Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch

[The Porch]

I watched a move several years back, they sell it on amazon, but I really liked it.

 

[The Porch]

I am out of kraut
I do still have a bowl of beets in the fridge, but I now need to go to the market, bummer. I really should have started a new ferment 2 weeks ago but with company and thanksgiving, I dropped the ball.

 

[flowerbug]

I am out of kraut
I do still have a bowl of beets in the fridge, but I now need to go to the market, bummer. I really should have started a new ferment 2 weeks ago but with company and thanksgiving, I dropped the ball.

stuff happens - try not to be too hard on yourself. a gallon jar (in glass!) of kraut is valuable to us beyond the kraut as it also gives me a great bean storage jar.

 

[CrealCritter]

@Trying2keepitReal how do you keep the apples and pears from turning brown?

Refrigerate or dust with sulfur are the only two methods I know of.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Hinotori]

I think sulfering is the only way to keep fruit from browning.

Brown fruit is normal when dried

 

[flowerbug]

I soaked them in water with lemon juice for about 10 min prior to putting them in the dehydrator, that is what my mom does, this is my first time so we will see.

that sounds interesting. i hope it works.

when generally cooking with apples for cold salads i toss them with lemon juice as i'm slicing to keep them coated.

i've rarely done much with pears other than eating them out of hand so i didn't even know they would turn color.

 

[flowerbug]

I watched a move several years back, they sell it on amazon, but I really liked it.
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i have three of their books (2,4,5) but sadly missed out on the rest of them when the library weeded them from the collection. i've read through them a few times but that's been some years now. i keep them as references "Just In Case"...

 

[baymule]

I love my fox fire books!!
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Hood! You can double check me on the dried apples!

 

[FarmerJamie]

Paisley the Brave says Happy Monday

 

[farmerjan]

@CrealCritter ... I will tell you that Maremma's will also roam. I used to farm sit for a guy who got a pair of pups to protect his sheep. Knew nothing, they had 6 sheep to guard ... and they roamed. They also got to killing the lambs.. I do not have the experience with LGD's that many on here have. They require much better fences than we have most places.
Sheep do not have to have sheep and goat wire. They will stay in normal cattle/ general purpose "farm field fence" with 6 inch stays. If they have horns, they will get their heads stuck in the openings. DS's young sheep will get their heads stuck until the horns get too big. But we have a horned breed.... White Texas Dall sheep. The ewe's have learned not to put their heads through after one or 2 times and we have next to no problems with them now.

We run a donkey or a mule with the sheep and they do an incredible job and do not require separate types of feed. We have also run llama's with the sheep and one time I observed a pair at work. The one took the sheep up to the top of the hill, the other ran interference with the dogs that this stupid person allowed in the field... they were walking the dogs along the road and the dogs went into the field and she stood there and just watched these dogs go charging and running after the sheep. I was driving up the road and came upon this. I got out of the truck and screamed at the woman to call her damned dogs out of the field or they would be shot. She got indignant with me and said they weren't hurting anything and I pulled the gun out of the truck and she got all mad and I told her in no uncertain terms that I was within my rights AS THE OWNER OF THE SHEEP, to destroy any dog that was chasing them and if she had a problem she could go to the sheriff after the fact. She finally called the dogs and I had the camera and took pictures of them and the llama's positions before she got them to come to her.
I did not have a cell phone at the time or would have called a sheriff right then to come. I did go to the sheriff's office after I got home and told them where and when and said I had pictures and that I would not hesitate to shoot the dogs if I caught them again. I didn't know her name but it seems they had had complaints about the dogs previously; as they said they would "look into it".... Seems that they were walked and allowed to run in people's yards and fields and all that....

A shelter that faces AWAY from the prevailing direction of the wind is what you want. If it is east, fine... if the winds come out of the east then face it south. Southern facing is usually better for "winter warmth" due to the angle of the sun.

There is alot of controversy on the copper. Sheep do not need the amount of copper that goats need. They do need some. Hair sheep seem to require more than many wooled breeds. Ours eat the same mineral as the cattle get... that is considered a NO-NO by many. We run our rams with the cattle. Because of their big heads, they will stay in anything the cows stay in. The ewes are in normal field fencing. The ewes have a donkey in with them. The rams do not. If you go with something like Katahdins or dorpers then they do not have the horns to use as protection like our rams do.

I do not discount the value of LGD's with sheep and goats. They have their own set of "dos and don'ts"... and I do not want a dog that barks all the time as the value of protecting the animals they are with. I agree it is the way they keep predators away... and they are invaluable to many. For each there is a preference. I prefer the mules and the llamas. Llamas require shearing though.... and can like and dislike certain people... Had one that HATED me... no idea why... and had one that would spit at DS and not me.... I like the mules we have now.... have had several donkeys and then these 2 mules.... They also live a LONG TIME....
There are mules/donkeys that have been known to take a dislike to sheep. We had one donkey that hated the baby lambs... Maybe he thought they were a threat to "his sheep" because of course they ran after the ewe's.... Got to about 40-50 lbs, weaned and he was fine... But I have heard about LGD's that you cannot leave in with ewe's with new lambs.... the ones I farm sat for that killed all the lambs never bothered the original sheep there....