Barn Home Project ~ Part One

Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

To begin with, I apologize for being so absent on this blog.  I realize some of you are not on Facebook and do not get those updates.  Last fall we began a journey of building a new homestead.  We knew before we started that is was not for the faint of heart, but still, we had no idea how trying it would be.

Healing our Highland

It is finally time to share with you our journey in healing our Scottish Highland calf.  The struggles and sadness have been great, and on most days we have fought to continue, but hard work is never a waste of time.  We decided that if nothing else, if the end result was terrible, we would at least have learned from it.  Little did we know we faced pneumonia, dehydration, paralysis and a lot of rehabilitation for this little calf.  

Warning:  picture below may be disturbing.

Sweet Pepper Salsa Relish

One of my dear friends introduced this basic recipe to me a few years back.  She moved to the Ozarks from the great state of Texas and brought this recipe with her.  From what I hear ... there is a nice restaurant down there that people rave about called the Blue Mesa Grill.  They specialize in Southwestern cuisine.  I'm not exactly sure how my friend got her hands on their Blue Mesa Jalapeno Relish recipe, but I'm telling you, it's absolutely scrumptious!  You can eat it by itself, slather it on hamburgers or any sandwich you please.  We eat it over meatloaf and roast too.  If you sliced everything small enough, it would be great on crackers.

Amish Tomato Ketchup

I finally did it!  Ketchup is something I've never done before, but over the winter, each time I had to buy ketchup, I cringed and vowed to make it for ourselves this year.

Our tomatoes are slowly rolling in, but I didn't have near enough to make ketchup with, so I headed to Amish country for the homegrown tomatoes I needed.  

There are so many recipes out there and I couldn't decide which one to try.  This recipe is an old Amish recipe from my Farmhouse cookbook.  It states that it is a sweet ketchup, sweeter than store bought.

Canning Corn on the Cob

In all fairness, I have to say that canning corn hasn't been the easiest thing I've canned, but it will be MORE than worth it when the wind is howling and the snow is falling this winter.

I hope I don't scare you off by saying that because it really isn't a big deal to do.

Tip #1 - First of all, make sure you know where the corn has come from.  If you buy it from a roadside or farmers market stand beware.  Be sure and know what type of corn it is.  Corn is one of the biggest crops that has been genetically modified and you don't want to feed it to your family.  

Canning Peaches

It's finally peach season again!  Beautiful, glorious peaches!

Last year, we had a huge shortage of peaches and we got very few put away in the freezer.  This year, the Lord has blessed us beyond words with the amount of peaches there are available.  

I'm not an expert on peaches, I didn't know one variety from the other until this season.  Now I am very familiar with Redhavens and I can tell you that these are the best that I have ever worked with.  They are extremely easy to peel and pit.

In the previous years, the easiest thing I found to preserve peaches was to peel and slice them and then plop them into freezer bags.  Easy, right?  Yes it is, however, since we are raising our own beef, or freezer space is extremely valuable and I've had a hankering (yes that's a word here in the Ozarks) to be able to open a jar of sweet peaches for dinner this winter.

So here's what I did.  It's ALMOST as easy as the freezer method.

Peel, pit and slice your peaches into your clean quart jars.  Fill your jars with peach slices about 2/3 of the way full.  Add 1/3 cup of sugar to each jar.  You may want it less sweet, but I went with 1/3 cup of sugar this year.  Finishing filling your jars just to the shoulders with sliced peaches.  Every once in a while, tap your jars on the counter gently to adjust the peaches on down.  Then fill your jars with water about up to the neck of the jar.  Wipe the rims and put on your lids.  Process them in a hot water bath for about 20 minutes and your done!  Disclaimer:  The Ball Canning book states to cook them for 30 minutes.  They tend to turn to mush if you do.  Here is another article on canning PEACHES where I got this method from.

Here is my result, the picture isn't that great, but it'll give you the idea....

After you finish enjoying a jar of these peaches, be sure to save the juice/syrup for delicious smoothies!

