What we've been working on....

Breakfast at 5:30am with Mike

Plum jam, made with honey and no commercial pectin Ummmm, Ummmm

It's cold enough that Mike decided it was time to don on the Reds (long johns) and a flannel shirt. He's enjoying his new job and working out in the fresh air sure makes him sleep good, snore too! LOL!!!!

It's raining and today is laundry day, so.... we'll improvise

Wooden drying rack in front of the wood stove for drying clothes. Jeans and heavy items take a couple of days to dry the rest dry within 10-12 hours. One thing about living a simpler life, sometimes you have to air your laundry right in the kitchen*wink* 

Mike welded up some brackets last weekend and we got all the hoses drained, blown out and hung up for the winter. Another "To Do" before winter item checked off.

The raspberries I transplanted this spring did well behind the garage. I've gotten them all dressed for the winter with composted manure and straw. Praying next spring the really take off and fill in this area.

The strawberries that we transplanted didn't fair so well this summer, but those that did survive and thrive I wanted to protect, so mulched them with straw and leaves for the winter. We'll be praying that the survivors will grow and produce runners, so we can fill in the areas where the others died off.

Closest to the hoop house is our Fall garlic, over 100 cloves planted and the rest are the raised beds we build up this Spring, all dressed and ready for a long winter's rest. I left some millet for the bird over the winter( tall clump standing in the background). I still have my asparagus to cut back and dress for winter, but will hold off until we freeze again.

The garden looks lonely now. There is Kale, Chard and Spinach( the green in front of the hoop house) still in the garden, we are feeding this to the poultry and how they love it! :o)  We still need to dig some of the sun chokes and get them cut back. It seems I always have good intentions of getting all this done, so Spring clean up is lessened, then the time just seems to slip away*sigh*

Stove ash, good garden dressing as well as a good dust hole additive for the chickens and turkeys.

We haven't forgotten the Kraut, in fact it is literally days away from being ready to can. I didn't take any pictures of the skimming process, I thought maybe it might turn some of you off a bit. The skimming is a mix of a sliminess and frothing and isn't in the least bit appetizing. Mike hates the smell and is always glad for Kraut making to be completed, LOL!!!

We also butchered three of the remaining Tom turkeys on Saturday. One of these is sold and the two remaining birds will go into our freezer. Our turkey flock has been downsized for the winter and we'll be downsizing the chickens as well. With feed cost rising and our need for eggs decreasing we'll add several of the older hens to the freezer for soups and casseroles and a few younger ones for fried or baked chicken.

Our weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse by this coming weekend, with temps. only being into the low 30'sF for day time highs and the evening lows into the single digits, Brrrrrr........ Sure glad we have plenty of wood and the animals all have nice shelters and plenty of bedding, food and water. I'm betting, we'll see the stock pot filled with poultry grain mix and water with a touch of molasses and kelp added, cooking on the wood cook stove, Cortney truly spoils her birds*wink*

Starting to think of our Christmas projects and taking inventory of items needed to complete them. So far we seem to have plenty of needed items and if we do come across something, we'll first look at secondhand shops before resorting to buying new. 

I was blessed with some clothes, several very nice pairs of sweatpants( which I love in winter), some really nice sweaters and slacks as well. I think we're all set for winter, just a few last minute details and we'll be ready to hunker in for a long winters rest. I'm looking forward to slower days. :o)

Blessings to you all. :o)

Making Kraut

Okay here is my disclaimer, if someone would share with me how to get videos to download onto Blogger. I did get one of the three videos, we made, to down load but the other two ( I tried twice) came up after an hour saying there was an error. They were all done on the same camera and basically the same length of time. They work great on my "Windows Media Player", so it's not the videos.

Below are some pictures we did take, but it won't be the same, sorry I'm so techno- challenged.

         This head of cabbage will make plenty of kraut, because I'm the only one who eats it in our house.

 Cut the head in half and remove the core.  The core is very tasty with a little salt, for those of you who enjoy turnip, radishes and kohlrabi.

 Now quarter it for easier handling in the kraut cutter

 This is a three blade cutter and fits nicely on top of a large bowl. I do have a larger cutter but it is bulky and hard to use, especially if you are only doing one or two heads of cabbage.

 This is a photo of the large cutter, it's only a two blade and actually shreds the cabbage much longer

 Place a quarter of cabbage in the cutter box, and add the lid, which you push down on as you draw the box back and forth across the cutters.  It takes some coordination to hold the board in place, draw the box to an fro, all the while pushing down on the lid, but it doesn't take long before you find a rhythm.

 It slices it evenly, quickly and without a whole lot of effort and if you are careful you won't even make much of a mess.  Once all you want cut in done, you'll need a crock or large glass container( I've used gallon glass jars before I found my 6 gallon crock at a garage sale 3 yrs. ago)  You'll want to make sure the container is clean, possibly even sterilize it with boiling water before packing in your cabbage.  Now add approximately 1/2 inch of shredded cabbage into the bottom of your container/ crock, now sprinkle with 1Tblsp. salt, may I suggest using sea salt or kosher salt, not table or iodized. Now use a large, heavy spoon or ladle or a wooden stomper and work the cabbage down, packing it tightly, now add another 1/2" layer of cabbage, more salt(you may use more than 1 Tblsp., I just don't like really salty kraut). Pack it tightly, you may begin seeing juice from the cabbage, you want this, thus the reason for the salt and packing the cabbage. Keep repeating this process until your container/ crock is with in 1 inch of the top or you've run out of cabbage. You should see quite a bit of liquid in your packed cabbage, if not don't panic, what you'll want to do is add enough boiled water( cooled to room temp) to cover your packed cabbage. Now you'll need to place a plate or wooden piece on top of the cabbage and push down until the liquid comes up around the plate, now add something heavy( I use an old sad iron) to keep it pushed down.  You'll now need to cover the top of your container, I use a flour sack towel, doubled over and held in place by a heavy duty rubber band.  Set in a well ventilated area( it will begin to smell, once fermintation begins)and a place that holds a temp of 65-70F. If it is warmer than that it ferments to quickly and often is spoiled and any cooler than that it will take longer to complete the fermentation. You'll notice bubbles and a sort of scum forming in the liquid( this is okay) but does need to be skimmed off once a week or as needed. If your liquid is diminishing you may add more boiled and cooled salt water, but ONLY if your kraut looks dry. When you skim the scum off the liquid, you can look at the cabbage and see if it is beginning to resemble kraut, it should also have a strong smell. After about two weeks take a taste and see what you think, if the cabbage is still crispy and doesn't have a transparent look you may want to let it keep going. If my memory serves me last year my kraut took between 3-4 weeks to suit my taste. When it's to your liking, you simply remove from crock/ container and heat slowly, stirring often, so you don't burn it, until hot.  Place into sterilized jars, seal and waterbath for 15 minutes.

Here is my crock about 1/3 full, which is plebnty for just me :o)  Now I wait*wink*  I hope this helps those wanting to try your hand at making homemade kraut. If you have any questions or anything that works well for you please leave a comment. You may also make kraut right in your pint or quart canning jars, see your Blue Ball Canning Guide for instructions.