Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: August 28 ~ September 3, 2022

[ReneeT]

Good Morning, All! My coffee is sitting in front of me, and all of the dependents have been fed, so I think it's safe for me to start typing

Middle Grandson had a JFL game yesterday; they won again, 40-12! Grandson was pretty pleased by that; and by getting to play 2 quarters of the game. It was a miserably hot day, so grandson and I only wanted a bottle of water from the cooler once we made it to the van; daughter kept asking us if we were sure we didn't want something to eat; grandson wasn't interested in any of the options she suggested, and I didn't want anything, so we told her to grab something if she wanted it, but we didn't want anything. We did have to stop on the way home to pick up clothes dressy enough to wear to a wedding (slacks/polo) for oldest grandson; by the time daughter got back to the van, we were both asleep

It's supposed to get up to 90*F today, so as soon as Hubby has finished his breakfast and it has dried up a bit, I'm going to have him fill the tiller with fuel, then once I'm done tilling, I'll pick beans. Hubby can figure out how many he wants to take to his Mama and sister, then he can snap the rest so that I can get them canned tomorrow before I go in to work. His Mama asked him why the beans were yellow; he told her that those were the fist to set on; so I'll send some green ones with him on Monday since they are finally setting on. I'll pick again tomorrow morning, but have to work three in a row so may not have energy enough to pick again until I wake up on Thursday. The raccoons are picking the sweet corn before it's big enough for us to eat; I'm about ready to pull it - we won't have any to eat, but at least I won't be aggravated every time I look that direction

I have to work 3 nights in a row starting tomorrow night, so I'm likely to be scarce on the forum for a few days, but I look forward to seeing what you all are doing - it's easier to relax when I know other folks are trying to do the same things I am; less locusts to worry about!

Take care all; have a great week!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I got up this morning, and did a bit of tidying up on the house. Today is home fellowship, and the group will be here, later.

I also had set out some food from the freezers that needed vacuum sealed in jars, so I did that, too. 12 boxes of mac&cheese and 4 boxes of rice-a-roni. I've got another 8 boxes of mac&cheese and 6 boxes of hamburger helper to do later. All of this will be rotated out within a year, so no worries. This is how I store all of my boxed food. Freeze first, empty contents and instructions into jars, then vacuum seal, before it goes on the shelves. Date and rotate, rotate, rotate. If it's just bags of pasta or rice, etc., I defrost and put in heavy duty plastic jugs with tight fitting lids. I've got 4 bags of egg noodles frozen that I'm waiting on more jugs to get emptied.

I've got another dentist appt. on Wednesday. It won't be so bad. It's just for my last filling. Once this filling gets done, I'll be able to wear my bottom partial again. I'm looking forward to that. I hate not being able to chew anything........

 

[ReneeT]

Well, the beans are all picked, the front garden is tilled, as is the area in front of and in between the green pole beans in the back garden. As soon as I get a canner going, I'll leave Hubby to watch it while I go back out to pick cherry tomatoes for Hubby to take to his Mama's house for her and Hubby's great-nephew to snack on - he says great-nephew eats them like they are candy After that, I hope I'm done outside - it's so darn humid that it made 78* felt like a sauna, I don't want to be out there when it hits 90*. I'm pretty sure I can find enough inside work to keep me busy until it cools off some this evening if I feel like I really need to go back outside.

I'm almost cooled down enough to start canning the beans that Hubby snapped yesterday while I was gone. I'm only going to run one canner at time, so once I get it started, I'll wash the ones I just picked and put them by his chair so he can snap them. I'll pick again tomorrow, but likely won't pick Tuesday or Wednesday because I'll need to sleep after I get off work both of those days - after 12.5 hours at work and the drive home, I just don't have any energy left.

Hmm...Hubby just carried up a couple of boxes of pint canning jars from the store room; you all reckon that maybe he's trying to tell me that it is time to get busy putting those beans into jars?

 

[anna43]

I'm finally getting ripe tomatoes. Pretty sad tomatoes!! The big boys are tiny, tasty, but tiny. There are a lot of romas on just starting to turn color. We had a good shower in the middle of the night so hopefully the tomatoes don't crack.

I'm also getting summer squash and okra. I've been giving a lot of the squash to neighbors at the senior apartment complex. Some I'm eating and I'm thinking of dehydrating another batch. The first I dehydrated got a bit toasty brown.

My acorn squash is spreading everywhere and has set a good amount of fruit so maybe just maybe I'll have a decent harvest of them. Sweet potatoes are looking okay, but they also are a wait and see. I wasn't able to plant a whole row so I know I will only have about half what I usually get, but that should be sufficient if I hoard them out through the year. Love that sweet potatoes keep in my basement for a full year without processing beyond curing.

