Back in the day canning and storing up food was hard work, the backbreaking processes of planting and harvesting and then following days of canning in a hot kitchen. It was part of farm life. I grew up preserving food…yes, back in the day. Hahaha! I learned quite a bit from my grandmother and mom. I didn’t think I would every preserve food when I was out on my on…never say never. Back in the day canning was hard work. Let’s fast forward to today. I still live on a farm with my husband. Yes, we have a garden and we can and preserve our food. I want to share with you the basics of how I can and preserve vegetables. Home canning is an easy way to preserve and share the bounty of your home garden or farmer’s market finds. *We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Click Here for more info about cookies collected and our privacy policy.* Canning Vegetables at HomeImproved methods of home canning make it more enjoyable and safer for a homemaker to preserve the natural goodness of vegetables. Foods spoil because of the action of molds, yeasts and bacteria. Also, enzymes in vegetables may cause undesirable changes in flavor, color and texture. Using the proper procedures during canning, such as processing foods with a high enough heat for a long enough time, destroys the organisms and stops the action of enzymes. Airtight seals then protect foods from contamination. Do not use a jar of canned goods if they appear cloud, foamy or have an “off” color or odor. Follow recipes carefully to ensure good results. Do not adjust sugar, vinegar or salt amounts in recipes as this can lead to food spoilage. Use 5 percent acidity white vinegar unless otherwise specified. For best results, use a canning salt that is processed without caking agents or iodine as these can affect color and crispness of the finished products. Certain foods like okra, carrots, green beans and asparagus are considered ‘low acid foods’ and must be canned in a steam pressure canner at 240 degrees to avoid botulism contamination unless sufficient vinegar is added to the recipe (as in pickling) to avoid contamination. Pickled foods can be processed in the water bath canner at 212 degrees. Equipment You Will NeedBoiling water canner or a large enough stock pot to cover the jars with at least one inch of water. The canners you buy come with a jar rack to raise the jars off the bottom of the pan to allow water to thoroughly circulate under the jars. You may use a cake rack in a deep stock pot to get the same results. You will need a lid to tightly cover the container. Canning jars in half pint, pint or one quart sizes. These jars are made with special threads to seal properly with home canning screw bands and lids. The jars should have no nicks or chips in the necks which would inhibit a proper seal. Jars may be reused many times if they are in good condition. Jar lids and screw bands come in standard or wide mouth types. Screw bands may be reused if they are not worn or rusted but the lids should not be reused Tools to make the job easier:Steps for Canning
Pressure CanningPressure canning is essential in safely preparing low acid foods such as vegetables. Temperatures of at least 240 degrees Fahrenheit (F) must be reached when processing low-acid foods in order to destroy the spores of the dangerous Clostridium botulinum microorganism. They survive in low-acid foods in the absence of air, which is a condition present in canned vegetables and meats. When the spores begin to grow, they produce the deadly botulinum toxin without noticeable signs of spoilage in the sealed jar. The temperature of 240 degrees F can be reached only in a pressure canner at the appropriate pounds pressure for the altitude of your area. Both dial gauge and weighted gauge pressure canners are available commercially. The dial gauge canner has a gauge with a needle that indicates the pounds of pressure inside the canner. The gauges on these canners need to be checked each year to ensure accuracy. County Extension agents or the company that made the canner may be able to perform this service. For canners with a weighted gauge, the gauge does not need to be tested as long as there has been no damage to the gauge. It is important to keep the instruction manual that comes with any canner for reference. Theses are the two different canners. Hope this has answered all you questions about canners. Join us by signing up for our newsletter.
Blessings, Margarita & Stace
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A RattlesnakeBubba James and I was out back at his deer blind. Both of us walked up on this big boy and didn’t even see him. We saw him at the same time and backed up. It never even rattled. Lets just say our hearts did a flipflop. Look closely at the picture with a circle. That is where it was coiled up. He was all snuggled down in the sand and leaves. Bubba James had his gun with him and shot it. This makes two rattlesnakes we have found here on our place. I didn’t worry about them because I thought we only had copperheads…what do I know. Some old timers have told me they are moving into our area. Years back there was no rattlesnakes in our area. Go figure… He was a good size that's for sure. How many rattles do you count? His black was very, very black. Watch out when your out working or walking on your place. Snakes are moving!!! Join us by signing up for our newsletter.
