Sheltered in Place?

Week 2

Call it sheltering in place or self quarantine during this virus pandemic, it's business as usual here on the homestead. Will we have shortages in groceries? Admittedly, some in the coming weeks. The cupboard is almost bare. While Walmart and Ingles are doing their best on restocking the shelves, the demand is high. I am forever thankful that we are only two here to feed besides the critters. We aren't desperate by any stretch of the imagination.

Now we're in the second week of self/county government imposed isolation to try and contain the spread of the virus. This week the number of those with active viral processes (not just tested positive) has jumped to 12 and those infected with flu number 50 hospitalized. So the generally imposed quarantine isn't working or maybe it is. There's no telling how many more cases of the virus or the flu there would be if it wasn't put in place.

Many are reaching stages of boredom and feeling the isolation of it all. That's the thing about homesteading, there's always more work to do than we have time for. For a week now, Cara, our English cross satin angora has sat in her cage with a blown coat. She's waiting to be plucked clean of it. I just haven't had the two hours to spare. I've been in garden mode digging out the bunny/chicken hoop barn and moving the wet compost to the garden.

Luna and Frankie, Reynaldo's dogs.

This week, I'm trying to keep Luna, Reynaldo's German Shepherd, from killing another hen. Because Luna has started attacking chickens, her little "brother" Frankie follows suit. Frankie also isn't house trained so he's leaving puddles and piles on our carpet. Grrr! We didn't get these dogs to train. They are not our dogs, but because we have dogs, their playmates, they have the run of the place also.

Nnyus is still training both younger dogs, Kassity and Luna, about protecting the properties from predators. Nnyus has little patience for Frankie and has let him know in short order. She's an old dog and her days of raising pups is ancient history. Frankie is slowly learning to respect his elders because Nnyus is getting stronger in her reprimands with him. Luna finally learned "go home" this week. The puppy, Frankie, was dragged several times out the door and told to "go home." He still doesn't get it yet, but he will.

So sheltering in place is the same old, same old thing for us. The cockeyed critters keep us hopping. The critters have at least a month and a half's worth of food in the bins for the dogs and cats. The chickens can free range if feed runs out. There's an ample supply of worms and bugs to feed all of them with just a minimal supplement of grains. The rabbits go through a 50# sack of feed every two months and have an extra 50# bale of timothy hay in the storeroom. So they are all good for at least three months or more.

We've got enough paper goods for six months so we won't have to use our backup flannel sheet personal cloths. But, we have the luxury of choice. Choice is an oft over looked luxury when faced with shortages, but for the most part we still have it.

I might not find a chuck roast or stew meat to make
a pot of beef stew or beef and vegetable soup, but what I did find was Hormel's beef toast in au jus. I bought the limited two for the basis of my beef stew. Heck, the meat was almost cut the way I needed it so it was a bonus for my purposes and instead of  eight meals it made twenty-four. Having the know how to stretch what you got comes in handy at times like these. That and being able to make things from scratch are main advantages of surviving this quarantine.

My lettuces and radishes are big enough to cut a few leaves for salad to go with our meals. What with foraging the weed population (dandelions, plantain, assorted weeds), we can have a fresh green salad twice a week. It will only get better with time as spring progresses before the garden is fully harvestable. In the end, we'll make it through.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Preparedness in Lean Times

This COVID-19 virus couldn't have come at a worse time for us. With the failed garden last year, too soon to harvest most vegetables, and the grocery stores having lean picking planning meals around what we have is a minor challenge. So, this is what my menus are like...

• 15 Bean Soup seasoned with a ham bone with rice and cornbread. Beams and rice form a complete amino acid chain (aka protein). The cornbread is an excellent filler and fiber.
• Hamburger Soup (recipe below) with leftover cornbread.
• Chicken and Dumplings, green beans, and a small tossed salad. My favorite comfort food.
• Quiches with a small tossed salad.
• Beef Stew with biscuits. 
• Bacon Casserole (next week's recipe) with a spinach salad and rolls

Not too shoddy, huh?These meals hark back to my "cook once and eat several times. The extras can be either canned or frozen for later use. Serving amounts are large at 16 -20 servings. For only the two of us on this homestead, that's 8-10 meals of each recipe! That's plenty enough food to carry us through. If I do get sick, I'll have some quick fix meals with almost effort. All the hard work is done. My shopping list is small with the grocery stores putting a limited of two on everything they do have since mid March.

