The life of a homesteader....

[British Red]

Still preserving like crazy!

Chilli jam today

Chilli jam by British Red, on Flickr

 

[Macaroon]

All these many and varied posts from a man who posted last week that his life has become dull? If your life ever gets dull, BR, I'll eat all my shoes!

 

[2Tim215]

Envious does not even come close!

 

[santaman2000]

All these many and varied posts from a man who posted last week that his life has become dull? If your life ever gets dull, BR, I'll eat all my shoes!

I'd rather eat the foods BR's showing. LOL

 

[British Red]

Canned the last of the apples today (phew) 25 pounds of apples and some sultanas plus a few cinnamon sticks and cloves equate to seventeen pint jars of apple pie filling

Apple pie filling by British Red, on Flickr

Harvested the last of the Haricot beans and set them to dry.

Bean Seed Saving by British Red, on Flickr

These are destined for the "perfect, home grown, baked bean" experiment.

 

[British Red]

Tried again today on the "we need to learn to grow cereals efficiently"

This time - hard red winter wheat (good for bread)

Hard Red Winter Wheat by British Red, on Flickr

Ridged Bed by British Red, on Flickr

Wheat in Soil by British Red, on Flickr

Only time will tell if this works for us...but I REALLY need to improve my cereal growing.

 

[tommy the cat]

How did the soya beans go Hugh... I seem to remember they were failing?

 

[British Red]

Rabbits got them all Dave. I got most of the rabbits - but not before the damage was done

 

[santaman2000]

I had to look up soya beans to see if they were the same thing as soybeans. What were you planning on doing with them?

 

[British Red]

Cooking and eating them We are exploring many bean varieties to see which ones we most like, which store well dried, frozen, canned etc. Which work well with our favourite recipes and which are the best in (English type) baked beans.

 

[tommy the cat]

It's the one pest we seem not have a problem with here touch wood.

 

[santaman2000]

Cooking and eating them We are exploring many bean varieties to see which ones we most like, which store well dried, frozen, canned etc. Which work well with our favourite recipes and which are the best in (English type) baked beans.

Really? I've never seen soybeans offered as such for human consumption. Processed into oil, or as cattle feed, yes, but not as is for humans However if it works for you then I hope you have better luck with your crop next year.

The most common beans I've seen for baked beans are usually either Navy beans or Great Northerns. What's the difference in English type baked beans?

 

[mrcharly]

English type baked beans are usually made with haricots - but I think BR just meant he was going to cook them like the tinned baked beans.

Soya beans are very very widely consumed around the world and I'm pretty sure you'll have eaten them in the USA, Santa. They are often used as a source of 'vegetable protein' that is prevalent in much food.

 

[British Red]

We are trying haricots and dutch brown for the baked beans, the soya beans were intended for chillies and stews. They are nutritionally interesting and I can't see why not to eat them as a bean rather than making them into faux meat as so often happens.

 

[santaman2000]

We are trying haricots and dutch brown for the baked beans, the soya beans were intended for chillies and stews. They are nutritionally interesting and I can't see why not to eat them as a bean rather than making them into faux meat as so often happens.

Oh their nutrition is undisputed. It's the taste and texture that I've found wanting, but that's a personal thing. Like you, I'm no fan of the faux meats made from them.

 

[British Red]

Got the pressure canner full of "chilli con red" using up chillis and tomatoes, peppers and onions. Also working through the last of the rhubarb to can that with some ginger.

I am, quite honestly, bored with preserving by now. Its great fun and we get good food from it, but any job you have to repeat a lot in a short time frame gets dreary. Yesterday was wine and beer, last week was apples, this week the last of the fruit (barring pears) and greenhouse crops. It'll be done soon enough.

We are completely out of shelf space for home preserved items so another job on the "to do list" is to build some heavy duty wooden shelves sized correctly for canning jars

 

[bigbear]

Andof course storage for al.those jars and freezer containers when they are not in use. How come I never have enough of either ?

 

[British Red]

Exactly so. I store a double wardrobe of jars in the Summer. They are all full now !

 

[British Red]

Second attempt at growing my own bread!

Gone for a high gluten, short stemmed modern Winter variety this time. Lets hope I do a little better

Germinated Wheat by British Red, on Flickr

 

[Hibrion]

I'm enjoying your updates and getting a better understanding of the type of life I think most of us would like to be living. Good on you