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Frozen drops on the trees

I am not one for making resolutions for the new year but every homesteader has a list of things they want to accomplish for the next year.  We are no exception.

I have already ordered the fruit trees that I will pick up at Fedco in April.  This year I have only ordered a couple of replacement trees for ones that we have lost along the way.  Our orchard is about as big as we want with around 14-15 trees.  We have planted apples, plums, cherries, pears and apricots.  Of course we have our perennial bushes too.

There is a inside project that I would like to start work on this winter.  It entails putting a wall up in the kitchen to create a butler's pantry.  That is the easy part.  I will have to empty a bunch of cabinets and store those things until the project is finished.  It also involves moving the refrigerator to a new wall and my hubby redoing the plumbing to the ice maker.  Once it it finished I will have somewhere to have all my appliances out and ready to use without clogging up the visible kitchen counters.  I'll keep you up to date as this project proceeds.

Garden planning also happens during the winter.  I got my first seed catalog almost a month ago.  Since I now have the greenhouse that will change a few things. Speaking of the greenhouse here is a picture of my sweet Zoe sitting in front of it's frosty side.  She always goes outside with me.

Zoe
Zoe

It will take a little work to get the greenhouse ready for planting.  I still have to dig up the existing ground and put in good soil.  Right now I'm planning on trying peppers there this next growing season.  I have great luck with getting the pepper plants started from seed but I just don't seem to be able to get many peppers.  My hope is that the extra heat created by the greenhouse will give them the boost they need.

Every year I look to improve my gardening.  I seem to have a knack for raising livestock but gardening is a different matter.  I think my biggest problem is neglect once I get things planted.  Time in the summer just seems to go by so fast and the weeds always get ahead of me.  I have started using mulch which has helped greatly.  Come this summer I am going to give landscape cloth a try under the mulch.  I have built three raised beds so I do not till the garden anymore.  Not tilling each year keeps the soil healthier and allows all the good creatures in the soil to flourish with only minimal disturbance.  I have enough materials for one more raised bed and my goal is to get that built this spring.  The beds are 20 x 3 feet so I can easily reach from each side.  There is a path between each bed.  It is surprising how much you can plant in this space.

We will not be raising pigs this next summer.  We usually raise several every other year.  Pigs do so much better if they have friends to hang out with so instead of doing one each year we raise them every other year.  The pastured poultry worked very well last year and we will continue that this coming summer.  If I get adventurous I will even try the incubator to hatch some ourselves.  And, of course, the baby turkeys will arrive in July as usual.

Asparagus berries
Asparagus berries

Our perennial beds will continue to prosper with care.  We have our 100 strawberry plants and our two asparagus beds doing well.  Those will both take a little work in the spring to pull out weeds, fertilize, and mulch.  We were truly amazed at the amount of strawberries we harvested this last summer.  I'm thinking I would like to experiment with fermenting some of the asparagus.  We like it pickled so why not.  I want to see if it will stay crisper that way.

The big outside project for this summer will be mixing and pouring a slab for our generator room.  Currently the generator is in the garage but we would like a dedicated spot outside the garage proper. The plan is to add a room to the garage just for the generator and the fuel tank.  I'm not great with cement but I have seen many projects where homeowners have poured slabs in sections as they had time/money to do it.  We will be looking for a electric or gas mixer to purchase before we start the project.  I can already name 2-3 other projects that we would use it for besides the generator room.

Wow, this sounds like a lot of stuff to get done in one short year.  No matter, we will get the projects done that we do but you have to start with some kind of a plan. Whichever of these projects that we get done they will be an improvement to things here at the homestead. Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to all of them.  It is so satisfying to make things better and knowing that you have done it yourself and with the help of friends and family.

May the new year bring inspiration to you and your family.

Blessings,

Merrie

Nest awaiting spring
Nest in Beech tree awaiting spring

Dinnertime!!
Dinnertime!!

My husband and I love the flavors of Mexican food.  Since I'm really busy with everything else going on around the homestead I look for shortcuts for everything I do that will not compromise results.  This Enchilada Bake is one place that the shortcuts that I took had absolutely no change to the taste of the recipe.  You will not have the beautiful rolled individual enchiladas but the taste is more important to me and the fact that I can put this recipe together in probably a third of the time it would take to roll each tortilla.