Chef Jo's Hamburger Soup
Serves 20

What you'll need 

Hamburger soup

5 lbs ground beef, 80/20
2 onions, large and diced
5 stalks of celery, including leafy green leaves diced
1 pt jar of Fagioli soup, I canned this previously*
1 qt jar of green beans, about 1 lb 1 1/2" cut pieces
2 cups corn kernels,
1 qt jar tomato sauce
1 Tbs Italian seasoning* plus 1 tsp oregano
6 cloves garlic, minced 
                                                             3 large potatoes, diced
                                                             4 large carrots, diced
                                                             1/2 pt of dehydrated mushroom, or 1 pt mushrooms,
                                                              canned
                                                             2 qts beef bone broth or stock
                                                             2 large bay leaves
                                                             Salt and pepper to taste

Notes-* If you do not have the Fagioli soup canned add 15 oz can cannelloni beans (rinsed), 15 oz can dark red kidney beans (rinsed), 1/2 lb hot Italian sausage (cooked), 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, 3 cups V-8, and 1 15 oz can kale. You'll end up with 36 servings of hamburger soup.

* Italian Seasoning

2 Tbs dried oregano
2 Tbs dried basil
1 Tbs dried rosemary, ground
1 Tbs marjoram
1/2 Tbs dried red pepper

Grind coarsely with mortar and pestle. Place in air tight container.


Putting it all together

• Brown ground beef in large stock pot. If using the Fagioli recipe given above in the notes, add Italian sausage.
• Drain off all but 1 Tbs of grease. If you drain the meat from pot with a lid rather than a colander, you'll have about 1 Tbs of grease left with the meat.
• Add onions, celery, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and carrots to the pot. Scraping fond (brown bits on the bottom of the pot as you stir.
• Stir well, cover and cook until the onions and celery are done. The carrots will still not be cooked through.
• Add Fagioli, tomato sauce, beef broth, corn, green beans, and potatoes.
• Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
• Check for salt and pepper. Add if needed.
• Simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.  

Serving Suggestion- Add macaroni or egg noodle, or barley the last twenty minutes of cooking. Serve with grated Cheddar, Swiss or Parmesan cheese to the serving bowls. If canning this recipe omit the above and add cooked version when reheating. Serve with crusty bread, cornbread, or rolls.  Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!

                                       Chef Jo                                                      

Sowing Seeds and Watching Them Grow

Is there anything more boring than that? Anything is farther from the truth. Every farmer longs for this time of year.  Here in our necks of the woods violets, daffodils and crocus are all abloom. They are first to hearld in the coming spring. The peach trees are starting to show their colors this week too. Of course many a year, these blooms are covered just as quickly with late snows or killing frosts. Peaches actually need this drop in temperature to produce good fruit.

I'm watching for the first signs of green sprouts in my indoor garden. Any day now, I should see the new signs of life in these trays. Each sprout holds a promise of abundant growth and harvest. We are positively giddy at the promise.

For the first time in months, I didn't rush to start a fire in the wood stove upon rising. There may be a few coolish days to come, but spring is definitely on it's way. I'm itching to get my hands dirty. Not the little bit dirty from planting seeds, but the up to the elbows of sweet smelling earth kind of dirty. I get this way around mid March and it continues through to October. From Daddy's little girl making mud pies to a gardener trying to live an organic, self sufficient lifestyle. Yes, it's been my life long dream.

So I sowed carrots, lettuces, radishes, and green peas week before last. My potato chits are hardening off and ready to go in the garden. I took a week off and now this week, I'm sowing some more seeds. Thirty to sixty seeds each. I'll repeat the pattern again this week. In two more weeks, I'll sow corn, onions, garlic, and herbs. I like the instant gratification of seeing plants in my garden. Plus, I can mulch around plants better to hold down the weed population. After the weed explosion of 2019, we honestly considered planting everything in pots this year.

