Straw bale gardening plus Gardening when it counts giveaway!

Here's the deal, last spring me and my husband dug up/turned 450 sq ft of grass...which we should have done the previous fall...lesson learned. Which doesn't matter now that we are back in New Mexico and we don't have to worry about our garden being over taken by crab grass...cause grass doesn't grow here like it does in Tulsa.

 

Here are my reasons for trying straw bale gardening:

1) We have lots of plans for the 5 acres we are living on assuming things go as we hope they will. We just don't want to put in the work of digging up a spot only to want to move it somewhere the next year or two.

2) Not having to bend over and weed a garden in the heat sounds lovely! It won't be as big a problem here but in Tulsa it was since it could be crazy humid and HOT at 5am.

3) I don't like square foot gardening after reading Gardening when it counts Steve Solomon explains in depth how hard it can be on plants and limit their growth. I understand the appeal and I am sure there are many that are shaking there heads in disagreement with me but Steve Solomon was just too convincing. Straw bale gardening seems like a cousin to square foot gardening but the roots are able to go a lot deeper.

4) It just seems absurdly easy! I don't know if it will be work but if it works like I hope it will then it will be awesome!

wenatcheeworld.com 

Here is a good link to a video explaining straw bale gardening. There    
doesn't seem to be much literature as far as books go, all I have seen is this e-book. His site also includes other info about Straw bale gardening not just the e-book. I also couldn't find any books on Straw bale gardening on Amazon, my go to for books. I think the reason for the lack of literature is because it's so simple. You simply lay some chicken wire down if you are worried about gofers and such, get straw bales NOT hay bales since hay includes seeds. Put about a bag of compost on each bale and plant your garden. Put a souker (plus you don't bury the hose = a lot less work) hose if you want and boom! I would also like to put some kind of trellis behind the straw bales for squash, beans, bell pepper and such...grow up not out!


Here's the rest of the deal...I am no master gardener! We learned a lot about how little we know about gardening with the garden we had in Tulsa. Every state has it's advantages and disadvantages. There is a huge learning curve if you have never had a garden or have only been gardening for a few years and I would rather learn now then when in a time of great need. I'm not an extremist when it comes to preparedness but I don't know the future holds...my crystal ball isn't working at the moment. Gas prices are going up which means food prices will continue to rise and I would like to be able to provide a significant portion of my families produce from our garden.

I don't know if this helps you or not, or where you are as far as gardening ability goes but I would just encourage you to keep going, keep learning. For instance does the lunar cycle really effect when you should plant?

One other thing I WILL be doing this year with our garden is keeping a garden journal because as much as you think you will remember things you won't...at least I won't.

I will do a follow up post when I get my straw bale garden going!

This is the first give away on our blog but I love this book and want to share it with you :)


Here's how to enter:


1) You must like our FB page and leave a comment so we know you stopped by and "liked" us.


2) If you really like us you should just commit and follow us :) But you don't have to, I only want people to follow our blog if they want to.


The giveaway ends on the Thursday the 29th, winner will be announced at 6pm. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me via paynelessphoto@gmail.com or by leaving a comment with contact info or a new winner will be drawn. 

Canning meat...woot, woot!!!

All American canner

 A big thanks to those taking our survey on what you would like to see coming up on our blog - the winner for September was canning meat..... so here we go!!  (Feel free to leave other topic suggestions in our comments section or via email!)   



At least for us, it is really intimidating to think about canning, with the possibility of spoiling it or it not turning out right (wow, I think that is a theme for me at least - a fear of screwing everything up!!!)  Perhaps because home preservation and canning has become a lost art, something our grandparents did a lot of, but it waned in (some of) our parents generation, with the skills to accomplish it going by the wayside.  It is experiencing a bit of a comeback, but there are a lot of questions being asked about the practical "how to's".

Just a few notes before we get started:

*  Meat HAS to be canned in a pressure canner cooker with a gauge that shows the pounds of pressure in the canner, as opposed to a water bath canner.

*  Ground meat of any kind needs to be cooked before it is canned, and needs water added to the ground meat for the canning process.

*  It is advised that you use  new jars or jars that you know the history of as opposed to jars that are 'recycled' from garage sales, etc.  We were surprised that we did not see a major inconvenience using regular mouth jars as opposed to wide mouth jars for canning meat.

*  Pint jars hold approximately 1 pound of meat, quart jars hold approximately 2 pounds of meat.

Here is the breakdown:

1.  Put about 3 inches of water in the bottom of your pressure canner cooker and put the heat on high, WITHOUT THE LID ON, to begin heating the canner.  This is a multi-tasking tip that will save about 30 minutes of pre-heating time.

2.  Start boiling a small pan of water to warm the lids in.  Put the lids in about 2 minutes before you are ready to use them - if they are heated too long the wax on the seal can be compromised.

3.  Load the jars full of raw meat, leaving 1/2" head space at the top.  The jars do not need to be sterile, but they should be clean :0)

4.  Add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt to each jar.  DO NOT add other spices.

5.  Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean towel to make sure it is clean and dry so it can make a good seal. (This is probably a good time to prep your lids - turn off the heat once the water is boiling and put the lids in for about 2 minutes.)

