Experiment (con't.)

Well, I guess I get a little carried away when I read some of these books.  My little coldframe is just that-very cold.  Three days after I planted it we had snow and we continue to have snow a little every day.  Sometimes I forget that global warming hasn't hit here yet. 
This morning the hoses are all frozen, manure has frozen to the grain trough and the cattle water had to be broke open.  Our three weeks of fall are over, but they were the most beautiful three weeks of the year.

Gardening Experiments

Don't you love trying new things?  This year I tried growing Quinoa.  That experiment didn't work.
I recently read "The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency used by the Mormon Pioneers".  It's a good read and he has some ideas and information in there that I didn't have before.

The author has some good ideas for extending the harvest for us short season gardeners.

Today I set  up a "rustic" cold frame with a hot water jug to help keep it heated at night.

I need to fasten this to the house with a hinge, yet.  I planted various kinds of lettuce and spinach in here and I'm hopeful that we will be growing lettuce into December.  This is on the south side of my house right next to my other experiment-trying to save seed from biennials.  I have carrots and beets planted and I just mulched them.  I'm hoping they'll come up for the second year and provide me with seed. 

I guess the picture of this experiment isn't too exciting.  I'll report back on these experiments as they progress.  Or not.

25 ways (or more) to save money

Patrice over at  Rural Revolution has listed 25 ways to cut your budget.  I'm getting on board and listing some ways we save money.  Some of these may be duplicates of what she's already posted, but I'll try and be original.

• Try to stay away from using credit cards.  The interest really adds up.
• We grow all of our own herbs and 90% of our vegetables each year.  This is my contribution since I don't have an outside job.
• We raise chickens and beef cattle and have our own supply of fresh meat and eggs, better and cheaper than the grocery store.
• Cook from scratch.  Time consuming, but much more frugal and healthier.
• Buy baking supplies in bulk from the local food co-op.
• No cell phones and no dish TV.  We do spend on movies we buy or rent.
• Homeschooling-we buy curriculum second hand and don't need to spend a fortune on school clothes.
• Lawn mowing-we hardly ever mow our yard.  Terrible, I know, but life is just too busy and so I guess we save on gas and wear and tear on our mower.
• Our lawnmowers, 3-wheeler, tractors were all either bartered for or bought very cheaply because they needed repairs.  This works for us as my honey fixed them all up.
• We don't use the clothes dryer (most of the time), or the dishwasher.  This saves on our electric bill.
• We have wood heat to supplement our high efficiency propane furnace.  When it hits -40 neither one will keep the house warm by itself.
• Plastic up all of the windows for winter, and bank the house with snow. 
• We cut our wood off of our back forty.  Cheap heat.
• Reusing plastic bags.  It's a small thing, but I don't like buying plastic products.
• Starting all of my garden plants from seed in the house each spring.
• Saving most of our own garden seeds year to year.
• Milk our own cow and make butter, cheese, sour cream, etc.
• Sew tablecloths, curtains, clothes from material found at the thrift store.
• Grow our own animal feed-hay, oats, pumpkins. (This does mean an investment in those tractors I mentioned previously.)
• Buy pig fat from the local butcher to render into lard.  He charges twenty five cents a pound. This is great for baking and frying.
• Make our own soap from this lard and goat's milk.
• Shear our rabbits and goats to spin into yarn.  This makes nice mittens and such for presents and cuts down on Christmas costs.
• Give home canned goods, herbal mixtures, and homemade teas for gifts. There are many homemade gifts that people actually like.
• Buy groceries at two week intervals or more.  This cuts down on impulse buying.
• Make a menu for this two week period so that you know exactly what you need to get at the store and use only the coupons for the products you would normally buy.
• Buy extra of the items that you know you use when they go on sale.  It's nice to have this stash in the cellar. 
• Every once in awhile call your insurance agent and see if you qualify for a cheaper rate, or call other agents and compare prices.
• We don't buy paper napkins or paper towels.  I make cloth napkins and use rags for spills and washing windows.

I know these ideas can't be used by everyone, but I hope you found one or two that you hadn't thought of before.

Canning Coleslaw

What do you do with your extra cabbage?  I know a lot of people make sauerkraut.  I do like homemade sauerkraut, but for a bit of variety, I also can coleslaw.  I thought I'd share the recipe I got from a blogging friend.

1 medium head of cabbage
1 large carrot
1 small onion
1 teaspoon salt

Syrup:
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon mustard seed

Shred together vegetables.  Add the salt.  Let stand 1 hour.  Drain water from vegetables.

Boil syrup ingredients together for 1 minute, cool.  Add syrup to vegetables.  Pack into quart or pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

I drain this and add a tad of mayonnaise before I use it.

This year's batch has some purple cabbage mixed in.

Old Wheat

I was reading over at The Deliberate Agrarian about modernized wheat.  I had never heard about our modern wheat being so much different from the wheat grown in the 1800s. 

I started looking on line for information and  there's quite a bit out there.  Modern wheat has been selected and bred for high yield and high gluten.  Some people think that this may be causing all of the issues, such as gluten intolerance and celiac disease, that are so common right now.  

I found this information over at The Sustainable Seed Company.

What makes heirloom grains so special? Heirloom grains, (generally speaking are those over 50 years of age) are still very adaptable. Meaning, unlike many of todays hybrid wheats these heritage wheats have a huge genetic background allowing them to fight off pests and adapt to local growing conditions over generations. Why is that so important? Because as petroleum becomes even more expensive transporting such a heavy food commodity, most grains will once again be grown locally. To do this you will need locally adapted varieties of heritage grain. That is a big reason, but another important one is the flavor. Many heirloom grains retain unique and rich flavors that were sacrificed in modern hybrids for high yields.

After doing some research, I'm thinking I may trade in my spring red wheat for some kamut.  I need to look into it some more and would love any advice you may have on growing grains.  The weather here is cold, we're a zone 3.  Winter wheat has never worked for me, but then again, I just might not know what I'm doing.  Any wheat growers out there?  How about barley growers? Another grain on my list.

Thanks.