Mel and I differ in opinions on starting seeds. I say, start them all and plant the plants. This way I can pick and choose which plants to grow. Mel says plant the seeds in the grown the way nature intended. My major problem with this approach is not all seeds will germinate, Then you are left with gaps in your rows. When working a small garden space, every inch counts. Every inch has to produce something. Nature needs a push or a head start.

Thirty Roma tomato plants netting 300 lbs of tomatoes in a 26' row may seem extreme, but I've done it. Secession planting green beans for a yield for 260 lbs of green beans for a year is also doable. Twenty pound harvests of oregano, basil, and other herbs planted around each other provides pest deterrent and happy cohabitation relationships.

I'm looking forward to sitting on the front porch swing shelling peas til my fingers hurt. Loading half pint canning jars with my bounty to squirrel them away until the fresh eating is done. Packing tomatoes away in the freezer to can into sauce later. I will have to can one batch of tomatoes to keep us in sauce though. The case of sauce I made this fall is almost gone.

To have a full stores building once again. Full of the fruits of our labor. Yes, I'm sowing seeds and watching them grow. I'm shooting for 100% self sustainability in green peas, green beans, corn, potatoes, and tomatoes this year. Plus, a year's supply of kimchi and sauerkraut for me. All homegrown.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Me, a Sage?

This is a continuation of Sunday's article. I'm up to my elbow in flour this morning. Even though, I ground enough flour for this week's baking, I sort of went overboard in baking. So now, I was sifting it to make some really fluffy, yummy biscuits for deer sausage biscuits for breakfast.

We were gifted 5 lbs of already prepared and packaged deer sausage by our wood delivery guy. I cooked some off plain to check the seasoning. I don't think there was any in there and the fat ratio was off. I corrected this by adding a half pint of rendered bacon fat (that I'd canned earlier last year) to each lb of sausage I thawed. It's not as good as chunks of fat mixed in with the meat but only what I had on hand. I used my trusted recipe for general sausage. I didn't think I was actually going to give a recipe this post, but this one snuck in.

General Sausage Spice Mix
to season already spiced sausage that tastes bland

What you'll need per 2 lbs of meat/fat

• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp salt
  3 ¹⁄₂ tsp paprika
  ²⁄₃ tsp garlic powder
  ¹⁄₃ tsp Fennel seed, cracked with mortar and pestle
  1 tsp black pepper
  ¹⁄₄ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

  I'll add 2 tsp sage to pork and chicken sausage.
  I'll add 1/4 tsp of Liquid Smoke if I want a slight smoked flavor. 
  
  For new sausage I'll double this amount.

  
  

  
  

Anyhow, back to the topic of this post. There have been quite a few moments that I cherish the knowledge that I've garnered from others, been taught, and learned just from experimenting with food and preserving in over half a century on Earth. With so much of the country experiencing weeks of quarantines, we are prepared and ready should the need arise with this new threat of COVID-19, Corona Virus, making its rounds.

I bought two 2lb containers of Hooiser Hill Farms Whole Milk Powder for stores last year. I bought it to see if Mel would drink it in a pinch. She didn't like it. So I've been using it for cooking and baking. Personally, I didn't mind the taste on cereal. Anything is better than NIDO or Carnation dry skim milk. I guess in the long run towards self sufficiency, we'll have to buy a mini cow to supply our drinking milk needs. She didn't prefer goat's milk either.

I guess my taste buds aren't that picky. I'll drink NIDO and the Carnation stuff in a pinch too, but only as a last resort.  That's why I said a mini cow might be in our future. I really doubt it. I'd much rather have goats. Although, goat's milk is naturally homogenized and it's harder to separate the cream from the milk. Mel says goat's milk is too rich and sweet for her tastes. I tried. Still, it's not a total loss. I found a powder milk I can bake and cook with. Speaking of which, I need to order two more 2lb containers soon for my stores.

Do I know everything about cooking, preserving, and this part of homesteading? Even after forty years, I can say quite honestly...no. But I know a lot which I share freely with others. I know enough to maintain our health and nutritional needs, plus a smidgen of our medical needs organically. I'm a forever student and constantly learning. That's my true blessings, my thirst for knowledge and a curiosity to try.

