Canning Jar Link Love

 The busiest time of year for canning is coming quicker than we think.It is time to take stock and inventory of what's left from last summers canning ,count and look over the jars and the other supplies needed for canning.
 I went out a week or so ago and looked through the jars that are still full of last summer/falls efforts,things are still looking pretty good.We have 2 jars of Strawberry Jam left which is fine since June/July the berries will be back in season.We have 6-8 jars of Apple Butter left,these will hold us until Apple season.Sadly we are out of the Applesauce.Last fall I peeled apples until my fingers were numb,this year it looks like I will need to up my volume and make sure I have help with the peeling.We also have plenty of Pickles and Kraut until we can these again in the fall.Overall I am happy.I think I have finally worked out the numbers to get enough canned for a years worth of things.20 pounds Strawberries, 40 some pounds of Apples will need to be increased,25 pounds Cabbage, 50 pounds Cucumbers plus whatever else I can come up with to can. We are also using the last jar of the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Sol and I canned but that can be made year round, I just need to make some more soon.
  I have not gone through my jars yet to check them for chips or cracks.I am lazy and do this as I need them on canning days.But on the other hand I do need to look at how many smaller sized jars I have.I have it in my head I need more of them but when I look in the pantry it seems like I have a ton of boxes with empty jars.This year I would like to make up more smaller jars to have on hand for gifts or to send home with people.
 What really got me thinking about canning and supplies was Chris over at Lost Arts Kitchen posted (not on her blog) about Tattler's Reusable Canning Jar Lids, . I was really excited to see these because I have been wanting to find some and here they are no BPA and reusable! My excitement was short lived though,the prices are a bit steep for us right now mainly because I would need so many of them.The regular mouthed jar lids were $20.95 and the wide mouthed ones were $23.95 both come in boxes of 3 dozen. Over time the lids would pay for themselves and have the added bonus of no toxic crap in them but right now is not the time for this purchase.I have bookmarked the site and will try and buy one box at a time until I have enough.
  I really did not want to give up on reusable canning lids so I did a BUNCH of surfing around.You know how it can be,you start looking for one thing then something catches your eye and now you are over here.It's how I have found a few of my favorite blogs. Anyhow.... I started at Lehman's , canning supply page  and saw their Euro canning jars,Lehman's did not list the maker but I am pretty sure they are from Weck.
 Finally I have been looking at these jars at Sur La Table  for a while now and this summer I am adding a few of them to my stash of jars.
 Someday in the future I would like to try a few of the European type of canning jars that have the clamps that hold the lid ( which if I am remembering right are reusable.) in place.There's one more link covering how to get started with canning and in it there is an answer about using the euro type jars that I thought was clever. In the list of resources for this article are a few more links geared towards learning to can (I like Food In Jars.)
   Even though I was all over looking at "designer" canning jars my favorite way to buy them is used from thrift stores and yard sales.They can be pretty cheap and if it's an estate sale they can be abundant.When buying used jars be sure to check for cracks in the jar and check the rims for chips.Chips in the rim will not allow the jar to seal properly when you can with it.
  I never did find another source for reusable canning lids so if anyone out there knows of one please let me know.
 This evening I go to the HOA meeting.I have been trying to think of other questions people may ask and have a few in my head that were fairly common when I worked at Urban Farm.I think I am ready,I'll let all of you know how it went and the questions that were asked.

  Rois

I thank thee...

   I really enjoy writing this blog,it gives me much pleasure and I have learned so many new things in the past year through this blog and the other ones I follow.In the past year, I have cheered for a new baby, a new home and cried over woes, it is all pretty darn awesome.How many new things  have I learned? I don't really know but the list is long.One thing I do know is, on the list is the knowledge that there are other people out there who are working just as hard as we are to live a fuller life.And I say  thank you one and all for sharing  stories,information,ups,downs and the view from a different window.
 Everything I share here I give freely ,I want to do this.Everything I know was taught to me by someone else who freely shared what they knew with me.This blog is my way of giving honor to those people.I am a great believer in giving credit where credit is due and paying things forward, it's how I got where I am after all.
  Once long ago I knew a man who was brought forward to be given an award for his efforts in teaching others.As he stood before a crowd he declined the award because, like me, he did not teach for the glory of it, but because someone else had taken the time to teach him,he wanted to give back.That moment has stuck with me and made a bigger impression on me than his shining award ever could.I no longer know the man,he has traveled on but,  if I could stand before him I would doff my cap,bow my head and say "Thank you for inspiring me."
 I hope that my writings will inspire all of you to keep growing,learning and sharing.To pass it all along like a good book that changes hands over and over again until no one remembers who had the book first.But if you do remember where it began remember, Pay it Forward and Give Credit Where Credit is Due.
   Rois