I harvested two red peppers and one green. One of the red was moldy inside when I cut it. Most of he peppers went in late and were tiny and are just now setting fruit so hopefully I'll get a decent amount before frost. Our first frost date can be as early as 9/15 although we usually make it through the end of the month. This year's weather has been so crazy I'm not counting on anything!!

My green beans were not good due to the drought, so I left them to go to seed and am now harvesting that. All in all the garden has been a huge disappointment. Thankfully, I have green beans and tomatoes from prior years in my pantry. I would like to make up my grandmother's chili sauce recipe if I have enough tomatoes. My onion crop was puny but enough to do the chili sauce.

The one bright spot in the garden is a patch of zinnias that are blooming and covered in butterflies, hummingbirds and yellow finches. I spend a lot of time enjoying that spot of beauty.

 

[skwentnaflyer]

Would you mind sharing that recipe? I'm always hunting for the old recipes, not the new ones with fancy ingredients.

 

[ioujc]

I am pretty upset with my garden.

The only tomatoes i am getting are cherry tomatoes...... don't get me wrong, I LOVE cherry tomatoes, but I also had 20 other tomatoes planted!! 10 Beefsteak and 10 climbing tomatoes, which look like the old heritage tomatoes, but grow up to 10-12 feet tall. So far, I have ONE tomato of the climber, and NO tomatoes on any of the other plants!!

The only thing that has done SUPER, has been the cantaloupe, which is indeed WONDERFUL!!

But to have worked so hard and have so little to show for it, is disappointing. I will be OK, because I have lots of stuff canned from years previously.

 

[drafter]

Spent yesterday sawing up downed trees and decided we need a woodchipper for a lot of the tiny stuff. Well as luck would have it, we found a like new (seriously looked like it had maybe been used once) Cub Cadet chipper at auction today and got it for less than half the price of a new one. Very happy with that score. Also bought a backup manual pump attachment for the water well just to have in a worse case scenario.

 

[nomifyle]

DH did not feel well this morning so we did not go to church. I didn't go because I don't like to leave him alone when he's sick.

After the first few steps this morning I've been feeling so much better. Not 100% but enough that I've been able to get a few things done. The kitchen was in really bad shape and I've made a big dent in it. I managed to get most of the stuff in the house from my shopping yesterday, except for the three cases of water, DH would not even let me help him with them. But its all out and the van is back in the car port.

I got 4 boxes of the Barilla protein plus angel hair pasta. I'm wondering how it will taste.

I listened to a couple of videos today from Living on a Dime to Grow Rich. This creator along with several others I listen to for awhile and then can't stand them anymore. I haven't listened to this one in a while but today it appealed to me. I do have their two hard bound cookbooks and they really are great. Pricey but they will last forever. I bought them last year when I had more money to spend.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We had a great time at home fellowship this morning. We always do.

It's been thundering around and about all day, but so far, no rain. I keep looking at our local radar, but everything continues to just miss us by a little margin. We might get some, yet. Not too much, cause Cary has yard work planned to do tomorrow besides just mow. Can't have everything soggy.

Gosh, all those peas he planted came up so thick! I just finished going down there and thinning them out. They look really good. It's been a few years, since we planted and had fresh peas from our garden. I hope they make good. A lot of work, but worth it in the end when they're all canned and done.

For some reason, all our volunteer tomatoes are taking forever to ripen. It may be that they aren't getting enough direct sun. They are all a nice size but should be ripening by now. No signs of rot, so I'm hopeful.

 

[Cag3db1rd]

Thursday, as I was moving things away from the wall, cleaning up mouse poo, and spraying for bugs, I found that one of my "heavy duty" Home Depot plastic shelf units was only being held up from collapsing by a wall mounted shelf on which it was leaning. So, I convinced hubby to upgrade to the big wire shelves I have wanted since I first saw them at age 18. I have been cleaning and packing everything into storage totes to keep dirt and mouse waste off my canned goods. Also, roaches love cardboard. Can't have that. Away the cardboard flats go. The good news is I also found a lot of mouse holes behind the shelves. Those got filled with steel wool and expanding foam. The plan is to over the week, shift everything, one area at a time, clean, spray for Weebit's BF's roaches (I will not own them), and put everything back. And every mouse hole I find gets steel wool.

Sometime over the next week or so, I plam to put fresh caulk around all the windows. It hasn't been done in years. With as bad as it could be this winter, I do not want draughts.

Hubby finally got the parts to fix his car's suspension. That is on the schedule this week. Weather permitting.