If you find yourself with a large surplus of peaches that are beginning to get soft and you can't get to them right away, a dear friend of mine told me her method of saving them.  Bag up the peaches and put them in the freezer.  Later when you have time, let them thaw just a bit and rub off the peels.  Then pit the peaches and put them in your blender.  Puree them and pour them into ice cube trays to use for smoothies later!  YUM!

For those of you who have been asking me where I've been, I apologize for being so scarce these days. Our area has had a terrible heat wave and drought.  Between keeping everything watered and general work here on the homestead, I've barely had time to get on this electric box.  Thankfully we've had a bit of rain this week.  Prayers for rain in our area would be much appreciated!

Next in line for the season will be different recipes for canning and preserving tomatoes.  They are just beginning to roll in, and I'll be sure to share those recipes with you too.

Until then, may you and your family be blessed and Happy Canning!

Also be sure to see how to can PEACH BUTTER and SPICED PEACH BUTTER!

Spring on the Homestead

Spring came early for us this year.  Sometimes it just seems early because of all the work involved, but this year, it just plain came early.  Every time I turned around, there was something I was behind on.  Ever feel that way?  

Seed Germination in Three Days

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Success !!

In my last post, I walked you through our sure-fire way of germinating seeds.  Here are the initial results.  

The heirloom Mortgage Lifters and the Early Girls are some of the very first to germinate in three days!  Several others have popped their heads out too.

You can see they have already stretched their necks up for light, so these little fella's will head out to the greenhouse where they can get the proper light they need.  

I understand that they need at least 12 hours of light to continue to grow.  Have you heard that from anywhere?  I know that our chickens require 12 hours of light to lay their eggs through the winter and that truly works wonders.  

I wonder if it's the same for these little plants to keep growing .....

For all of the instructions on our soil-less mixture and the steps we take to guarantee success with seed germination, please follow this LINK.  

Please remember, seed germination will depend on how good your seeds are most of all.

Bakersville Pioneer Village and Seed Store

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The end of January almost always brings around a visit to our local Baker Creek Pioneer Village and Seed Store.  Whispers of warm air have been stirring our thoughts of planning the garden.  I say whispers.....it has been over 60° several times this month, so what else is there to do but to make sure we have all the seeds we need.

The Amish Cookbook Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  

Congratulations to the winner, A Nest in the Rocks, 

chosen from Random.org.

Thank you for all of your entries!  I had the most enjoyable time visiting everyone's websites!  Now that I realize how much interest there is in Amish items, I promise there will be several more giveaways related to our Amish community.  Be sure to check back often!

Oh, I almost forgot....to purchase your own Kitchen Keepsakes Volume II Amish Cookbook, simply send $9.95 per copy, plus $2.00 postage to:

Mrs. Monroe (Ida) Hershberger

1289 SE 1300

Windsor, MO  65330

Planting in Winter

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Here it is, the end of the first full week in January and I have been looking forward to being elbows deep in our sewing projects, but instead, it seems that the weather has turned my attention back to the fast approaching growing season.

We can not believe how many beautiful days we are having in January!  The warmest day last week was about 65°, turning my mind to mailing out the seed order.  The thermometer in the greenhouse was reading 80° and my fingers were itching to play in the dirt.

A Blessed and Peaceful Rest

This was the icing on the cake this Christmas season!  We were joyfully blessed with having both grandsons just before Christmas so I rushed around to get baking ingredients to make some yummy Christmas goodie memories with them.  They are truly one of my greatest joys.  Children are a blessing from God....and there is no earthly word to describe how precious grandchildren are.  We had a marvelous time together and I will cherish the memories.  Below are some of what we made for everybody.

Christmas Crafting

Christmas Welcome

Having a few weeks before Christmas, we choose this time to have some serious crafting sessions in our home.  We love having a homemade Christmas and have a continuous art class until Christmas "vacation".

Sowing Winter Seed

Above:  Winter Sowing 101

When I sow seed, I usually begin in February by incubating the seed and then moving them out to the greenhouse once they've germinated.  This regular routine of mine has bugged me ALL summer and now that harvest has passed, it has bugged me even more.  How do I begin this process earlier?  I don't want to be transplanting them for the first time into individual pots when it is time to be transplanting them into the ground, but my greenhouse isn't heated (yet) and the winter days are too cold before the middle of February.

