I am thoroughly enjoying my chickens. I have a flock of 11, 10 hens and one rooster. I like them so much and their eggs even more that I would like to get more chicks next spring.

Will I need to keep the next set of chicks separate from my current flock permanently or just until full grown?

Erica Kardelis
Helper, Utah

Once your chicks are adult sized, they can be introduced into your current flock. Just make sure they have enough space, indoors and out,s so there’s no extreme pecking as they settle in. — Jackie

Canning yams

I am going to can yams. Am I able to can them with brown sugar? I can only find recipes with plain sugar water. Ideally, I would like to open the jar, heat up and add butter (if desired). But I would like them to be somewhat like the canned ones you buy. Thank you ahead of time for your answers. Love your column in Backwoods Home Magazine! I started ordering the magazine just because of your column and the rest was icing on the cake.

Sheryl Roberts
Houston, Alaska

I’m glad you like the column. It’s like all of you are my extended homestead family and I love helping you out to succeed in all you do. Yes, you can put your yams up with brown sugar instead of white. I sure would! — Jackie

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In previous issues of the magazine it was stated that Hopi Pale Grey Squash Heirloom Seeds are difficult to find. I just received my Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog and to my surprise on page 102 Item# SQ202 are the seeds. They are listed at $3.00/pkt. I hope this helps others who would like to try these large squash.

William Luke
Clovis, California

Thanks for telling readers, William. This IS a great squash and about the longest keeper I know of. I have one right now that weighs 16 pounds and is not from this past fall’s harvest, but the one before that! And it’s still solid and wonderful. — Jackie

Growing and Canning Your Own Food

I purchased your 2 newest books recently (Growing and Canning Your Own Food and Jackie Clay’s Pantry Cookbook) — I love them — just wondering if there are any corrections that I should make for any of the canning/cooking recipes in either of the books. I know sometimes there can be printing errors.

Cindy Dobbs
Prairie Grove, Arkansas

Yep there are a couple, but none too serious. The Amish Relish on page 95 needs to have 2 qts of vinegar. The tomato soup recipe on page 196 says to set aside 1 quart of the juice but doesn’t say what to do with it. You should rehydrate the parsley leaves in it, then pour it into your big batch of juice/puree and continue. Also the mustard bean pickle recipe doesn’t say how much salt or what to do with it. You use 1 tsp. salt to add to the water you pre-cook the beans in to make them tender. So far, that’s it. — Jackie

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In the high tech world, my satellite service (Hughes Net) has been disrupted and poor Lisa at the magazine has been spending lots of time on the phone trying to get things resolved. So far, I’ve had spotty service at best; I can only get online every four days or so! As soon as we have this resolved, I’ll be back blogging as normal, with photos. Until then, I’ll just keep on canning. — Jackie

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We’ve been harvesting peppers from our wonderful hoop house. Just take a look at this Giant Marconi I picked to use in an Italian baked chicken dish last night. Everything was from the homestead: chicken, onions, peppers, tomato sauce, and even the herbs (basil, garlic, and oregano). And I topped it off with homemade mozzarella cheese. Wow that was good!

I’ve been making cheeses like crazy with the help of our wonderful cow, Lace. Even after feeding two calves, I still get at least a gallon and a half a day of the best-tasting milk in the world. So every day or two, I’m making something different from it. But I have to say I make a lot of cottage cheese. It tastes so great I’m addicted! And it’s so easy to make too. I just warm the milk to 80 degrees and stir in 1 cup of cultured buttermilk. Then I add 1/4 tsp. liquid rennet to 1/4 cup of cool water and stir that in. It then rests for about 5 hours to set the curd. I cut the curds into 1/2 inch pieces with a long knife, then let it rest for another 30 minutes. I slowly bring the temperature up to 110 degrees, using a two gallon stainless steel kettle inside of a three gallon kettle with some water in it, like a double boiler. I stir often so the curds don’t mat together. They are held at 110 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the curds are cooked and firm inside the curds. I line a colander with a clean old pillowcase and slowly pour the curds and whey into the colander, set over a large pail. When they are drained, I dip the curds into warm water to rinse, then drain and dip into cold water to rinse again. Then I set them to drain for half an hour. I add salt to taste and stir in some cream until it is of the consistency we like.

This cottage cheese keeps in the fridge, in a covered container, for about a week. But we never let it sit that long; it tastes so good we gobble it up pretty darned fast! How good life on the homestead is! — Jackie

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I’m exhausted from this last week, but promise to get back to you tomorrow for sure. I miss all my Backwoods Home family, too!

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