My canning class has been going great, only one more class to go, and we will be making something easy, like Pomegranate Jelly (using juice). The girls in the class really seem enthused about canning, I pray it continues throughout their life, and they embrace it as a way of providing for their families (now and in the future).
We spent last weekend butchering a wild hog. A friend had it in a hog trap, and was going out of town. She stopped by the library to let me know to go get it. PH went over and dispatched it, and then spent the evening gutting and skinning. We let it hang all night, since the temps were in the 40s. He spent Saturday morning cutting off all the meat, and packing into my tubs. Then we spent Saturday afternoon using the meat grinder to grind it all up, and packaged it with the vacuum sealer. We now have about 60 lbs of ground meat, 10 lbs of pork sausage balls, ribs, and two pork loins. I am also making bacon. It is the first time I have made bacon, so we will see how it goes. In total, we were blessed with about 80 lbs of meat. This was much needed as our freezer was almost empty. Ground Beef around here is $7 a pound, so I have saved myself an estimated $560 (on the high end). We don't have ground pork in the store here, so I didn't have anything to compare it to.
(Below is a "montage" of photos that PD#1 put together.)
PH has been insulating in the house again. He has finished the Master Bedroom, and is working his way around the living room walls. Even just that little bit of insulation makes a big difference in keeping the place warmer. He has also been working in the garden for me. I need to plant a few more items in our Fall garden before Winter gets here! I will be ordering canning lids, as I am out. There is a great sale on Amazon for 360 lids for $59.95, though Lehman's has them also for a few dollars more. They are on my list for payday. The canning supplies are just are not going on sale here, like they normally do. I am very disappointed. I was looking forward to stocking up.
I am still anxious to get bees for the property. Praying I will be able to do so in the Spring. I will be working on PH all Winter. I'll get them sooner or later (prayerfully SOONER!)
Our pond is full, and stocked with fish now. We are routinely chasing away the cranes/herons, and shooting turtles to safeguard our food supply :)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Hey Amy,
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about fall clean-up, there's plenty of that to do this year.
Again, I am so happy to hear your canning classes are really going well. Canning supplies here are very pricey, nothing has really gone on sale. I was lucky several months back Ball had coupons in the Sunday paper, and I was able to get 6 boxes of lids for less than a 80 cents a box. When I go to craigslist,yard sales, estate sales and regular shopping, I'm always looking for a deal on canning jars.
Congratulations on the wild hog (by the way great pictures of the hog)this will give you some really good meat for the freezer. Our son wants to wild hog hunt but right now, I've been telling him to wait. He broke his hand and this needs to heal first. Will PH be going out hunting for some deer this year? Bulldog Man is going out in 1 1/2 weeks, I'm hoping he comes back with a deer to help fill the freezer.
I can imagine you both are very busy trying to get the last of the house completed, and insulated before it gets to cold outside.
How are the kids doing? I hope everyone's well and enjoying school.
Take care, it's good to hear updates. Give everyone a hug.
Your Friend,
Sandy, Oklahomatransient.blogspot.com
P.S. Have you ever tried making turtle soup with the turtles your shooting? It's pretty good.
Hi Sandy! No, PH won't be going out anywhere, but he will be trying to hunt one here on our own land. They are all around, and we see the evidence they have been here, so he is putting out corn, and working on a little camo so he can lie in wait. I am praying he gets one, that would be great to add to our freezer. I'd love a wild turkey as well. We have plenty of ducks in the pond, and geese are heading south. I hear them honking, and no idea where they originated. The kids are doing good, though PD#1 is letting her 15 year old attitude get the best of her at times :) I did mention to PH about making turtle soup, and he said he would remember that for next time. LOL Now, I need to find out how to get it out of it's shell, and how to cook it!
DeleteFantastic about the wild hog. My jaw hit the floor when I heard the price of ground beef. We have beef in the freezer from a yearling steer we had processed the end of Sept. Normally we do our own butchering but were in the middle of moving to our new farm and had no running water (still don't) and it was too warm to hang the meat. We received a foot+ of snow from Sandy and are still out of power. Thankful for our wood and coal stoves. Having a pond is a real blessing. We don't have one here but I'd love to try to put one in. Water is a pretty big issue here on top of this hill. Have you tried eating the turtles? What kind of fish do you stock? I'm also hoping to get bees. The previous owners had bees at some point. There is still some beekeeping stuff and even some jars of honey! Blessings on your Fall garden.
ReplyDeleteHi Missy! I am so glad to hear from you :) The price of regular ground beef is about $4, but I only buy the grassfed/organic/local beef, so that is $7 a pound. I haven't bought any since April. We purchased 1/4 a steer in April, but I only have a few steaks and one package of ground beef left (found it last night). I will use up the ground pork, before buying beef, unless I have some friends over. A few of my friends do not eat pork for religious reasons, so I try to serve beef or chicken at those times. I am glad you have heat, and were smart enough to prepare. I assume you have a generator? Hey, no shame in having your steer processed, at least it is your own meat, and it is healthy and clean. I am worried about my grandmother there in WV, I am praying she has someone looking out for her. Haven't heard from her, and am getting worried. I haven't ever had turtle, but I did mention it to my husband, so we will try it next time he shoots one. We stocked the pond with perch, catfish and minnows. I hope to hear from you again soon!
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