Just what I needed — a bulldozer!

We had another busy day today. While I was in town doing the feed mill/bank/gas/hardware run, David hopped on the new John Deere bulldozer we just bought and practiced a bit with it. He graded our trail down to the horse pasture nice and smooth, then swung a loop around our new-horse pasture to-be on the other side of the hill to get the feel for it. I would have rather had him wait until I was home to do it, but at 16 going on 30, I didn’t say much. That’s such an improvement over the way he was just three weeks ago!

Yep, we bought a bulldozer. A neighbor’s husband had died and she was selling the farm equipment. David came home from mowing her yard all excited about the bulldozer, a John Deere 1010 (60’s model). I went and looked it over, not exactly planning on buying it. But it was in such good shape and her husband was known all over the area as having maintained and taken care of his equipment, I called my oldest son, Bill, who has an old Case crawler. He’d had it up here twice, but with gas so high, it cost a lot to bring it north. He said it was a good price and sounded like a good deal.

Our 80 acres is cut-over timber company land for the most part, and there are a lot of old stumps, logs and brush piles on ground that we want to make into pastures. When Bill had his crawler up here, I found out what a good addition one was to the place. I only had one payment left on our Ford pickup and decided to re-up the loan to buy the dozer. First talked to our handy friend, Tom, who is doing carperntry work on the house. He also is a good mechanic. I asked him if he would do the maintainence on the crawler if he could have free use of it on his place. He agreed and I went to the bank.

I had to laugh. The load officer was a young lady, perhaps 22. She cheerfully asked me what they could do for me and I handed her a picture of me and the dozer. “I want to buy a bulldozer,” I replied. Her jaw dropped to the floor. I guess even up here in the northwoods, not many middle aged women come in to get a loan for a bulldozer!

The next day I was the proud owner of a bright yellow John Deere 1010. And we have lots of projects for it: leveling a spot for a new goat barn/hay shed, clearing horse pasture, leveling a spot for a garage/workshop, cleaning up old slash piles, removing old stumps, digging a pond, clearing new fence lines, ditching, hauling logs out of the woods, etc. etc. It’ll be put to good use. And it cost less than a well-used economy car, to boot.

I stopped at our pin cherry trees today and I’ve GOT to pick them. I spotted a flock of cedar waxwings down by the swamp today and they’ll get my cherries for sure if I don’t get busy! You pay for your “not getting ’round to its” by losing out on a wonderful harvest. Kind of “you snooze, you lose” of the homesteader. At least the bears haven’t discovered them yet. They’re busy harvesting the juneberries down in the swamp. The trouble with bears is that they break down the trees, eating the berries. Both juneberries and pin cherries are on small trees and the bears bend them right over and hold them down till they sometimes split. Not much you can do about that; the bears were here first and we just kind of work around them. They’ve got to eat too.

I’ve included questions from readers below, along with my answers. When asking a question, please include your full name, city, and state.

Questions from readers:

Clear Jel tips

Hi, Jackie! Back in January of this year (must have missed it then), someone wrote in asking about canning gravy. Clear Jel (regular) is the only recommended thickener in canning items and Instant Clear Jel or Freezer Flo is recommended as thickeners for freezing items. Flour and cornstarch can break down and separate whereas these three products will not. They are available from eBay, a few online sites that offer products for canning and freezing, some Amish stores and some xtension offices. I was fortunate and have a local orchard that uses them for the baked and frozen products they sell and will sell them to me by the pound at a really good price and I don’t have to pay postage. I’ve used the regular Clear Jel in sugar free jams, preserves, pies and cobblers, since I’m diabetic, with wonderful results. Have also used it in products using sugar with excellent results and not as much sugar needed as regular so you can really enjoy the natural flavors. Plan to use the Clear Jel in gravies, stews, fillings for meat pot pies, pie fillings and preserved fruits that I plan to can shortly.

Now the question that a couple of other ladies and I have. Do you have canning recipes that are similar to a well known company’s Santa Fe Corn and Rio Grande Veggies? The first is “zesty” and includes sweet corn, tomatoes & black beans mixed with a green chili puree, spices and seasonings. The second contains pinto beans, tomatoes, sweet corn & green chilis in a “rich sauce”. If you do, will you share? Another lady on the same forum we belong to said she canned a corn salsa with black beans and the beans seemed to suck the flavor out of everything else. Most of us on this orum grow most of our own produce and all can and freeze it for our families.

