Picked another two 5 gallon buckets full of dried beans, still in the pods of course. I will start removing them from their shells once all the end of season work is finished. I have kinda gotten into the habit of sitting down and turning on a movie and just de-shelling beans one bucket at a time well into Winter.
It's amazing that all the work I put into growing and harvesting the pole beans yields maybe nine or ten dollars worth of grocery store beans. The true pay off for this labor of love isn't in saving money though it's in having a working knowledge of just what is needed when the time comes. I doubt many can really wrap their heads around just how much time and effort would go into growing and storing all the beans you would need to survive until the next harvest season. So far my average is still sitting at about 1200 plants per person for a year's supply. That's a a lot of beans and anyone who thinks they will be able to pop down to the local small town store and continue to buy em so cheap is just simply delusional.
As you can see in the picture above and below I have been running the solar wax melter non-stop during this heat wave. I have filled my little wax pot full tot he brim and have six extra baggies full of filtered wax for the Winter.
Haven't completely decided what project I am going to attempt with this batch yet. The list is long. I know I have a bunch of new frames to coat with it and maybe a couple of candles to try but after that it's still undecided.
The Cutting Crew has almost eaten the pasture section completely down to nothing. There is still some decent grazing they can do behind the barn but they saved me quite a few gallons of gas this Summer not to mention a fair amount of feed. In fact the entire thing worked so well I am considering expanding it next year and allowing them more access into other areas after I provide some nice fencing to protect my fruit trees.
With a little creative fencing I might be able to get the actual mowing down to a fraction of what I have been doing. The only downside I have seen so far is that some of these ewes have gotten so fat I may have to put em on a diet before I introduce em back to their rams. A couple of these ladies have fat rolls showing through their wool.
The puny little sticks that I planted claiming to be grape vines have really taken off since the winds died down and this one in particular has grown to the top of it's trellis. Pruning is definitely in order for them once Winter hits. If they grow any more I may even start seeing grapes off of em by next year.
Finally my last two new hives are showing some nice orientation flights each afternoon and are about ready for a second brood box each to help em get through Winter. If I get the new brood chambers on within the next couple of days the Goldenrod flow should really give em a chance to get them built out in comb before the cold temps start coming.
Looks like I am going to be needing to buy a few more sheets of foam insulation to cover all my new hives too.
With the grass turning brown and the beans getting harvested the daily duties are actually beginning to shrink into manageable numbers once again. Instead of 100 things to do each day I now have only 50 and can almost get em all done. Another day of picking Pole beans and then I will move on to the Cowpeas and the remaining Tomatoes, then it will be time to start mowing the garden under and give it a good Fall till.
It's been a pretty good year in production across the board and I am actually starting to look forward to some cooler temps and slower demands. I know I am way behind on building new hive boxes and such anyway. Of course wood cutting is now once again close and I am not looking forward to that.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
Good one those skills will help real good
ReplyDeleteBubba - Yep It's best to know before hand I think. even if ya never have to use it.
DeleteYup the prepper boys on TV who buy all of the MREs haven't got a clue of how much work it will take when they run out of those things. Of course they won't have enough seeds or know how to plant enough to feed themselves. I planted bush beans and they pretty much failed because of the weather but the pole beans came through. This is a case where diversity really is a good thing. Also having seeds that are adapted to your area is very important and you are way ahead of the game on that.
ReplyDeleteSomething is going to fail in the garden every year and you have to have lots of things to fall back on in that case.I try to keep enough seeds in reserve for a total failure so that a recovery is possible the next year.
Sf - Ya I think a number of these store it only types who talk a lot and think they can buy their way through survival are in for a rude awakening. Beans are perfect example. They are cheap now but wait till you have to pay for real labor and not fossil fuel labor and things are going to be a whole lot more expensive.
DeleteI had my pole beans fail in 2012 and almost lost the variety I been breeding for years now but because I keep my leftover seed stock for years I managed to fall back on the 2011 ones I had left and then had a boom year in 2013 and so saved my variety.
Cowpeas now I have never had a failed crop of. Those things seem to always grow as TB mentioned today. I am working them in to a local variety now as well and have some big plans for em.
PP, SF - you are both so right. so many people think that they will just ride out whatever is coming based on their food stores. i think stocking food is very important but even more so, is learning how to grow your own food, learning what does well in your area, etc., etc. i know that i am preaching to the already converted here. saving seeds is also a very important skill!
DeleteWhy go to all that work?? Just go to the store and buy canned food?? What wrong with you?? The corn harvest is behind here due to late plant. I noticed some pumpkins but not many in the field I saw today Wheat is done, straw is bailed, another round of bailing grass is on going. Time to start thinking about the cold weather coming here soon
ReplyDeleteRob - I know you had the sarcasm key going there :)
DeleteThey are harvesting some of the feed corn around here. Of course feed corn is much less time sensitive than Sweet corn for commercial canning so they will be combining it from now until who knows when.
I haven't checked my Pumpkins in weeks. I need to go down there and see if any survived.
We will have another round of hay baling here next month.
