Roses in the middle of a Minnesota winter?

Yep. You see, my son, David, got me three rose bushes for Mother’s Day this year. Unfortunately, they were Zone 5 tea roses and wouldn’t survive here in northern Minnesota, in Zone 3, even with winter mulch. So I planted them in two-gallon nursery pots and they bloomed nicely all summer. I didn’t know what to do, once they went dormant, after freezing weather hit. Maybe I could put them in the dark basement, where it stays about 50 degrees or less all winter? So I carried them down there.

In about a month, I saw little, very pale leaves growing from the stems! Oh oh. Not good. So back upstairs they came, into the greenhouse. I felt sorry for them and started watering them. And now they are blooming! Wow! Rose scent in the whole house. Naturally. Who would have thought? It really perks us all up. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Readers’ Questions:

Canning walnuts

Can walnuts be (dry) canned in jars?

Carole Woodcock
Dora, Missouri

Definitely YES! This year I got a bunch of pound bags really cheap and will be canning them up myself real soon. Canned, they last for years without going rancid. And they’re so easy to can. They say you can water bath can them, but every time I tried, the jars, being full of air, floated! I used to oven can them long time ago, but now I pressure can them to be safer. To do this, toast the walnuts on a cookie sheet in your oven, set at 250 degrees, stirring them to keep them from scorching. Toast until dry but not browned. Pack hot into hot, dry, sterilized jars (pint or half pint), leaving 1/2″ of headspace. Process dry, with NO added liquid, at 5 (FIVE) pounds pressure, for 10 minutes, in a pressure canner. If you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet, consult your canning book for instructions on increasing your pressure to suit your altitude, if necessary. You’ll love the results! — Jackie

Are hybrids sterile?

I think that Jackie was talking in her last blog about breeding back the Early Cascade to a hybrid. How do you do that? And isn’t a hybrid sterile?

Debby
Helena, Montana

NO. Hybrids are definitely NOT sterile! Hybrids will produce plants, but they may or may not resemble the variety from which you saved the seeds. What I do is to plant my Early Cascade hybrid tomato seeds, raise a crop, saving the nicest tomatoes to save seeds from. Then the next year, I plant a small flat of those. I choose the nicest plants, raise them, then select the tomatoes from the plant whose fruit most closely resembles Early Cascade. I save the seed from those, then next year plant again. In the case of my Early Cascades, I got very stable open pollinated Cascades after only three years. Some varieties and crops take longer and more work, but it CAN be done. And I’m no plant biologist! — Jackie

Raising grandchildren and homesteading

Three of my grandchildren have come to live with me. I consider it a great honor to love and raise them, especially since I can now show them the delights of homesteading life. The problem…I am already exhausted all the time, and it’s only January! Since I wasn’t living like this when my own children were young, I need some time-management tips. The answers are probably so obvious that I will be embarrassed when you mention them. But Thinking is part of what shuts down when there is no sleep!

Deborah McEnulty
Priest River, Idaho

I think you’ll find that once spring hits, and things get more settled, you’ll also find more energy. I know that works for me. I don’t know how long you’ve had your grandkids, but I do know that each time I adopted new children, the whole family went through a trying and tiring period of adjustment which was, at times, exhausting. Top that off with the mid-winter blahs, which also makes ME tired all the time, and I feel for you wholeheartedly.

My best tips are to try to get into a routine. For instance, kids put their dirty clothes in a basket and put away clean ones, help out with chores, carry firewood, have a time for a movie, reading or working a puzzle together with you. Go for walks, go swimming, pet the goats, cook meals together often. I promise it’ll get better! But also set bounds. You can’t be a parent/grandparent and also a “buddy.” All the best of the best in life! — Jackie

Green tomato pickles

I have a recipe for Green Tomato Pickles, which I inherited from my Mother. In the south, we have lots of Catfish Houses and they serve these pickles with the catfish and hushpuppies.

Carolyn Barr
Green Forest, Arkansas

Thanks for the recipe! I’m sure I’ll try it. I have ordered seeds from Wilhite Seeds. Unfortunately, they have more 90 day plus varieties that grow wonderfully further south. I’m really lucky to get an 80 day tomato to ripen, even with using my Wall’ o Waters! — Jackie

Canning whole milk

I just love your Growing and Canning Your Own Food Book. I have learned alot and was wondering on the canning of milk. Can I can whole milk that I purchase at the store?

Brenda Wells
Montpelier, Ohio

Yes you can. (Of course we homesteaders think our homegrown, canned milk tastes better…) Just remember that canned milk is really not a milk you’d want to drink. It’s more for cooking and baking. — Jackie

Saving seeds

Happy New Year! I have been looking at the seed catalogs too and have noticed the increase in prices also. Some are not affordable! So how do I begin to save seeds? I have never done that before. I am assuming that you save the seeds when you scoop them out of squash, pumpkins, etc. What about a tomato? Then how do you dry these seeds? Do you let bean and pea pods dry on the vine? Then pop out the seeds? If you can give a novice some direction that would be greatly appreciated.

