annaraven - more random update stuph
- Thread starter AnnaRaven
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calendula
Lovin' The Homestead
Wow, what a freaky day. That's horrible about the shooting. Wonder why he did it?
savingdogs
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I hate hearing about shootings and such. There are so many bad people in the world, it is scary.
I'm so glad you had your cat microchipped! Yay! Is your kitty indoor outdoor? I'd be pretty upset if someone caught my outdoor kitty and took it to the humane. We had a cat hater in our last neighborhood that caught all the cats he could and they all ended up at the humane society, which was a half an hour drive away! Needless to say, our cats were all indoor only at that house.
I'm so glad you got your kitty back!
I'm so glad you had your cat microchipped! Yay! Is your kitty indoor outdoor? I'd be pretty upset if someone caught my outdoor kitty and took it to the humane. We had a cat hater in our last neighborhood that caught all the cats he could and they all ended up at the humane society, which was a half an hour drive away! Needless to say, our cats were all indoor only at that house.
I'm so glad you got your kitty back!
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AnnaRaven
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Yesterday was great. I went to a "Garden Share" monthly event sponsored by a local group. Bring something from your garden (eggs count) or a craft item, put it on the table, and take what you want/need. There were a number of folks there and it was really fun to chat with people and see what they brought. It was like a free farmer's market.
Today, I am going to do a bunch of canning. Tomorrow, I am attending a Food Summit over at Stanford. I'll report on it later. Thursday, I am attending a refresher class for my neighborhood preparedness training - this'll be on triage and basic emergency medicine. Next week, I attend the one I missed, but I expect it to cover things like splinting, pressure bandaging, the usual.
The weather started out really cloudy this morning. It should clear out and get sunny. But I expect it will stay cool (60s F). I have some planting to do this week as well. And want to get DS to dig up the back yard for me for a new planting bed.
Okay, enough babbling. Oh, and I'm going to restructure my coop so I can have a 10 foot roosting board in there, not just the 5 footer. DH said "ooh, then we could get more chickens!"
Today, I am going to do a bunch of canning. Tomorrow, I am attending a Food Summit over at Stanford. I'll report on it later. Thursday, I am attending a refresher class for my neighborhood preparedness training - this'll be on triage and basic emergency medicine. Next week, I attend the one I missed, but I expect it to cover things like splinting, pressure bandaging, the usual.
The weather started out really cloudy this morning. It should clear out and get sunny. But I expect it will stay cool (60s F). I have some planting to do this week as well. And want to get DS to dig up the back yard for me for a new planting bed.
Okay, enough babbling. Oh, and I'm going to restructure my coop so I can have a 10 foot roosting board in there, not just the 5 footer. DH said "ooh, then we could get more chickens!"
savingdogs
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A garden share sounds so cool. I wonder how to get one started. I think our neighborhood needs one. The other day someone had put zucchini's in everybody's mail box. And I have so many potatoes this week, we will have to work hard to eat them all. How did yours get started?
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AnnaRaven
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A local group set it up. I'm not sure what they did, but I imagine, they got a location where they could do it (this one does it at a local organic nursery's parking lot), then started sending out flyers and notifications on the lists. They just put up a few tables and had people put stuff on it that they brought and then pick out what they wanted. They have it one hour, so it's short enough that people can set and pick up and not wonder what else is coming when or whether they're taking something from others.savingdogs said:
The biggest issue is to just have it every month at the same bat time, same bat day, same bat place so folks can find you even if they can't make it this month.
savingdogs
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I wonder if any of my neighbors has a big enough house. I'd love to get something like that started but have a tiny home myself. Hmmmmm.....this gives me food for thought. It would be a good way to network more in my local community too.
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AnnaRaven
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Yesterday was a good day. I went to the range. Gosh I've missed that. I only went through one box of 50 rounds but it sure was fun. There's a feeling I get when shooting that I don't get from hardly anything else - except weightlifting. It's like this sense of totally calm focus. Anyways, I borrowed a Beretta 9mm from the range to test out. Loved it. It felt really good in my hands. So, in 10 days, I'll be picking up a new toy. Wednesday nights is ladies night at the range. Guess I'm gonna be busy on Wednesday nights...
I also did a bunch of canning this week. And today, I cleaned out the coop, and harvested the kale. I ended up with 5 gallon bags of chopped kale in the freezer. I'll probably end up canning it, but for now, it's fine in the freezer.
I also found out that I am much more careful about grocery shopping when I use cash. I ended up doing a stocking run today, because pasta and chicken were both on sale, and I had more grocery money than I'd thought. I also got more salt - one of the kosher salt brands was marked down to a "new lower price".
Tonight, I've got kidney beans soaking (with a "glug" of ACV as recommended here) for chili. And I have to go back and check when I started my sauerkraut. I forgot to mark it on my calendar and don't know how long it's been there. Oops!
ETA: Okay - so it'll be two weeks tomorrow on the kraut. Should I check it or just leave it for another week? And, um, what am I checking for?
I also did a bunch of canning this week. And today, I cleaned out the coop, and harvested the kale. I ended up with 5 gallon bags of chopped kale in the freezer. I'll probably end up canning it, but for now, it's fine in the freezer.
I also found out that I am much more careful about grocery shopping when I use cash. I ended up doing a stocking run today, because pasta and chicken were both on sale, and I had more grocery money than I'd thought. I also got more salt - one of the kosher salt brands was marked down to a "new lower price".
Tonight, I've got kidney beans soaking (with a "glug" of ACV as recommended here) for chili. And I have to go back and check when I started my sauerkraut. I forgot to mark it on my calendar and don't know how long it's been there. Oops!
ETA: Okay - so it'll be two weeks tomorrow on the kraut. Should I check it or just leave it for another week? And, um, what am I checking for?
Sauerkraut is done fermenting when the bubbles stop coming up when you tap the side of the crock. 
At typical room temp (75F) traditional kraut generally takes 4-5 weeks but can take as many as 6-7 weeks if your home/fermenting area is cooler. If your home/fermenting area is warmer it can take as few at 2-3 weeks, but the keeping quality will be lower. I have no idea about fermenting time or keeping quality of the "rush" method of fermenting by adding whey that is touted on this forum.
(sources for the above info = My (late) Oma, personal experience, Keeping the Harvest 1980 by Nancy Chioffi & Gretchen Mead, Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning and Freezing 1973, and Ortho Books The Complete Book of Canning 1982 which has a huge section on traditional fermenting.)
At typical room temp (75F) traditional kraut generally takes 4-5 weeks but can take as many as 6-7 weeks if your home/fermenting area is cooler. If your home/fermenting area is warmer it can take as few at 2-3 weeks, but the keeping quality will be lower. I have no idea about fermenting time or keeping quality of the "rush" method of fermenting by adding whey that is touted on this forum.
(sources for the above info = My (late) Oma, personal experience, Keeping the Harvest 1980 by Nancy Chioffi & Gretchen Mead, Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning and Freezing 1973, and Ortho Books The Complete Book of Canning 1982 which has a huge section on traditional fermenting.)