You have been an inspiration of mine and I read and re-read all of your articles and Ask Jackie columns. Someday I’ll even remember in time for spring planting to get some Hopi Gray seeds for my garden. I’ve wanted to try them ever since I first learned of them from you, but don’t remember to find a source for the seeds until after planting time. Hey, I still have a few good years left so I figure there is still time.

Madonna Kirby
Nineveh, Indiana

Good tip on the Clear Jel. I’ll have to try it for gravies. Will let everyone know the results. On the recipes; I don’t have recipes, as such, for these vegetable mixes. What I do to duplicate a recipe I like is to carefully read the ingredients in it. Of course you know the first ingredient is the one that has the most of it in the recipe, or Fool around with it a little, making only a small batch until you get it right. Then make a big batch and can ‘er up! I did this with Mexican corn/black bean salsa. I finally used a mustard corn relish recipe and left out the mustard. Perfect. And oh so tasty! I use it on tacos, chalupas and over corn chips with meat and cheese.

Just remember to process for the length of time required for the vegetable in your recipe that requires the longest processing time. Isn’t canning fun! — Jackie

Drying and grinding beans

Can you tell me if I need to wash dried beans prior to trying to turn them into flour? I have an old vitamix and old blender to try and accomplish this with. I have a variety of dried beans on hand and wanted to know the method. It doesn’t make much sense to just sort and blend them if the packages say I should wash before cooking. Any advice?

Pat Ellison
Corpus Christi, Texas

I guess it depends on how dirty your beans are. All need to be picked over before you grind them into flour. No matter how “clean” they are, they may have shriveled beans in the container. Or small stones. If they seem clean, I pick through them, then shake them real well in a sieve before grinding them. If not, rinse them well, then spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet to dry in the sun. Stir them around as they dry. Make sure they are completely dry before grinding them. DO NOT SOAK THEM before drying to grind; they may go moldy on you. — Jackie

Preserving garlic

My name is Irene and we grow garlic, I would like to know how to preserve it as I use a lot for cooking. The best way I would like to preserve is minced in jars with olive oil, but don’t know how. Your information would be greatly appreciated.

Irene Kostus

I keep most of my garlic down in the basement, in a single layer, in baskets, away from the heat and light. I also dehydrate a lot of it to use as powder and pieces. I’ve never found an approved recipe for canning minced garlic in oil. I’m sure you can, as they sell it in stores. I just don’t have the information. Yet. You can mince garlic and pack it in half pint jars and cover it with olive oil completely, cap the jars and refrigerate it for months. That works real well, too. — Jackie

Are steam canners safe to use?

Recently I have seen a lot of steam canners for sale. Are these as safe as Water bath canners? Will they process all of the same foods? They seem like a great savings of time and energy, so long as the
results are similar.

Sara Kurak

Sorry Sara, but these steam canners have been around for a long time and they kinda work. But they don’t ALWAYS work because they don’t evenly heat all the way through the food like a boiling water bath canner does. Therefore, the food is not safely processed. This is why the steam canners are NOT recommended by canning manuals or canning professionals. Stick to the water bath canner and be safe. — Jackie

Spaghetti sauce recipe

I would like to can a spaghetti sauce recipe. I have canned it before but it seems to turn out runny. Do you have a spaghetti sauce recipe with onion, green peppers and mushrooms?

Lisa Kluesner
Celestine, Indiana

All you have to do to have your spaghetti sauce recipes turn out great is to cook down your tomato sauce more before you can it. I know it takes so long to get it right, but the results are definitely worth it! Be sure to stir it frequently as it thickens because if you get tired of it and stop, it’ll scorch for sure. Good canning! — Jackie

Processing squash, tomato, onion recipe

How would I process a squash, corn tomato and onion recipe for canning. Hot water or pressure cooker??? And for how long.

I don’t have the amounts of each vegetable, so to be safest, you should pressure can this recipe for the length of time required for the vegetable that needs the longest time, i.e. corn. You would process pints for 55 minutes and quarts for 85 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. — Jackie