fine, provided that you can get them at a cheap enough price to make canning them worth while. (You can buy canned vegetables cheaper than frozen ones, usually…and don’t have the work.) The mixed vegetables that have cauliflower and broccoli really don’t can up well; the cauliflower and broccoli are strong tasting and most folks don’t like the taste, which overwhelms the other vegetables in the mix. I make my own canned mixed vegetables, using green beans, potatoes, peas and carrots. Sometimes I throw in a few rutabagas too. It’s surprising at how much you can get out of a few of this and that. It might also be a good idea to pick up the raw vegetables and make your own mix, adding what you do have in your garden. For instance, buy some carrots, use your own green beans, buy potatoes and use your own peas. Suddenly you have your own home canned mixed vegetables at a lower cost than the frozen ones. Good canning! — Jackie

Preserving vegetables

I live in a small condo. We are not in the financial position to move to the country. I am trying to become self-reliant. How do I store such vegetables as potatoes for a long period of time? I know that I can preserve some of them by canning. A root cellar is not an option. I just started canning after reading your articles.

Linda Anderson
Powell, Tennessee

Good for you! Everyone can help themselves to be more self reliant; living in the country just makes it go a step further. Dehydrating is a good way to store vegetables, especially where room to keep your bounty is a factor. You can store many bushels of dehydrated vegetables on a small shelving unit. I just finished an article covering dehydrating and some other food preservation methods, for the coming issue of BHM. This might help you quite a bit. Dehydrating food is very easy and fun, too. Of course I also can a whole lot of food, too! I’m glad you are learning to can. Fun, isn’t it? — Jackie

Cleaning a wood cook stove

I just bought a old Log Cabin outside Baudette. My question is how can I clean the old cook stove? It is cast iron and covered in rust. But it is in good shape otherwise. Any clue?

Donald Franck
Plainview, Minnesota

Sure, Don. I’ve done that before! If the rust is thick, use a wire brush first, then steel wool pads and lots of elbow grease. Once it is pretty clean, build a small fire and open the window. It’ll stink. Then while it’s still warm, rub the cast surfaces with a rag dampened with grease or olive oil. Rub it in well; don’t over-do the grease or oil or it’ll smoke to beat the band. Let the fire go out and rub the surfaces well with a dry cloth. This makes it shine and repels more rust. After several uses, you can use stove blacking if you wish. I just use the oil; I like the soft, natural look of the iron. — Jackie