{"id":222,"date":"2008-06-22T22:04:09","date_gmt":"2008-06-23T04:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=222"},"modified":"2008-06-22T22:04:09","modified_gmt":"2008-06-23T04:04:09","slug":"yesterday-i-canned-rhubarb-today-i-spread-manure-along-the-corn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2008\/06\/22\/yesterday-i-canned-rhubarb-today-i-spread-manure-along-the-corn\/","title":{"rendered":"Yesterday I canned rhubarb; today I spread manure along the corn"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend, Jeri, brought be a big bag of fresh rhubarb yesterday, so I spent the entire afternoon cutting it up and canning it.\u00a0 Most of it, I made into rhubarb conserve, which is a spicy rhubarb\/walnut\/raisin spicy preserve.\u00a0 I use it on toast, cookies, in bars and cakes.\u00a0 Pretty darned good!\u00a0 But some I simply baked with sugar and canned in quart and pint jars.\u00a0 I can make pies, bars, cakes and other treats from this.\u00a0 My own rhubarb now numbers nine plants, with the oldest now two years old and ready for light pickings.\u00a0 I love my “pie plant”!<\/p>\n

It earned that name because it was the first domestic fruit on pioneer homesteads; years ahead of apples or cherries.\u00a0 And those first pies were treasured, indeed.<\/p>\n

Today, after I put away the jars of rhubarb into the pantry, I spread many wheelbarrow loads of rotted goat manure\/oat hay along the two inch high sweet corn rows in the new patch on the north end of our garden.\u00a0 (That’s the place David cleared with the dozer and found the frost boil.)\u00a0 I love the new room, but the soil is VERY rocky and pretty infertile, being sand and gravel.\u00a0 (Never think that my new gardens are always in nice black loam!\u00a0 Ha ha ha!)\u00a0 Corn is a heavy feeder and that manure will do much to jump start those small plants.\u00a0 After the corn is up about six inches, we’ll clean out the goat barn and toss the manure inbetween the rows as mulch and additional fertilizer.\u00a0 Love that poop!!!<\/p>\n

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I also pulled the Wall’o Waters off my tomatoes, which were growing six inches out of the tops.\u00a0 Our last frost date should be past now, but we did have a light frost three days ago; my potato leaves have frost damage on them in places.\u00a0 The plants look great, though, so they’ll be fine.\u00a0 I’ve already hilled them twice now, they’re growing so quickly.\u00a0 I think we’re in for a great gardening year.<\/p>\n

My Hopi Pale Grey squash plants, which I had to direct seed this year, emerged and were five inches across the first leaves!\u00a0 Now that’s HUGE.<\/p>\n

When you come into our garden, you’ll immediately notice a very green, weedy area, right in the middle of the main part.\u00a0 No, I haven’t forgotten something.\u00a0 In fact, the area is “roped off” with my long garden hose so I don’t get too close by accident with the tiller.\u00a0 You see a pair of killdeer decided to nest in the garden.\u00a0 By the time I’d noticed her nest, there were already two speckeled eggs in it.\u00a0 Oh well, I could spare the room and she’s been fun to watch.\u00a0 When we’d get a little too close, she’d jump off the nest and fan her wing to look injured and “weakly” toll us off away from her nest.<\/p>\n

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\nYesterday, she hatched three chicks and today there’s another one just out of the egg this evening.\u00a0 They are so CUTE.\u00a0 They look like bumblebees on toothpicks.\u00a0 I’m really glad I let a weedpatch stay in the garden.\u00a0 It was definitely worth it!<\/p>\n

Readers\u2019 questions:
\n<\/strong>
\nMom\u2019s doing great!
\n<\/strong>
\nDon’t mean to be nosey, but how is your mom?\u00a0 I follow your blog religiously and have looked for an update on her condition.<\/p>\n

Bonnie Heck
\nNatchitoches, Louisiana
\n<\/em>
\nMom is doing great!\u00a0 She’s home from the hospital and enjoying the spring flowers and vegetable garden immensely!\u00a0 We are so grateful. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Mosquito repellant
\n<\/strong>
\nYou forgot one of the best reasons to use Christmas tins for food storage — MOUSE PROOF.<\/p>\n

What do you use for mosquito repellant?\u00a0 We have a huge mosquito population this year and I get eaten up everytime I go outside.\u00a0 I’m allergic to scents so have a hard time using the commercial products.\u00a0 I’d really like to use my hands for working in the garden instead of swatting mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

