canesisters
Garden Master
MMMMmmmmmmmmm Apple Butter.... 
I believe it just might be possible to live off of apple butter on toast.
I believe it just might be possible to live off of apple butter on toast.
Garden journal 2013...Chicken storm disaster, #74
- Thread starter journey11
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #62
journey11
Garden Master
Oh, what a nice smell a crockpot full of apple butter is to wake up to! I let it simmer overnight and it was perfect and ready to can by morning. Here's the recipe I used , Thistle. I bumped the ground cloves up to 1 tsp because I love mine extra spicy. I think the tart apples make great apple butter. I don't like mine too sweet without the little bite to it. I have no idea what variety these farm apples are. They make good pies too, on years that they are big enough to bother paring. I've used Mutzu (aka. Crispin) a lot, or Rome Beauties, or Golden Delicious if they are still more greenish than yellow, not overripe.
And it worked out great using the pressure canner. They all sealed without bubbling out!
Boy, the weather here was a top 10'er yesterday. Ava and I had the nicest afternoon working out in the garden. We picked what is pretty much the last of things in the big garden. The only thing still producing are the peppers, which will go right up until frost. And some beans I still have maturing on the plant for seed. My little raised bed around front is full of fall greens and peas and such. We've been eating good out of there, such a little space, but it puts out so much food! I've got a couple of pics of stuff to post later when I have more time.
I am also stalled out on my new coop at the moment. We haven't had time to do the finishing touches. I really count on those Saturdays with my MIL babysitting, but we had a birthday party to go to last Saturday and she couldn't come up anyway. This Saturday my DH is going to a bow shooting competition 3 hours from here, so if it's going to get done, it will be me doing it by myself. He said he kinda wishes I could/would wait for him to be able to help, since we've been in it together from the start and he hates to miss out on the satisfaction of finishing it. I don't think I'll get it all done by myself anyway, but I'll see what I can do. Those meaties need the tractor and the layers need their coop!
And it worked out great using the pressure canner. They all sealed without bubbling out!
Boy, the weather here was a top 10'er yesterday. Ava and I had the nicest afternoon working out in the garden. We picked what is pretty much the last of things in the big garden. The only thing still producing are the peppers, which will go right up until frost. And some beans I still have maturing on the plant for seed. My little raised bed around front is full of fall greens and peas and such. We've been eating good out of there, such a little space, but it puts out so much food! I've got a couple of pics of stuff to post later when I have more time.
I am also stalled out on my new coop at the moment. We haven't had time to do the finishing touches. I really count on those Saturdays with my MIL babysitting, but we had a birthday party to go to last Saturday and she couldn't come up anyway. This Saturday my DH is going to a bow shooting competition 3 hours from here, so if it's going to get done, it will be me doing it by myself. He said he kinda wishes I could/would wait for him to be able to help, since we've been in it together from the start and he hates to miss out on the satisfaction of finishing it. I don't think I'll get it all done by myself anyway, but I'll see what I can do. Those meaties need the tractor and the layers need their coop!
- Thread starter
- #63
journey11
Garden Master
A few pics from yesterday/day before...
This is about the last of what there was in the main garden. Time to clear it out now. The white bucket on the lower right is what DD6 picked. She is my good garden helper. :happy_flower I found a neat recipe for stuffed hot banana peppers that I can't wait to try, an appetizer with pepperoni in them, of all things! Banana peppers are always one of those things that put them out so fast that I don't know what to do with them all. Maybe this will be the solution.
I finally got the hang of it with the bok choy. The fall crop did great. We have bok choy coming out of our ears now. I wonder if it freezes well? The leaf on the right is rainbow swiss chard actually that the cat broke off, so I tossed it in there.
Got a little more canning done this week. The last of the beans and just the beginning of the apples. Those red tomatoes in the bowl are Black Plums, a neat little tomato. All of those came off of one plant this week. The Yellow Pears and Golden Eggs came off of 3 plants total, so that one little Black Plum plant out-produced them all. The jar with the blue lid is dehydrated onions.
This is about the last of what there was in the main garden. Time to clear it out now. The white bucket on the lower right is what DD6 picked. She is my good garden helper. :happy_flower I found a neat recipe for stuffed hot banana peppers that I can't wait to try, an appetizer with pepperoni in them, of all things! Banana peppers are always one of those things that put them out so fast that I don't know what to do with them all. Maybe this will be the solution.
I finally got the hang of it with the bok choy. The fall crop did great. We have bok choy coming out of our ears now. I wonder if it freezes well? The leaf on the right is rainbow swiss chard actually that the cat broke off, so I tossed it in there.
