Organize the Pantry to Save on the Grocery Bill

One of my biggest pet peeves is to let my pantry get out of order. Why you ask? Well, the reason is because I wind up spending more on groceries than I need to because I don't know what I have or in what quantity I have it. When I make my grocery list based on what I need for the pantry then I tend to spend less money. But if my pantry isn't organized it is hard to tell exactly what I need and what I don't need. In that instance, I basically go shopping blind and I purchase stuff that I think I might need but don't. However, things that truly did need to be replaced because I was low or out don't get replaced and I find myself without them. Then I might have to pay full price for something! This can be tough on a really tight grocery budget and ours is really tight right now. So, here are the few little things that I do to really save money on our grocery bill and keep our pantry well stocked for emergencies.

1. Organize the pantry, putting like items with like items. Things that might be all together, like condiments, I keep a sheet on the wall so that I don't have to go through each bottle. When I pull the last one I write it on the sheet so that I know which condiments to look out for. Now, 1 bottle of something will last quite some time so this gives me time to find it on sale. If you go through it quickly then you might want to put it on the list when you pull the next to last bottle. This also helps with those things that you don't buy but once a year. I buy a year's supply of mustard at a time. By the end of the year I need to start keeping track of how low I am getting.

2. I go to the grocery store no more than twice a month. Most of the time the second trip is simply for some fresh stuff that we aren't growing right now or to hunt for discounted meats to put in the freezer. The first trip is the main trip for the whole month. Before I go I head to the pantry to see what is low. Now, I rarely ever let my pantry shelf get below two items if I can help it. So, if I only have 2 cans of black beans then black beans go on the list. If by some chance something is lower or completely out then I put a star by it. This tells me that this item is not an option. I also put down how many of the item I need. With beans, not only do I keep dry beans in plenty, but I like to have several cans on hand for a quick fix. For those that cook dry beans it is not a quick process. It takes forever, to soak and cook etc. There have been times that I needed to come up with something quick and canned beans have been my rescue.

3. Now I take my pantry list, combine it with my standard list on the refrigerator (cold stuff)and sit down at the computer to go over the sale ads for the local grocery stores. I write down what is on my list and what grocery store has a sale on it. I also write down what the sale price is, the regular price and the size item on sale. Sometimes the larger size is on sale, but two of the smaller size might still be cheaper anyway. This also allows me to go to my discount grocer first where I might get it cheaper than the sale price from the regular grocer.

4. Armed with my lists from the grocery store and my list of "must haves no matter what" (hopefully, not many of these) I am off for a morning of grocery shopping. I head out early in the morning because you can get the best meat deals at that time by getting the discounted meat that has to sell that day. I head to the discount grocer first to purchase anything on my list that is cheaper than the retail grocer and any other bargains that I find. Last month I purchased Jimmy Dean sausage for 1.00 a pound. Better than the sale price at the retail grocer the following week.

5. When I find a really good deal then I stock up. Like the sausage I bought 10 lbs. which will last us a couple of months. I always have some room in my budget for stocking up on good deals. Even if you only build into your grocery budget 10 to 15 dollars a month that can add up to a good little stockpile. I have about 50 dollars built into my grocery budget. This amount allows me to stay well stocked while spending the least amount of money.

All of this sounds like it takes a lot of time to do, but really I invest about an hour before grocery day getting prepared. I know for the most part exactly what I am getting and approximately how much I am spending. It keeps us on a tight budget and I rarely run out of things. When I do, it is usually because I didn't do my due diligence in keeping things organized as they should be. So get those pantries organized and start saving money at the grocery store. Blessings, Kat

Be Careful When Tired

Yesterday I was exhausted. I woke up at 1 am and couldn't go back to sleep. So by 9 am I had all my housework done, my farm chores done and a few other little things. I started making some yogurt in the crockpot. All was going well, until it came time to put my starter in and my milk was a little cooler than it needed to be. So I turned the crockpot back on did a couple things in the kitchen, checked the temp on the milk, added the starter and covered my crockpot with towels for insulation. I forgot one very important thing.......turn off the crockpot. Last night about 8:00, I started to smell something like toast burning. I went in the kitchen and check the stove and oven...nope nothing on. About half and hour later, the smell was getting stronger and I was thinking that it was about time to pour up the yogurt. That was when it hit me....did I ever turn off the crockpot. Well, into the kitchen I run and sure enough I didn't. Needless to say every plastic piece on the crockpot was melted, the milk had burned completely up (that was probably the burnt toast smell), my towels covering the crockpot were covered in a brown stain. Don't know if they singed or if it was just the smoke from the burning milk. Needless to say my crockpot is ruined and I will never do something while so tired again that I can't think straight. So be careful ladies when you are really tired. I got a real good reminder last night of how easily it could have been to burn down our house. Oh, well....I needed a new crockpot anyway. Blessings, Kat

The Acorns are Falling! The Acorns are Falling!

I love it when the acorns are falling and so do the goats. The run around from oak tree to oak tree snarfing up the little nuts off the ground. If they feel that there are not enough on the ground then they are hopping around on their hind legs trying to get more off the tree. Of course, the really smart ones stand around and wait for the ones doing the hopping to knock them off the tree...then they eat them off the ground. We have mostly red oak varieties which have acorns that are high in tannins. This is a good thing for raising goats...not so much of a good thing if you want to use the acorns yourself. Tannins have shown themselves to be a natural de-wormer (Auburn university studies). So the higher the tannin level the better they are for the goats. I will gather some of the acorns dry them and store them and then periodically feed them through the winter. They can be dried in a low oven (200 degrees) for a couple of hours and then stored in something that seals well with DE. They can also be gathered, dumped in ziplock bags and stored in the freezer, then thawed out and fed through the winter. If not put in the freezer though they must be dried first as acorns have a high moisture content and will mold. Mold is deadly so we don't want that. Humans can use acorns also. White acorns have very little tannin in them and some can even be eaten without leaching the tannins. They are actually a very good nut. Red varieties take some work to get to the edible stage. The tannins must be leached out. This can be done by putting the acorns into a pot of water and bringing to a boil then changing the water and repeating the process. Do this over and over again until the water is clear. Or they can be soaked in a bucket, changing the water 3-4 times a day for 3 or so days. Then they can be dried and stored. You can grind the acorns and use them in place of corn meal. They are gluten free so a good addition to a gluten free diet. They are very high in fat though and pretty low in protein. So get out there and find out what acorns you have. The goats sure love them. Blessings, Kat

Swimming in Milk

Yep, you read that right and it is a good problem to have. We have so much milk coming in right now and I simply can't keep up with the cheese making, yogurt making, ice cream making etc. I made cheese and ice cream yesterday. Today I am making cheese. I say this is a good problem to have because I have read a couple of reports the past couple of days that milk prices are going to double. Which means that every product made from milk will rise sky high. I guess I might be making butter today too. The good news is that most of the girl's have been bred. All of them over the past week. If they all caught that means babies in February...yippeee!!! However, I have one small problem, if they are all due within the same week. I only have two kidding stalls! Oh well, I will figure it out and I suppose I could set up a temporary or two now that the goat barn has been revised. Now, just to get the last one bred for this fall and get blood tests done to confirm pregnancy. Will hold off breeding Strawberry's babies until this spring when they will be big enough. Food costs are definitely rising and I don't see how some folks are making it. Praying for all who are struggling. Blessings, Kat

The high cost of Meat

So we all know that meat is probably the biggest grocery expense. With rising grain costs eventually that meat is going to get costlier and well let's just say it...grocery store meat is not all that great. How does one go about reducing that cost for the family? Think there is no way that someone living in town or in an apartment much less could do that? Well guess again. You might not be able to provide everything, but you can at least cut the cost by supplementing. Here are my suggestions. 1. Fish Catfish and tilapia can be raised in barrels or large trash cans with very little up front cost. The last time I purchased fingerlings (tilapia) I paid about 14.00 for a hundred. Now remember that you don't have to eat all that you raise and you can overwinter breeders and then won't have to purchase fingerlings but the one time. So that 14.00 (probably a little more by now) stretched over several years of production is a minimal cost. I won't explain the set-up other than to say that a couple of 50 gallon barrels will fit in a small space such as an apartment balcony and will provide lots of fresh meat. There are lots of videos on youtube about raising fish in a barrel if you are interested in the rest of the set-up. Which like I say is relatively cheap considering the amount of meat to be had. We are getting ready to set-up our old hot tub which we don't use and figure the cost to set it up will be at max 50.00. Butchering is not that messy that it can't be done in the kitchen. 2. Rabbits Rabbits are not considered livestock and therefore there typically are no restrictions placed on them in cities. They are small and quiet and a trio can happily live in an apartment. Their feed can be supplemented with wild weeds and greens that are picked from clean (non sprayed) areas. So feed input can be minimal with a little effort. One can raise them in a colony setting or in cages. The set-up will cost some money especially for cages, but there are many times when used cages can be found pretty cheaply. Rabbits can also be litter box trained and so can adapt to colony living even in an apartment. When I was growing up we had a house rabbit that was litter box trained and Cocoa spent more time outside of her cage than in her cage. The only problem with rabbits inside is chewing. So steps would need to be taken to protect walls and door trim and of course electrical cords. Butchering again is not that messy that it can't be done in the kitchen. And you don't need any loud firearms to dispatch. 3 rabbits can provide a lot of supplemental meat for a family. 3. Birds While I certainly would not recommend chickens in an apartment, most cities will allow laying hens in a backyard. So if you have a backyard that is fenced a small coop and a few laying hens will provide a good amount of eggs. The closest city to us allows 4 laying hens. 4 eggs a day for 7 days is 2 1/3 dozen a week. Chickens require very little store bought feed if any. Allow the chickens to free range the yard and then feed them kitchen/table scraps when you have them and they will be happy and healthy. Our chickens get no store bought feed and are very happy and healthy. You can also raise bugs for them if you are so inclined and there is loads of information on the net for doing so. Another poultry idea that could be done in an apartment with a little extra effort are quail. They are small relatively quiet birds a little larger than a cockatiel. If I remember correctly the ratio can be one male to 4 females. A couple of large parrot cages would be plenty and fit in the corner of the living room or bedroom if need be. I have never raised quail so you would need to do more research on articles written by people who have. However, I would definitely considered quail if I lived in town where traditional livestock might be a no no. 4. Potbellied Pigs Potbellied pigs are typically considered pets. However, they were livestock long before they were pets and if not overfed like the pets tend to be then they stay pretty lean. They are small and pair would fit in a nice sized backyard. However, they do root so if allowed complete freedom of the backyard will decimate it. It is doable though and if their area is kept clean then there is no more smell than you would have with a couple of large dogs. 5.Nigerian Dwarf Goats or Pygmy Goats This can be iffy. Some cities might consider these small goats pets, some might not. Check first. They are small, don't eat much and two would easily fit in a small backyard. Nigerian Dwarfs will provide milk along with meat (offspring) and pygmy were bred for meat production so they can be chunky little guys. The only drawback is that a firearm is required to dispatch and most cities have ordinances against that. One could get creative and if the goats are used to riding in the van/car then they could be taken elsewhere to be dispatched and then brought home to butcher and wrap. So there you have it, livestock that can be had pretty much anywhere. Now of course if you have land in the country then your options are almost limitless. Each of these options will be able to supplement your meat supply at little cost. Note***If you regard pot belly pigs as pets that is great. Some of us see them as small livestock which is what they are and what they were before Americans decided having pigs as pets was a great fad. Don't flame me. Many of us have to feed our families. If you have the money to purchase and keep glorified pets great for you, but leave the rest of us alone. Blessings, Kat