 

[Illini Warrior]

Thursday, as I was moving things away from the wall, cleaning up mouse poo, and spraying for bugs, I found that one of my "heavy duty" Home Depot plastic shelf units was only being held up from collapsing by a wall mounted shelf on which it was leaning. So, I convinced hubby to upgrade to the big wire shelves I have wanted since I first saw them at age 18. I have been cleaning and packing everything into storage totes to keep dirt and mouse waste off my canned goods. Also, roaches love cardboard. Can't have that. Away the cardboard flats go. The good news is I also found a lot of mouse holes behind the shelves. Those got filled with steel wool and expanding foam. The plan is to over the week, shift everything, one area at a time, clean, spray for Weebit's BF's roaches (I will not own them), and put everything back. And every mouse hole I find gets steel wool.

Sometime over the next week or so, I plam to put fresh caulk around all the windows. It hasn't been done in years. With as bad as it could be this winter, I do not want draughts.

Hubby finally got the parts to fix his car's suspension. That is on the schedule this week. Weather permitting.

they found that the rodents will go thru the regular expanding foam - there's a special foam that they added a chem that stops them >>> I'd also add sheetmetal whenever possible - takes a real ghetto rat to get thru metal ....

 

[spinner]

DH uses the metal shavings from his machine shop to stop mice from getting into his truck. It is like razor wire.

 

[ReneeT]

Try putting down mothballs around the outside of your house to encourage the mice to stay away, Cag3db1rd.

​

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I got 6 more boxes of hamburger helper and 2 boxes of au gratin potatoes converted to glass jars this morning. Everything I had in my freezers in boxes has now been converted. I've actually got room in my freezers now, LOL! I'm not going to refill the old freezer, though, except with items that can later be converted to jars and odd and end frozen items, flour, and cornmeal.

I also chopped another gallon bag of green bell peppers for the freezer this morning. I hope they keep bearing, until frost. This is the first year in a long time that we've had such a bumper crop of peppers. Also, thinned out those too thick turnips! Cary put down some Preen weed control, too, so there shouldn't be too much to weed, later. It's always worked good for us.

Now, I'm off to sweep and dust.........Ya'll have a great day!

eta. I added another pint freezer bag of frozen chopped chives from my garden to the freezer. I gave 'em a good haircut, LOL!

 

[hd5574]

I dehydrated 4lbs of frozen peas last night will jar today...snapped 12 pints of green beans from the garden....so will get those canner today....have a dehydrator load of zucchini to cube and dehydrate....and a bunch of Roma and small ripe tomatoes nearly ready to can....need to pick and dehydrate a load hot peppers but they can stay on the vines for a few more days and by then will have green beans coming out of my ears again..
We have most of the fall garden planted...

 

[anna43]

Would you mind sharing that recipe? I'm always hunting for the old recipes, not the new ones with fancy ingredients.

Here is my grandmother's recipe for chili sauce:

Chili Sauce

20 large ripe tomatoes
2 large red peppers
2 large onions
1 heaping tablespoon salt
2 rounded tablespoons mixed pickling spices (I tie in bag for cooking and then remove)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 ½ cups vinegar

Cut ingredients fine, combine and boil until thickened. Put into sterile jars and process in water bath for 15 minutes This is a savory sauce not a hot sauce. I like it on fried potatoes or eggs.

I halved the recipe so if you want a larger batch, you could double it. I had the recipe checked by Extension Service home economist and she said it was a safe canning recipe. Also, I try to use primarily roma tomatoes because it takes less cooking down.

It irritates me that appliance manuals are now online. I want a printed copy of any information I need or possibly will need. I paid for the appliance, so it seems the least they could do is provide a printed manual. Printing ink is darn expensive, and I resent having to use mine for something that should have been included with the purchase. A second thing that irritates me is the print on manuals, labels, etc. is too tiny to read without a magnifying glass and sometime not easy then for old eyes.

It's sad so many of us have had drought this year and poor gardens. Ironically enough, the worst garden I had was the year of the floods (1992 or 1993 I think) where it rained inches every blessed day. The potatoes liquified in the garden and I did not get a single one nor did my neighbor. That was also the year I did not get a single green bean. Now this year is the opposite and no edible green beans (too woody) and tiny potatoes that are not going to keep. In a good or even fair year I would harvest a wheelbarrow of potatoes in a row and half. This year the entire 7 rows amounted to less than a 5-gallon bucket. Absolutely pathetic!! Us old gardeners know that every year something doesn't do good and it's extremely rare to have a year where everything does great. However, the majority of years we have a decent harvest. Next season is year 7 of a 7-year drought so maybe things will start turning around. I hope that new or first-time gardeners are not so discouraged that they give up gardening.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I hope that new or first-time gardeners are not so discouraged that they give up gardening.