My curiosity to try new ways of doing old things. Reinventing the wheel as it were in the medical and culinary world around me. I analyze and try everything at least once. Like Brussels sprouts, I was forced to eat them as a child and hated them. Now, I crave them cooked my way. Sometimes the line between hate and love is just the method they are served and how they are cooked. I've found many foods I turned my nose up at as a child or young adult was because of this. I revisited many of these foods from a chef's point of view. Why did I dislike so and so? How could it be made better? Then it's off to the kitchen to try. When I was looking for an herbal fever reducer, I found white clover. I'm allergic to aspirin, tylenol, and motrin.There are so many incidents of this...it's awesome.

Because of this new found attitude, I've moved several vegetable and meats from the despised category to the make it again category.  I grow dual purpose herbs to flavor my food and heal our bodies. All of this knowledge came with a price tag. Be it college tuition or hours listening to folks more than twice my age. But none of those sacrifices were in vain. The wisdom I got is priceless. I would do it all again if I could. Unfortunately, I am now the one younger folks and not so younger folks listen to like y'all come to. Not that I mind, but I feel I don't feel I know enough to be the sage. People are turning to me. Especially now, since the SHTF situation of COVID-19, Corona virus, is so close to us.

In cooking possibly. I've been doing it all of my adult life. I have enough sheepskins, awards, and job related experience to be able to teach others. My last position as a culinary arts instructor says so. But as such, I only guided others in industry standards. And yes, I could regale students with past experiences. Having said that, I guess I am the old guy I used to listen to. All I can do is share what I know even if I'm not like the parents, grandparents, and great grandparents I used to listen to. Hey, now that I think about it. I'm that role too. Woah! What a sobering thought!

Be grateful in the knowledge you've gain, but always be searching for alternatives. You may find a few surprises out there. Don't be afraid of trying new things or reinventing the wheel of thing you like or dislike. One day, you will be the sage younger folk listen to for expanding their knowledge base.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

Thankful We Are Homesteaders!

With the viruses going around, we are thankful that we are homesteaders! We live a semi, self imposed, isolationist lifestyle. Our outside contact is limited.

• We grow most of our own food.
• We have food staples and essentials stored (some for a year's worth), 
• I know how to make things from scratch, 
• We know how to do without and make do. 

These are major pluses in today's climate. We've had two reported cases of the COVID-19, Corona virus, in Atlanta. Now, we're 62 miles, 1 1/2 hours, from Atlanta, but there are commuter that live here and work in Atlanta so possibility of  exposure is greater for us than say other normal, rural communities.That in itself is a plus and minus of living here. 

When I think our today's "normal" society, it's just plain scary. Youngens today (by youngens I mean most people under 50), just have no idea  how to do any of this. The idea of being quarantined for two weeks, a month, or the even three months it'll take for this virus to burn itself out terrifies them, but not us. They are too used to an instant lifestyle. If they are hungry, it's a quick trip to Mickey D's, or some other restaurant, or a grocery store. If they are sick, a quick trip to the doctor or hospital, and the pharmacy makes them better. I could go on and on. They just haven't taken the time to learn alternatives. They felt like they didn't need to. These folks are thinking differently now.

Me, I spent the time with my elders and learned my whole life from their experiences. Part as a sign of respect and part as a thirst for knowledge of self preservation. I learned and took time to practice the skills they taught me long before I was a homesteader. Why? I dunno. I'm just wired that way. I'm the Queen of Abby Normal. I passed that knowledge on to loved ones and those that want to learn too. I'm thankful I listened every single day especially now.

Prevention for ALL illnesses
Prevention for most communicable illnesses are common sense and homesteading is the best.

