{"id":5160,"date":"2015-12-18T03:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=5156"},"modified":"2015-12-18T03:00:57","modified_gmt":"2015-12-18T08:00:57","slug":"q-and-a-canning-with-splenda-slurry-on-the-garden-and-priorities-for-new-homesteaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2015\/12\/18\/q-and-a-canning-with-splenda-slurry-on-the-garden-and-priorities-for-new-homesteaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: canning with Splenda, slurry on the garden, and priorities for new homesteaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canning with Splenda<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve been a canner for my whole life and now must think about sugar intake. Have you had any experience with canning with Splenda? I found a nice BBQ sauce recipe with Splenda.<\/p>\n

Paula Sprague
\nMead, Washington<\/em><\/p>\n

I, personally, haven’t canned with Splenda. I do have friends that have, though, and they were happy with the results. As with any new recipes, why don’t you do a small batch, then open a jar and see how you like the results. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Slurry on the garden<\/strong><\/p>\n

My neighbor was emptying his slurry tank (dairy farmer) and he knifed some in my garden spots. Is this going to be too hot next spring to plant? Yikes!<\/p>\n

Carol Applen
\nEyota, Minnesota<\/em><\/p>\n

Unless it was a lot (many inches or even feet), it should be decomposed enough by spring. If it’s not through the whole plot, I would concentrate planting heavy nitrogen feeders such as corn, beans and squash in those spots; too much nitrogen could cause lots of vines on tomatoes\/peppers\/potatoes and not so much fruit and\/or hairy, multiple roots on carrots and parsnips. Over the long haul, you should come out fine. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Priorities for new homesteaders<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you had your time over again and given resources of today, how would you list priorities for a couple of Homesteader Newbies, particularly those of us in our mid-50\u2019s with little to no experience, but with an eye on future security (not necessarily full and complete self-sufficiency), and with somewhat limited physical resources? <\/p>\n

Lee S.
\nQuiet Place in Georgia <\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not sure of your resources, come starting time. For instance, if your new homestead has buildings, a well, and septic, you’ve got a huge start on what we had when we started here. Basically, our three needs are food, clothing and shelter. The clothing is already in place when we begin homesteading. Included in “food” is water, obviously. <\/p>\n

What we’ve always done first is provide shelter. On a new homestead with no existing buildings, this can first be a travel trailer or an inexpensive (we used a free) mobile home, used in “camping mode,” (no water or septic hookups) using an outhouse and hauled water. This frees you up to build. If you can’t afford a complete house, you might consider building a garage, to camp in for a year or more (if your local building codes allow this) while beginning to build your home. Unless you have the finances, this may be owner-built a little at a time or partially contractor-built, such as rough framing then finished by yourselves. This is what I did as I couldn’t afford a turnkey home and was undergoing chemo at the time as well as taking care of my elderly parents \u2014 no energy, little money. You also need to think about your own strengths and skills. Some folks in their 50s are rarin’ to go and have had building experience. Dad, in his 50s would have loved building a house and could have done it, slower than he would have at 40, but still accomplished it. He had building experience, strength, and energy at that age. Some folks don’t.<\/p>\n

When on a new place, it’s a good idea to ready a garden plot. You may not plant it all in veggies, but get it tilled and keep it that way, no matter what else is going on. My first garden here was only 10×6 feet, now it’s about 3 acres, all totaled. Don’t figure on raising all your own food the first year while building. That just doesn’t work. A little at a time is much better.<\/p>\n

Water is the next consideration. If you have a well in place, great! If not, you’ll probably need a well drilled. You can certainly haul water, as we’ve done multiple times, but you really do need your “own” water as it saves plenty of time and fuel money driving to get water. And you’ll need plenty in most climates for gardening.<\/p>\n

Once you’re on the path, don’t be overwhelmed. It’s easier to keep marching forward. It took us 10 years to get where we are and it’s been glorious (for the most part). I would seriously consider picking up my book, Homesteading Simplified; Living the Good Life Without Losing Your Mind, through Backwoods Home Magazine. It’s a real good look at things that will save you time, money and energy as you progress forward, from start to finish.<\/p>\n

I wish you all the best and please feel free to ask questions along the way. That’s what I’m here for! — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canning with Splenda I’ve been a canner for my whole life and now must think about sugar intake. Have you had any experience with canning with Splenda? I found a nice BBQ sauce recipe with Splenda. Paula Sprague Mead, Washington I, personally, haven’t canned with Splenda. I do have friends that have, though, and they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5160"}],"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=5160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5160\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}