Autumn in the Ozarks 2011

This is my most favorite time of year!  The harvest is done, the stockpile of wood is complete, the hills are turning shades of gold, burnt orange and red and the weather is beautiful!  

Our Chicken Breeds

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This is Big Nate, he's a Barred Rock rooster and just about my favorite.  I love roosters, they come in so many variaties and they get so big.  Its fun to watch them find something on the ground and hear the funny sounds they make telling their hens to come get it.  We have a few Barred Rock hens too and their temperament is great.  They are my new found favorite breed this year.

Loss on the Homestead

I just took this picture a few days ago of our little flock of white Black Tailed Japanese Bantams.  They are the cutest little things!  Little did I know when I took this picture, that a few days later we would be down to only one little hen.

Canning Potatoes

This year has included a huge canning and preserving learning curve for me, but invaluable experience makes it so much easier each time I need to can something and also when I want to tackle a new recipe or type of food to preserve.

We have a full basement in which to keep produce over the winter and I have tried for several winters to keep different things and this year I decided to can the produce instead of being disappointed again.  I have found that it is too humid in our basement to keep things, but I have learned several different tips that I may try in the future.  One tip is to make up a weak bleach/water solution and dip all winter squash including pumpkins in it to kill off any outer bacteria that will begin to cause them to decay.  Another tip is to build a small box that is filled with sand and bury the produce in the sand.  Any barrel would work for this too.  Even with these great ideas, I decided to play it safe this year and simply can everything.  

Besides.....how hard is it to can potatoes?  Seriously?  Not that hard, but of course my first try didn't turn out that good, but the potatoes aren't wasted and they will be delicious used for mashed potatoes.  Sadly though, they won't work for hearty stew potatoes like I wanted them to.

After peeling and cubing the potatoes, I consulted my Ball canning book.  The recipe stated that the cubed potatoes should be boiled for 10 minutes before packing into jars and then process in a pressure canner for 40 minutes (for quarts).  I knew something wasn't quite right when the potatoes were already soft after boiling them, but I proceeded on, following the directions.  A dear friend of mine later confirmed that I shouldn't have boiled the potatoes first, which of course makes the entire process that much simpler......thank you Kathy!  

Anyway... I put the soft, hot potatoes in the jars and covered them with boiling chicken broth and processed them as directed.  I really like the idea of covering the potatoes with chicken broth instead of just water so they will be delicious in soups and stews and the whole jar can be poured into the pot without draining the potatoes.  Most recipes call for adding salt to each jar when canning potatoes, but I didn't add the salt because the chicken broth has plenty of salt in it.  

The potatoes need a simple 40 minutes in the pressure canner and they're done!  I'm so excited about having potatoes already ready to use all winter long!  I absolutely LOVE canning!  

Oh, I almost forgot....as you can see in the first picture, I hadn't removed all of the air bubbles yet.....be sure to try to get all of them out.  I've read that the air bubbles are really ok to have in there, that air bubbles get treated too, but they just look undone to me with large air bubbles in them.  Creature of habit I guess....

I've got another 50 pounds of Yukon Golds to do so off I go!  Have fun canning your potatoes!!

Canning Applesauce

This was my first time ever making and canning applesauce and I have to say that NEVER (hopefully) again, will I purchase applesauce from a store.  Making your own applesauce is an extremely easy thing to do and the reward is incredible!

Canning Apple Butter

It is Autumn here in the Ozark Mountains!  Sadly enough, most of the apple trees are bare this year.  Lots of spring rain, then extreme heat and humidity leading to a drought, seemed to have ruined the Ozark apple crop.  Reports say that the trees that were heavily laden, were stripped bare by critters needing nourishment.  My dear in-law's trees went through this.  The fruit was there one day, then the next it was gone as if it was picked clean in the night.  So needless to say, apples are few and far between and highly treasured in our neck of the woods these days.