• Frequent hand washing is the key. As a homesteader, when aren't you washing your hands? We are constantly touching animals, getting into messes of one sort or other, and cooking/preserving. We are constantly washing our hands even without outside contact. 
• For females, the most common reason we touch our face (eyes, nose and mouth) is our hair or fooling with makeup. We, as homesteaders, either pull our hair back with into a pony tail or with a head band, scarf, or a hat, or cut short.  Nothing is as aggravating as trying to do something and having your hair in your face. Am I right? Chickens don't care what we look like so long as we feed 'em. Gertie Hen isn't saying to Blackie Hen, "Did you see her today? What a mess!" If they did, would you care what the chickens thought?
• Avoid contact with others who are possibly infected. Our nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away.
• Any snot rags that aren't disposable are laundered. Germs don't like  hot water, soap, and bright sunshine.The disposables are tossed into to wood stove to be burned. For us, it's mostly allergies. Everything is in bloom right now and pollinating. But, we still have precautions in place. It's common sense, right?
• When we go out, we wash our hands and change our clothes when we get home. Who wants to wear their "good" clothes out to tend their gardens, cooking, or livestock?Or bring outsude illnesses in to our livestock? Not us.
•  Most stores have run out of toilet paper, Gator Ade, and rubbing alcohol as I type because everyone is now stocking up. The stores are unable to get replacement stock so easily. Oh me, oh my! Whatever are we to do? We buy our paper goods on sale at various times and have no less than a several month supply at any given time. If we run out, there's always the second hand flannel sheets and flannel shirts we bought for personal cloths. A substitute electrolyte solution is sweet tea with one addition... a 1/4 tsp of salt per 12 oz glass, and eating a small baked potato for potassium. Mel didn't ask why I added 5 lbs of small russet potatoes to the grocery list this month. Now, everyone knows why. For alcohol if we run out, there's always the 90% proof bottles of Vodka we keep for tinctures and extracts. What do you think the proof is? It's alcohol. Worse comes to worse, we hit a couple liquor stores next week. While the distilleries warn their alcohol is not strong enough, ANY alcohol is better than no alcohol.

As homesteaders, we know how to do without and how to ration what we have. We know how to make almost everything from scratch, and with a few basic ingredients, make whatever we need. We don't have to run to the market or store. Just last Wednesday, I was talking more about recycling, repurposing, and reselling trash items.

So the items we make for resale may not be sold at the local farmer's market this year to limit exposure because of this or that "epidemic," it's recycled trash. It will keep until the following year, or for selling on an etsy or ebay shop via the internet. That's the thing about trash, there will be more easily generated.Once cleaned and made, it can be stored.

So yes, we're thankful for being homesteaders!

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Crafting with Jo: Project Garbage to Treasures For Sale

I'm taking a break from "Cooking with Chef Jo" today to bring you a crafting segment. We do pretty well about upcycling our garbage for our own personal use and for sale like our plarn made from plastic bags and coverings. In reality, we generate about 6 trashcans of garbage (2-3 tall kitchen bags per can) that goes to the landfill every 3 or 4 months. If you are looking at your own garbage picked up weekly, and saying "Wow!"Here everything else is recycled or composted.

Well for 2020, we are facing financial set backs like car payments and growing Mel's poultry farm. So to combat this, we're looking at our garbage. One man's trash is another man's treasures. With a few tweaks towards reinvention and beautification, we'll make items to sell.

Now that our feed storage room is built into the barn workshop, we have a small stack of empty feed sacks just lying around. We used them as weather barrier in the walls, ceiling, and floor. It held in all the Styrofoam, peanuts, bubble wrap, and air pillows for insulation between 2 layers of feed sacks. The building was basically a free build for an 8x12 building. Now, it houses bulk 50 lb sack of chicken grains and seeds, rabbit food, cat and dog dry food. After a year, there are no signs of rats or any other critters in that room. On the top of this room, 50 lb bales of orchard grass bales are kept. We go in and mix up trashcan loads of chicken feed and carry it out to the chicken area.

But since that project was completed, we haven't used any feed sacks so they've just been gathering dust. We've used some to store sifted compost, or rabbit manure, or wood ash for dust bathing for the birds, making lye, or for the garden. But even so, we generate 4-5 bags a month.

I got to thinking of those tote bags. Some of them are stinking cute and go for a medium price ($12 each) on etsy and farmer's markets. I can do that! A few cuts and straight seams and you've got a tote bag for sale. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Money in the bank from garbage! Add my knitted plarn market totes...cha-ching! The plarn was made from grocery bags and packaging.

