how far do you go in this fiasco

[mattybock]

i recall reading a bit about canning in the 1890s with jars and it turns out canning goes back quite a bit farther than that and obviously extends quite a spell later too!

my great grandma (who passed when I was but two years, in '90) used to can everything she had and put her canned foods in this pump house where the water pump was. this was in what was once cotton land near the now defunt town of rylie texas- now part of the dallas quagmire.

i find it to be neat that so much history is at our finger tips, so easy to re0live and so easy to save money with!

I have begun canning and pickling and sausage making myself, mostly with feral hog meat- tastes fine.

But what of you? how far do you take the old ways? Do you do any old stuff? also- isn't it cool that one day were going to be able to look at our gandkids/nieces/nephews, etc. and use the words 'back in 'ought five.." as it pertains to a year? by golly we'll sound real old then.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

the only things I can are fruit compote - strawberry, peach and blueberry - for my flapjacks and pickled okra which I dearly love with stew and soup beans. I've got it down pat no grocery store or road stand pickled okra will hold a candle to mine.
of course I freeze venison and make jerky - I prefer teriyaki marinade for mine.

 

[deseeb2001]

My wife and I want to eventually produce and preserve most of our food on our own property. Time and land are the big limiting factors, but canning is going to be our first real step in that direction.

 

[rwiliff]

We grow a fair sized garden. This fall we put up sweet corn, green beans, spinach, beets, turnips, potatos, carrots, celery, and probably more that I cannot recall. We ended up with almost 300 jars of food. That and we ate real good all summer.

Warmest Regards,
Robert

 

[Kentucky45]

But what of you? how far do you take the old ways? Do you do any old stuff? also- isn't it cool that one day were going to be able to look at our gandkids/nieces/nephews, etc. and use the words 'back in 'ought five.." as it pertains to a year? by golly we'll sound real old then.

I grew up in a BIG garden family. If we hadn't had the gardens we likely wouldn't have made it. We canned, cooked, smoked. We lived on no other meat one winter except Cotton Tail Rabbit. No money. No choice. You can cook a rabbit allot of different ways. After I grew up and moved away I farmed. My wife and her mother canned. We've eaten allot of wildlife even though money isn't the problem it was for me growing up. My daughter pulled corn many nights for many years after school until 10pm then went in and showered and went to school the next day. I would pull corn or pick or dig other produce until midnight, bath, sleep, get up at 4:30am and carry the corn to town and be at work at 7:30am. My wife was on a similar schedule. Then we'd do it again the next day. I'm not sure what I want to call the "good old days". If you've lived that life you'll understand that. If you haven't, then it looks like a life of unending pleasure and excitement. Allot of people move out here to the country seeking that life. It will be easy. It will be fun. The first thing they do is buy horses. They must have acreage so they can have horses. Then they don't ride them. A year later after feeding the horses after work in the dark and cold they're often willing to give the horses away. There is no small garden the second year, too much work. Cheaper to buy it at the grocery store. Then they move back to town. Were'd they go??? They're good old days weren't so good. The dream is over. The fun of living in he country never happened. They think living in the country will be less epensive than town. You have to go twice as far to get a loaf of bread, you'll wear out 5 sets of tires compared to one set just to get back and forth to work. Gas will eat you up. You never finish mowing. Then there is the garden and crops. Overwhelming to most. The good old days? I'm still here. Wouldn't and couldn't live in town. But the good old days of canning, smoking, curing, just ain't as happy and fun as some might believe. Everyone should move to the country, by land and try it at least once. Happy Memories. K45

 

[rwiliff]

We have been out in the country for five years. Fair sized gardens, chickens, mules. We log a bit and mill the lumber for the house we're building. Heat with wood. Going on the second year of driving the mule team and just added a third for a bit more power and a lot more fun and challenge.

You are right about it being a bunch of work. I think it will help keep me young if it doesn't make an old man out of me.

Warmest Regards,
Robert

 

[Kentucky45]

We have been out in the country for five years. Fair sized gardens, chickens, mules. We log a bit and mill the lumber for the house we're building. Heat with wood. Going on the second year of driving the mule team and just added a third for a bit more power and a lot more fun and challenge.