Got a little more canning done this week. The last of the beans and just the beginning of the apples. Those red tomatoes in the bowl are Black Plums, a neat little tomato. All of those came off of one plant this week. The Yellow Pears and Golden Eggs came off of 3 plants total, so that one little Black Plum plant out-produced them all. The jar with the blue lid is dehydrated onions.
baymule
Garden Master
Wow Journey! Looks yummy! Don't you feel good when you look at all those pretty jars of good things to eat?
- Thread starter
- #65
journey11
Garden Master
Yeah, sometimes I leave them out on the counter for days so that I feel like I am getting something done. 
- Thread starter
- #66
journey11
Garden Master
Maybe one more week to go on the meaties. They are 9 weeks old now and I finally came to the realization that MMH sent me their Cornish Roasters instead of the Cornish X Rocks I ordered. They look exactly the same, except the Roasters are more active and grow out a little slower. Around 3 weeks old when they were all flying out of the brooder, I had to wonder what was up. :/ These have not had any leg problems, they roost, roll in dust holes, and pick for bugs and grass--something my CX have never done!
This has put me into a little colder weather than I wanted for processing time though. The birds don't mind the cold, if they are dry and out of the wind. But it takes a lot of water to rinse with when we process and that's going to make for some cold hands. We'll do most of the work inside the heated garage if we have to, but I'm going to watch the forecast for a decently warm day. I'm sure we'll get a few before all is said and done. We've been below freezing the past couple of nights, so I tossed an extra tarp over the tractor and left a couple of little openings in the sides for ventilation. When I stuck my head in there to feed and water today, it was at least 20 degrees warmer than the outside air. They put off so much heat!
The new coop/tractor for the layers is up and running now. They've been in it for the past 3 weeks, but I haven't had time to take pics until now. I have a little more to do on it yet...mostly trim and shingles along the ridgeline. I want to find a cast iron chicken bell or something I can put on there to hang my egg basket on and to look cute. I'm going to put the specs on BYC's coop section when I have it all the way done. DH's idea for using a trailer jack works awesome! Seriously, I could parallel park this thing! It moves along so easily. We just stuck the pneumatic wheels on the back for now, but here's the kind of wheels I want to put on ...to lower it completely to the ground when not in use. There's a one-inch gap at the back right now.
This is the inside of the roost area. I have a scrap piece of 2x4 that fits in there to hold the shavings back until time to clean it out, then I can take my DD's little plastic lawn rake to clear out the old shavings (or fetch the occasional egg that was laid in there). The linoleum is mostly seamless, going up the sides by one foot. I used construction adhesive underneath and stapled the top edges. There's very few cracks for poo to get stuck in.
One of the girls on the nest...
A little hinged door opens up so DD6 can easily get the eggs.
I built it as a rollout nest...something I've always wanted.
Little pegs hold the nest mats in place, but it's easy enough to remove them and clean them when needed. A section of foam pipe insulation over a piece of bamboo serves as a "bumper" to keep the eggs from cracking. I could leave for a week and not have to worry about my eggs now!
They come out nice and clean. The MMH Easter Eggers I got this time around lay a variety of eggs that look so pretty in the carton...light blue, light green, pink and one that lays a dark olive egg.
Side view... I also need to put on a small section of pressure-treated plywood on here to keep the rain from blowing in sideways and wetting the feed.
Little doors open up here to feed and water and to let the girls out to range. I prop it open with a piece of tomato stake. There's heavy duty hooks mounted underneath on a cross-brace of 2x4 to hang the feed and water from.
The door behind the nestbox opens up too and I have a little space to store a few things like scratch grains and medicines over top of the nest area. I will probably drill some more ventilation holes in here and I also installed a 3" section of PVC pipe across the top of the ridge to make it easier to feed electrical cords through. We have no shade trees in my yard, so I might need to install a little exhaust fan in the summer to keep the girls cool.
I am so happy to have finally gotten this thing built...the coop of my dreams! Everything seems to take us 3 times longer than expected...what with the little ones and all. After taking up 3 of DH's weekends, I thought I was going to have to sleep in this coop.
We've been trying to decide what to call it. I like 'Fort Clux' or maybe 'Coop de Royale'. Gotta check on BYC and see if either of those have been taken. 
DD6 wants some Silkies and Frizzles. Wonder if DH is up for building another one, but smaller this time...