Larry & LeeAnn Wicker
\nManson, Iowa
\n<\/em>
\nI have had pretty good luck sprinkling brewers yeast on my breakfast granola; it seems to thin them down to tolerable.\u00a0 When they’re a real pain, I try to get out to the garden real early, then avoid it when they’re horrible….and back again in the evening…before mosquito time again.\u00a0 The body and head nets really work well, but I personally hate them because I am claustrophobic and can’t stand something over my face.\u00a0 I don’t even like wearing a bee vail! — Jackie<\/p>\n

Getting corn from a feed store
\n<\/strong>
\nI have read before that corn purchased for animal consumption should not be used for human consumption. Due to the recent floods in the Midwest I really expect corn prices to go up drastically.\u00a0 Several of the emergency preparedness places are out of corn that has been packed for long term storage.\u00a0 What are your thoughts on buying corn from a feed store, cleaning it and storing it?\u00a0 I feel that the cornmeal and grits that you buy from the local supermarkets probably has as many chemicals in them as any corn you buy.<\/p>\n

Chris Walters
\nEllisville, Mississippi
\n<\/em>
\nIn an emergency, I’d use elevator corn, but not until then…mostly because of rodent\/bird dropping contamination.\u00a0 Consider using popcorn for your cornmeal.\u00a0 I just bought a 50 pound bag at the Duluth Sam’s Club for a kind of reasonable price.\u00a0 Not only do we love our popcorn, but I wanted enough to use to grind, if need be.\u00a0 I grind our left-over sweet corn, when we have a long enough season for me to get the second ears dry on the stalk.\u00a0 That makes great cornmeal.\u00a0 Sweet, too! — Jackie<\/p>\n

Growing onions in Minnesota
\n<\/strong>
\nI am having difficulty growing any kind of onions in Northern MN. Do you have any suggestions?<\/p>\n

Deb Brown
\nLittlefork, Minnesota
\n<\/em>
\nWow, you’ve got me there.\u00a0 I’ve always had great onions.\u00a0 They love the cooler nights of summer.\u00a0 Be sure your soil has adequate drainage; onions do not like wet feet.\u00a0 If you have clay soil, try to get enough organic material worked in to loosen it up because they don’t like clay, either.<\/p>\n

I’ve had good luck planting both sets and started onion plants.\u00a0 They should be set in the ground early; before your last spring frosts, as they are not damaged by light freezing and they do like the cool weather to get started.\u00a0 Also, don’t plant them too deeply.<\/p>\n

I poke the sets into the tilled ground with my thumb and fingers; they only want to be about two inches down.\u00a0 Deeper and they often get spindly.<\/p>\n

Better luck this year.\u00a0 Keep at it and you’ll soon figure out your problem. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Homemade pet food
\n<\/strong>
\nHi Jackie,I wanted to know if it is ok to store flour, rice, pasta in their original packages in 5 gallon drywall buckets? And do you have any recipes for homemade cat and dog food in case i would not be able to buy it.<\/p>\n

Kathy Jasperson
\nBelle, Missouri
\n<\/em>
\nYes it is okay for you to store your dry foods in drywall (I assume you mean sheetrock compound) buckets, provided that they were cleaned out well with hot soapy water and let air dry.<\/p>\n

Type in “homemade dog and cat food recipes” into your browser and you’ll find a ton of great recipes.\u00a0 I’m afraid we would just make pet stew for our critters; they prefer to eat our food anyway.\u00a0 A boss of mine at a riding school always had a pot of dog stew simmering on the stove; his home left-over, boneless meats, a few eggs, potatoes, leftover vegetables from home, plus a handful of oatmeal and cornmeal.\u00a0 The dogs loved it and did very well on their varied and tasty diet.<\/p>\n

Their food usually smelled better than my lunch did! — Jackie<\/p>\n

Are they sweet peas or sugar peas?
\n<\/strong>
\n PLEASE HELP!!! I goofed and planted sweet peas and sugar peas side by side, then I forgot to mark the rows. Now I have a row with pretty pinkish\/purple and white flowers and a row with only white flowers. Do you have any clue which is which? Thank you soooo much. You are awesome.<\/p>\n

Gracie Johnston
\nTangier, Indiana
\n<\/em>
\nI assume by “sweet peas” you mean regular garden peas, not the flower (which the seeds are poisonous).\u00a0 I think you’ll find that the white flowers are your garden peas and the pinkish ones are your sugar peas.\u00a0 You’ll be able to tell better when they get peas on the vines. With all this goofy weather, be glad you HAVE peas!\u00a0 Enjoy! — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend, Jeri, brought be a big bag of fresh rhubarb yesterday, so I spent the entire afternoon cutting it up and canning it.\u00a0 Most of it, I made into rhubarb conserve, which is a spicy rhubarb\/walnut\/raisin spicy preserve.\u00a0 I use it on toast, cookies, in bars and cakes.\u00a0 Pretty darned good!\u00a0 But some I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}