I started looking at other things most people put in the trash. Empty, single serve, plastic water or drink bottles, bleach, milk jugs, vinegar bottles, etc. How about converting them into planters. We were already thinking about selling plant starts at the farmer's market. How cute are these? Although, I was mainly thinking herbs. Imagine Catmint or catnip in a kitty cat one or watercress in a frog. YouTube, Pinterest, and the internet in general are full of ideas. Of course, these herbs will sell for a premium of $6 extra for the pot (16 oz bottle size) and plant. Money from garbage and it keeps it out of the landfills where it'll take 700 years to decompose. A double win for us.

We actually don't use too many plastic products. I may have to hit my neighbors up for theirs. <GRIN>

Made from empty jar

Empty jars and cans can get a whole new life too. The little geisha is made from an empty coffee jar with paint, a napkin, a plastic cup, a used tennis ball, and a bead. It's still a usable container. Can you imagine it refilled with rice cracker snacks, or tea. Just on it's own empty, it's a work of art. All from a jar you'd throw in the trash.  I'm definitely making a couple of these for me. This little gal would sell for $10 easily!

You can recycle these items into sewing kits, canisters, jewelry boxes, etc all from trash. Don't even get me started on cardboard recycling besides in my garden!

So I've got my work cut out for me. Let's see if I can't make those six garbage cans hit the landfill every six months while it pads our wallets. Speaking of which, the trash haul costs us only $6 a trip. How much does your trash service charge you? Meanwhile, Mel is creating farm decor signs and organizers out of pallets, and creating her version of bullet journals.

🎵A crafting we will go, a crafting we will go. High Ho the glue sticks go. A crafting we will go to make our pockets grow.🎵

Y'all have  a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Chickie Babies Adventures

As we ready ourselves for a new bunch of chicks, we are enjoying our 8-week old chicks. If they were meat birds, they would be halfway to butchering size. Now when you open the coop to check their water and feed, they try to escape. Not really escape as much as flying to see who can get to you first. When you have fourteen little gals all vying for your attention at once, it can get a little harried.

Upon opening half the outside access door, there's a flurry of activity from the hens. Dozens of little birds wings from the roosts and bottom of the coop all heading towards you at once. I'll have baby hens on tp of my head, shoulders, and arms in an instant. I'll quickly catch them and place them back in the coop because usually there is a dog or cat in close proximity.   I'd rather them not be traumatized by ending up in one of our other critter's mouths. I know my cats won't kill them, but I'm not so sure about the other critters. Can you see me trying to chase down Dervish or the dogs after they catch one? I think I'll pass.

The point is, we've trained our new hens to trust us and it started from day one on our homestead. They are a friendly bunch now. They look at Mel as the main mama. I'm their secondary mama.Either way, they are glad to see us and be loved on by us. There is an exception. One Barred Rock chick, loves her some Mel and only Mel. When I reach out to pet her, she lets me know in short order that I'm not allowed to by pecking my hand hard ( just short of drawing blood) in rapid succession. No, we won't be naming these new chicks or any subsequent chicks in Mel's business venture. They'll just be too many of them even if they all have distinctive characteristics.

I still haven't figured out just how we managed a standard silkie chick in our assortment. There's no mistaking the feathers, black skin, nor dark feet. She's a Silkie. Meyers doesn't hatch standard Silkies and she's too big for a bantam. I had thought maybe she was a Polish, but she's lacking in the tufted head feathers, sand there is no solid white in Meyer's breeding assortment. Somebody messed up somewhere. But we're not upset by it. Silkies are known to be very broody. So when we start the chicken farm with breed specific hens and roosters, she can hatch them out and raise them just like Brody and Black Butt. It'll be less work for us to do. Although there won't be the big hatch rates as with the incubator. But still, five to ten babies we won't have to care for is a plus. The mama raised chicks aren't as friendly as the ones we brood and raise.