I do use store bought enchilada sauce because I have so far not been able to make a good one here at home and I have a whole case in my pantry that I got on sale for a really good price. Since we enjoy the flavors of Mexican we usually have most of the ingredients for this in our pantry.  You will need corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, ground meat, onions (I use our own ground turkey), black olives and of course cheese.

Ground turkey ready for enchiladas
Ground turkey ready for enchiladas

First brown the ground meat, to that add granulated garlic salt and pepper.  While the meat is cooking chop the onion, slice the olives (if not using sliced).  I buy whole olives for my pantry and slice them if a recipe calls for sliced.  You will also need to grate the cheese if you did not buy grated.  We use a lot of cheese around here so I buy large blocks and the warehouse club and grate them myself.  Again another time saver is that I use the grating attachment for my KitchenAid mixer and the 2.5 pound block of cheese is grated in a matter of minutes.  When i grate this much cheese I sprinkle just about 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the cheese and toss it around before I put it in the bag to store in the fridge.  This helps keep the cheese from sticking together into one big clump.

Ready to assemble
Ready to assemble

Now let's put it together.  I'm making a 9 X 13 pan of these enchiladas so if you want to do a 9 X 9 just cut the recipe in half.

A little sauce first
A little sauce first

I use a bottle opener sharp end to just put two holes on the opposite side of the enchilada sauce can so I can pour easily from the can.  Start with some sauce on the bottom of the pan.  You will see as we go that the assembly is in the manner of making lasagna instead of filling and rolling each enchilada.

Next the torillas
Next the tortillas

Take your corn tortillas and put down a layer.  As you can see I cut some in half so I could cover the pan.  Pour on more of the enchilada sauce.

More goodies
More goodies

Next comes 1/3 of your meat, chopped onions and black olives.  Yes, I sliced an entire 6 ounce can of black olives, I really like black olives!

Cheese, cheese, cheese
Cheese, cheese, cheese

On top of that goes 1/4 of your grated cheese.  As you can see I'm using a colby jack but you can use your favorite or a combination.  If you really want to put some zip into the enchiladas use pepper jack cheese.  I almost forgot, you can also get the enchilada sauce in different heat levels.  You might have noted in the picture that I'm using hot but you can use mild or medium depending on your families likes.

Triple decker
Triple decker

You will repeat with tortillas, sauce, meat, onions, olives, and cheese until you have used all the meat, onions and olives.  You should still have some tortillas, sauce and cheese left for top layer.  So the last layer will be tortillas, sauce and cheese.  Please use all the sauce that you have left on this last layer.  It is better to have it more moist than dry.

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.  You will see it bubbling and the cheese will be all melted and browned just a bit.

Here is a printable version if you would like that.

Enchilada Bake

  • Prep Time: 45m
  • Cook Time: 45m
  • Total Time: 1h 30m
  • Serves: 12

Ingredients

  • 2 lb ground meat, I use turkey but your favorite will be great
  • 2 cans enchilada sauce
  • 1 6 oz can olives sliced or use already sliced olives
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 lb grated cheese
  • 2 tsp. granulated garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 dozen corn tortillas

Quick and delicious

    Instructions

    1. Cook ground meat in skillet, remove any fat. Add granulated garlic, salt and pepper to the meat. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a 9 X 13 inch pan drizzle some of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom. Add a layer of corn tortillas cutting some in half to cover the whole bottom. Drizzle more enchilada sauce. Spread 1/3 of the ground meat mix over the tortillas and sauce followed by 1/3 of the chopped onions and sliced olives. Top that layer with 1/4 of the grated cheese. Repeat these steps beginning with tortillas. After you have three layers let's do the top. Add one last layer of tortillas followed by all the remaining enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes until bubbly and the cheese is slightly browned. Cut into squares and serve with a nice salad with avocados and black beans. Feel free to adjust the ingredients. If you don't like onions you can leave them out. You can add black beans to each layer or even a small amount of sour cream. Use your imagination.

    This recipe reheats very well and both my husband and I take it to work for lunch.  Even though there is just the two of us I still make the big pan.  Once the enchiladas have cooled I cut the entire pan into serving size squares.  These can then be put in containers for lunch or wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for lunch down the road.

    Give this a try.  I have to head out to hang laundry, yes on Dec 12th in Maine I'm hanging laundry outside.  We have been blessed with a very mild December so far.