Rosemary Brac and HOA's

 Yesterday I had a visitor from the neighborhood next to ours,the neighborhood working towards having chickens allowed by their HOA. My visitor had emailed asking if she could take some photos of our coop for an up coming HOA meeting,sure why not anything to help their cause. We visited while I gave her a tour of our gardens,pictures were snapped and then a request was made,could I, would I mind manning a Q&A table at their HOA meeting? All I would have to do is answer people's questions about keeping chickens in the city.Ok I said,I thought at first I would have to stand in front of a partially unfriendly crowd to talk with mic in hand so standing at table seems easy enough,only a few folks at a time to talk to I can do that.
 The pro-chicken crowd had sent out a survey to their neighbors with questions to answer and a space for them to list any concerns.The three main concerns were very simple to answer and two are easy to solve.The other is a matter of tolerance.
  Many of the surveyed people were worried about smell and rats. I can understand both of those.A smelly yard is no joy to me so I got that one. I ran all of  my answers by my visitor to see what she thought. Keeping the smell down is simple, when your nose tells you that your coop is smelly,clean it.Your nose will know before your neighbors catch wind of it.This can be about bi-weekly in the summer because city chickens live in much smaller coops than farm chickens,like any other small space it needs cleaning more often.In the winter it can take longer because of the cooler weather. ( We don't clean our coop from November until March, the composting manure releases heat and helps keep the hens warm.)
  As for rats, I hate wild rats and do not want to see them in my yard at all. The best ways to keep rats from coming are easy, feed your hens in the morning and take their feed bin in at night.Rats are nocturnal if there is not anything there for them to eat at night they are not going to hang out. Also by keeping your feed stored indoors the rats won't be tempted to chew through your feed bags or buckets.Indoor storage also keeps your feed dry which is always good too.I had not thought of this until now but by designing your coop so it is up on "feet" you won't be building rat habitat,they love living under things.Finally, keep your coop clean.
 The third concern was how much noise chickens make.That has kind of a round about answer, yes they make noise but not all of the time.My visitor said she read somewhere the loudest hen ever recorded was 80 decibels the same volume as a dog barking.She asked me about the "I just laid an egg" chatter the hens do.So far I can find no rhyme or reason to this behavior.Sometimes my girls will go for weeks with out announcing they have laid an egg,then one day it is the biggest news since Obama won the Presidential race. But really my neighbors dog barks longer than the hens sing out about their egg laying habits.In my mind if you can ignore a reasonable amount of dog barking you can ignore a hens cackling.The only other time the hens make noise is when there is some threat in the yard and this is a good thing to tune into,there's trouble in the yard and it is your duty to A.keep your hens safe and B.fix the problem.
 So a HOA meeting is where I will be one evening next week,wearing my best Suburban Mom costume,no nose ring and a big patient smile.There's some conservative folks over there so I will need to blend in like G.I Joe in the jungles of Way Far Out.
   I have another recipe to share today.I know I always post some sort of baked thing it is because they are the only things I cook I have an actual recipe for.When I cook it is a dash,handfuls and a bit of this or that.Well I do follow the recipes for canning but that is different.
 Today's recipe is for Rosemary Brac,(Brac is an Irish term for tea cake.) I have no idea where I got this recipe, I have it written down in my book but the origins are lost.This makes one 9 inch round cake that is slightly sweet,savory and has it's own richness to it as well. The first step to making the Brac is steeping golden raisins and rosemary in warmed milk.This step is important,the warmth of the milk softens the raisins and allows the oils in the rosemary to infuse the milk. I know this may seem like an odd combo,sweet and savory but it works. I had a slice of it slathered with butter and apple butter yesterday,the apple butter sent it over the top! Yum.
   