You are right about it being a bunch of work. I think it will help keep me young if it doesn't make an old man out of me.

Warmest Regards,
Robert

Good for you Robert. Five years? You've made it. Most give up and sell out in the second year. When people make it about 4 years they'll probably stay. I used to train horses and mules to the sled. We used them for buggy and plow. Nothing like a good garden mule. I had one mule that I was crazy about. Pete. He was a Sorrel mule about 700lbs. Fun to plow with but when Pete decided he'd had enough for the day he'd just set down and there was nothing you could do to get him up. I spanked his bottom with the ranes, poked him with a cattle prod, pulled on him, pushed on him, and called him alot of names he didn't recognize. But when he sat his butt down on the ground it stayed down. So I'd unhook him and get another horse or mule to work. I'd be plowing and Pete would set there for however long he wanted and then he'd get up and walk to the shed and wait for me to take his harness off. I would get so mad when he'd set down but at the same time it was kind of funny too. I didn't take working animals too seriously. I had tractors when I wanted to get serious. Pete had figured out what he could get by with just like a kid will do and he eventually knew that I could and couldn't and would and wouldn't do about it. Twenty years ago there were several people in this area that still worked gardens with good mules and horses. Now I don't know of any. Twenty years ago the Dairy Queen had no less than 10 horse trailers in front of it each morning seven days a week too. Farmers and ranchers going out to check their cows on horseback. Then it changed to pickups pulling small trailers with ATVs on them to check their cows. That was easier. Then they used a shed already there or they built a small shed on the properties to store the ATVs and left them out there to use each day. Then they didn't have to load the ATVs every day. That was easier too. Things sure changed fast for the country life. And everyone asks where it went to. It's pretty easy to figure out. We're in the mechanical age now and nothing less than a nationwide famine would get people back to using animals and making gardens. Animals don't much matter any more in allot of areas. If something is easier that's all that matters these days. We can get back to the TV faster if we do it the shorter and easier way. We all talk about eating healthier but where did all the gardens go? Good or bad? I guess most people are too busy to do things the old ways anymore. I'm glad to hear you still follow those mules. K45

 

[rwiliff]

Yes the mules are a way of life. We're learning to plow with them, not real fancy but the ground does get turned over. We don't try to do anything HC, but do try to live old timey. There are actually four families of us old poof mule drivers that hang out together around here.

We still spend too much at the grocer's, but will probably raise a couple beef this year.



Warmest Regards,
Robert

 

[ranewman]

Living here in Virgina, we are blessed to have the prefect spot for a super garden each year. As usual, it gets out of hand (just 1 more tomato plant..etc) We have friends that dont have the area we have and we all get together and "coop" the garden. We all take part in planting, weeding, harvesting, canning/freezing, and best of all enjoying the fruits of our labors.
You have to go a long long way to beat the taste of fresh canned 'maters when it snowing and 20* outside!
Rick

 

[Kentucky45]

We have friends that dont have the area we have and we all get together and "coop" the garden. We all take part in planting, weeding, harvesting, canning/freezing, and best of all enjoying the fruits of our labors.
Rick

That's a good way to garden Rick. We used to garden 15 acres of our land with family. Di it for years. I'll admit I did most of the breaking, discing, and long row plating with tractors, but they helped with gas and did allot of howing and short row planting and cultivating. Big variety of vegetables. Some folks canned and some ran the pea sheller. We all pulled corn, picked tomatoes and after I plowed them up we all picked up Red Skin potatoes and bagged them. Best potatoes you can eat. They take a little longer to fry, but their worth it. We planted a big variety of vegetables. And it always gave me a chance to use Pete, my mule, till he got tired and sat down. I used to plant G90 sweet corn to eat. Yellow Dent for feed. Everyone seemed to show up just before lunch during G90 corn pulling. We'd pull and sack, then pull an ear and eat it. I believe it takes two hours for the sugar in corn to turn to starch and lose the sweetness. Anyway that was the time limit we went by. That starch didn't have a chance. We'd pull, eat, and run bags to the freezers to beat the two hour deadine. That way we saved the sugar. It was so sweet, when we ate it raw right off the stock it tasted like candy. The relatives are mostly all gone now but back when we gardened we always had good fresh vegetables.