Now that it hasn't rained in two days straight, it's the ideal time to open the coop door and let the babies out into a huge world (the 12'x26' run).`Besides, their coop needs to be cleaned out and new straw spread out. They've made a fairly large mess in there. The first challenge they face is the 2 1/2' ramp to get to the ground. The run is covered by straw and dried leaves. It takes a while for the most bold chicks to even step out of the coop. We are prepared for this and brought two chairs into the run for us to sit and wait. In a matter of a couple of hours, all the chicks are outside in the run. They are doing their own thing in clusters while we scrap the soiled bedding out of their coop and put fresh bedding down. We decided not to do the deep bedding methods for more comost for the garden.

Just before dusk, we go back out to the run and help wayward chicks back into the coop for the night. We will have to do this for several nights until they all learn when roosting time is.

Meanwhile, we'll muck out the bunny/chicken barn. We'll be converting this to raise even more chickens in and have a "maternity ward"/ toddler area for our broody girls to raise their young. It'll be  a safe place to grow out mama raised chickens. It's already set up for really young chicks. We put chicken wire up 3' to keep the rabbits in and it will work for the chicks too.

We'll be building a partitioning wall to separate the rabbits and chickens within the bunny/chicken hoop barn. We've been thinking about doing it for a while now. a wired pallet wall halfway up will work with a door between the rabbit and chicken area so I won't have to walk around the building. It will also help support the hoop roof that we are currently using 2x4x10s bracing.

So changes for the better are happening around our homestead. The baby chicks and upcoming baby chicks are causing us to rethink what we already have in place to repurpose for cheaper alternatives as Mel grows her business. And, the adventures are just beginning.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Citrus Bars

The cold dreary days of winter tells me that winter ain't done with us yet. The fact that we still are having snow falls, flurries, and ice reinforces that point even though some of our daytime highs are in the 60s to 70s. But as usual in wintertime in the NE Georgia mountains, the dreariness is caused by rain. Nothing reminds me of sunshine and spring is coming more than my citrus bars! The crisp but chewy cookie base and a thick layer of curd of lemon, tangerine, and orange juices just lifts my spirits away from the gray skies of winter. It's a little bit of sunshine in every bite and it's tasty too!

Our potted citrus trees start producing their fruits in the beginning of winter between October and February. So there's plenty of fresh citrus to be had. Everyone could use a great vitamin C booster too. I still remember my oldest daughter eating lemons without sugar as you would any other fruit from the time since she was old enough to raid the refrigerator. So needless to say, this dessert is one of her favorites.

Jo's Citrus Bars
9 hearty servings- 9" square pan

What you'll need
For the crust:
 2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt.,
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter
1/3 cup cold water.

Putting it together

• Mix together the flours, sugar and salt. 
• Slice up the butter and using your (clean) hands mix up the batter until it is very crumbly. 
• Stir in the water and mix to form a ball (you may need to add slightly more water if your dough doesn't stick together).
•  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator over night or in the freezer for 30 min to an hour.

What you'll need

For the filling:

8 large egg yolks
1 1/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 TBS tangerine zest
1 TBS orange zest
1/2 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1/4 cup tangerine juice (about 3 tangerines)
1/2 cup orange juice ( 1 orange)
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 Tablespoons (86g) unsalted butter, softened

Putting it together

• Place egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt into the top pot of your double boiler. 
• Using a whisk, beat until completely blended, then continue to whisk as the curd cooks. 
• Constant whisking prevents the egg yolks from curdling. If you see floaty white or yellow bits in the curd, your egg has curdled.
• Whisk and cook until the mixture becomes thick, resembling the texture of a loose pudding, about 10 minutes. If curd isn’t thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk.
• Remove pan from heat. 
• Cut the butter into 12 separate pieces, then stir into the curd one at a time stirring well after each addition.
• The butter will melt from the heat of the curd. 
• Pour curd into a jar or bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. (This prevents a skin from forming on top.) 
• The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. 
• Once cool, the plastic wrap can be removed.

Making the bars-

• Push the crust evenly on the bottom of a parchment lined 9x9 pan.
• Prick the crust to allow steam to release as it bakes.
• Baked 10 minutes at 400 degrees.The crust will be a golden brown.
• Pour curd on top of the crust.
• Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. The curd should be firm and lightly browned.
• Let bars cool on a rack for 5 minutes before sprinkling powdered sugar on top thickly with a fine mesh strainer.
• Allow bars to cool completely and slice into 9 squares.