Super Tight Budget Pantry Stocking

So you want to put some food by and think you can't because you're already struggling to buy just enough now to get you from week to week? Well, guess what...you can put food by and have a well stocked pantry that will see you through whatever disaster life throws your way. In this post, I will share some ways that I have put extra up over the years and truly it has been pretty painless. And while it takes time to do it this way rather than going out and spending a fortune to do it all at once, it can still be done and the end results the same. So here goes: 1. Change your eating habits. If you eat meat everyday of the week have a veggie night. If you eat a lot of processed foods then scour the internet for scratch cooking recipes and use them. An easy meatless night supper is a baked potato and large salad. Processed foods first of all are terrible junk. My daughter calls them fake food. For the cost of a loaf of bread I can buy a bag of flour and with a few other ingredients have several loaves of bread, biscuits, and desserts. 2. This is a continuation of number one. Learn to cook from very basic ingredients, called scratch cooking. Basic ingredients are always much cheaper and you get more for your money. Typically, those boxes of pre-cooked microwaveable rice are one meal. With a bag of regular rice you can get several meals and spend less. Same thing with beans. Canned beans are one meal (if you have a small family) while a bag of beans is several meals and will cost about 1/2 what the canned beans do. 3. Shop discount grocers. Typically, these are called bent and dent stores. If a grocer gets in a case of goods and the case is damaged then they won't accept the case. That case goes to the discount grocer who buys it at a rock bottom price. Therefore the mark-up is less. Most times there is nothing wrong with most of the items in the case, they are even dented. But the retail grocer won't take the time to find out. Now, safety issue...dented cans are not recommended to buy however dented boxes are not an issue since it is the bag inside the box that holds the seal. Nothing a discount grocer sells is out of date or expired. They aren't allowed by law to do that with the exception of some meats. Some meats reaching their sell by date in a retail grocery can be pulled from the shelf, flash frozen, and sold as a frozen good in a discount grocery. Typically this applies only to meats that come from the packers in it's own package. The meats that are on the styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic must be discarded because air can get in those plastic wraps. 4. Shop farmer's markets for produce. Buying produce at the farmer's market will save a whole lot more money than buying produce at the grocery store. An even better deal is go to a "pick your own farm" and pick all that you can use and put up and then bring it home and can or freeze it yourself. I can't tell you how much I have saved over the years by picking my own. 5. Eat seasonally. This goes along with #4. Eat produce fresh when it is in season locally and put it up when it is in season to eat later when it isn't. Oranges bought in the summer are shipped (costs more). Oranges in season cost less and can be put up in a variety of ways for later. We eat so many oranges during the winter that we are completely sick of them by the time season is over. We don't eat many during the rest of the year so it is easy to put up a few for later. 6. Learn to can and freeze extra. This goes along with #5. Canning will save you money in the long run even though it does cost a bit to get started. If nothing else water bath can jams, jelles, pickles and tomatoes. You can do that in any old stock pot. 7. Glean free stuff. There are quite a few people who have much more than they can eat in their yards or who don't use what they have hardly at all. For instance, our church has a crab apple tree. Nobody picks those crab apples. When asked the church was more than happy to let someone have them. While crab apples aren't that great by themselves they make great jelly, which is an expensive buy at the grocery. Just two things. Please ask if you might glean from someone's tree/vines/garden and be respectful and don't take everything. Someone asked my mom this year if she could have some pears. Mom said yes. I went out to get pears (two loaded trees) and both trees were stripped bare. No pears for me this year. I have never had this problem with folks in my garden, but I know others who have besides mom. 8. Shop at restaurant supply stores and buy in bulk. Many bulk items are cheaper, especially staple goods. I can buy a 25 lb. bag of sugar for less per pound than buy a 4 lb. bag of sugar. Sugar keeps forever. 9. Shop sales and use them to your advantage. If you go to the grocery to get corn and canned corn is on sale for 59 cents a can, but you only typically buy two cans at time take advantage and stock up. By doing this then you don't have to buy items until they are on sale again, which they will be. When I run out of our homemade cheese then I stock up when cheese is on sale and freeze it. Then I can wait until it goes on sale again to stock up again. I never pay full price for cheese. Anyway, since I am sick that is about all my poor little head can think of for now. Tomorrow I will post some other things that will save you money in the long run. Blessings, Kat

Economics in a Predicament

Well, the fed adopted the new QE3 so they can buy up some more bad debt to the tune of...get this...40 million dollars a month. And...get this....for as long as it takes to stabilize the real estate market. Class...can you say deflation. That is what is happening with the dollar and if you don't think it is then go to the grocery store and buy 5 items in two months go back and buy those same items...bet you will pay more. And historically what happens when a countries currency is deflated to the point of no return...hyperinflation. During the Weimar republic of 1930s Germany it was more economical to use your German marks for heating your home than to try and buy a loaf of bread with them. It took too much effort to carry the thousands of marks to buy that loaf of bread. Food riots are already happening in Spain. Are you prepared? If you are dependent on a weekly trip to the grocery store because your shelves at home are bare then I would say not. I have been writing for a few years now on rising costs and economic woes. I have heard many times from folks that they don't want to consider themselves preppers. I don't really consider myself a prepper either, but I do like to be prepared for whatever life throws my way. I remember a time when I wasn't prepared and I remember looking at my bare cabinets and wondering how I was going to come up with some money to buy food. At that time it was whatever food I could afford to buy the most of and there were quite a few times that I skipped meals so that our food would last longer. I was scared and I didn't ever want to be that scared again. My grandparents weathered the Great Depression with little worry about how they were going to eat. Why? Because they were prepared for whatever life threw at them. They had always grown a large garden and put up everything they could. They were lucky that they had a farm and livestock, but even now small livestock (chickens, rabbits) can be kept in town. Some people even keep goats in town. But outside the livestock, I remember the jars and jars of food that they put up each year. I shelled peas till my fingers were raw as a child. I didn't understand it then because my parents were the "go to the grocery store and buy only a week's worth of groceries" type people. But, at that time in my life when I looked at those bare shelves and saw only a couple cans of soup and a box of cereal, I understood. My grandparents weren't preppers or survivalists or whatever label you want to use that you don't want to be....they were smart. You never know what life may throw at you and with the economic signs life might be getting ready to throw starvation and struggle at you. The writing is on the wall that the whole global economic system is in trouble and if that isn't enough then the drought hitting the US and Europe should be. Food cost is skyrocketing. That is personal experience. I know how much I paid a year ago for the groceries that I typically buy and I know how much I paid last week for those same things. The cost was at least double if not more on many things. Germany was to vote Wednesday on whether they would bail out more European nations, the Euro is collapsing. If they vote yes then there will be skyrocketing inflation across Europe and deflation of the Euro. If they vote no then there could be bank "holidays", which essentially means that you don't have access to your money because it is gone. Why does it matter what happens in Europe? Well, because our banks are tied with their banks and if their banks start to crumble then ours will too eventually. It's all that great global economy stuff remember. So essentially the economy worldwide is in a predicament, and what does our country do? Make it worse by devaluing our currency! I might not be a prepper/survivalist or whatever one doesn't want to call themselves, but I can assure you that I do not intend to ever look at bare shelves again and wonder how I am going to put food on them. I will post later about recommendations for stocking those shelves whether you are on a tight budget or not. Blessings, Kat