    Rosemary Brac-
    Preheat oven to 350   remember if using a glass pan turn the oven down by 25 degrees.
   Grease a 9 inch round pan.

   1/2 Cup Golden Raisins
   1 Cup Milk
   1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh Rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried
        Heat these together in a pan until the milk just starts to boil.Set aside and cool to room temp.

  In a bowl -
  2 Eggs beaten until frothy
  4 Tablespoons of melted Butter
  3/4 Cups Sugar
   Add butter and sugar to eggs mix well.Now add-
  2 Cups Flour
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
    Add dry ingredients to egg mixture beat until smooth then add in the milk,rosemary and raisins.Stir it all together and pour into your pan.
Bake for 30- 45 minutes. Somehow when I first wrote this recipe down I did not write down the temp or time, duh Rois. So I had to work it out for myself.Most cakes bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes so that is what I went with.My oven takes close to 45 minutes.
 The Brac reminds me a bit of scones, a bit sweet,rich and will go with lots of things.I hope you try this recipe out although it sounds odd it is really tasty.
  Enjoy your weekend and happy Mother's Day to one and all.
    Rois

I Made this.1920's inspired clothespin bag.

I have been on a clothespin bag kick and now that I have given some away I thought it was time to make one for us. Having a project to work on is nice for me,in the evenings we keep things quiet for homework a project gives me something other than reading to do.


The process was pretty easy.For this bag I wanted  to use a different pattern than I had been using and I found this one that I was happy with. I ended up not printing out the template because the pattern seemed easy enough.
  I used 2 sheets of newspaper taped together for the pattern paper.Once I had drafted the pattern I cut out the pieces from a heavy cotton canvas I had.
 When I started this project I was going to just do some Crayon "Batik" .To do this you simply draw out your design on the pre-washed fabric.For the first drawing I used a pencil lightly knowing the lines would not show later.Once you have your design in place you will want to color in with crayons,the coloring needs to be done thickly and there should be a build up of crayon wax. I should add that when drawing you will need to make the spaces to be colored a size that will work with a crayon tip,fine lines can be tricky. I also recommend using bold colors because once you are done coloring you iron the drawing to set the colors,this washes out the colors a bit.

  When you are finished with the coloring you have a couple of choices to make.One being you could now simply trace around your drawing with a permanent marker,tip size is up to you as well as color.Although black will give your project a more traditional batik look.Or you can, like I did, stitch a simple running stitch  around the edges of your drawing.I used a double ply of thread to make it thick looking.A running stitch is super easy,just in and out spacing as evenly as you can.
Now that you have decided which type of outline you want you will need to set the wax.If you are going to do the stitching you will want to set the wax before you stitch.You will need an iron set on it's highest setting usually the linen one.Be sure there is no water in your iron if you have one that steams. Lay your batik out flat and place some clean paper over the design area, I recycled some printer paper but news paper or any clean paper will work.Now iron over your project,if you colored heavily enough you will start to see the wax bleeding through the paper.You can lift the paper and check on things too.You are done setting the color when the heavy wax build up is not there anymore.Your design should look like a printed fabric.Sometimes you may get a bit of bleeding of color,this is part of the batik look. And you are done or now is the time to work on your stitching.
 You can use this technique on lots of different things.I once made us a set of cloth napkins using this and T-shirts can be fun too.Use where ever your fancy takes you.

  I ended up really liking the look of the stitching.In the 1920's there were printed household textiles that looked very much like my clothespin bag. I am not talking about embroidery printed patterns.These had designs printed on the fabric that people then stitched around. I found this apron, a pillow, a flower and one more pillow much like one I own.If you scroll down on the last link this blogger also has posted a cute clothespin bag as well.
My second photo is a close up showing the vintage child's hanger I found for my bag.I felt darn lucky to find one with chickens as the main cut outs.The hanger also has 123 and ABC cut outs.
  I love it when I can use my skills to make something not only useful but creative for our homestead.Other than that....it's been cold and wet here, unseasonably so,it makes me worry about the seedlings and the seeds that have yet to sprout.Everyone I know locally, who are growing right now ,have the same worries. But our early greens are staying huddled close to the soil trying to hang on. Without sun and warmth it's a tough job for the seedlings,their growth is slow tho' I can't blame them.I really thought we would be eating salads and steamed greens out of our own garden by now.It is early and most of it can be replanted if the need comes up.
  Rois

Tom Waits - You Can Never Hold Back Spring

The irony of it ..

