Canning Lessons

It's had been so long since I heard the tinkle of a canner going full blast.

I have the canner, the jars and the books...but the confidence had been missing.

My innate clumsiness could be scary in canning if combined with too much ignorance.

So I consulted someone willing to take on a student of two...minions...

So Saturday Jennifer and I traipsed off to Sarah's house to can pinto beans with bacon and pork shoulder.

We did two complete batches and in between I cleaned pumpkin seeds for roasting.

The first batch was beans that had been soaked all night, the second batch was dry beans.  Next week, we can compare.

Non electric lighting

Seasonal preps, we all have them; be it changing the batteries on our smoke detectors or getting out the snow chains.

One of mine is lights.
Yes, lights.
Growing up, heat was never an issue in the winter as we had a well-insulated basement and gas heat.  In the summer there was the pond and creek to cool off. But lights, there was nothing….absolute blackness when the lights went off.

Where I lived, there was nothing but stars. Luckily, my parents were old time country folk who had various coal oil lamps sitting around. When the lights went out, the lamps would be lit.  All was fine in the world.
There are many alternatives or modern lighting. Humans have had various light sources throughout the years.

First off, there was oil lamps. Simple oil lamps and rush lights.  Animal fat is put into a holder such as a sea shell and a wick of some sort is put into the oil and hangs to the side of the shell.  Easy, simple and available everywhere in the world. Later, special holders were made, but a hollowed out rock or shell works.

http://www.ramshornstudio.com/early_lighting_4.htm

Made out of any available fat, these were smoky and often smelly.  But they worked and they are essentially free if you use your own old grease.

Rush Lights are simple candle like lights that are super cheap to make.  They are also smoky and smelly, but essentially free if you can get rushes.

http://jas-townsend.com/combination-rush-light-4040-p-1037.html

http://www.colonialsense.com/How-To_Guides/Interior/Rush_Lighting.php

Torches were simply rags wrapped around a stick or a piece of metal.  Soaked in oils or pitch/tar, they were lit to create a fire you could carry. Dangerous, as they can drip oils that can catch fire, these are not recommended for any inside use. Tiki Torches are the modern equivalent of the tar torch.

http://www.jonsbushcraft.com/birchtar.htm

Candles are the most commonly thought of emergency light.  Today, these are super cheap and a great alternative to electric lights.  Pets and children notwithstanding, they are relatively safe, not smoky and most of the time, they smell great. With stores like the Dollar Tree around, they are also a cheap solution.

Kerosene lamps are a homesteader’s mainstay. They are relatively safe. If used correctly, they do not smoke and do not smell. – depending on the type oil used. Pressure lanterns are a form of kerosene lamp that uses pressure to make a brighter light. Alladin Lamps are a non-pressurized lantern.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_lamp

More to come.....

Making your own vinegar

I am a novice vinegar maker. My problem is I simply do not eat enough fruits. But when I do eat fruit, I make vinegar out of the scraps.

I clean with vinegar and I use it as a fabric softener. I rinse my hair with vinegar.  I have used it in gnat traps and in cooking. Vinegar truly is a wonderful thing to keep in hand.  For those of you who are preppers, why store vinegar when you can make it as you need it.

I start with scraps. I have used pineapple cores, peach skins and apple scraps.

Let them sit out when they can get air..but no bugs. The trick is to gather the yeast that occurs naturally in the air. Yeast is everywhere. The scraps can be wrapped in cheesecloth or put into garment bags and hung in the corner if the kitchen...or outside.

Don't let the scraps rot, that is not the point. The point is to gather yeast.  Once the have gotten a good dose of fresh air...and hopefully yeast, they need to be put into a sugar solution. The ratio is one quart water: 1/4 cup sugar (or one gallon water:1 cup sugar). It is best to not use plain white sugar. It has been bleached and treated to prevent molds. Use a brown sugar or a non bleached natural sugar for the best results.  Chopping the scraps helps also as it allows more access to the natural sugars. 

I save my scraps as I eat apples.  I put them into the warm sugar solution. When I get enough, I open it up and let more yeast in with cheese cloth.  After it ferments a while, I remove the cheesecloth and put my lid with the airlock attached to let it complete the fermentation process and keep bugs out. When it has fermented a few weeks, I cap it off and put it on the shelf.

Once you have vinegar going, you add a bit of your old vinegar..or the entire mother floating on the top to a new solution to jump start the process.

You can have a separate vinegar for each different fruit you eat or mix them all together,  it is your choice.  

If you cap the vinegar with normal lids it will corrode the caps.   I personally use old vodka bottles I gather. They will normally fit on a shelf easily,  they are easy to hold when full and they have a handy thing in the spout to make it pour easily. 

References

http://www.rural-revolution.com/2013/07/making-fruit-scrap-vinegar.html?m=1

http://www.eattheweeds.com/vinegar-your-own-unique-strain/

http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Household_Cyclopedia_of_General_Information/howtomak_bjc.html

http://www.countrysidemag.com/83-4/countryside_staff/

Keeping warm in power outages

I recent Facebook discussion got me thinking of power outages and hours to keep warm in the winter.

That is not really a concern of mine and hasn't been for several years. Right now, I heat almost entirely with kerosene.  I treat the kerosene for the smell and have no real issues.  The kerosene provides heat and light. In a pinch, I can also use it for cooking.

But I have had to survive in emergencies.

Below is gathered some hints too stay warm in a grid down situation.

First I would put a tent in living room as it is a smaller area to heat.

Use sheets, blankets or even pillows to cover all the windows except one. That one window will be needed for ventilation.

Bring my solar lights into tent...it provides plenty of light

Set up the sun oven outdoors to heat water in bottles wrapped in dark cloth. When they are hot, wrap in wool socks and bring in the tent to give off heat.

Light a kerosene lantern to give heat. Move the cat beds into tent, cats have a temperature several degree above humans. Dogs will work also.

Eat, as the act of eating and digesting generates core heat.

Gather wool blankets, sleeping bags or whatever to insulate tent.  Don't forget about the floor either.

Wrap up the water heater.  It will not only give water, but warm water in cold nights. It will also help it not cool and freeze as fast.

Dress in layers. Cotton first to wick sweat, then wool to insulate. Spritz the wool with water as needed to raise the temperature of the wool.

Never drink anything cold as that chills the body core.

Set alarms specifically for checking toes and fingers for cold damage.

Crack a window for ventilation. Remember the window left uncovered?

Be sure to let someone know you are in an emergency situation so they can check in with you occasionally.

So, that is the main things.  This takes into account you are on a grid heating system and do not have an off-grid backup.

The crazy things we do.

Prepping vs what we do. Am I a prepper? I do not think so. A hoarder...yes, eccentric certainly. But a prepper..no. I believe in being prepared. Being raised in a farm, a very rural farm, has given me experience with nature's mini disasters. Days without electricity after storms, months (yes months) without water; I survived it all. There was no "prepping" involved, no panic: when something happened, it was dealt with calmly. My parents were both children of the depression. My mother was born in 1926, my father in 1930. My father told me once that the houses where he lived didn't get electricity until the 1940's. Although my mother was city raised, everything was rationed, even electricity. Maybe it is because of my parents, maybe it is simply being farm raised, but dealing with crisis is simple. I was raised with kerosene lamps. I was raised with a creek within walking distance. I was raised where every room had a wool blanket. It wasn't prepping. When the electricity went out, we lit the kerosene lamps. A few candles were thrown in for good measure. In the summer, all of the windows were opened and the chairs were moved under the trees to the shade. We cooked over a fire or an old cast iron camp stove. The hose was turned on to spray down the kids and sometimes the adults. If it was winter, all the windows were shut and covered by blinds, then blankets. The gas stove in the kitchen had the oven door opened for heat. Everyone dressed in long johns and hats. The wool blankets were used around shoulders and on the floor. A large pot of beans or stew was on the stove. We could sleep in the living room near the gas stove for warmth. When the water was out, it could take from days to months to fix, depending on the season. We hauled water from the creek. In the winter, we washed with a bucket while standing in the tub. In the summer, we bathed in the creek water. We cooked normally, even if the water was a little sandy at times. When something disastrous happened, no one panicked. Panicking does not help. My parents would simply put the kids to work doing what was needed. So I grew knowing that you always had to have a wool blanket near. You always had kerosene lamps sitting somewhere on a shelf. If I wanted water without sand, I had better bottle some up before the rains start. Never forget where the candles are stored. Always carry a knife and a lighter. So when I grew up and moved from home, I bought wool blankets, kerosene lamps and candles. And I became prepared. Yes, there is more to it than that, but I will have to explains the rest later. So then I met Jennifer. She is interested in a lot of the things I love. She is completely NOT a prepper. She love knowledge and learning to do things the old fashioned way. So we do a lot of crazy and things that are interpreted as "prepping". But really, neither of us are preppers.