    Blessings

     

    Ready for Snow
    Ready for Snow

    Don't get me wrong, we love our metal roof.  Ever since we put it on the house 10 years ago there have been no worries about snow overload or ice dams.  The only drawback has been the front porch.  Every time the avalanche of snow comes off the roof we know that getting it off the porch is the next task.  When the snow slides off and then drops 8 feet to the porch it lands with such force that we end up with a solid snow pack right in front of the door.  It can be a real challenge to get it shoveled off sometimes depending on how much has come off of the roof occasionally requiring the ice scrapper.

    Since November has blessed us with some nice warm days I decided at the last minute that it would be really nice to have a roof over the porch so that we didn't have to mess with the snow pack this winter.  I sat down one Friday evening and wrote up my supply list and Saturday headed up to the lumber yard.  My hubby was at work so I got started on my own.  Let me just say that 4 x 4 pressure treated posts are not light especially with a bit of a wind.

    Post in place and braced
    Post in place and braced

    Once the posts were in place and braced, which was fun to get plumb and braced by myself, I put the brackets on top of each post to hold the headers.  I built the headers to extend past the front post about 6 inches in order to keep the snow and rain off the edge of the porch.  These were heavy when I got finished sandwiching plywood between 2 x 6 lumber.  When my Sweetie got home from work we had just enough daylight to get the headers screwed in place.

    The next step was to cut and install the rafters.  It is fairly simple to figure pitch if that is all you need but I needed to have the peak of the roof with the strapping and metal fall under the edge of the existing house roof.  Since we have used metal for a number of projects on the homestead I had a scrap that I could measure depth and get an idea of how far down from the house roof edge I needed the ridge board to be.  From there I figured what I need for angle and where I needed the crows foot to be cut in order to have the 6 inch overhang.

    It took me the best part of the afternoon to get the rafters in place.

    Framing finished
    Framing finished

    After that the strapping to screw the metal to was put in place.  We were now ready to measure for the metal pieces.  We are fortunate to have a local lumberyard that cuts metal to specifications.  My husband Ken had stopped on one of his days off and picked up the ridge piece so I could us it for measurement purposes but now we needed the roof metal.  The order was placed and in a day picked up and ready for installation.  The pieces were only 55 inches long which makes them fairly easy to work with.  When we put the metal roof on the barn we were working with some pieces that we 10 feet long.  It can be a real challenge with long pieces if you have any wind at all.

    So Ken and I installed the metal together.  Putting metal up is not a part of this project that you really want to do by yourself especially when you are high on a ladder.  In our case though we used the tractor bucket for a work platform.  It really works well.  Either Ken lifted me and I screwed down metal or I lifted Ken and he screwed down the ridge piece.  We make a pretty good team.

    A couple of additional notes.   I used screws for the entire constructions.  Someday we might put a small addition on that side of the house and besides being much stronger than using nails it is also easier to take apart and reuse the materials.  I did add additional bracing on each rafter section to tie each side together and support the ridge beam.  We have left the bracing in place for the winter.  Next spring I will add railings to the porch which will give additional strength to the structure. However with that said our uncle who is a licensed Structural Engineer said it would hold the snow no problem.  It does look a bit rustic without soffits of a fascia but that suits our style.

    Bee hives wrapped for winter
    Bee hives wrapped for winter

    I know it is only the end of October but it is time to get the homestead ready for winter and all that means.  Here in the northwoods it means cold temperatures and snow, sometimes a lot of snow.  There will come a point when the daytime temperatures do not get above freezing for days on end.  At the heart of winter in January and February we can get below zero here at the homestead.

    This week has been very busy with several projects getting done in preparation for winter.  As you can see from above one was getting the bee hives wrapped with tar paper.  I know it is not pretty but it serves the purpose.  On the left hive you can see the hardware cloth over the lower entrance.  This is to keep mice and voles out of the hive.  They would love to nest in the cozy warm hive with free food during the cold.  The tar paper keeps the wind from being able to get into the hive where the different super boxes meet.  Cold wind can kill a hive very quickly.  The black also helps to absorb what heat the sun will provide on cold days.  At the top you will see another small upper entrance.  When the snow gets deep the bees are still able to exit the hive to do a cleansing flight if we have an occasional warm day.

    Bees only leave the hive when the outside temperatures get above 45 degrees or so.  That means that they are retaining all their excrement until such a day.  When there is a winter day that is warm enough they will all make a run to the outhouse.  The snow around the hive will be dotted with hundreds of brown spots where the bees have been able to relieve themselves.  To me as a beekeeper this is a welcome sign, it means that the hive is still alive and has made it through the winter, at least to that point.