6.  Put the lids on the jars being careful not to touch the underside of the lid.  Screw a ring onto the jar making it finger tight.  "What is finger tight", you say?  Screw the lid on tight, then unscrew it slightly, maybe 1/4 turn, so that the air can escape during the canning process.

7.  Place the jars into the canner, staggering the top and bottom layers.  By now, if you started your water in the beginning, it is boiling (yeah!).  We were worried it would crack the jars, but did not have any trouble with that. If you did not pre-heat your water, just make sure you put the water in the canner BEFORE the jars.  Also, even if you will only be canning 1 layer of jars, ALWAYS use the rack to keep the jars from being in contact with the bottom of the cooker.  If canning 2 layers of jars, place a second rack between the first and second layer of jars.

8.  We used a metal-to-metal canner for this project, meaning there is no rubber gasket between the cooker and the lid.  For a metal-to-metal canner you will need to line the rim of the canner with petroleum to keep the lid from sticking and difficulty in removing it, to prevent scratching, and maintaining a steam tight seal, and damage overall.
If you are using another type of canner, please read your canner's instructions for specific details for the gasket and sealing.
9. Put the lid on and tighten the wing nuts - specifically, tighten wing nuts on opposite sides at the same time (as in a star pattern), making sure the same size gap is maintained around the cooker.  Think "finger tight", not Fort Knox :0)  The wing nuts can be loosened to make them "taller" if it seems it is too short to reach over the lid.  NEVER tighten one wing nut at a time.  **If this is the first time using your pressure canner, you may want to do this without preheating the water, as it took us a few tries to get the hooks to line up right and figure out how to lengthen the wing nuts (newbies!!), having a hot pan may make for a painful learning curve.
10. Place the canner on full heat if you did not begin pre-heating in step one.  The canner will heat the water to steaming, and the steam will "vent" from the pressure valve where the pressure regulator weight is.  It is sometimes really hard to see this steam coming out, as it takes FOREVER it seems, so watch closely for it.  This allows the air to come out of the jars.  Vent for 7-10 minutes.
11.Place the pressure regulator weight on the pressure valve.  **Check your altitude and your canner instructions for the appropriate weight and time for your canner**.  For our high altitude location, we set the pressure regulator on 10 pounds.

12. The canner will continue to pressurize.  Begin your cooking time from when the pressure regulator starts to "rock".  This did not rock the way we expected - we were expecting it to rock the same as our smaller pressure cooker does (not canner) when we cook potatoes, etc., and it was more of a loud whistle and light jiggle. We were confused initially - while the pressure gauge shows a numeric value, it is not related to the pressure regulator weight (10lbs, in our case), so measure your cook time from the pressure regulator rocking, not what the pressure gauge needle says.  Also, the temperature fluctuated a lot more than we thought - you will need to continually monitor the pressure and canner, making small adjustments for most of the timed cooking.

Just finished cooking.

13. At the end of the cook time, simply turn off the heat.  Allow the pressure canner to release the pressure on its own with time.  Once the pressure gauge (the one with the needle) says there is no longer any pressure in the canner, unscrew the wing nuts (opposite sides at the same time again) and take off the lid.

14. Remove the jars (using a jar lifter - the jars will be HOT, the juices inside will be boiling), and set on top of the counter with a towel already on it. Choose a counter where there will be no drafts hitting it.

15. Using a hot pad, tighten the jars the rest of the way to help finish the sealing process.  Remove the water from the canner.

16. Let set over night, or until cool.

 

                                  

Tattler reusable canning lids. Are supposed to be awesome and easy peezy to use, were dying to try them...next time. Just in case you want to try them before we do here's the cheapest place we found them at. Not to mention there preparedness factor. Happy canning!

     We have canned meat a whole three times now but we already feel very comfortable and confident with the whole process. And it feels great to be able to look at what we have accomplished. Not to mention that your canned meat will taste better then any canned meat you could buy from the grocery store...at least any that I have tasted. Now be confident and go can some meat!

We have hard water so to get rid of the this add about a tsp or so of vinegar to your canning water.



Homemade Yogurt - Yum!!!!

Over the last few years my family and I have become more and more vegetarian on our quest for healthier eating.  We jokingly refer to ourselves as 85% vegetarian since we only eat meat in small amounts about 2-3 times a week, lol!  With small children and being pregnant and nursing, I do worry about getting the nutrients that come from dairy that I need for myself as well as for my family.  I do not drink milk, and rarely eat store bought yogurt.  We do still eat cheese and eggs (sparingly), and butter (not so sparingly). 

My kids will eat just about anything, but I have to admit I am a bit of a yogurt snob – I don’t eat any low calorie type sugars (i.e. aspartame, sucralose, sweet-n-low, etc.), and I love really thick and creamy yogurt - if it could have the consistency of cream cheese, I would probably love it!  That being said, I have recently been introduced to drinkable yogurt, similar to kefer, and have really liked it. 