Rising Cost of Living

Well, I went to the grocery store yesterday and the cost of living is definitely on the rise. I went to the bent and dent grocery store and the deals were still pretty good. Although, I remember not so long ago that I used to get a can of beans there for about 50 cents. Yesterday, a can of beans was 89 cents. Doesn't seem like much when you are talking about cents, but remember those cents add up to dollars real fast. I still have found that one of the best ways to hedge against rising food cost is to keep your pantry well stocked. That way you don't have to buy anything that isn't on sale. However, I think that it is getting harder and harder to do for many people. Feed cost for the critters is rising at a dramatic rate with the drought in most of the country. I am trying to make sure that I am as stocked as I can afford to be in that area. Since I can't afford to stock all that I need for a long period of time at once for all the animals here then what I do for psychological feel good is that I get enough stocked for one set of critters. So today I will be getting in enough feed to get the rabbits through the next several months and then a few more bales of hay and the rabbits will be set for most of the winter with greens from the garden. Then I will move on to the chickens and get feed in for them. They don't each much store bought feed but sometimes in the winter there just isn't enough forage and bugs for them so I supplement their free range. Two bags of feed will definitely last them. Then we will move on to stocking for the goats. By the time winter comes we will be somewhat ok to get through it. These days it seems that it gets harder and harder to get enough hay and such put up to get us through the whole winter for everyone. But at least I do feel a little better knowing when I have one group taken care of. Down here in the deep south we have hay available all year, but the cost does go up in the winter which is why I want as much laid in now as possible. Also, with the drought in the midwest many of our hay farmers will start shipping out hay to other states that are hard hit. I don't blame them as they can make more money doing so, but I don't want to be left in a pickle this winter with no hay. So we do the best we can with what we have. I will be planting extras in the winter garden to supplement with so that will help and we do always have some browse for the goats during the winter. I know that all of these rising costs are hitting so many families so hard. I read a news report the other day that 3 times as many Americans are getting on food stamps as are getting jobs. Laying extra by when we can is our way of ensuring taking care of our family's needs. I hope more people are thinking that way. It is the way that our ancestors thought on a regular basis and it is just a recent (relative to history) concept of living in the now without thinking about taking care of the future. I start planting the winter garden today and I pray that this will be the best one yet. Frankly because the last couple of winter gardens have been pretty poor. So we will see. I am also debating whether or not to plant grains again this year. I have done so in the past just as an experiment, but I think I would like to to a larger scale this year. So anyway those are some things that we are doing to combat the rise of the cost of living. What are you doing to ensure your family's continued survival? Blessings, Kat

Tough Time Ahead

Like I said yesterday, there are tough times ahead. Most of the country has been embroiled in a terrible drought this year. That combined with the fact that this is the second year running for the drought in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas and the food situation is going to get pretty grim. Why is this a problem you say? Let me try to explain. The middle of the US is called the bread basket for a reason, it is where most of our grain crops are grown. Wheat and corn are huge there. Because of the drought many of these crops have burned up. Homesteaders have been steadily talking about this online for the past several months. The drought is the most common topic of discussion these days. Many small homesteaders lost their gardens because they simply couldn't keep them watered enough and the high heat burned them up anyway. Yields in basic staple ingredients like corn, wheat and soy are going to be down. When so much of our yield is already promised in contracts with other countries then those contracts are met first, leaving Americans with the leftovers. There isn't going to be much in the way of leftovers folks. Then consider with the corn crop that 40% goes to ethanol production. That leaves 60% of a bad harvest to fill contracts and feed the American populace. Let's see....60% of not much is very little left to feed the American populace. Also consider that these three crops are in just about every type of processed food in the grocery store and then some. Most things on the shelves have at least one of these ingredients. Then when you hit the meat and dairy case, typically those things were fed with corn and soy. Last year many dairymen downsized herds because they simply couldn't afford to feed them. Grain prices this year are rising even higher than last. Then there is the hay situation. If the corn, wheat and soy are burning up so are the hay fields. Farmers can't get in hay to feed for the winter because the grass simply doesn't grow when it is burning up. No hay means you can't feed your livestock. You can't sell them because no one else can feed them either so this means a glut of slaughter animals. Meat prices likely won't go down but will hold steady for a while and then when there is evidence of a shortage it will go up. Many of Texas' beef farmers cut way back to a small core of breeding stock last year, if they cut back this year that is bad bad news as Texas cattle farmers provide the majority of beef in this nation. So, you say well then you will just eat chicken. The heat is killing chickens right and left. I have a neighbor that raises quail and they lost 11,000 in one day due to the heat. And that is with the industrial size fans in the houses. I have another neighbor who raises commercial chickens and they have been looking for new employees to do nothing but clean up the dead chickens, they have so many. The chicken trucks have been running less and less from their farm also. Isn't it amazing how those three little grains affect so much and yet we give them so little thought? Start thinking now, if you haven't already. From the reports I have been reading there is the general consensus that grocery prices will rise anywhere from 30% to 40% by next spring. Build that pantry now and make plans. I know many families that are struggling now with grocery prices, what are they going to do next spring? I know I get astonished each time I go to the grocery and I don't buy that much, but I pay so much more than I used to. I used to be able to keep my house pretty well stocked for an average of 50.00 a month and that was just a couple years ago. Now, I spend about 200.00 a month for the same stuff. While, I don't like doom and gloom I do believe folks need a heads up and this is it...heads up it is gonna be tough to feed your kids. Plan now, prepare now, make changes now. Good luck and God bless, Kat

How To Make a Rich Homemade Broth

I have been making a good bit of broth lately since I drink so much of it. So since I have been making it I thought it would be good to share with my readers on how to make a really rich bone broth. Bone broth is great for adding lots of micronutrients to your diet. It is also a great pick me up on a cold day or even after a hard days work. For me it is a great start to my day. For loads of information on the health benefits of bone broths you can check out the Weston Price Foundation website. Here is how I make my broths.

Take a large stock pot and fill it 1/2 to 3/4 of the way with cold water. Then add your bones. If I am doing a beef or venison broth then I roast the bones for about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Just to brown them a bit. This gives a nice rich color and flavor to the broth. After adding the bones I add about a cup and a half of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar will pull calcium from the bones into your broth. I let that sit for a couple of hours then I place on the stove and slowly bring it to a simmer. You don't really want a rolling boil, just a very slow simmer will do nicely. After it has been simmering for about 2-3 hours, I add a couple of carrots chopped up, a stalk of celery chopped up and an onion along with salt and pepper. These things deepen the flavor of the broth. Then it simmers some more. For beef, venison and pork I let the broth simmer for about 8 hours after adding the veggies. For turkey, chicken or rabbit I let the broth simmer for about 4-6 hours after adding the vegetables. The next step is to remove all the veggies bits, bone bits and meat bits from the broth. Let it cool then place it in the refrigerator overnight. The fat will congeal at the top after this and can easily be scooped off. This is a personal preference, I like my broth to be clear. You can leave it and jar it up right away if you don't mind the fat. After getting rid of the fat then heat the broth back up on the stove, jar it up and can at 10 lbs. of pressure for 20 minutes for quarts and 15 minutes for pints. That is all there is to it and you can drink it by itself, use it in soups and casseroles or even cook your rice and pasta in it. Broth is such a wonderful addition to the pantry and your diet. Blessings, Kat

Rendering Lard

There are many uses for lard so it is handy to know how to render it. Rendering simply means that you are separating the pure fat from the meat and gristle. So I thought I would share how I render my lard.

Step 1. Trim as much meat as possible off the fat.

Step 2. Grind the fat. This doesn't have to be a fine grind, a coarse grind works just fine. If you don't have a grinder you can chop the fat into small bits and this will work also, it will take a bit longer though.


