Canning jerky

I have your Growing and Canning Your Own Food book as well as several anthologies from BHM, which is probably why I can not find what I’m looking for (too many pages to go back through). I thought I had read in one of the anthologies how to can jerky. But of course now that I want to do it I can’t find the article I thought I had read. We make quite a bit of jerky and put it into the freezer to preserve as we like it a bit “chewy.” I’d much rather can it if it would work and be safe. Is there a way to safely can jerky?

Jacey Knops
Emerald, Wisconsin

You can simply pack the jerky dry into pint jars leaving 1 inch of headspace. Then process the pints at 10 pounds pressure for 75 minutes. If you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet, consult your canning book for directions on increasing your pressure to suit your altitude. I can both jerky (if there’s any left!) and dry smoked fish this way successfully. — Jackie

Southern gardens

Why do most all of the articles posted in all of the magazines,yours too, have information about growing things up north. Us Southerns would like to have some information regarding our southern gardens.

Pat Reiter
Jacksonville, Florida

I AM your neighbor, but I’m sorry to say, a Northern neighbor. The reason I give more information on growing in the North is because I’ve lived in the North (Montana and Minnesota) as well as in northern New Mexico, up on the high plains where it does get cold in the winter, giving many of the same problems we face here in Minnesota, believe it or not. We do get articles from Marjorie Burris from time to time and she’s a Southern gal who gardens and homesteads. If there are other Southern homestead writers out there, I’m sure Annie would like to see some of your articles on gardening for the magazine. — Jackie

Rendering lard

I seen where you were rending lard in your oven. I have never tried this because of a fire hazard. Could you tell me how you do this and do you also get cracklins’.

Also have a cow with a corn in the frog of her foot. Over 500 to get medically removed. Do you know any home remedy we could use?

Mary Ann Nelson
Franklin, West Virginia

Rendering lard in the oven is safe if you use a large enough container so that none drips out and a low enough heat so it doesn’t boil and splatter. I render mine at about 250 degrees. I get cracklin’s by ladling out most of the melted lard then breaking up the leftover lump into small pieces. I return that to the oven and later on again remove more melted lard. When most is gone, I put the cracklin’s to be in a large, heavy pot and put that on the stove and heat. The cracklin’s will then fry out and form nicely.

What I’ve found that works best on corns in both horses and cattle is to try to shorten the toes by trimming so you take some of the weight off of the corn. Then clean the foot daily and apply Kopertox, a nasty green liquid that does a pretty good job in reducing corns as well as treating foot rot and thrush as well as proud flesh in horses. Keep her stall clean and dry and watch the corn to see if you’re making any progress. It usually takes a few weeks to completely get rid of it. If this doesn’t work or if she is extremely lame, I’d suggest having your vet do the surgery. — Jackie

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