Serving suggestion- when plating before service, Top with thin slices of lemon or tangerine well coated with sugar, or candied fruit twists. Usually mine are gone as soon as it cools. The whole house will smell of citrus fruits and draw the crowd into the kitchen. To save some for actually eating as a dessert, I have to bake two pans. One I'll slice into nine squares and the other one into 18 bars. The 18 bar pan will be for snacking. I hate depriving anyone. Nobody leaves my house hungry. If they do, it's their own blasted fault. 😁😜

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

When Pitfalls and Plans Collide

Blunt honesty time...
When it comes to operating a homestead on a shoe string budget, there are times when pitfalls and plans collide. This month or the next several months are like that for us again. Sigh!!!

It's March first and for the first in over ten years for Mel and seventeen for me, we have a car payment due. We were in a do or die situation that nobody wants. Mel hadn't replaced her truck that I wrecked last May.  She was being picky about finding the right vehicle. Her list was rather lengthy of wants. Meanwhile, my 17-year old Toyota van was pulling double duty. Well, it threw of rod and busted the seal. A rebuilt engine would have cost more than the van was worth. It needed to go into the shop, but we couldn't afford the down time with it being the only vehicle here nor the expense. So we were stuck, quite literally. We had to call a neighbor to bring us home.

By God's Grace, Mel found a 1996 Chevy Blazer within a day of earnestly looking. She had enough for the down payment, tax, title and tags, but it left us with about $160 until the 20th of February (It was only the 5th). She has 6 monthly car payments of a little over $200 a month which isn't bad. She had a friend finance it despite of the fact she hasn't held a paying job in almost 4 years! It was a "Thank you, Jesus! moment. As much as we hate being in debt again, our back was against the wall. Our homestead is three miles from town and our closest neighbor is 1/4 of a mile away. We had to have transportation.

With all the bad weather we've had, Mel didn't drive it. After about two weeks, she tried to go to the library and grocery store. The car didn't start. The alternator was defunct. So Mel called Auto Zone for the part and had them deliver it to the tune of $158. We now had $2! I actually had $45 in my account but couldn't get to the bank.

Mel got the part and put it on. The battery was dead so Mel put it on the charger. It didn't hold a charge that meant a bad battery. Another $180 to replace it and now the car payment is due! Sucks to be us right now. We were supposed to be ordering chicks this week for the next stage if Mel's poultry farm. Well, the poultry farm business plan has been put on the back burner for the time being.

My question is, how can you make income if you are topsy curvy in finances already? When the  best laid plans just aren't feasible? Somethings have to give and in our case, it's the new business venture. There's no way around it. It's going to be hard enough keeping groceries on the for us these next few months let alone having extra mouths to purchase and feed. When our first batch start laying, we'll have some extra income to work with and by then, the Blazer should be paid off too. We'll start saving for my vehicle. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I'll have one.

I'm beginning to be concerned just where the money is coming from. I'm more than qualified for half the jobs in the newspaper. In fact over qualified, but I'm physically and marginally mentally unable to work anymore. And, I also run into the same problem as Mel, I'm too blasted old. I'm older than her. Mel's depression keeps her out of the job market. Around here, the help wanted section is maybe half a column long (3 or 4 ads any given week).

So what are we going to do? I'm praying and Mel's kind of losing it. It was financially tight, but we were squeaking by and that was before car payments. I can't deal with this. I'm standing on God's mercy and promise. We'll get through this too and it will be another "Thank you, Jesus!" moment. I've had so many of these moments in my life. When all else fails, faith is answer. Mel is coming along, but still a long way off from total faith, surrender, and trust in God. I will say that since I've been here, she has grown in faith.

I usually do not speak at length about my faith in this venue very often, but I've also made no secret about being a minister in my work-a-day job prior to my strokes. So it should not be surprising to y'all that I'm talking like this. Building strong followers and fellowship is/was my life's calling. It's the reason I left my old life behind when God told me to come here in the first place. If nothing else, I am a faith-filled, obedient child. He has given me all and asks very little in return by comparison. Just as in our forefather's time, it is again for this homestead.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo