We've got around 1,000 acres of wheat planted on the farm, and it looks really good at this point. Just enough rain has fallen to get it off to a good start. The fields are wet enough that we will not get any more planted though.
Installation of our solar system begins next week. By the end of December our home and all of the outbuildings, except the donkey barn, will be 100% solar. This is a very exciting step for us on the road to complete self-sufficiency. We had originally planned 2 windmills, but in the long run solar won out. We will install 1 small windmill to operate a well supplying water and power to the livestock areas.
Time to concentrate on some serious hunting and fishing before Christmas. My husband killed a little buck last night, but we had to take it to the processor because the weather was not cool enough to hang it here. I plan on canning a bunch of deer meat this year. I've been canning chicken for a few years now and it is so convenient to have meat that is already cooked and ready to put into a meal. That will make room for more fish in the freezer :)
All of my beehives have been winterized, although the bees still work on warm days like we are having now. I've really enjoyed my first year of beekeeping and would highly recommend it to anyone. They are fun, fascinating, and do the garden a world of good. The honey is a great reward as well.
My best regards to all of my gardening FRiends!
I am so impressed with all you have accomplished. Congratulations! I have books (now over 25 years old) about doing all that (solar, windmills) but met resistance from my husband who thought it wasn’t practical for us. He was probably right. There used to be a man who lived near me with 2 modern windmills on his farm. He offered to meet with us on all the ins and outs of establishing wind power as one of our sources of power. But, we never met, and he died. The heirs sold the farm.
A friend of mine purchased the buildings and land, but a pesky neighbor of hers kept cutting the wire between the windmills and the house! So, now the windmills have been removed. Can you imagine?
Here in south central Nebraska- today I cut my parsley and tarragon to bring in to dry- I don’t know of any year I have had anything still growing the first part of December. We are supposed to have a whopper of a storm coming through tonight and tomorrow, so I decided now was the time.
The parsley had new growth and a lot of leaves from the linden tree in and amongst the plants- I noticed the tarragon had managed to do some blooming,
I did some last minute clean up today- had a bag of fertilizer that needed put in the garden shed. Brought in my spike ( don’t recall the name, but the fellow one puts in a planter arrangement to give some height-—It is still very happy but I trimmed it a bit when I picked it up. It had grown roots through the hole in the bottom of the container.
I have had it through two winters now- I will put it in a larger planter next spring and let it do its thing.
How do you prep your chicken to can it and what do you best use it for? How is the consistency? I caught the canning bug this year and now that veg season is done, I’m turning to the pressure canner. So far I’ve only done taco meat (a little mushier than fresh but my taco eaters liked it just fine) and would like to do more. Thanks for any tips.