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K

ksk

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Bought some more fruit trees; pear,peach,fig and lime.Had a truck load of garden soil delivered.
 
K

ksk

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Fog and isolated showers.I plan on refilling bird feeders and start putting garden soil in planters that were built last week.
 

w_r_ranch

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Cold (39 degrees), windy & rainy here (0.30" thus far)... even Dieter says it sucks. Mrs. Ranch is making a pot of chili for supper.

I picked out the new security doors, so I'll get them ordered in a couple of weeks. They are heavy (500+ lbs. each).

 
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K

ksk

Guest
Cold (39 degrees), windy & rainy here... even Dieter says it sucks. Mrs. Ranch is making a pot of chili for supper.

I picked out the new security doors, so I'll get them ordered in a couple of weeks. They are heavy (500+ lbs. each).

Like the doors Ranch.I'm calling the Window folks Friday.
 
K

ksk

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Too wet and cold for garden work today.Went to town and got a haircut,picked up fertilizer and extra water hoses.I did get .3 rain the last two days.
 

w_r_ranch

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Watered the seed flats in greenhouse, some of them are starting to pop up!!!

Harvested some asparagus.

Took Mrs. Ranch to the hospital to pre-register for her eye operation & then we did the weekly shopping together.
 
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W

Waite

Guest
I had to get some ice melt for the upcoming 6-10" of snow, so I went to Wallyworld. They're getting all of their seeds and garden stuff out on the shelves.

WOO HOO!!!!!

I hope all is well with Mrs. Ranch.
 
K

ksk

Guest
Watered the seed flats in greenhouse, some of them are starting to pop up!!!

Harvested some asparagus.

Took Mrs. Ranch to the hospital to pre-register for her eye operation & then we did the weekly shopping together.
Hope all goes well with the operation.
 
M

Mr_Yan

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I think I am nearing the end of my marathon at work. I'm dragging though. On track for my 4th week in a row of over 62 hours at work.

Forecast calls for 7 to 11 inches of snow now thru late afternoon tomorrow. People are going crazy. Sounds similar to the stories about snow forecast in Atlanta or the like. There were even emails at work telling us to be prepared to work from home.
 

w_r_ranch

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Made a buttermilk pie.

Harvested a 5 gallon bucket of broccoli, half for us & the other half for our mail lady. Mrs. Ranch made broccoli salad for tonight.

Brocolli_020918A.jpg

Replaced 5 hose bib faucets on the irrigation system (a couple were starting to drip). These are 'quarter-turns' & have S.S. internals.

Hose_Bib_Faucets.jpg
 
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M

Mr_Yan

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I'm bad at estimating snow depths when shoveling but I think we got around 9" where I had to shovel Thursday in to Friday. Snowing again now - looks like 2 inches on the neighbor's car but I haven't been out.
 

w_r_ranch

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Received 0.18" of rain last night. It's currently 67 degrees & dead calm, although another front is due to blow in & tomorrow is forecast to be 50/37.

The tomatoes, basil & marigolds are mostly up now, so I put the sticky traps up in the greenhouse (just in case the whiteflies decide to appear).

Made bread.

Made a pot of pinto beans (w/onions & cilantro from the garden), as well as a batch of stuff jalapenos. I'll make a pan of our Spanish rice later.

Seasoned up half of a brisket that I put on the smoker (over a mix of post oak & hickory @ 225 degrees) for supper.

Put out 3 rolls of hay for the cattle,
 
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M

Mr_Yan

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Got the van stuck in the alley again while driving home from church. I'm never buying a Dodge mini-van again, these things suck. Also suspect a coolant leak from it as I notice blobs of neon green snow - will have my wife take it in to be checked this week.

Shoveled another 4 or 5 inches of snow. I think we've gotten 14 inches since midday Thursday. Running out of places to throw the snow.
 
W

Waite

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Could you explain your process and what you use [jars etc.] Thanks..
Sure. It really couldn't be simpler. Shredded cabbage and salt are the ingredients. 1-3/4 lbs. of cabbage to 1 tablespoon of salt = 1quart jar. I've used Himalayan Pink, kosher, and canning/pickling. Just remember to adjust if you're using a coarse salt.

Remove the outer leaves, quarter the heads, and remove the cores. Shred and place in a large bowl, sprinkling the salt over in layers as you go. Using your hands or a pounder, crush and bruise the cabbage while mixing it with the salt. This helps it release the liquids, which turn into brine with the salt.

Once done, pack it into whatever you're using for a fermenter. My photo shows 3 half-gallon and 1 quart ball jars with airlocks. You can get this stuff on amazon or your local home brewing supply. If you don't have ball jars, you can pick up a food grade plastic bucket with a food grade lid already drilled out for an airlock from your local home brewing supplier too. The airlocks are about $2.00 and the bucket with lid should be under $10. If you're more traditional, you can get a fermenting crock on line. I'm too cheap to spend that much!

The critical part is that once you get the cabbage into the fermenter, you must cover it with the brine and keep it submerged. I use some of the whole outer leaves (washed), and a weight. A plate and some clean jars filled with water would work in a bucket.

That's it in a nutshell. More (and better!) Info on the interwebs, here's a good one for beginners.

BTW, fermenting is a natural for gardening. Pickles, veggies etc.

https://www.makesauerkraut.com
 
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w_r_ranch

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The weather today is terrible here... it's noontime & only 34 degrees with a north wind of 15 MPH.

Regarding the sauerkraut topic, we just shred a number of heads, throw it all in a cooler (with some salt, a little sugar & some caraway seed). We then weigh it down with a clean board & a large clean rock before adding about a gallon of water. This was the way I learned from my grandpa.
 
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M

Mr_Yan

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I want to get into fermenting and 'kraut making but time and space and fear of killing everyone has stopped me. I know the fear is a bit irrational as fermenting is about the safest processing out there. I have watched a few vids on it but the best vid I couldn't get past the woman using a mandolin to shred the cabbage without the guard - I cut the top of my thumb off doing that once.


Now one of my kids is running a fever of 101 F. God I hope this isn't the start of the flu going thru here.
 
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