Shiloh Acres - RAIN!!!!!!! and maple syrup! ;)

[Shiloh Acres]

Thanks for the welcomes. I've NEEDED to be here. Why does it seem like when we're the busiest, we let go of doing those things we really SHOULD do for ourselves -- mostly we should be doing them BECAUSE we are busy and it's kind of a way of taking care of ourselves.

Anyway -- I'll see if I can read the ISBN. I got almost no sleep last night and it's making itself known today by my eyes not being able to read things I normally can, even with reading glasses.

It is called Ball Blue Book guide to preserving. ISBN 0-9727537-0-2. It has 128 pages. Chapters about canning, lots of different food categories with lots of recipes, and chapters on freezing and dehydrating as well as a few other topics.

I'm not sure if that is THE book? It looks useful at least since I don't have anything except what I look up online.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Thanks for the welcomes. I've NEEDED to be here. Why does it seem like when we're the busiest, we let go of doing those things we really SHOULD do for ourselves -- mostly we should be doing them BECAUSE we are busy and it's kind of a way of taking care of ourselves.

Anyway -- I'll see if I can read the ISBN. I got almost no sleep last night and it's making itself known today by my eyes not being able to read things I normally can, even with reading glasses.

It is called Ball Blue Book guide to preserving. ISBN 0-9727537-0-2. It has 128 pages. Chapters about canning, lots of different food categories with lots of recipes, and chapters on freezing and dehydrating as well as a few other topics.

I'm not sure if that is THE book? It looks useful at least since I don't have anything except what I look up online.

THAT'S THE ONE I USE ALL THE TIME!!

I picked it up at Lehman's for like $5 a while ago. I like to randomly pick things out to try. We prefer the zuke relish over regular pickle relish.

Nice score!

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Yaaayyyyy!!!!! Thanks for letting me know! I have only seen hardcovers, and for $20 and up. Everyone told me to get it, but I just can not spend that much on a book. When I saw it for $2-something, I wasn't sure it was the right one but I bought it then and there.

Well, so if anyone still needs one, check at Lowe's! Or hopefully it will be other places too, now that it's released in this format.

I got the Ball canning book and a box of screws for putting together those planting frames for 5 bucks.

 

[FarmerJamie]

I'd be interested in seeing which recipes you use from it.

My wife is a little skeptical of my selections from there at first, but she usually enjoys them.

Have fun with it!

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Went ahead and bought a year's hay. I hope it was the right decision, but if the drought continues, there may not BE any hay this winter. That happened a few years back and lots of herds got sold off. We've had a lot less rain this year than then.

As far as I can tell on hay (no expert here) it looks good. They are BIG bales -- larger than anyone else is selling. First cut mixture of clover, Bermuda, and rye. He was charging $5-10 more per bale than the cheapest I could find, but he was willing to deliver for only $15 for the whole load, so that made the difference. My trailer probably won't even handle a heavy bale. It's got lots of leaf showing and the goats and llama tore into it like it was candy -- didn't even let me get it moved to the usual place.

Now I just have to get it in the barn. I made a place for it, but he couldn't get it in. Two bales are standing on the flat side outside the barn, and two are ready to roll. I am gonna need some HELP, lol. It shouldn't rain anytime soon at least. And I don't see how anyone can steal them, but they are out by the road and I dont like that.

Got ducklings. Sixteen of them. A few muscovies, which I really wanted, and a bunch of mixed breed. They are doing a good job on the grasshopper hoarde. Even the geese are eating them, and the chickens as well. Free feed ... And gets them out of the garden!

I had to put a misting system on the rabbits. I worry because it does make the fur moist at times, and I keep hearing about flystrike. I may shave them down. So far so good, but I couldn't find a good way to cool so many rabbits without room in the freezer to cool things for them like last year, and the fan alone wasn't enough. So now I have hoses with tiny holes for misting, under the least pressure I can turn on. It feels almost like it's air-conditioned under the shade with the mist and fans. The chickens hang out there too. It's also drawn moles to the area -- killed one so far.

Well, I guess I'm cooled off. Need to go move the RB in the pasture, and take the ducklings on a grasshopper tour. They expect it already and will work a way out of their pen if I don't.

 

[Denim Deb]

How heavy are your bales, and how many did you get? Are they round bales, or squares?

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I am not sure of the weight. We used to get "large round" bales which were supposed to be 1100-1400 pounds. These are bigger.

They are the biggest round bales I've ever seen! About 6-8" taller. The guy didn't advertise a size. The barn door is a little over 6' and I think they will just roll in. A couple are a bit larger than the others.

And I got 5. The animals were out though, so dropped one in the pasture where it's going to STAY in the little gulley. I hope we don't get LOTS of rain, but it's doubtful.

I'll have to cut a door from the barn to pasture for the others, and start feeding them down there. I intended to fence in the outer barn walls anyway. (it's a very old barn and mostly just a 2nd story floor and roof with mostly open walls -- poles only)

 

[AL]

I hear you on the drought. Our pasture / yards are brown and crunchy - horses have pawed them to dust in places. It did rain HARD tonight, I just hope it rained long enough to soak in instead of run off. I dread hay hunting.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I think I was lucky to find this. The quality looks good to me -- having goats I consider mixed grasses and legumes to be the best. Some is super-fertilized and weed-killed, which I actually don't want. And the guy seems very sincere and honest. I like to be able to feel I can trust whoever is selling me hay. They are large, and leafy, and seem well-dried.

I still don't have them in the barn, lol. I'm going to need to borrow a couple of neighbors' husbands. One neighbor was here today -- her kids want to raise rabbits so she sent them to me to pick my brain. When she came to get them, she offered help on the fences I'm getting ready to put up. If I can get the extra pasture fenced, MAYBE I can do a bit of rotation in time to save my limping pasture. Probably not, even with watering, but I'm ever-hopeful, and there's always fall.

Hope you can find good hay. I used to know folks probably pretty close to you, but I don't anymore. I might could track down a friend of a friend, if you need it and can't find it, but nobody I know personally anymore.

 

[old fashioned]

I just read thru your journal and congrats on the canning book find. You can use those large kettle/pots for a wb canner as long as it'll hold the canning jars, plus enough water to cover them by atleast an inch and you'll have to put something in the bottom so the jars aren't sitting directly on the pot on the heatsource. Even an old towel will work in a pinch. Welcome to the canning world! Hopefully your garden will produce plenty for you to can

It sounds as if you also got a good deal on that hay, but only so if you can get it into the barn & out of the weather right away...ya just never know when it might rain.
Another thought here, if the drought continues longer than expected, are you sure your hay supply will last you thru? Any chance there is some seed in it, that you may be able to grow some of your own? I know the straw that I buy here for litter in the coop and use in the garden for mulch sure does, I just don't know what kind.