Cindy Hills
Wild Rose, Wisconsin

You know, Cindy, you’ve given me a great idea for an article! Look for in depth information real soon in the magazine. Briefly, you just choose a squash or pumpkin that is ripe, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, “squish” the seeds out of the strings onto a pie plate or cookie sheet, and put in a warm, dry place. Stir them with your hand every couple of days to prevent molding. When they are very dry, scoop them up and place in a clean jar and keep in a dry place; they’ll keep good for years.

Bean and peas are dried on the vine, like you figured. Keep watching the vines, as they’ll pop out of the pods and fall on the ground when the pods are very dry, before you get to harvest them!

Tomatoes are easy, too. For one or two tomatoes, just let them ripen well, then squish out the seeds onto a piece of wax paper. Again, put in a warm dry place and stir around every couple days to prevent mold and them sticking down.

For more tomatoes, put the jel and seeds in a jar, add warm water and ferment for a couple of days. It helps separate the seeds from the “goo.”

A few great tasting squash for you to try are Delicata, Sunshine, Hopi Pale Grey, and Mayo Blusher (rare, from Native Seeds/SEARCH). They all keep well and are very sweet.

Watch for a seed saving article soon. — Jackie

Growing rice

I love brown rice and was hoping to find seeds for it somewhere. Also any growing tips for it would be much appreciated.

Katrina Ancel
Auburn, Washington

Rice is really not a homestead crop for most folks. You need a specialized wet area and planting/care/harvesting are quite a bit beyond us “regular” folk. Concentrate on more traditional crops. I sell a few veggies and buy those foods I can’t grow handily. — Jackie

Re-canning syrup and BBQ sauce

I was wondering if you can re-can store bought sugar free syrup. What about store bought BBQ sauce?

Teresa
New Free, Pennsylvania

The sugar-free syrup, not really. However, the BBQ sauce can just be heated, then processed as if you made it up from fresh. Just use the time for BBQ sauce in your canning book (water bathing), which is usually 20 minutes. Be sure you take altitude adjustments into consideration if you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet. — Jackie

All-American canner

What are your thoughts on an All-American Canner? We’re looking at a 941

Dan
Prescott Valley, Arizona

They’re a good unit. I have one, myself. You’ll be happy with it, I’m sure. — Jackie

Dehydrating lemons

I plan to dehydrate some lemons and then grind them to a powder, as you described in your column once or twice. You mentioned how great this powder is in baking, etc., and I’d love to have one or two of your recipes using the lemon powder, and your advice on how much powder you might use for a recipe calling for, say, 2 cups of flour.

Lene Colbert
Springville, Iowa

I don’t have space for a bunch of recipes here, but I’ll tell you a few things I use the powder in: sugar cookies, white cake (becomes lemon cake!), simple vanilla or tapioca pudding (becomes lemon and a great between-cake-layers filling!), and quick breads (lemon bread) — I also mix a bit with sugar and sprinkle it on top while it’s hot. Tangy! I also use it sprinkled in some salsa, mixed with pepper and salt on sweet corn, in salads, and oh so much more. For cakes and cookies, I use about 1 tsp. You’ll have to taste; you may need more, depending on your taste and the lemons. Remember to scrub the lemons well, as they are often grown in foreign countries and who knows what sprays have been used on them. — Jackie

Hauling water

At one of your earlier homesteads you didn’t have a well and you hauled drinking water from a car wash. What were the best ways to make that work?

Steve near Philadelphia

We hauled water from a water dispenser at a fire hall and also a car wash in Montana. In that area, many ranchers had cattle on ranges that had little or no water and needed to haul water, in bulk. For 25 cents or 50 cents, we got 350 gallons or more of spring water, dispensed from a huge holding tank, via a three inch fire hose hanging down from it. If you think that didn’t gush!

We sometimes also hauled water from one of our friend’s ranches nearby, as his water was from a spring, and it didn’t cost them any electricity to let us fill from his pipe.

We had two large poly water tanks and could use one in the back of our truck to haul the water. One was 300 gallons and the other, 350 gallons. The smaller one was used to haul water from a nearby spring-fed creek in the early summer, to our garden, before our own seasonal spring would start flowing. We have a small, gasoline water pump that will fill a 300 gallon water tank in about 20 minutes. We used either gravity to dump the tank, once we got home, onto our gardens, into our stock tank, or with the potable water, into a buried 400 gallon tank, above our house. From there, a buried water line carried the water to our house, giving us water pressure. So we could have a propane water heater, running water, and even a bath. Not enough pressure for a shower, though.

If I knew then what I do now, I would have hooked up a cheap 12-volt water pump onto our water line and we could have had plenty of water pressure, like we do now. Oh well, you live and (hopefully) learn!

The poly water tanks sure beat the heck out of milk jugs, 5 gallon plastic cans, and garbage cans! — Jackie