 

[omarick1948]

Living in the city,. I don't have a very big garden, but I always hit the farmers market for cabbage each year, as this old German has to make his kraut every summer! About 30 quarts put up last year!

Rick

 

[hoochiepapa]

We did it for four years, had to pull up stakes and move close to my dad 'cause he was dying and mom needed us.
But we worked hard, had enough for the two of us and then sold stuff at the farmer's market. One year, we had tomatoes at the market on June 3. We had a small green house and my wife would start seeds in Jan. or early Feb. and by planting time we had adult plants with flowers. I have a pic of my wife next to our tomato plants that were 7 feet tall! Folks kept accusing us of buying the 'maters at the local Safeway-until they tasted them.
My wife also raised long stem flowers to sell to the flower shops. They couldn't figger out how we had those long stems so early in the year, when they had to buy them from South America. :grin:

 

[bilder]

We can lots of salmon every year, both in glass jars and cans. What is really good is to smoke the salmon then can it. Makes a great dip or snack.

We also put up a bunch of raspberry and rhubarb jam every summer. Also pick wild blueberries as well as some other wild edibles.

 

[msuspartan]

As an answer to your question, as far as you want! I think as the further away we get as society, the more attractive it becomes. The fact that you are only 22 is a testament to your vision of the future. Keep at it!!! :thumbsup:
Most people your age are too engrossed with technology and texting. Understanding the ways of our forebearers is the key to our survival in the future. History always repeats itself and to ignore it is dangerous.\

GOOD JOB!!!!!!!

Cheers, DonK

 

[Reb_Cav2]

Would love to see how you can your Salmon. Being from the Pacific Northwest I get a few Salmon and Steelhead each year and would love to can the meat instead of freezing all the time. Also love the idea of smoking it first. If you have a recipe or some directions of how you do it I would love to hear from you
Thank you for your time
John

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I forgot to add that a sister and b-n-law lived in Ak for several years - he is a big fisherman and sometimes hunter and brought home lot of salmon.
he built a smokehouse and dry/cool smoked it. the salmon was fairly well dryed out, they sent me a good bit of it. tasty stuff it was. it required refrigeration down here of course but up there they hung it up off the eaves of their house wrapped in old sheets and such.

 

[east texas]

well i live out in the woods you see, the woman and the kids and the dogs and me, i got a shotgun rifle and a 4 wheel drive and a country boy can survive! no really! i can all my own jams and jellies,grow all my veggies and kill most of my meat i put up {can} every thing i can! i even put up venison cut into chunks for stew or chili later i put up leftovers like soups, or whatever when i get enough leftovers in the big freezer out back i get busy. i can tomatoes,squash,beans,corn, whatever. smoke my own meats too .grow my own backy and can make my own pipes when needed! make a little wine. it sounds pretty cool but it is a buttload of work! being self sufficent is its own reward but it seems it was a lot easier when i had a job and just bought what i needed. BUT YOU CANT BUY SATISFACTION :v

 

[east texas]

VERY well said don! :applause:

 

[shmrck1]

also- isn't it cool that one day were going to be able to look at our gandkids/nieces/nephews, etc. and use the words 'back in 'ought five.." as it pertains to a year? by golly we'll sound real old then.

mattybrock,
You being 22,let me just say I already
have them grandkids older than you.It's not what I say to my grandkids,near as much as what they are going to tell their's.
John

 

[zimmerstutzen]

We can veggies and fruit, but don't really care for canned meat or fish. We do dry alot of fruit also. Make a bit of jerky. I have a hand flour mill, just in case. But we have something here that many places don't. Food outlet stores. They beat the manure out of most grocery stores. One here in town has some of the best bread and cheapest cold cuts imagineable. The problem is that they sell what ever they can get a deal on. You never know what they will have. Sometimes it seems like it is all cakes and pickles.At one of them, I have been getting Canadian bacon for $1.00 a pound. We raise our own eggs and beef. Have goats for milk & cheese and if the manure really hits the fan, I have two draft horses and a forecart.