 For quiet some time our Issac has been having migraine headaches,thanks to me,I passed that one on. Over the past two months they have been coming more often about every other week.Up until now over the counter meds have worked but the peds doctor said when they stop working to come back to see her.Last night the meds stopped working so we went back to the doctors.Issac now has a new prescription for his migraines to take when he feels one coming on.
 But before we went I being the mother I am looked somethings up online about migraines and food.I always start with food when there is something going wrong,when you live with Crohn's it becomes a habit. And what did I find? A list of assorted foods we don't eat but there was one that caught my attention,homemade breads.Homemade bread!?It has something to do with the yeasts in homemade breads,I am still digging around for the exact reasoning behind this because I want to understand it wholly.   Here I am baking our bread and it could be making Issac unwell.I ran it by the doctor but she had no idea but thought if we wanted to try an experiment on our own she would be interested in what I came up with.
  This morning when I was reading I started to think back on when Issac's headaches started and what was different.I have been baking most of our bread since his headaches started so over the next few weeks I am not baking our bread.I am hoping it works.I would much rather spend money on bread than have Issac taking one more pill.
 I won't be surprised if the bread ends up being the factor,with Crohn's life is full of these little mysteries that the doctors don't always get or understand.My theory is people with Crohn's have sensitive systems that are easily over loaded by environmental stuff that other peoples bodies ignore.Crohn's is an Autoimmune disorder so your immune system is always in over drive,give it less to freak out over and things can balance out.That's how I see it always consult with some sort of doctor,they don't always get it but they mostly try.
 If anyone out there has any clues about bread and migraines I'd love to hear your input.Issac is an awesome kid who does not use his Crohn's as an excuse ever and keeps his head up even when things are tough.
 Rois 

Community

                                      .

In our neighborhood we have a great Google group set up for swapping.Most of the time it is geared towards gardening,extra starts,plants and surplus produce or fruits. I recently posted the Strawberry plants I had thinned and they were snatched right up.This is also where I post when I have eggs for sale. This group has proven useful and a great community builder.So far everything posted has been either free or for trade,except me and my eggs which no one minds paying for.
  Today a neighbor posted that they had some Cabbage starts free for the taking. Chance and I replied to the email and zipped across the neighborhood to pick some up. I do not personally know all of the families on the list but do know a fair number of them.Today's family was one I had met before and just had not put two and two together so it was nice when a familiar face answered the door.
   Chance and I were led around to their back yard and holy cow they had food growing every where just like here at Hrafinstaad. We were so excited to see another family so close by growing so much of their own. While visiting we found out that the brother to the family lives right around our corner and the two households were growing food together.The brother has tilled up their whole yard to grow food.Now that is some good thinking! Rumor is there are a couple of other families doing this as well. Homegrown food,feeding families that's what is all about.And it rocks!
   Although the cabbage starts were posted as a freebie I did not think that was too fair,so I brought what extra eggs we had on hand to make it a swap. Even though there were only 7 eggs the family was happy to have them and informed us they were jealous of our chickens. This family lives at the other end of our neighborhood where there is a HOA that does not allow chickens.The families are working really hard to get that changed.Even though it has been an up hill battle they have stuck to it like chicken poo on an egg, they want more control over where their food is coming from so the battle goes on. Let's all cross our fingers for them!
  I have been re-reading "Food not Lawns by H.C Flores"  (don't worry Farmer that's not the book I am mailing you though I could,just ask.)  and I have realized some great things about what has been going on lately around here.We are growing our own Paradise Garden,building community,educating others through example and feeding ourselves and others.We are doing it! If you have not read "Food Not Lawns" I recommend it.It is one of the books I can say I agree with on many levels though there are a few ideas I don't think we will use such as some of her suggestions for water but everything else is spot on in my personal book.Well and she's not a fan of chickens but that's alright to each their own right?

The rest of the day we spent in the yard planting and doing a bit of this and that.The photo of the flowers is the bouquet I picked the other day,I think it came out gorgeous. I wish I had some nifty project to share but community building is my offering for this post
A topic I am happy about especially since like our garden our community of like minded folks is growing.
   Rois