Step 3. Place the lard in a pot or crockpot with 1/4 cup of water and simmer. If you do this on a stove use a medium low setting and if you do this in the crockpot use a low setting. Then cook and cook and cook some more. Periodically you will need to stir the lard so that the cracklins don't burn. This process will take a few hours stove top and about 8 hours in a crockpot depending on the strength of the crockpot. Mine is an el cheapo crockpot so doesn't have a whole lot of kick with temperature. If you have a really nice one it's low setting might be a higher temp. In other words keep an eye on your lard whether using the stove or crockpot.


Step 4: Your cracklins (meat and gristle bits) will sink to the bottom as the fat is separated out. Then they will start to brown a little. At this stage turn off the heat and let them cool for about 10 minutes.

Step 5. Take a strainer and line it with cheese cloth. You can either freeze your lard in chunks or pour it into jars. If you want to freeze it then take a pyrex dish that is square and pour the lard through the strainer. Place the dish in the freezer for a couple hours then cut your lard into chunks to place in a ziploc bag. If you are pouring into a jar then you can let it cool for a bit then place a lid on the jar and store in a cool place. Lard will go rancid if stored in a hot area.

Step 6. Use your lard. Biscuits and pie crusts made with lard are by far the best. Use lard to saute or fry. If your hands are really dry consider rubbing a tiny amount of lard on them. Make soap. Grease your cookie sheets and baking pans.

That is it. It is really an easy process even though it does take some time. You can use this same process for any type of animal fat. Tallow is great for making candles (they smoke alot though) or making soap (makes a nice hard bar) or making a leather preservative lotion. Lard is softer than tallow so don't be surprised if it is really soft at room temperature. Mine stays creamy even in the refrigerator. Oh, and don't throw away those cracklins! Use them for cracklin bread or you can feed them to the chickens, dogs or cats if you really don't like cracklin bread. How can anyone not like cracklin bread?! Use them, they certainly don't belong in the garbage. Blessings, Kat

Economics of Raising a Hog

While we aren't necessarily concerned with raising hogs for economic reasons it sure helps to see either how well you did or how much in the red that meat put you. So here is the economic lowdown on how we did with the hogs. We will look at the cost and benefit of one hog.

First was the cost of the pig. This was a weaner pig and the cost was 40.00 plus about 10.00 in gas for the drive to pick it up. So 50.00 dollars total.

Second our fence was already in place as the pasture was designed to hold goats, so that was no special cost for us.

Third is the cost of feeding the pig. To start with we had loads of garden produce, goat milk, excess eggs, and kitchen scraps to feed with. I had a couple neighbors that garden and can and they would bring their gardening scraps and cleanings to feed the pigs. During the first several months this made up the majority of the diet of the pigs. They were also fed some oats, alfalfa pellets and black oil sunflower seeds. So from June until mid September it cost approximately 27.00 per pig to feed.

Then our eggs supply went down due to hens going into molt, the garden produce greatly slacked off and the goat milk amount went down. We had loads of pears and they would get a 5 gallon bucket of pears daily, but pears don't have protein. We started to see a slowdown in growth rate and decided that we needed to find a commercial source of protein other than the sunflower seeds as they are tremendously expensive. The pigs were getting to where they didn't eat much of the alfalfa and so increasing that would not do us any good. So about mid September we started adding commercial hog feed to their diet and they started gaining again. During the months of October, November and December their appetite greatly increased. They got pears into November and also as the acorn crop was tremendous they ate alot of those in their pasture and I processed 5-10 lbs. of acorns daily to supplement them and keep the commercial feed down. The last 2 1/2 to 3 months the cost for feed per pig was 64.00 per month.

That brings total feed cost per pig to 313.00.

Now what did we get for that money and did we come out ahead?

I will list what we got by cut or usable piece and then list what it would cost me retail for that piece or poundage. Prices were gathered from my local grocer on December 30th.

20 lbs. nitrate free bacon 5.49/pound or 109.8
5 lbs. sausage 3.50 per pound or 17.50
12 pkgs. of 6 boneless loin chops 6.35 per pkg or 76.20
2 tenderloins 14.00 a piece or 28.00
2 racks of spareribs 12.44 a rack or 24.88
2 racks of baby back ribs 16.69 a rack or 33.38
4 4lb. boston butts 12.78 each or 51.12
4 5 lb. picnics 14.00 each or 56.00
2 whole hams (country cured and smoked) 50.83 each or 101.66
4 lbs. hocks 2.19/lb. or 8.76
4 lbs. lard 3.00/lb. or 12.00
1 loin roast 2.99/pound or 8.97
18 dog bones like you would find at the pet store 4.00 each or 72.00
A week's worth of dog food (internal organs) 18.99
Things that I couldn't find prices on:
5 lbs. cracklins
4 trotters

So total cost to have purchased all this pork retail would have been 619.26 not including the cost of the trotters or cracklins. So total savings was 306.26. Now this is comparing to retail cost of typical commercially raised grocery store meat which is not really that comparable. To compare our hog with retail cost of pastured pork the savings doubles or triples. However, since ours were not completely organically fed even though pastured the entire time I stuck with typical grocery store retail prices. Pastured pork, however is typically double to triple that cost depending on where in the country you are. Still not a bad savings of just over 300.00 dollars per hog. I know what I have in my freezer is much healthier and much much more flavorful than what can be purchased in the grocery store. Must have been all those acorns and pears!

Was it worth it? Absolutely! Will we do it again? You bet! Blessings, Kat

Hog Slaughtering***WARNING GRAPHIC***

***WARNING...This post is graphic in nature. If you don't want to see the slaughter process of a hog please skip this post. Slaughtering is a way of life to many families and has been for many generations. Negative and derogatory comments will be deleated. This is an informational post for those seeking to further their education.****

Just in case for those that are reading the warning we will start with a picture of the pig. She was a hampshire/yorkshire cross.


Now onto the process.

She was shot with a 22 rifle aiming for the center mark of her head. Mentally you draw an x..right ear to left eye and left ear to right eye. After she is down from the shot then she is bled by inserting a sharp knife just above the sternum angling down toward the heart. A sideways twist of the knife will sever the main arteries leaving the heart and she will bleed out quickly. You don't want to stick the heart because you want it to help pump the blood out. You don't have very long before her heart stops so this must be done quickly after the shot. My husband likes to pump the front leg to help bleed out the animal quickly.

Next she was moved to the scalding tub which was 150 degrees in temperature. We chose for this hog to scald and skin simply because we didn't want the skin on this one and we had discovered by accident previously that scalding makes the skin peel right off...like peeling an orange.


The next step was to place her on a ladder on her back and remove the head. This keeps any little blood left from setting up in her neck. I will explain why we laid her on the ladder vs. hanging her.