Anna, last year was our DS and his new wife's first garden all by themselves. They were so excited and went all out. They had the best time doing it together. She is an avid organic gardener. It was very bountiful, and she managed to put up a lot of fresh garden food. They have bought 2 freezers, a pressure canner, and a dehydrator.

This year, their garden started out really good. THEN, groundhogs found it and destroyed almost everything. It was too late to replant most of it, but she managed to do some things. Nothing did well at all. Too hot and too dry even with watering. They were very disappointed but are already looking forward to next spring with excitement. They aren't giving up and are even more determined. DS has been working to expand their garden area to twice the original size. I'm so proud of them!

 

[skwentnaflyer]

@anna43 , thank you!
ETA: got a batch going in the roaster

 

[hd5574]

Thanks for the chili sauce recipe sounds delightful
I have a bunch of Roma tomatoes
Peas are dry and in the jar
Zucchini in dehydrator
One canner load of green beans done and sitting on towel
Getting the second load of beans ready to go in the canner

 

[Old Gray Mare]

they found that the rodents will go thru the regular expanding foam - there's a special foam that they added a chem that stops them >>> I'd also add sheetmetal whenever possible - takes a real ghetto rat to get thru metal ....

I've used fine steel wool around the pipes coming thru foundation walls. I used the kind without soap and had to get it at a hardware store. It slows them down, eventually they will push past it and more had to be added and traps set. I patched foundation holes and cracks above ground level with mortar. I don't use mortar around the pipes.

Mice usually come in as soon as the weather starts to get cold. We trap those and usually don't have much trouble for the rest of the winter. We use peanut butter as bait.

 

[WanderLore]

Getting ready to process the Elderberries. Jam.
The two things that didn't do well this year were the cukes and zucchini. Location I think. But plenty still canned and stored and the squash shredded and frozen in freezer.

 

[Cag3db1rd]

they found that the rodents will go thru the regular expanding foam - there's a special foam that they added a chem that stops them >>> I'd also add sheetmetal whenever possible - takes a real ghetto rat to get thru metal ....

I mix steel wool into the expanding foam to make it harder to get through.

DH uses the metal shavings from his machine shop to stop mice from getting into his truck. It is like razor wire.

I krt the $3 packs of steel wool from wm. Good way to reuse an otherwise wasted material.

Try putting down mothballs around the outside of your house to encourage the mice to stay away, Cag3db1rd.

​

I worry about pets and chickens too much. YMMV

 

[Cag3db1rd]

I've used fine steel wool around the pipes coming thru foundation walls. I used the kind without soap and had to get it at a hardware store. It slows them down, eventually they will push past it and more had to be added and traps set. I patched foundation holes and cracks above ground level with mortar. I don't use mortar around the pipes.

I mix Great Foam that has the pest deterrent with steel wool. I pack it lightly and then inject the foam into the wool.

We use peanut butter as bait.

Same. They just can't resist it.

 

[hd5574]

DH has found that.. something called Tom Cat works even better than the peanut butter we used to use..this house is old..built in 1899..and is surrounded by fields..even with barn cats they find their way in..we will never find all the holes..he has been getting it at Walmart

 

[WanderLore]

Steel wool and 9v battery. Good fire starter.
Corn meal and baking soda mixed together in small bowl makes a good mouse kill.
Moth balls good deterrent, never had chicken, cat, dog etc mess with them. Thats the point. They smell.

 

[coloradohermit]

The high point of my week will be a doctor appointment this morning to get the results from the biopsy I had last week. Hoping for the best.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Moth balls good deterrent

If moth balls are a deterrent for mice, I should never see another one! Ever since Summerthyme told me that they kept snakes away, I've set out boxes of moth balls, LOL!!!!!! Ain't getting no snakes in my house! I can set traps for mice, but snakes.......! NO.

 

[Barb]

Glue traps work for snakes.

 

[ReneeT]

I consider the snakes that hang around to be my mouse traps

 

[SouthernBreeze]

LOL. As long as they hang out around Cary's workshop, I'm good. Not on my porch, though. Had one on the front and back porch already! Both doors were open at the time. They could have slipped in unnoticed if we hadn't been paying attention!

 

[hd5574]

Heads up
Ball Mason Jars Regular Pints
Walmart has regular pint jars on sale for $10.59 for 12
I ordered yesterday and got them today.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Heads up
Ball Mason Jars Regular Pints
Walmart has regular pint jars on sale for $10.59 for 12
I ordered yesterday and got them today.

I ordered some earlier today.