Blessings, Margarita & Stace Health Conditions of Goats with Sore MouthSore mouth, also known Contagious Ecthyma, Orf, and “scabby mouth,” is a contagious disease found in goats and causes scabs or pus-filled sores to form around the goat's mouth, lips, face, ears, feet, scrotum, teats, or vulva. Sore mouth is a virus that is part of the chicken pox family. Caused by the herpes-like parapox virus, it enters the goat’s body via cuts and abrasions. Sore mouth occurs worldwide, is highly contagious, and there is no known cure and usually lasts one to four weeks. What Causes Sore Mouth in Goats?Sore mouth, or contagious ecthyma, can be caused by direct or indirect contact between suckling kids and adult goats, or among sibling kids suckling from the udder of dams. The virus that causes contagious ecthyma is contagious to humans, so use extreme caution when handling livestock known to be infected with sore mouth. Wear rubber gloves and sanitize clothing, shoes and skin immediately after handling infected animals. A goat infected with Sore mouth appears to have fever blisters on the hairless or lightly haired parts of its body (lips, vulva, teats, and scrotum). Sore mouth can also occur on the face, ears, and coronary band above the hoof of the goat. Sore mouth must run its course and this can be as long as one to four weeks per goat. Goats that are immune to the virus and therefore don't contract it are still carriers, so they can infect other goats. Most goats that survive Sore mouth become immune to it and usually don't contract it again, similar to humans who have had chickenpox. How to Treat Sore Mouth in GoatsThere is no known treatment for sore mouth or contagious ecthyma in goats; however there are ways that you can help ease your goats' discomfort while the condition runs its course. If lesions develop on both the upper and lower part of the goat's mouth, it can sometimes be difficult for the goat to feed, which could cause weight loss and intense pain. Feed goats softer concentrates to prevent weight loss. *We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Click here for more info about cookies collected and our privacy policy.* You can do several things to ease discomfort to Sore mouth-infected goats. Use Gentian Violet on the blisters and scabs. Sore mouth is highly contagious to both humans and goats, so use disposable gloves. Gentian Violet is an old-time inexpensive purple-colored liquid medication used to treat fever blisters and impetigo. It is available without prescription from a pharmacy, but it may have to be ordered and will probably be kept behind the counter. Gentian Violet dries the blisters and hastens healing. Drying scabs sometimes contain staph bacteria or screwworm maggots. Gentian Violet kills bacteria that may cause a secondary infection. The purple color of Gentian Violet gives you the added benefit of being able to see which goats have already been treated. To help with systems antibiotics are recommended if a secondary bacterial infection exists. Campho-Phenique is another good product to apply topically to blisters and scabs. Campho-Phenique Maximum Strength also has antibacterial properties. When virus-containing scabs from infected animals fall off, the virus can remain viable in the environment and serve as a source of infection to susceptible animals. A flock can become infected through contaminated bedding, feed or tucks, or by direct contact with infected animals. Once Sore mouth is on the property, it is there to stay. Clean up of pens, pastures, and paddocks is sometimes possible by bleaching, burning, removing topsoil, and keeping animals off that particular ground for an extended period of time. The size of the area, available manpower, and cost will determine if this approach is practical. The smart goat raiser learns to cope with Sore mouth. A good bio-hazard management practice is to require that all visitors to your property place the soles of their shoes in a shallow pan filled with a small amount of bleach. A live vaccine is available for herds where sore mouth is a problemProducers considering using an orf virus vaccine product in their herd SHOULD CONSULT A VETERINARIAN. Use of vaccine is only suggested for previously infected herds, as vaccination will cause an orf virus infection in the animals and lead to contamination of the operation with virus-containing scabs. All orf virus vaccines contain live virus which can cause infection in humans. Join us by signing up for our newsletter.