The next step was to skin her. The guys started around her legs with sharp knives and once that got going then her skin just peeled off by hand. In this photo you can see the large flap of belly skin laying on the ladder right beside her. The skin is finished being peeled away once they lift her to hang her, but for right now it doesn't get in the way.


Then the tail was removed.


Then you need to tie off the bowel and the best way to start this is from the outside. Keeping your knife blade angled slightly away from the bowel you hold the outside edges, then insert knife parallel to the bowel, cutting the membranes that hold it in place so that you can pull it out enough to tie it off. This is a two person job, one to hold and cut the bowel and the other to tie it off tight. You don't want any spillage in your gut cavity.


Next is to start opening up for de-boweling. Now here is why we have the hog on the ladder. Gravity works in our favor by pulling the organs down toward her backbone and so we can easily (relatively) get her opened up without internal organs flopping in our way before we are ready to pull them out. We start at the chest cavity, cutting through the sternum and opening up the diaphragm. You can use a bone saw for the sternum or a pair of loppers, both work well.


The next step is to start cutting down into the belly to open the gut cavity. We didn't cut the final membrane until we had her hanging over the wheelbarrow. This is where you need to be careful and hold the membrane away from the intestines as much as possible to try and keep your knife from opening the intestines.


Opening up the whole cavity from tail to neck.


Removing the internal organs. We had a wheelbarrow underneath her to catch everything. Mostly, the internal organs can be coaxed out with your hands working on the membranes that hold them in place, but sometimes you might need to carefully cut some of the membranes to get them loose. There are a few spots that they can be a bit stubborn. Start at the tail and work them loose so that the buts fall out first then you can bring the chest organs out last.


The last step is to cut the hog in half to let some of the heat out of the meat quicker. Since the weather was too warm she was cut down further into primal cuts and placed in coolers on ice and the next day we processed her and got her in the freezer. To cut her in half and get a good cut on both sides, I recommend starting with a knife and go right down the center of her back all the way to her spine. Then use that as your guide for your bone saw or saws-all. This way you don't get an off center cut.


That's it folks. I do have a few recommendations. A saws-all is a wonderful tool to have if you plan on doing a good amount of butchering. Have one that is just for that....no other uses. Wood blades work well and don't scatter a whole bunch of bone. Choose weather in which it is cold and gonna be cold overnight...30 to 40 degrees for the highs. However, weather was not cooperating for us so coolers and the refrigerator had to suffice. You will have to turn your refrigerator down colder and I recommend using a thermometer to monitor your temps. Have the refrigerator set before putting the meat in there so the temperature doesn't rise too much. If you are using your refrigerator then make sure it is empty. Even with mine empty, I had to use two coolers and the little refrigerator for one of the hams. Temperature is very very important and that meat has to be cooled down quickly. One more thing, be prepared to wash your hog and wash your hog throughout the process. We crubbed and rinse her before she went into the scalding tub, while she was in the tub and then again before splitting her into halves. Hogs are dirtier than you think they are and we try to keep the process as clean as possible. Of course during processing the meat is further washed and cleaned out because hairs are everywhere. This is where scraping is a definite benefit.

We now have two hogs in the freezer which will last us til next butchering season. It is a lot of work to get all that meat put away and processed, but well worth the effort in knowing that we will eat well for the next year. Blessings, Kat

Weekly Menu

I have decided in the spirit of low cost eating that I will post a menu plan for the week in the left hand column. If I have anything that needs a recipe then you can be sure that the recipe will be posted. Blessings from the farm,Kat

Food Cost Rising

Sounds like one of those serious drama espionage type movies doesn't it? Well, in a way it is, but instead of being able to walk out of the theater and it being over, you walk right into the reality of it everytime you walk into the grocery store. I know I have done many posts like this and I will try to give some fresh advice in this post. However, I did feel compelled to write again because this seems to be the topic of the day wherever I go folks are talking about rising food costs and what are they going to do? So here are some of my best tips to stretch a budget and make those food dollars count.

1. Beans are cheap and can stretch your meat. For instance, one night make chili for supper with 1/2 pound of ground beef and a whole load of beans. The next night make beef and bean burritos with the other 1/2 pound of ground beef and again a whole load of beans.

2. Serve bread at every meal. Bread can make a skimpy meal turn into a filling meal with everyone leaving the table full. Biscuits and cornbread can be made up quickly and batches of biscuits can be made ahead and frozen.

3. Meat needs to become a side item for the meal, not the main star. Loads of veggies and a little bit of meat can go a long way and still fill everyone up.

4. Spend more time in the kitchen. Convenience costs and those 30 minute meals cost. Spend the time to make your own from scratch and if you can make a whole bunch at once then dedicate a day in the kitchen to stock up your freezer on things like fruit breads, biscuits, pizza dough, rolls, tortillas, etc. than can be convenient and easily pulled from the freezer for use.

5. Real men do eat quiche...that is if they want to eat in this house. Quiche, or eggs in general, is a great way to add protein to a meal and use just a little of this and that. We add spinach or whatever other greens we have and a little meat if I have it. Serve with biscuits and some fruit (we like pan fried apples or pears) and you have a filling meal.

6. Have a veggie night or two. My husband is just as full with a plate of baked sweet potato, peas, squash and cornbread as he is with steak and baked potato.

7. Learn to use cheaper less desirable cuts of meat. London broil is cheaper than ribeye but cooked properly is just as delicious and goes further. Flank steak is cheaper than round steak, but can make cubed steak just as well. Beat on it enough and no one will know the difference.

8.Make oatmeal, granola and yogurt, grits and such breakfast staples instead of buying that stuff in a box.

9. Save leftover veggies and meat, even small tablespoon amounts in freezer bags in the freezer, and when you have enough make a couple pie crusts and bake a pot pie.

10. Eat whole nutrient dense foods. Nutrient dense foods leave you feeling full for a much longer period of time than processed foods. So the more you stay out of the center of the grocery store the better. For instance, if I eat a bowl of oatmeal with some pears in it and a slice of zuchinni bread with a glass of milk I am good to go for a long time. Many times I am not even hungry for lunch. Nutrient dense meals also mean that the children are less apt to holler for snacks every 30 minutes. I can make a whole meal and feel full as a tick off two pieces of toast with a couple fried eggs on top.

These are just a few ways to save money on groceries. I keep looking back to how my grandparents ate and it was not uncommon for grandaddy to sit down to a meal of just peas and cornbread. There was plenty of both and he always left the table satisfied even though the meal was cheap to fix. He never missed a days hard work on the farm cause he was hungry and he was a big man.

Hope this helps a little. Blessings from the farm, Kat

Sticker Shock

Over the past several months, I have been increasingly aware of rising food costs. This is especially since I don't make regular trips to the grocery store. I usually go once a month and sometimes once every other month. Yesterday, I went because I was out of a couple things (I really don't like to be out of anything) and I needed something for a recipe that I wanted to try. So I was in town anyway and decided that would be a good time to swing by the store. A couple things were on sale so I picked those up while I was there. Here is what I purchased:

2 quarts of active culture buttermilk on sale
4 large jars of peanut butter
1 bag of cherries on sale
bananas
2 boxes of lemon jello
2 boxes of cream cheese
16 cans of tuna fish on sale
2 pounds of lunch meat on sale
1 bag of chicken wings

That is it, that's all I got and my bill was 102.00 dollars! Now folks, look at that list. There is not enough food there for a weeks worth of groceries to feed a family. That was simply a few odds and ends, so I simply can't imagine what families are paying for a week's worth of groceries. Of course, we have all been warned that this was coming and I have been passing those warnings on here. But to see this type of food inflation is astounding. What is more astounding is the fact that this is just the beginning, it is going to get worse. So thank you Lord for my garden and my goats. That you Lord for my bunnies and my chickens. Without them I am not sure how we would eat much of anything. I know I have done grocery tips before, but I decided that now is a good time to re-iterate my top tips to save money on food. I think more and more people need it.

1. Shop at discount grocery stores, often called bent and dent stores. Many things are marked down and there is nothing wrong with any of it. Most things are much cheaper than a regular grocery chain and some things are about the same price.

2. By produce from the farmer's market. I have always noticed that prices at the farmer's market were way below grocery store prices. The only thing is they only have what is in season in your area.

3. Keep a well stocked pantry so that you only purchase what is on sale and never really need anything. Hence the reason for me buying so much tuna fish yesterday.

4. Grow your own. Even if you have a small backyard assess what you might use the most and grow it, lots of it. I once knew a family that used lots of tomato products; canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup etc. There back deck of their very small backyard every summer was a jungle of tomatoes grown in containers. She used those tomatoes for every tomato product that they used and put up all those products so that she never had to buy any from the store. She saved a bunch with just tomato plants. She also worked full time.

5. Take advantage of pick your own farms. Make a family outing to a farm and pick your own produce and put up enough to last at least a few months if not until the next harvest. Last year we went peach picking. We spend 70 dollars and got enough peaches to last through the year, a basket of plums, a basket of nectarines, a couple of cantaloupe and a couple other little things. We had a trunk load of food coming back home. I know prices have gone up, but pick your own farms are going to rise at a much slower rate than grocery stores. So I would imagine 8 dollars would get the same trunk load. We had fresh peaches until we were sick of them and I put up enough to last through the year. All for that little bit of money.

I have tons more tips but those are the biggest ways I have found to save money and still eat well. I am still getting over yesterday's sticker shock. I think I will go hug my juvenile delinquent goats now and talk nice to my tomato plants. Blessings from the farm, Kat

Deep South Winter Storm

I really hate these winter storms here in the deep south. I know, I know....you folks up north are just laughing at what we call a winter storm here. Here is the difference. Folks up north understand snow and ice, folks in the south understand cold and mud. Folks in the north understand how to drive in snowy icy conditions, folks in the south think snow and ice mean GO FASTER, CHANGE LANES MORE OFTEN, NEVER SIGNAL, SLAM ON BRAKES!I know my sister in Maine is laughing her head off right now as she prepares to shovel the snow so that she can make her morning snowy drive to work. I don't envy her and that is why I live where snow is supposed to be a once in 20 year thing. Usually our winters mean lots of rain and mud, not lots of snow and ice! Global warming my foot and don't even go there about the "climate change" they are now trying to call it. Anyway, I am sure the stores were a nightmare yesterday. What a blessing to always be prepared (remember Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Ivan taught me that). I do however, have a very busy day ahead of me because of this mess coming from the door that somebody in the north left open. In normal winter conditions here I don't really make any big changes to the barns. They stay pretty open. I just deep bed the goat barn and they have a large stall to cuddle up in on cold nights. The rabbits are content with deep hay in their cages and on really cold nights I throw a cover over the cages. However, I am battening down the hatches at both ends of the aisleway so that it doesn't become a wind tunnel. I also have my old stallion in the stall next to the goats, so will give him some extra bedding and close up that gap at the bottom of his stall. Both stalls are closed it, but open to the aisle which is open on the north and south end. The rabbits are housed in the aisle. Then there is the chicken coop. It is closed on the north side, but the other 3 sides are open along the top. So I will close up 2 of those sides, add more bedding for the chickens and fill up their grain feeder that hardly ever gets used. Having something to eat all day while cooped up will help keep them warm. Then it will just be a quick check to refresh water. I am filling extra water buckets all around because I know my hoses will be frozen and possibly my outdoor spickets. Then there is the big horse barn. My husband decided to take off part of the north side wall so that he could turn my big foaling stall into the tractor spot. This means that the barn can get pretty windy. So I will cover the stall facing the opening and the side door opening. Then there is just the small door on the south side and the 2 horses that use that barn will be able to get in out of the freezing rain, sleet or snow. I will back some extra bedding in there and go ahead and take some hay over there so that everything I need is right there. I have extra coffee cans to have feed rations pre measured out and all that needs doing is to grab a can and dump it. And again I have a big trashcan in the barn for water so I don't have to haul to many water buckets, just a couple gallon jugs of hot water. I try to make everything as simple outside as possible in this weather. Sleet is no fun to run around outside in for very long and everything is so spread out around here, that a lot of time is spent in the elements moving from barn to barn. It would be nice to have everything in one spot and that is my goal one day, but alas that day is not here. We are good in the house, but need to bring in more firewood and stack as much as we can get. The propane is good and set to go. I am cooking a turkey, Sunday morning so if we lose power it is simple to heat the turkey and canned veggies over the fire. I also have canned soups and stuff and am baking bread and some cookies also. We are good as far as the house goes. All the laundry is done. You just never know with our power out here in the country on good days (it goes out on bright clear sunny days!), so with this weather....limbs falling, lines breaking, town a priority....well you get the idea. The one thing I am really upset about is this will keep me from working on the wattle fence around the garden. I have been having so much fun building that fence and it looks like it will have to wait a few days. Oh, well...that is life on the farm. Maybe I can eek out a little time to work on it today and this storm might give me lots more material to work with! Blessings from the farm and stay warm and safe.

Epiphany on Storing Winter Squash

I grow winter squash like butternut and pumpkin because my husband likes them. Personally, I can't stand them. This has always been an issue because the thought of gagging down that foul tasting squash tend s to prevent me from wanting to cook them. I have always stored my squash in our dining room where it stays relatively cool in the winter and the squash lasts for months. This past year though I decided to can some of the butternut and as it happened I only had pint jars in the house at the time. So I canned the squash in pint jars. My husband asked when I was going to cook him some squash, specifically butternut squash souffle. As I thought about it, I realized that the pint jar was just good enough for 1 individual butternut squash souffle. Why had I not thought of this earlier? Instead of wasting a whole squash by cooking the whole thing and then he being the only one to eat any measurable portion of it, I simply pulled out 1 pint jar and made up an individual souffle. Yippee!!!! I never have to choke it down again and will be happy to keep his belly full of butternut squash and pumpkin. Now, what to do with the spaghetti squash that I don't like either?! So if you don't like something, but others in your family do, think about canning it in pint jars for individual portions. Blessings, Kat

Thoughts on Preparedness

Recently there have been lots of discussions over the internet about the Fed's new QE2 move. That is quantitative easing and basically what it means is that they intend to print and distribute billions of dollars. Well, since we aren't on the gold system basically these dollars come out of thin air and what happens when you flood the "market" is that what is already out there becomes less valuable. It is the law of supply and demand. When things are in short supply they are worth more and when they are plentiful they aren't worth much at all because they can be found everywhere. That is the simplified version for folks like me that do not have a background in economics. Folks are worried and rightly so. This same exact thing is what ushered in the hyperinflation (inflation on steroids)that collapsed Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Chile in just the last decade or so. The United States is no more immune to this happening than they were. So anyway, when this topic comes up as it has often recently most people talk about stocking up on food and supplies, learning to grow gardens, maybe having some livestock, and possibly even looking to move to more rural areas so that they can do more for themselves. Very often there is someone who scoffs at these ideas. Recently I read someone's response to advice about stocking up on food and supplies. This person said that was the wrong advice to give because a person couldn't stock up without advanced knowledge of the subject and purchasing supplies already prepared to be stored long term. She also said that this advanced knowledge could not be gained until the person spent countless amounts of time studying and then purchased expensive equipment to be able to use their stored supplies. This person stated that all of this talk was just bringing in fear and panic and instead a person should just learn the skills needed to take care of themselves if the time ever came. Now, she had some good points but missed the mark. So here are my thoughts. Reading about gardening, canning, baking, livestock, etc. is great. However, and this is a big however, it will not give you the skills to actually do those things. Reading is a tool in this lifestyle but learning actually comes from doing. I have had many failures and from those failures came knowledge. There were even things that I did right, but couldn't have told you how I did it. Without stored food, what is a person to do when the garden is a failure and the country is in the midst of a hyperinflation situation like Chile was with no food in the stores even if one had the money to pay for it? Gardens do fail, livestock does get killed, winters can be brutal and long....it is the nature of this life. Just because one has read all the right books and bought all the right equipment doesn't mean they are ready to take on self-sufficiency without a safety net. That safety net is their stock of food that they have on hand. Without a stock of food to last what if things go bad in the middle of winter? You certainly can't run outside with your seeds that you might or might not have and plant a garden, especially if you live up north. My sister in Maine does good to get in and out of her driveway during the winter, I highly doubt her gardening attempts would work out in mid January. So don't you see, while a person is learning the skills and practicing they can have the peace of mind to know that they have that safety net. Food in the pantry is better than money in the bank, especially these days. Anything can go wrong in life. For instance, at the beginning of December 2008 my husband was cut to part time hours. One paycheck paid our health insurance and the other one didn't even cover the rest of the bills. At the end of January he was lucky if he worked 2 days a week. His entire months wages did not even cover health insurance, we were paying for him to work. Thank God that I had a well stocked pantry and food supply because even though he was taking whatever work he could find to try to pay the bills there was no way we could have bought food during that time. For 7 months we struggled along this way and I never set foot in a grocery store because I had been prepared for whatever might come a long. My children never missed a meal and I never had to look at their little faces and tell them there was no food. I had been gardening and trying to grow food at that point for several years and had a couple of good years and a couple of bad years and a couple of really bad years without even one single tomato. My gardens back then were practice gardens. I was learning skills that I wanted to learn to do on a bigger scale. Meanwhile, I had that safety net. During that time I purchased my first rabbit for meat. She was pregnant. She was also a first timer. She had all 10 babies on the wire and promptly kicked them all out of the cage in her enthusiasm to "clean up". All 10 babies died. Good thing I had plenty of meat because I wasn't getting any from her anytime soon. It has taken time in doing to learn the skills that we need to know or feel that we need to know. We are still learning. Currently, I am struggling with the learning curve of incubating eggs and making cheese. There are many things that I have learned to do and gotten passibly good at just so that I know how to do it. But I never would have learned all the ins and outs of something without doing it. Reading about it just isn't the same, but it is a good start. Read, read, do, read some more, try again and so on goes the game until you have sufficiently acquired skill at something. In the meantime don't forget your safety net...build up that larder. Blessings from the farm, Kat

Pears, pears and more......pears!

I have a friend down the road who said she would give me some pears in exchange for some recipes for pears. I took her several recipes and came home with a 5 gallon bucket and grocery sack full of pears. A week later she called and told me to come and get the rest because she didn't have time to do anything with them and they were going to waste. I came home with 3 5 gallon buckets full of pears. I also took her several jars of pear sauce that I had made from the first batch. I am now making pear butter, more pear sauce, canning pear halves and whatever else I can think of. The only drawback is that her pears are small...some are very small. They are very good pears though. I usually get pears from my mom but her trees didn't do so well this year and we need to figure out what is wrong. If anyone knows why the pears would literally rot while hanging on the tree please let me know. Most of mom's did just that. I got a few that only had small rotten spots to check them and the rest of the pear was funky looking. Those pears went to the horses. Speaking of...all the critters are loving this gift of pears as they are getting they peels and the cores. She doesn't spray her trees so they are pesticide/fungicide free and safe for everybody to have. So here are my recipes for pear butter and pear sauce.

Pear Sauce
1 gallon peeled and sliced pears
Cinnamon to taste (I use about 3-4 tablespoons
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice

Place all of this in a stock pot with about 1 cup of water and simmer until the pears are mushy. You can then use a stick blender or potato masher to mash them up. Fill jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Water bath them 20 minutes for pints and 30 for quarts.

Pear butter:
Prepare the pear sauce as above then place in crockpot on high until reduced in volume to half. I also at nutmeg to my pear butter. I usually use about 1 tablespoon of the nutmeg. Fill jars and process pints 25 minutes and quarts 35 minutes in a hot water bath.

Both are delicious and the pear butter makes a great gift item. Needless to say my friend will be getting some more sauce, butter and a pie for her gift. I know she has more pears, but I am getting kinda tired of looking at pears. not to mention the peeling and slicing. Blessings from the farm, Kat