    Ken and I are really excited to attend the Maine State Beekeepers Association's annual conference in a couple of weeks.  It will be our first time attending and we hope to glean a lot of wisdom from much more experienced beekeepers.

    We did the hives late in the week but the week started out with processing our broilers.  Again we had 25 Red Rangers on pasture from mid July.  I kept two of the hens and put them in with my layers.  One I call Buffy, she was an unusually light color so I wanted to keep her.  The other was just so she would have a familiar face when they were integrated into the laying flock.

    The broilers that were processed earlier in the summer were all frozen whole so we decided that these would be cut up and frozen in pieces.  I packaged side breasts, leg quarters and wings.  It is a little more work but the packages sure take up much less room in the freezer than the whole birds.  I think we will like having the variety of chicken to choose from.

    Part of why it was nice to have the chickens take up less freezer space is that this week was also when the pigs were delivered to the processor.  Although we process our own chickens we have not yet taken the step to do our own pigs.  Besides that we had FIVE this year.  That is a lot of pork.  Some were raised for other folks but we will still have plenty to fill the rest of the space in the freezers.

    Getting livestock into the stock trailer does not always go as planned.  Thank the Lord that we were able to borrow a large stock trailer with two sections from a friend.  We knew that five pigs, all weighing over 250 pounds, were not going to fit into the two horse trailer that we own.  It is funny but each animal has their own personality and right from the beginning we had one that we called Lazy.  She would not go out into the yard when the rest did and she preferred to take more naps that the others.  Don't get me wrong, she ate just as much as the others but she was not as motivated by food at the other four.  There is the dilemma.  With a couple cans of food and a few apples the other four happily jumped up into the trailer to get their breakfast.  Not Lazy.  Fortunately the trailer had a middle divider that could be closed.  We closed the four into the front part of the trailer and started the long process of trying to convince Lazy that she also wanted to get into the trailer to get breakfast.

    Long story short, and just to point out that animals cannot always be convinced to do what you want, we ended up having to dispatch Lazy, bleed her out, load her in the trailer with the tractor and take her to the processor that way.  This is not the way we would have chosen but sometimes you have to do what is necessary to take care of business on the homestead.

    Homesteading is not for the faint of heart and sometimes you have to do things that you would rather not in a way you would rather not but that is the way life can be.  Do what needs to be done and move on to mucking out the turkey pen.

     

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    Well, it is finally here....Fall.  We had our first hard frost last week where it hit 24 degrees and we have had frost every morning since with the exception of the morning it rained.  Fortunately it is getting into the 50s during the day which is really nice if it is not too windy.  So the woodstove has been keeping us cozy on these chilly nights.  My husband is happy to see the frost come since it pretty much eliminates the pollen that causes his allergies.

    Fall is a busy time on the homestead there are so many things that need to be done before the days do not get out of freezing temperatures and the snow flies.  This week the pigs will go to the butcher and we will be butchering the final batch of broilers for the freezer.  The pigs have grown very well and we feel blessed that our freezers will be full before winter.

    We will have a good amount of pork this year and I think I will can some of it for instant meals.  Rich meats like pork and lamb when canned almost make their own gravy and are delicious in soups and stews.  I confess that sometimes I make a quick soup or stew when I get home from work by using one jar of canned meat, a jar of canned broth and one bag of frozen mixed vegetables.  This cooks up in less than 30 minutes and I can flavor it with the dried herbs and spices that I want.  I may also throw a batch of biscuits in the oven or toast up some sourdough bread and have one great comfort food meal.

    We got 10 heads of cabbage out of the garden and so there will be a couple of large jars of sauerkraut fermenting in the very near future.  I will be adding just a little bit of purple cabbage from our last CSA pick up to our green cabbage and the sauerkraut turns out to be the most beautiful shade of pink.  To some that may sound weird but it doesn't change the taste at all.

    Of course after the pigs and chickens are processed we have to clean out their pens and get those areas clean and dry for winter.  The pastured poultry electric net fence will have to be rolled up and stored for next year.  That was a investment that needs to be taken care of but it worked really well being able to move the pastured chickens several times during the season.

    The fall weather gets me is a baking mood too.  I made my first apple pie with apples from the orchard that we picked up last week.  There is nothing better than a hot slice of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream on a chilly evening.  Unless it might be hot spiced apple cider which is one of my favorites.

    Well, so much for talking about what needs to be done, time to get to it.  I'll visit with all of you soon.