Blessings, Margarita & Stace I grew up canning food from our garden with my mom and grandmother. Such good memories and valuable lessons learned from them. I do so miss both of those sweet, sweet ladies. When our garden does not produce enough taters I buy extra 10 pound bags of potatoes and can them. It makes it fast and easy at meal time. On days I spent outside working all day I can open a jar of potatoes add some butter and seasoning to go with the meal. So, so good! *We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. for more info about cookies collected and our privacy policy.* My video on How To Can Potatoes. Preparation of PotatoesWash the potatoes and peel off skins. Wash them again. Leave small potatoes whole and quarter larger potatoes or cut into uniform cubes. Place in a stainless steel pot or bowl of cold water after cutting to prevent browning. If you’re going to hot-pack them, go ahead and put them in a large pot so you don’t have to switch them to something else before boiling them. You need 2-3 pounds of potatoes for each quart/liter jar that you can. That’s about 15 medium sized potatoes…or several dozen tiny ones. I start by peeling the taters and putting in a bowl of cold water. Next I cubed my taters. Canning PotatoesPotatoes, like many other vegetables, can be hot- or raw-packed. The process for canning potatoes with raw- and hot-pack methods is not all that different and both require a pressure canner because of the low acidity of potatoes. In general, the hot-pack method is recommended because the vegetables will be more pliable and you can get more vegetables packed into each jars But when you’re doing many, many jars of them you decide that the raw-pack method will do just fine. Just keep in mind that when you raw pack, the vegetables may shrink or soften and the jar may not end up as full as you initially intended. You may also end up with a much lower water level in the jars because the potatoes absorb it, but this is no cause for concern. And the white sediment in the bottom of some of the jars? That’s just starch from the potatoes–absolutely harmless. Always wash and clean your jars and lids before using them and keep them warm in a pot of boiling water or in the oven until you are ready to pack them. To hot-pack potatoes, place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water (if you didn’t do this already after washing them). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil small cubes for 2 minutes and small whole potatoes or quartered potatoes for 10 minutes, until heated through but not soft. Drain, discarding cooking liquid. Pack hot potatoes into hot jars, leaving 1 inch head-space, and pressure can as instructed below. To raw-pack potatoes, firmly pack cleaned potatoes into hot jars, leaving 1 inch head-space, and proceed as follows for pressure canning. To pressure can potatoes:
If you’d like to learn more about canning, get yourself a copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It’s got over 400 recipes to help you use up all sorts of goodies from your garden and orchard. Pick up a copy at Amazon.com. Join us by signing up for our newsletter.
Blessings, Margarita & Stace When we first started raising goats we used the traditional White salt mineral block and the Red trace mineral block for our animals free choice, this is what we always gave our cattle. Since then we’ve learned that you care for goats a little differently than you do cattle. As with all ruminants, the key to keeping them healthy lies primarily in keeping their rumen healthy, however Goats are just a little trickier. The rumen is essentially a big fermentation tank that makes otherwise indigestible grasses and other plants digestible. Beyond that, the goat’s rumen is where B vitamins including B-1 (Thiamine) and B-12 are synthesized. Without sufficient B-1, goats can develop Polio (not to be confused with the polio that humans get, which is viral), and without sufficient B-12, goats will start to lose weight and suffer overall metabolic problems. The first scenario can kill a goat rapidly, and the second will do it over time. Properly feeding goats is the best way to promote good rumen health. Yet there are a few other tips and tricks you can and should consider. Give The Proper FeedLike I said above, the primary function of the rumen is to break down grasses and other plants. If your goats do not graze in a pasture, they will need to have a constant access to good quality hay. Even goats who do have access to pasture should get a supplement of quality hay, as the seasons change so will the quality and quantity of pasture grass. Many goat owners will supplement pasture grazing with grain, however always consider grain as just that—a supplement. Remember to much grain can change the pH balance of the rumen in turn affecting and even killing the good bacteria in the rumen which is the key to the Goats digestive function. Provide SupplementsWe always give all of our goats free access to a good quality loose mineral as well as baking soda. The mineral access helps to balance the nutrition of poor forage and allows you to feed less grain to make up for those imbalances. In addition to a quality multi loose mineral, we also put out Cobalt salt Blocks for our goats. The Cobalt helps a goat produce B-12 naturally. Cobalt can also help goats who may not be eating and keeping weight on. Cobalt deficiency can lead to a reduction in B-12 synthesis, and B-12 is one of the main vitamins that help keep goats eating and their rumen working. The whole rumen digestive system can end up in a downward spiral if the levels of any of the rumen generated vitamins plunge. The baking soda lets the goat self medicate when the rumen gets too acidic. It is basically the same way people use antacids to treat indigestion. The final supplement we keep on hand is a quality Probiotic (we use Doc Probiotic). Any compromise of the rumen health is a compromise of the complex bacteria that live in the rumen, and that are needed to fuel the fermentation process. Using a quality Probiotic during times of stress and after giving any medications, especially antibiotics can help restore some of the rumen good bacteria. Check On That RumenThe most obvious sign that