Yogurt is a lacto-fermented food, meaning that there are lots of healthy probiotics for your gut.  Even a little bit can go a long way for your health.  For those that are lactose intolerant, yogurt can usually still be consumed since the lactose has already been digested by the live/active cultures in the yogurt :0)

I was intimidated to make my own yogurt, the idea of having to use coolers with towels in a bathtub, inoculating yogurt, worrying about the temperature, etc., I was totally freaked that I would screw it up.  But then, as someone said, you can't exactly screw it up when you are growing something in it on purpose to 'spoil' it.  Two years ago my husband got me a refurbished Excalibur dehydrator (thank you honey!!) so it wasn't as intimidating to try making yogurt.  I tried the cooler method for this post, which was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  

So, let’s make some yogurt!!!

Start by pouring your milk into a heavy bottomed pan.  **See below for approximate amounts / recipe**  I usually do 2 quarts at a time.  I have experimented with using ¼ part half & half or heavy whipping cream to get the creamy layer on the top, but usually I just use organic whole milk. 

Turn the heat to medium and whisk occasionally to keep the bottom from scalding.  Using a candy thermometer to watch the temperature, heat the milk to 180°F.  Turn off the heat and let the milk sit until the temperature cools to approximately 112°F. DO NOT STIR during this time.  Once the milk cools, there will be a thin film of ‘stuff’ on top of the milk. Use a fork or spoon to skim it off the top and toss it in the sink.

There are several ways to inoculate your yogurt.  You can purchase ‘yogurt starter’ at natural grocery stores in the refrigerated section, usually by the yogurt (I think I got mine at whole foods).  Alternatively, and much easier, you can use regular yogurt that has live cultures in it.  The label on the yogurt will indicate that it has ‘X’ number of live or active cultures in it.  I think they usually have at least 3, while the one I used today has 6.  I have heard you can use whatever kind of yogurt you want, but like I said earlier, I am a yogurt snob, so I usually use the starter, although today I tried Stonyfield vanilla (no artificial sugars :0). 

I split my milk in half today, using yogurt starter in one batch and ready-made yogurt in the other batch, so I could try the store bought yogurt method. 

For the yogurt starter, you put about ½ a cup of milk in a jar and add the starter (a powdery substance) and shake it to mix it well.

If you are using ready-made yogurt, add approximately 6 oz. ready-made yogurt per gallon of milk (give or take – it is not an exact science, thank goodness!)

After it is thoroughly mixed, pour the milk with the starter (or ready-made yogurt) in it back into your pan with the remaining milk and mix / whisk well.

Pour the mixture into pint or quart glass jars (wide mouth jars are great since it is easier to get the yogurt out later!!)

I divided my batch between the dehydrator and the cooler so I could try the cooler method of incubating the yogurt.  I put ½ of each batch in the cooler and the other ½ into the dehydrator.

To incubate the yogurt in a dehydrator, put a lid and ring on the jar.  Place in the dehydrator at approximately 115°F for about 4 hours.

To incubate the yogurt in a water bath, cover the top of the jar with plastic wrap (i.e. Saran wrap), and then with the lid/ring.  Immerse the jars in water that is approximately 112°F (I fill it just below the lid so I don’t have to worry about water getting into the yogurt).  Put the cooler out of the way (i.e. in a bathtub, etc) and leave for approximately 6 hours. 
[NOTE:  I checked the water temp half way through (seeing as how I am up with a baby half the night anyways, lol!) and was worried it was too cool, so I added some hot water to it.  When it was done, the water still seemed cool, so I put my thermometer in it and it was at 112°F, which felt a little cool to the touch, but the yogurt turned out fine.]

Once the yogurt is done, put the jars in the refrigerator.  It will look a little soft, but after it cools off for a couple of hours it firms up a bit. 

I didn't notice a difference between the yogurt that was made with the starter or the yogurt that was made with store-bought yogurt.  I did notice a slight but negligible difference in the yogurt that was incubated in the dehydrator and the yogurt from the cooler when they first came out, but after they had been refrigerated, I did not notice a difference.

I usually add agave nectar to sweeten it, and love the taste :0)  My kids like to add honey to sweeten it – I think it gives it a honey flavor, but isn’t particularly sweet.  They also like to put in frozen fruit - the juice flavors the yogurt and gives it a little bit extra flavor.

Bon appétit!!

**The Yo’gourmet starter I used combines 1 quart milk with 5 grams (1 pouch) starter.  If you are using ready-made yogurt, combine 1 gallon of milk with 6 oz. ready-made yogurt.

Update 10-3-11
Yeah, I know I just posted this, but after visiting Kitchen Stewardship to review cooler temperatures for yogurt, I learned that organic milk sold in cardboard cartons is almost always pasteurized in "ultra-high-temperatures" (UHT), meaning it could sit on the counter for months and still be shelf-stable / "drinkable".  While raw milk would be wonderful, it is illegal where we live, so next time around I will be making yogurt with regular store-bought whole milk.  Best of luck!!  :0)
(to see Katie from Kitchen Stewardship's review on skim, whole, organic, and raw milk check http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/04/13/monday-mission-homemade-yogurt-the-easy-way/ )