This has put me into a little colder weather than I wanted for processing time though. The birds don't mind the cold, if they are dry and out of the wind. But it takes a lot of water to rinse with when we process and that's going to make for some cold hands. We'll do most of the work inside the heated garage if we have to, but I'm going to watch the forecast for a decently warm day. I'm sure we'll get a few before all is said and done. We've been below freezing the past couple of nights, so I tossed an extra tarp over the tractor and left a couple of little openings in the sides for ventilation. When I stuck my head in there to feed and water today, it was at least 20 degrees warmer than the outside air. They put off so much heat!
The new coop/tractor for the layers is up and running now. They've been in it for the past 3 weeks, but I haven't had time to take pics until now. I have a little more to do on it yet...mostly trim and shingles along the ridgeline. I want to find a cast iron chicken bell or something I can put on there to hang my egg basket on and to look cute. I'm going to put the specs on BYC's coop section when I have it all the way done. DH's idea for using a trailer jack works awesome! Seriously, I could parallel park this thing! It moves along so easily. We just stuck the pneumatic wheels on the back for now, but here's the kind of wheels I want to put on ...to lower it completely to the ground when not in use. There's a one-inch gap at the back right now.
This is the inside of the roost area. I have a scrap piece of 2x4 that fits in there to hold the shavings back until time to clean it out, then I can take my DD's little plastic lawn rake to clear out the old shavings (or fetch the occasional egg that was laid in there). The linoleum is mostly seamless, going up the sides by one foot. I used construction adhesive underneath and stapled the top edges. There's very few cracks for poo to get stuck in.
One of the girls on the nest...
A little hinged door opens up so DD6 can easily get the eggs.
I built it as a rollout nest...something I've always wanted.
Little pegs hold the nest mats in place, but it's easy enough to remove them and clean them when needed. A section of foam pipe insulation over a piece of bamboo serves as a "bumper" to keep the eggs from cracking. I could leave for a week and not have to worry about my eggs now!
They come out nice and clean. The MMH Easter Eggers I got this time around lay a variety of eggs that look so pretty in the carton...light blue, light green, pink and one that lays a dark olive egg.
Side view... I also need to put on a small section of pressure-treated plywood on here to keep the rain from blowing in sideways and wetting the feed.
Little doors open up here to feed and water and to let the girls out to range. I prop it open with a piece of tomato stake. There's heavy duty hooks mounted underneath on a cross-brace of 2x4 to hang the feed and water from.
The door behind the nestbox opens up too and I have a little space to store a few things like scratch grains and medicines over top of the nest area. I will probably drill some more ventilation holes in here and I also installed a 3" section of PVC pipe across the top of the ridge to make it easier to feed electrical cords through. We have no shade trees in my yard, so I might need to install a little exhaust fan in the summer to keep the girls cool.
I am so happy to have finally gotten this thing built...the coop of my dreams! Everything seems to take us 3 times longer than expected...what with the little ones and all. After taking up 3 of DH's weekends, I thought I was going to have to sleep in this coop.
We've been trying to decide what to call it. I like 'Fort Clux' or maybe 'Coop de Royale'. Gotta check on BYC and see if either of those have been taken. DD6 wants some Silkies and Frizzles. Wonder if DH is up for building another one, but smaller this time...
thistlebloom
Garden Master
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Wow, what a nifty little coop you've created Journey! It looks like you've thought of every detail. I like the rollout nest box, some of mine sleep in the nest box if I don't remember to block it at night and what a mess that turns into! So your hens don't mind laying on a mat?
I always figured they needed a cozy little nest of grass hay to snuggle down in to put them in the egg laying mood.
Good job!
I always figured they needed a cozy little nest of grass hay to snuggle down in to put them in the egg laying mood.
Good job!
- Thread starter
- #68
journey11
Garden Master
Yeah, those mats don't look all that comfortable, do they? I started them out on the plastic nest mats, so I guess they just got used to them. They like the seclusion of the nest box better, although occasionally I find an egg in the roost area. I went ahead and made it just one long nest, no dividers, since all of my other chickens used to squeeze into their one favorite nest spot together back in the old coop. Room for everybody now! 
I started them out on the plastic nest mats, so I guess they just got used to them. They like the seclusion of the nest box better, although occasionally I find an egg in the roost area. I went ahead and made it just one long nest, no dividers, since all of my other chickens used to squeeze into their one favorite nest spot together back in the old coop. Room for everybody now! 
digitS'
Garden Master
What a great presentation . .
. of some very well thought out enterprises!
Journey, thank you!
Steve
. of some very well thought out enterprises!
Journey, thank you!
Steve
Jared77
Garden Addicted
I like the way you think!
