Recent content by schmije

I like to make large batches at a time when I'm canning, but I often have too many jars to put in my canner at one time. I've never been sure what to do with the second set of jars while the first one processes. Should the food (today it was pasta sauce) be kept warm in the pot? I don't want...

It seems early for apples, but mine look really close to being ready. We've picked a couple and eaten them. They're not quite sweet enough, but they're still pretty good. I don't know the varieties - the trees are old and came with the property. One might be Golden Delicious. We're in...

Yes, these are meat goats. I'm not counting on good behavior, and I know that if they break out, all bets are off. I thought they might like tomatoes, lettuce and strawberries, but I'm really not sure. We do have some apple trees outside their pen, so I'll try those this fall.

I'll be getting my first goats in a few months, and I'd like to know what their favorites are from the garden. I'm currently planning my garden for this year, and I'll plant extras of whatever they like. They're boer goats. Suggestions?

Good choice! Your BFF must be a smart person. ;) We got one as a wedding gift 13 years ago, and I absolutely LOVE it. We also have attachments for shredding and pasta. I thought it was all a bit pricey in the beginning, but it's totally worth it. Enjoy your new toy! That is if your BFF...

We give canned pasta sauce and salsa. If you're high on the list, you also get a honey bear from our hives. This year I made a bunch of zucchini candy, so maybe I'll include a bag of that. Our family gets really excited about our food gifts. We've also done other homemade things like rice...

Thanks for the help, guys! I'm still leaning toward the Cuisinart, especially after cat's comments about it. Maybe I'll hit a couple of resale stores and see what I come up with. My gut is telling me to just order a new one online.

I'd like to get a bread machine, since we love fresh bread, but we can't always seem to find the time to make it ourselves. I've been doing a little research, and I found that some are called bread machines, and some are called bread makers. What's the difference? Is there a brand that I...

We once grew some yellow grape tomatoes that looked very similar to yours. There were thousands of them on each plant, and we had about 8 plants. I got so tired of picking them that I never grew them again. lol.

While cleaning out the garden before tilling up the dead squash and zucchini plants, I came across a tray of starter pots that had been left in the garden after we planted tomatoes. The pots had become overgrown with weeds and squash, and I forgot that they were there. Several of the pots had...

Tonight I discovered that one of my pullets has a prolapsed vent. She had an egg caught in the tissue, which took quite a bit of working to free it. Then we tried to push the tissue back in, but she kept pushing it back out. She's now isolated in a dog crate to give her a chance to recover...

We sometimes peel and core some tomatoes then throw them in a freezer bag and into the freezer. That way they're ready to be chopped up and made into sauce or salsa whenever we have the time to work on it. The important part is to remember to mark the bag with the starting weight to make...

We grow both. We plant them both as early as we can in the spring. The bush beans are nice, because they produce quickly. I hate bending down to pick them, but it's a small price for getting early beans. The bush beans usually stop producing a few weeks before the pole beans start producing...

:welcome Congrats on your move and your new adventure! I hope you love it. The nice folks of TEG will be happy to help you with any questions or issues that you encounter. We made a similar move back in 2007, and we haven't looked back yet. Good luck!

Well it happened again. This morning I left my 5 remaining coop cartons in the milk crate. 2 were paper and 3 were styrofoam. Tonight all 3 styrofoam cartons are gone - presumably shredded in the yard. The two paper cartons are untouched and still in the milk crate. I just don't get it...