 

[hd5574]

I have been going through pints like crazy.... there are only two of us....I am using them for almost everything...last year we had tons of thornless blackberries...... this year not so many...ice storm in January broke the canes to pieces...this year green beans and tomatoes...like crazy...wonder if we will get them next year...so I am canning all God gives us...so odd our hot peppers are producing like crazy. ....but sweet peppers not so much..

We have a tall wire fence...around our garden and DH has been starting and training the blackberries to that fence...so they will have support if we get more ice storms this coming winter...we had no power for week last winter....but we do have a genny...so we had quite a test run...

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I have been going through pints like crazy.... there are only two of us....I am using them for almost everything...last year we had tons of thornless blackberries...... this year not so many...ice storm in January broke the canes to pieces...this year green beans and tomatoes...like crazy...wonder if we will get them next year...so I am canning all God gives us

Same here. I'm going through pints, too. Canning meat, mostly. I also use them to store boxed food in that just fits in pint jars, mostly quarts, though. Once I get back to the grocery store, I'm going to be buying up dry beans and peas to can in pints, too. For just the two of us, pints are all we need. I'm buying up food and canning food, now, because next year there may not be anything. I don't want to depend solely on a garden, either. Who knows what the weather will be like next year? A garden is no guarantee.

 

[hd5574]

Most of what I have been sealing in jars is quarts and some 1/2 pints..and few pints but not too many.....and 1/2 gallon jars..but can't find any of those now....
I have been canning beef stew in quarts
I think you are right that things are going to disappear from the shelves..we were at food lion a few days ago and nearly no instant potatoes of any kind....some canned but the shelves were thin...
Prices were climbing on everything even DH mentioned the prices.
I just meant that I'm not going to waste anything the garden gives me.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Most of what I have been sealing in jars is quarts and some 1/2 pints..and few pints but not too many.....and 1/2 gallon jars..but can't find any of those now....
I have been canning beef stew in quarts
I think you are right that things are going to disappear from the shelves..we were at food lion a few days ago and nearly no instant potatoes of any kind....some canned but the shelves were thin...
Prices were climbing on everything even DH mentioned the prices.
I just meant that I'm not going to waste anything the garden gives me.

Oh, for sure. I knew what you meant. I've been doing most of my storage in quarts and 1/2 gal, too, but use a few pints here and there. I'm trying to save all the pints I have left for canning dry beans and meat. I'm planning to get more jars next week. I have to wait til payday.

OMG! Our electric bill was the highest we've ever had this month! Our rates went up. It's not just food prices........Everything. We still aren't experiencing shortages here, but the prices are ridiculous. I had to pay $3.50 for a dozen large eggs last time. I almost fell out.

My seed order finally came in. I've got another seed order to send off payday. You're right. No time to waste anything God blesses us with.

 

[nomifyle]

I just ordered two more cases of pints, just in case. Right now I'm dry canning a lot, still trying to get things in order. My leg has been awful all day, but I'm trying to work through it and get something done.

Praise the Lord, I'm getting close to being caught up in the kitchen. When I get that all done I should be able to start canning myself. Frankly l don't look forward to that. I've got a lot of ground venison and pork to can up. And only a couple of small loads of laundry. Some things I'll hang on the drying rack in the tub, a few other things will go in the dryer.

Our two meals today has been fried deer steak, and cabbage with smoked sausage. I'll open a can of spiced beets for us to share. I drink the liquid from the can.

In my wm.com order I also ordered some ramen. I have some but have never eaten it. I've got another small pick up order too.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I have felt panicky all day today, because I have another dentist appt tomorrow. I know it's just for a filling, but after what I just went through, I'm not looking forward to having anything else done right now. Plus, we had storms all night that kept us awake most of the night. Had a flood warning, too. Power went off and on, so we turned off the ac, and it got sweltering hot in the house with the humidity so high. So, I haven't done much of anything today, except sit here and read the forum. That hasn't helped my panickyness (Is that even a word?) any, LOL! Makes me just want to roll up our driveway and hide for the duration........

 

[Mprepared]

delete. I found my answer.

 

[Mprepared]

I have felt panicky all day today, because I have another dentist appt tomorrow. I know it's just for a filling, but after what I just went through, I'm not looking forward to having anything else done right now. Plus, we had storms all night that kept us awake most of the night. Had a flood warning, too. Power went off and on, so we turned off the ac, and it got sweltering hot in the house with the humidity so high. So, I haven't done much of anything today, except sit here and read the forum. That hasn't helped my panickyness (Is that even a word?) any, LOL! Makes me just want to roll up our driveway and hide for the duration........

I feel odd today and I am not going to a dentist. I hope you feel better.