Far too many people out there want to talk the talk about prepping or sustainable living but have no clue what it actually takes. Once the credit cards quit working they will be on burrowed time. No mater how much food you store it has a shelf life and once the prices are too high to buy more the collapse starts, for them, best to know what ya need to do to grow your own be it plant or animal.
As for canning, imagine what will happen when mason jar lids stop being made? I have started switching to Tatler which are reusable for decades. Not as simple as metal ones but results are as good, they just require tightening after processing. Anyway you really have to think things out and figure what parts of the process won't be available.
DeleteSF - we are doing the same - we are using up all of our regular lids and once those are used, we'll move on to our tattlers.
DeleteI'm slowly buying the crazy expensive Weck jars because I don't like plastic. The plastic in the Tattler lids can release formaldehyde, they say on their website "Conditions of Use: Use temperature not to exceed 250 deg F per 177.2470." Pressure canning can easily reach that temp or very close to it, a little too close for my comfort. Plus the materials used to make the lids may be USDA approved, but the ids themselves are not. The 2 piece metal lids, like Ball are the only type recommended by the USDA. No other jars or lids (including the Tattler lids) are approved by the USDA for canning in the US. Great idea, but I'll pass.
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteNice harvest of beans for a wonderful stash of seeds for next year.
I so love the idea of not having to mow as much, things are turning hear as well.
Sandy - I am hoping I get about four quarts of dried beans for the Winter. That isn't much but it makes a good many ham and bean meals and chili actually. More than people might think. Probably a good 24 or more in can equivalent. The real reason I started doing it was to see if I could grow and harvest them and then keep them edible over Winter this way.
DeleteThat and I wanted to get a strain that did the best in my local conditions.
I need to get some sheep! Also, I'm looking on the internet to see where I can order a nice bunch of strong Russian women to cut and split wood.when they aren't sitting on tractors looking good.
ReplyDeleteMV - LOL those Women are worse when ya get em in groups. You will age too fast.
DeleteA fair number of people do grape vines in the Carolinas. From what I have been told, they can kind of sit there like they are doing much of anything for a couple of years, than shoot up like a rocket.
ReplyDeleteThe only item I can "save" money on is the various fancy lettuce types if you grow enough to strip out the outer leaves rather then harvest the whole plant. Spring can last a long time around here. For reasons I don't understand, I have had no luck with them in the Fall though.
Russ - I was really worried about my grapes. It seemed they would grow but then the winds kept breaking off all their new growth. I was worried they would get literally wind whipped to death.
DeleteMy aunt says you can sell beeswax for $1.00-$2.00 per oz. at the local farmer's market here in SW Idaho. I use natural beeswax in my "pain salve" made with essential oils and a lot of folks will use natural beeswax for lip balm and other home made cosmetics or medicines.
ReplyDeleteMASR - I could sell Bees wax now but until this year I have never had such a surplus of it. The main thing I use it for is coating my new frames to hide the plastic and trick the bees into building comb on em. It works great. I did make a series of candles last year to know how and still burn one all Winter on my desk. I love that burning wax/honey smell.
DeleteThe true pay off for this labor of love isn't in saving money though it's in having a working knowledge of just what is needed when the time comes. I doubt many can really wrap their heads around just how much time and effort would go into growing and storing all the beans you would need to survive until the next harvest season.
ReplyDeleteThat is true. I also tell the kids that food will get you through times of no money (or hyperinflation) better than money will get you through times of no food.
With apologies to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.
Mushroom - So true, So true indeed.
DeleteI don't follow the furry brothers comment though.
1200 plants per person, wow! About how many row feet of beans do you think that would be per person? I put in three 16 foot rows of blue lake beans and one of blue cocoa on cattle panels this year. I got the blue cocoa from High Mowing seeds and they are an heirloom. I have getting just as many beans in jars from the cocoas as I have from the lakes. Those cocoas are amazing producing plants. They are purple, turn green bean and kind of flat. You have to be agressive in picking them because they get tough faster than the lakes do. I think I will try just the cocoas next year and save the seeds.
ReplyDeleteI like the tattler lids too, been using them for about 3 years now with no sign of wear and tear.
Ok, you have a good Labor Day PP. I need to go put on a long dress and head out to a pre 1840 camping rendezvous. Going to take my spinning wheel and make some yarn and shoot my black powder rifel.
Spinnersaw - I have the figures somewhere from my other experiment yields in prior years. I may have doubled it though and it may only be 600 plants per person now that I think on it. I need to go look it up and I am sure the numbers will change for other locations. It was the average yield and taking 365 servings multiplication thing I did a couple years ago.
DeleteSounds like you are in for some Mountain Man fun!!!! Enjoy it wish I was going too...
Jealous as always, Preppy. I think I am down to okra, black eyed peas, and jalapenos at this point -this last round of heat took everything else down. Oh well - on to the Fall Garden!
ReplyDeleteTB - Luckily the Okra got weed choked and the wife forgot about them :)
DeleteI started picking dried Blackeyed pea pods today. Looks like it was a pretty good crop of them. Next up should be Sweet Potatoes and the last planting of regular potatoes.