Weekly Prep Thread, March 05-11, 2006

[Dinghy]

Didn't see one of these started yet, so I thought I'd do it. I have had my canner and dehydrator going full bore the last 2 days. I made stuffed pepper soup yesterday and canned it. Today I have a roaster full of turkey sloppy joes that I'm canning. I should get about 18 pints out of it. I found 26 1/2 oz. cans of DelMonte spaghetti sauce on clearance for .59 each today. 3 or 4 different kinds. So far I got 14 and plan to get more in the next couple days, because they have a lot of them. I also found boxes of red beans and rice mix for .50 each. I got 8 of them. I felt like I had to leave a few for somebody else, but if they're still there tomorrow, they're fair game! I also found small cans of grapefruit for .50 each and got about 12 of them. I LOVE these clearance sales!!!! I have the dehydrater going with applesauce leather right now. Tried one tray of it and hubby liked it a lot, so I have 4 trays going now. Yesterday I did a big batch of parsnips. This dehydrator is really helping me broaden my preps a lot!!

EDITED TO ADD: Dinghy posted a few minutes before I got this week's thread up and both threads already have replies so I'm merging them together. - Alan

 

[A.T.Hagan]

My preps this week relate to gardening and homesteading. Fence for the garden, working on the hen house, planting fruit trees and flowering perennials.

What's up with you folks?

.....Alan.

 

[summerthyme]

Hopefully, tapping the maple trees Ahhh!! The first run, with the maple scented steam rolling off the kettles!! NOTHING says spring more than that...

I ordered 50 meat chickens for March 27th delivery. MUCH earlier than I usually raise them- we can get bitter cold weather well into April and even May around here. But with the bird flu situation... I suspect if I want my own chicken in the freezer, it had better get done NOW. If things hold off, I may order another 50 after this batch is raised.

I also ordered some culture to make my own red wine vinegar. I've several bottles of a merlot wine which was simply WAY too dry for us, and a couple others which were gifts, which no one was that fond of. I recorked them and stashed them away and decided to either cook with them or make vinegar. Vinegar seems to be the most useful choice and I figured I might as well start right with the correct culture.

And hubby helped me make four "EarthBox TM knockoffs" out of rubbermaid containers... total cost $7 each, rather than $35. I'll see how they work for growing greens, etc.

Have to start garden seeds indoors this week. Too early up here to do much else except look at the snow and wish...

Summerthyme

 

[diamonds]

I ordered friut trees on Thursday. They should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday. I also started 4 baskets of strawberries. and 2 baskets of cherry tomatoes. I did get my seeds also so in couple of weeks will be putting in the garden also.

 

[TerriHaute]

I took advantage of the low chicken prices and stocked up on chicken at Meijer today. Also got a bunch of wash cloths at $3 per dozen. They come in handy for all kinds of things.

Plans for the rest of the week are to start more seedlings in the greenhouse for this summer's garden. I also have the makings for another batch of scotch broth mix that needs to be mixed and packaged up. DH is working on cutting down our big old apple tree that doesn't produce apples any more, so that will add to our wood pile. He'll chip up the small branches, and that will be mulch for the garden.

I'm also wanting to get a few chickens, a new adventure for me. The farm store has chicks starting tomorrow, but they are straight run and all I want is a half-dozen pullets. The minimum purchase is 25 chicks, as it is with most hatcheries, so I'm trying to figure out a way to avoid ending up with 25 roosters. This week I'm going to work on making a chick brooder out of a Rubbermade tub.

Terri in Indiana

 

[Shooting Star]

I am so excited, just got back from town - I bought a new Presto 18 quart canner - I have not canned any for about 15 years - can't wait to use it!!!!

 

[Dinghy]

Good for you!!! I can't imagine not canning for 15 years. If I go more than a couple weeks, I go into withdrawl

 

[blueberry]

I agree about the withdrawal, Dinghy! There is just something about home canning - it is so much work, but you feel so much satisfaction after taking those jars out of the canner. And looking at those jars on your pantry shelf... ... well, all the canners know what I am talking about.

 

[Sammy55]

Just a few days ago, I got my new All American pressure canner. So I know how you feel, Shooting Star! I have a Presto canner that has given me many years of use. But I think the rubber gasket has deteriorated enough that it won't seal enough. I can't get the canner to bring up pressure to can. Thankfully, the stuff I was canning could be pressure or water bath canned. And I can't figure out my model to know which gasket to get. So for right now, I got a canner that doesn't need a gasket. I know what you mean about the good feelings you get from canning. And from dehydrating. I should get some more onions, bananas, and apples to dehydrate.

I've done some reorganizing and filling in gaps in preps. I'll order some more non-hybrid seeds tomorrow, along with some more herbal remedies. Those are top in my mind right now because I've been sick for about a week. I went to the doctor yesterday. I have pneumonia. Not bad enough to put me in the hospital. Just bad enough to make it a little hard to breath and to sap all my strength. So with the antibiotic I'm on, hopefully I'll be good to go in a few days. I suppose I'd better add "order more antibiotics" on my to-do list for tomorrow, too!

Sammy55

 

[Onebyone]

Not to much but I was at Chinamart and saw some chemical pack hand warmers for $1.24 for a four pack so got those.

I believe that is cheaper than I saw them online a few days ago, plus I didn't have to pay shipping so pretty good deal. I only got one pack but each one lasts for 10 hours it says. I figured we could use them opening one at a time and pass it back and forth to warm our hands that way it saves them to last longer.

 

[Amanda Blue]

[ I have the dehydrater going with applesauce leather right now.

What is apple sauce leather?

 

[Cruiser]

Ordered 6 new 5 gallon fuel cans and two nozzles. This way I will be able to store 50 gallons and pass a few of my old cans to my daughter.

 

[Anne in TN]

Bought three large jugs of laundry detergent from Save-a-lot. Only had one left. As much prepping as we have done, I am amazed that I let us get that low on the detergent.

Today I found out that we have no anti-freeze. So next week we shall stock up even though winter is almost over. At least we will have it for next year.

 

[Dinghy]

[ I have the dehydrater going with applesauce leather right now.

What is apple sauce leather?

It's like a fruit roll-up, but made with applesauce that I canned a couple years ago. You just spread it on the solid fruit leather tray in the dehydrator. It's really good.

 

[ka5gtc]

DW and I went to the Pasedena Texas gun show this weekend and I picked up some extra ammo. I started a new job 2 weeks ago and have to take my lunch . I have been buying extras when I shop for lunch items to add to my storage. Think I can make it for 6 months with preps. DW is trying to get a garage sale going and that will bring in some extra cash. Hope to add more preps soon.

 

[idelphic]

Vacuum packed almost 14# of meat. Both Ground chuck and pork loin. Draw back is that it's all in the freezer... hope the will hold to get to reinforcements.

Sorted a bit of stuff that has been in storage for way to long. Plan to yard sale it and then make use of the money for preps.

Getting there... slowing.

 

[Tundra Gypsy]

I sorted canned goods I had put on the shelves, but not in any order. Added extra shelving for more supplies. Discovered some really old stuff I forgot to rotate and labeled shelfs.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Went ahead and picked up the steel stakes I'm going to use to fence the garden tonight as well as a new sprinkler. The old one was leaking at the seams.

.....Alan.

 

[pixmo]

Cut a swath of saplings and brush and cleared it so we can pick up what we rake from the pond to use it for fertilizer/mulch. Once the ice clears, start tossing the lake rake, pull it in, and toss what you scrape in to piles that can be hauled away to a mulch pile.

We laid this stuff in a small patch where we planted the tomatoes and brussel sprouts last year for a test run...yield was excellent

 

[FireDance]

Started spring cleaning. Oh my aching body!!

 

[The Freeholder]

Getting in on JC's Mountain House buy. This is going to be my "ready reserve" food.

 

[Grock]

Hit the JCrefuge/safecastle buy for 18 cases.

Continued my PM purchase strategy.

Spoke with all 4 team members about strategy.

And Spent many hours praying for knowledge.

 

[Amanda Blue]

wow, you guys are all so busy. All I did was buy a few more cans of food, and some beans. I also bid on a pressure canner on ebay, so hopefully I'll get it. I'm going to try canning for the first time.

 

[Doc1]

This week

I finished all of the structural welding and installed lights on the utility trailer I've been building and pulled it out of the driveway. It only needs wire-wheeling and paint now. The decking is all pre-cut and ready for installation. This trailer will be used for hauling building material, fuel tanks for waste fuel collection and of course, for (especially) hurricane bug outs.
More Katrina-related salvage and cleanup; saved some more furniture from the old mobile home and a few building fixtures. Moved a lot of building material. My back and I are not on speaking terms...
I finished the welding, plumbing and skids on a 200 gallon fuel tank. This tank has been fitted with manifolds which will allow fuel transfer or collection through positive pressure or vacuum. I'm filling it with water tonight in preperation for electrolytic interior rust removal, after which it will be placed in service. A local garage has said I could have all of their waste oil. This can be mixed in various dilutions and run (after filtration) in our various diesels. Our "listeroid" can run on this fuel straight, without dilution. Free beats $2.50/gallon hands-down!

Best regards
Doc

 

[rhughe13]

The minimum purchase is 25 chicks, as it is with most hatcheries, so I'm trying to figure out a way to avoid ending up with 25 roosters. This week I'm going to work on making a chick brooder out of a Rubbermade tub.

Terri in Indiana

The way we always sex chicks is basically with one hand you want to lightly wrap your index finger around its neck and have another couple of fingers around their body, and let their legs dangle.

If they fall, it's a rooster. If they keep them tucked, it's a hen.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

The way we always sex chicks is basically with one hand you want to lightly wrap your index finger around its neck and have another couple of fingers around their body, and let their legs dangle.

If they fall, it's a rooster. If they keep them tucked, it's a hen.

I tried that one year when I really wanted Barred Rocks and the only feed store that I could find that had them had only straight run. I went through their entire brooder using that test to find twelve chicks that kept their legs up.

End result several months later when I could clearly tell male from female?

Six hens.

Six roosters.

In Barred Rocks look for the white spot on the back of the head. The bigger the spot the more likely to be female. Not 100% foolproof but should get you at least 80% hens.

.....Alan .

 

[wasabell]

Used my coupons and got a good deal on Hormel Chili (NO beans). Picked up 6 cans to add to preps. And another 10 bricks of coffee. DH says we have no room for any more food.
Also, got a wonderful deal on Claritin. I have enough of that to last us about 6 months. And found a buy-one,get-one free sale on batteries that I had coupons for, and got 16-AA batteries for about $3.00, and got the same kind of deal on some paper products.

I did find a place for all of it.

 

[yellowsprings]

This week I'm going to work on making a chick brooder out of a Rubbermade tub.

Terri in Indiana

I did that a few years ago! It works great!

 

[Deena in GA]

We have been adding even more to the food stocks - to the point where I'm saying we don't have any more room - and I've never thought or said that before. Hubby picked up some flashlights that run off of AA batteries and put out some really good light. They were at Dollar General.

We're hoping to get our raised beds moved and enlarged this week. Have onions and more potatoes ready to plant, but have to get the beds moved before we can do that.

Between hubby's father still being in the hospital and son #3's soccer season starting and he's playing on a traveling team this year, we haven't had as much time to put into prepping lately. At least not into physical prepping - our spiritual prepping has been major.

 

[Dinghy]

Used my coupons and got a good deal on Hormel Chili (NO beans). Picked up 6 cans to add to preps. And another 10 bricks of coffee. DH says we have no room for any more food.
Also, got a wonderful deal on Claritin. I have enough of that to last us about 6 months. And found a buy-one,get-one free sale on batteries that I had coupons for, and got 16-AA batteries for about $3.00, and got the same kind of deal on some paper products.

I did find a place for all of it.

`
I got 8 more cans of sauce and 6 more packs of strawberries. I've had to resort to putting boxes of stuff under the bed in the spare room, (not the berries ) !!! My husband just added two more shelves in the cupboard I've been using for applesauce. I wish somebody would invent an inflateable room, that way you could use it for storage when you're out of space, and deflate it when you use the stuff up! My daughter said I'm obsessed with stocking up, I told her that I heard somewhere that "He Who Dies With The Most Food Wins", or something like that!

 

[TerriHaute]

I did that a few years ago! It works great!

Oh, thanks for the picture! I saw this method described on the BackYard Chickens message board and have been trying to explain it to DH and my sister. How soon did your chicks outgrow it?

Terri in Indiana

 

[yellowsprings]

Oh, thanks for the picture! I saw this method described on the BackYard Chickens message board and have been trying to explain it to DH and my sister. How soon did your chicks outgrow it?

Terri in Indiana

I had them in there about 4 or 5 weeks. (It took me that long to build a coop and make a totally enclosed run that was buried 12 inches to keep critters from digging under the fence.) I hope you noted the chicken wire at the top of the tub. You would be amazed how quickly they learn to get out! They were out quite a bit being "played" with by my teenage kids.

Here they are about 2 weeks later:

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Yellowsprings,

Looks like mostly Rhode Island Reds and Black Australorps? What is the chick in the rear left?

.....Alan.

 

[Dinghy]

I watched that show Dirtiest Jobs In America a couple weeks ago. They showed how some chicken industry determines the sex of a chicken. It's really disgusting! The grab a chic, squeeze the poop out of it, then look for some kind of bump in the hole. If it has a bump I think they said it was a female. They showed guys that did this for a living. The man had a coffee can in front of him that he wacked the chicken's butt on to knock off the poop, then he'd turn it over. Couldn't pay me enough to do that all day!!!!

 

[yellowsprings]

Yellowsprings,

Looks like mostly Rhode Island Reds and Black Australorps? What is the chick in the rear left?

.....Alan.

Wow! What an eye Alan! I am impressed! I am not sure what the chick in the left rear was. All but the Black Aurtralorps were culled (all roosters). A week or so after I bought these four years ago straight run at TSC, I purchased 6 pullet New Hampshire Reds from Mt. Healthy in Cincinnati who were in a separate tub. I mingled them together after a they moved out of the tubs. One of the New Hampshire ended up being a rooster but he is so tame that we kept him.

They are all still alive and kicking except one NH that the group decided they did not like anymore. They pecked her to death about two years ago. Dumb chickens.

Here is my roo:

 

[garnetgirl]

DH and 10 year old DS did a project for me this weekend - (2) 4'x4' cedar boxes for square foot gardening and (1) stacked 4'x4'/3'x3'/2'x2'/1'x1' pyramid box for strawberries.

This is my attempt at scaling down the garden chores while maintaining some production. I have a large garden, but alas, I cannot manage it by myself. DH tills it for me and the children (ages 7 and 10) can and do help, but I find myself choosing between homeschooling and weeding. By July, I usually give up and let the weeds just take over. Also, last year I had a huge deer problem and I still need to fence in the garden. This year I am going to plant a cover crop on the main garden and experiment with these two boxes for square foot planting. I will have them close to the house where I can water them with the hose (beats lugging buckets from the creek for the main garden which is what I usually do - fortunately, not often). I will maintain my perennials at the large garden - the raspberries, blueberries, cherry tree, asparagus, onions and garlic (and I will sneak in my sugar snap peas as they are so easy). I am really excited to do the strawberry pyramid, even though I won't be able to pick them this year.

Other than that, received orders for dehydrated eggs and more Sambucol and placed orders for some tinned butter and some books (classics for homeschooling).

Will be freezing eggs this week (Ingles has regular white eggs for 48 cents/dozen) and hopefully will be canning more chicken soon - I've got several great coupons on some all natural chicken - waiting for it to go on sale again.

garnetgirl

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Wow! What an eye Alan! I am impressed! I am not sure what the chick in the left rear was. All but the Black Aurtralorps were culled (all roosters). A week or so after I bought these four years ago straight run at TSC, I purchased 6 pullet New Hampshire Reds from Mt. Healthy in Cincinnati who were in a separate tub. I mingled them together after a they moved out of the tubs. One of the New Hampshire ended up being a rooster but he is so tame that we kept him.

They are all still alive and kicking except one NH that the group decided they did not like anymore. They pecked her to death about two years ago. Dumb chickens.

Nah, it was pretty easy. I've got Rhode Island Red and Black Australorp (among others) in my brooder right now and that's what they looked like about a week or so ago. The mystery chick in your photo looks like some of the Americauna chicks (from Ideal) the farm supply had when I bought my chicks this year. I picked two Americaunas out of that lot that looked most like Leghorn chicks and so far they've feathered out one all white, the other all white, but for a gold head and cape.

.....Alan.

 

[summerthyme]

I'd say the "odd" chick is an Aracauna... they are often spotted like that, and it has the faintly "buzzard" look to it's head. I like Araucana chickens, but they just haven't done it for me, as far as egg laying. And right now- as usual- they're the scruffiest looking hens in the pen. No idea why... all the others are slick and fully feathered and look great. The two Araucanas look like heck.. but they're not molting.

The bantam Araucanas, however.. they're productive and they SET and raise batch after batch of chicks. I've about decided to give up on the full size ones and just keep the bantams for the colored eggs.

Summerthyme

 

[prudentwatcher]

Won't have much time to do anything this week, then have to fly to Texas and take care of my dad for two weeks as he recovers from surgery. I hate to be away from my preps, especially the last part of March.

Oh well. Made a run to PetsMart today and got the monthly stuff with a few extras. Hope to find time to can those last 4 lbs of butter. Picked up a couple of boxes of gauze pads for the first aid cabinet. Won't be able to do any garden prep until I get back...

 

[BREWER]

BREWER

The All American Pressure Canner arrived today!Now the FUN begins.