a goats rumen is functioning properly, is chewing a cud. The cud is a mass of partially digested forage, regurgitated from the rumen for a final chew and some nutrient extraction before moving on to the next chamber of the stomach for further digestion. That process is universal. Healthy goats chew cud. But because they don’t chew it 24/7, you can also get an idea of rumen health just by listening. Press your ear up against it (the rumen is on the left side) and you should be able to hear noises resembling your own stomach when it is “growling.” You might want to invest in a cheap stethoscope for this to help drown out distracting noise in the environment. We always say that Goats are really hardy animals until they aren’t. Keeping them healthy and strong is mostly keeping their rumen working properly. Manage feed well and be observant. You and your goats will definitely appreciate it. Join us by signing up for our newsletter. Blessings,
Margarita & Stace |
AuthorI'm Margarita. A Christian, Wife, mother of three, & grandmother "Mimi" of three. I create blog post about our life on the farm. Archives
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The Goat Management Binder
$15.00
The Goat Management Binder This binder will help you keep your goats health records organized and more. Remembering all the identifications and medical records for each goat is difficult so I quickly learned that I needed to write down our goat herd information. We created all the pages for our goat heard. This system works for us. I think our Goat Management Bind will help you with your recordkeeping. This eBook has 24 pages Print our the pages, fill in your goat information and place in a binder of your choice. When all of your goat information is kept in one place it saves time in case of an emergency. Homemaking / Home Management Binder
$15.00
Digital Homemaking / Home Management Binder I'm excited to share with you my Homemaking / Home Management Binder. This is a beautiful simple binder to write your Weekly task for you home. You can use every day over and over. You will get: Faith based / Proverbs 31 Women Weekly Cleaning Schedule Organizing your home Daily Chores Monthly Plan Meal Planner Grocery List Bill Tracker Savings Tracker Vacation Budget 20 pages 8.5"x11" letter size that matches any printer Unlimited prints (personal use) Instant download and get started PDF Printable Enjoy getting organized with our Homemaking / Home Management Binder ** THIS IS A DIGITAL PRODUCT. ** NO PHYSICAL PRODUCT WILL BE SHIPPED. Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. * You may print the files as many times as you like for your own personal use. * Sharing this product is not allowed. ** We do not accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations, but please contact me if you have any problems with your order. Instant Download Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. Farm/ Livestock Management Binder
$25.00
Farm / Livestock Management Binder In this binder you can log all your livestock needs and help you stay organized with all records. Such as: *Goats *Chickens *Horses *Medications *Purchases of Livestock *Sold Livestock Our Farm / Livestock Management Binder is 24 pages. Print our the pages, fill in your Livestock information and place in a binder of your choice. When all of your Livestock information is kept in one place it saves time in case of an emergency. Gardening In the South
$20.00
Gardening In the South E-Book Learn about Gardening in South Texas Zone 8 In our e-book we cover Fruit trees, Perennials & Pollinator, Garden checklist, What months to plant. Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. I don't accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations. But please contact me if you have any problems with your order. Thank you for shopping with us! Margarita Common Goat Medications
$20.00
Common Goat Medications We give you goat medications that we use for our goats. Included: Common Goat Medications & Easy to Understand Dosages General Information on Injection Wormers Antibiotics Anti-Inflammatories & Hormones' Injectable Vitamins and Minerals Oral Treatments You will get: 13 pages - eBook Unlimited prints (personal use) Instant download and get started PDF Printable ** THIS IS A DIGITAL PRODUCT. ** NO PHYSICAL PRODUCT WILL BE SHIPPED. Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. * You may print the files as many times as you like for your own personal use. * Sharing this product is not allowed. ** We do not accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations, but please contact me if you have any problems with your order. Instant Download Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. Thank you for shopping with us. Crochet Cup Sleeve Cozy
$6.00
Only a few left! Pretty cup cozy for both hot and iced beverage cups. It will slide up over a standard size non handle travel cups or store-bought coffee cups. They are great at protecting hands from the heat and cold of the travel mug/cup. *100% cotton yarn. * Colors may vary due to stock so message me if you prefer something specific. *Machine washable and dryer safe on low heat. *All Cozy’s make a great gift for literally anyone! *If you don’t see one you love don’t hesitate to message me! I love creating new products. Thank you for visiting our store. Handmade Goat Milk & Honey Soap
$7.00
Handmade Goat Milk & Honey Soap 4 oz. bar. Benefits from goat milk & honey - it's moisturizing, clarifying, and naturally antibacterial. Goat milk & Honey Soap has always been a favorite, it smells divine, and there are loads of skin benefits. Goat milk & Honey Soap hydrates and nourishes dry skin. It doesn't leave your skin feeling dry. Ingredients: Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauretha Sulfate, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Goat Milk, Honey Titanium Dioxide. Due to the handmade nature of our soaps and fragrance oil added, all bars vary in color. |
Handcrafted items made with love.
Farm / Homesteading eBooks Faith eBooks Notary Public Service Goats when available |
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Tailspin Farms
2273 FM 1681 Stockdale, Texas 78160 |
210-771-7205
Email - mcgoats@tspinfarms.com |