What did you do today to prep?

[Sodbuster]

What would be a good resource for learning to can? Is there a web site or book you recommend?

All I have are a big pot/lid, some tongs and what appear to be a bottle rack that I picked up at a garage sale, and some pectin (I remember mom using this back in the day) and wax and canning jars I've picked up at Bi-Mart over time.

I also picked up a pressure cooker at another garage sale, but I don't think it's big enough to put jars into.

Canner that I use is found at this URL -- AllAmericanCanner.Com These are pressure canners. And you would use this for all canning except for fruits. So any veggie or meat canning you need to use a pressure canner. With their canners they provide a handbook with the information necessary to successfully pressure can.

A water batch canner is good for your jams, jellies and fruits. You can check out a LOT of books on canning at the major suppliers for canning jars, Bell and Kerr both have a lot of info. Plus the fruit pectin you have will have a recommended usage for pectin and the amount of fruit to can.

Finally, YouTube has a LOT of good information. But a word of caution, check out what people say regarding canning. Botulism is not something to play with. Having good quality thermometers and canners and following instructions exactly will save you a lot of grief.

Finally, you can check with your local agricultural extension. They have a boat load of information on canning and the processes behind it.

Sodbuster

 

[erudne]

decided to add a shed roof extension to the wood shed and with th dry weather decided this week was the time. discovered that I had to remove a rotted stump about 90 years old and 3/X4'.
I quickly discovered that the stump, despite rot on outside was solid as a rock on the inside, and frozen. 5 hours and 4 chains later I have about 30% cut away, that stump would stop a 50 cal! I must say my 10 YO Pulon saw is holding up better than expected for a $100 saw. Tommorow I resharpen the chains and hit it again!

 

[JackThompson]

decided to add a shed roof extension to the wood shed and with th dry weather decided this week was the time. discovered that I had to remove a rotted stump about 90 years old and 3/X4'.
I quickly discovered that the stump, despite rot on outside was solid as a rock on the inside, and frozen. 5 hours and 4 chains later I have about 30% cut away, that stump would stop a 50 cal! I must say my 10 YO Pulon saw is holding up better than expected for a $100 saw. Tommorow I resharpen the chains and hit it again!

Fire is your friend. Burn baby burn

 

[GOG]

We started planning a small orchard for a hillside area at our place. I think I can get around ten dwarf fruit trees in there without cutting back any surrounding firs or oaks. Got two holes dug into the hillside so far. Because it's on a slope I'm thinking dwarf trees may be easier to tend.

I'd like to plant apples, peaches and possibly plums if I can find varieties that will grow well here. Now I have to get some research done.

 

[MikeE]

We started planning a small orchard for a hillside area at our place. I think I can get around ten dwarf fruit trees in there without cutting back any surrounding firs or oaks. Got two holes dug into the hillside so far. Because it's on a slope I'm thinking dwarf trees may be easier to tend.

I'd like to plant apples, peaches and possibly plums if I can find varieties that will grow well here. Now I have to get some research done.

'Liberty' apples are your friend.

 

[jbett98]

'Liberty' apples are your friend.

Any deer around your place, because they love young fruit trees.

 

[GOG]

Oh yeah, lots of deer and some elk here. We've got bears, coyotes and cougars too. However I've only ever seen deer.

I've also been thinking about what to plant and may go with full size trees, just fewer of them. A half dozen should fit okay. I've been on our county website but haven't found much info there. I think a trip to some local nurseries is in order. I'm okay with vegetables, but I don't know anything about fruit trees.

 

[jbett98]

25 years ago, I was hired by a 747 jumbo jet airline pilot to remodel a huge farmhouse located in Parkdale, near Hood River Oregon.
He made so much money, that he had to invest it in something, so he bought a rundown 60 acre pear & apple orchard.
Initially, I was only suppose to work on the house and old farm buildings, but very quickly ended up running the farm too.
It was the hardest and longest hours of work that I ever did. There was no end to the list of projects needing attention.
The worst part was the chemical spraying and water irrigation.
It seemed like there always some nasty toxic spray being applied weekly, along with getting up early every morning to move the irrigation (1-1/2 hours), then work 10-12 hours and then move it all again before dark. That part just sucked getting wet twice a day.
The trees will need to be protected with wire mesh when little, or they can be sprayed with a deer deterrent oil (doesn't work.)
Don't forget the pruning and fertilizing also.

 

[erudne]

Fire is your friend. Burn baby burn

it's 2 feet from a metal shed and 8' from a wood shed

 

[jbett98]

Rent a stump grinder.

 

[JackThompson]

Won't lye disolve the wood as well? Seems to me there's something that a guy used at one of our old places to remove a treww stump near the house.

Or just muscle it out!

 

[Bigd6943]

Got dog food

 

[69 Jim]

Two birds with one stone: Tree Stump Removal - YouTube

 

[erudne]

Job was done yesterday; it took 6 chains and 3 tanks of mix/chain oil. I cut the stump in 3 vertical slices then 2 vertical cross cuts so that I could remove it at the base like cutting a sheet cake with my small saw, the cuts were not perfect, determination counted for more than skill. I have earned a few 100 pounds of fat wood in the process and another MOS on my DD214.
Of course as with all things, this was just a step towards an end, which is itself a step towards a further end. There is always another job on the horizon.
The reward is more than a physical structure, it is the expression of personal liberty through conception, organization and execution of a concept that provides a boon to your loved ones.
Life is a process, with few 'commercial interruptions'
All very Joseph Campbell

 

[CoastRange57]

Garage Sale score...2 double bit axes, 1 Felco Hand pruner, 1 Corona hand pruning saw, ! Fisckars hatchett...$ 9.00 for all of it.

 

[GOG]

Excellent score Coast.

We got the vegetable garden mostly weeded today. I still have to get in there with the stirrup hoe to get the low stuff. The soil looks good.

Now I have to go through our seeds to see what's there and fill in the gaps. I picked up a grow light and will start the seeds in the spare bedroom around mid to late February.

I'm also on the hunt for a reasonably priced pressure canner and jars. Gotta pick up deer fencing as well.

Lots to do.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Garage Sale score...2 double bit axes, 1 Felco Hand pruner, 1 Corona hand pruning saw, ! Fisckars hatchett...$ 9.00 for all of it.

Good score. You may know this but pro loggers usually sharpened one side of those axes sharper for taking limbs off the felled tree, the other side more of a chisel point, for felling.. they are a very dangerous tool due to the backswing, no one should be close while the feller is using it

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Scored a couple hundred rounds of 40S&W and a box of antique .45ACP, from a fellow member. Also, picked up some extra food to store. Especialy tree nuts. Not allowed to eat peanuts anymore. Sucks!

 

[erudne]

An entire week of FAIL!
Don't Ask!

 

[JackThompson]

This Week:

Got into the habit of picking up 2-3 boxes of buckshot, .223/5.6, 7.62x39 every week during a store run. (Whichever was available and cheap)

This weekend the wife took an excellent all day handgun class courtesy of Brimstone Gunsmithing in Amboy, Wa. and came back much more confident and improved!

Got my faulty powder scale back from my gunsmith buddy in Idaho and loaded 80 rounds of .38 special and went to our own range to test them out. I'm back in business!

P.S.
Sorry to hear about your week Erudne. Hate weeks like that.

If it makes you feel any better, we've all had weeks like that.