Ducks 4 in '24

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@ducks4you reading thru your frozen foods list is very impressive and how you have organized and managed all the different frozen foods on Excel.

Encouraging for me to maybe do the same. It’s a big job and lifting heavy boxes up and down stairs and different freezers takes stamina. Sounds like your energy level is right up there with the ever-ready battery bunny.

It’s always a great feeling to get things organized and rewarding how much of the veggies were harvested from your own hard work , growing , prepping and garden. All additive free, antibiotic free and no pesticides.
You should be proud of all your accomplishments this year.

Sending healing blessings your way …that rib thing is painful.

Hat’s off to you.. ducks —— a play on ducks4you. And you are amazing .

 

[SPedigrees]

So, after griping about DD's sloppy beef dropoff last winter, (the 3rd steer that we have bought), I got proactive.
To remind you'all, DD's have a 7 cu ft freezer in their garage, I have a 7 cu ft freezer on my porch, I have a 7 cu ft freezer in my basement, and I have a 14 1/2 cu ft freezer in my garage, which we keep locked.
Beef lady surprised me and told me that my steer was going to the locker last January, early and only 9 months after we bought the last steer. This one was named, "Snowflake."
I had the locker help me load in the truck bed, DD's unloaded and didn't organize Any of it, even though I cleaned out my 3 freezers and separated the old hamburger in a cardboard box (below).
Jump to Monday, when they wanted me to bring them more 2 pound hamburger packages. I brought them 10. Tuesday, I decided to take an accounting. There were only 17 packages of hamburger left.
Basement freezer was bought for the expensive specialty meats, like the roasts and the steaks, but it was such a mess you couldn't find anything.
So, I took some time to find out just how much was left:
27 packages hamburger, 17 boxes (18 ct.) premade hamburger patties
Just when we were trying to come up with More ways to use hamburger...
This afternoon, I took down some empty gardening tubs to the basement, along with a pad of lined sticky notes and counted what and how much was left, which was actually a lot more than I thought.
I didn't think we had more than 2 packages (2/pack) of steaks, but we really have 21.
We are out of stew meat, but have plenty of roasts.
Eldest DD (Chef) has learned how to make corned beef out of the briskets and we have 2 of them, and 1 that is about the size of 2.
We will have to work to make the beef ribs, and the fillets, but we are still sitting pretty.
Every night, when I pray over dinner, I am grateful for our bounty.
I created Excel sheets to keep track, like I did faithfully with "Big Boy," and I made a word file for DD's to put on their fridge. I will also print the Excel sheets for them to keep track, too.
I also packed and took notes so that we can Find things in the downstairs freezer:
Basement Freezer:
Bottom of freezer is Brisket & Fillets.
Next row is Beef ribs & skirt steaks.
Next row is roasts.
On top are the Round steaks.
On the shelf (on top of the motor) are the Ribeye Steaks and Porterhouse steaks.
Basket has the liver & tongue.

Garage Freezer:
17 (2 lb) packages hamburger
16 boxes, pre made hamburgers
Soup bones
Bones

Porch Freezer:
1 box pre made hamburgers
(and other frozen food stuffs, just not beef)

I also pulled the muscles in my lower rib cage organizing the garage freezer, but I didn't know it yesterday.
Today, after making my bed, which requires pulling and straightening the fitted sheet, pulling up and folding over the top sheet with blanket, basically pulling and stretching, then I had to print something in my office in color, which meant I had to disconnect the printer cable on one printer and reconnect to my color laser.
I sat down at my desk with my laptop. Then...I couldn't breathe!!!!
Just enough muscle strain. Took some aspirin and a break and it was better.

That cataloging system for the contents of your freezers is something I should adopt.

 

[Finnie]

Ducks, will your surgeon do both knees at the same time?

@ducks4you ?

I was wondering the same thing. @farmerjan had both of hers done at the same time and that seemed like the way to go.

 

[baymule]

A friend of mine had both of hers done at the same time also and is glad she did.

 

[ducks4you]

WOW!!
@Shades-of-Oregon , THIS: is Definitely my new meme!!
@SPedigrees , I KNEW I needed to catalog 3 years ago, so I asked middle DD to create and email an Excel spreadsheet for me. I sent her the list of meat and totals and she created the codes.
A Bit lazy on my part, still haven't learned Excel, but I can delete and put in new information with every steer we buy and then save with a new title.
I have printed the 5 sheets for Eldest DD (Chef) and she will know what is available.
There are SO many parts of my property that are Not organized. Here are those things that Are:
1) seed cabinet (teak) and collect those desiccant packages to keep with the seed packets
2) 3 freezers
3) hay and straw in the barn loft
4) grain room and cat and dog food
5) tack room
6) sheets for my bed
7) underwear drawer
Gotta take victory laps where you can!

 

[ducks4you]

@Finnie and @baymule
VERY interesting to know that both knees could be operated on at the same time.
I don't think I could function with recovery for both at the same time.
I will receive at home visiting bandage and therapy for 2 weeks right after the surgery.
DD's are scheduled to take care of my critters for those 2 weeks.
Middle DD is planning on coming to generally help for a week in January.
Since She works from home this is possible.
My left knee has been my support and there are still many things I can do with it.
We have an Alaskan cruise next May and I should be able to walk pretty well, even With a damaged left knee.
The right knee suffered great trauma, so I limp. Orthopedics gave (really sold) me a removable brace, one to push my bones back into straight bc I have bowlegged my right leg to compensate, AND I continue to do the exercises that Physical Therapy taught me, so that my recovery will be more rapid than to let the muscles go.
I have a friend who got both knee surgeries same year, but they were 4 months apart.
I am thinking that my two surgeries will be about one year apart.
I have had SO MANY PEOPLE who notice my limp and tell me about Their own knee replacements and how happy they are! Several of them have asked to pray for me!
I have the new brace AND I have an ace bandage brace.
So, I am set for living with the deteriorating left knee for awhile.
Also, I have come to learn that there are MANY exercises that you can for your legs from a chair or your bed.
You only need to focus and willpower.

 

[ducks4you]

@heirloomgal , I looked up Boothby's Blonde:

Boothby's Blonde Cucumber

This small and unique cucumber is a high yielding variety with creamy yellow skin and small black spines. Fruits grow to 3-5 inches in length. Grown for generations by the Boothby family of Livermore, Maine, this historic variety has a juicy and pleasant, sweet, delicate taste with good crunch...

hudsonvalleyseed.com

I think I'll buy a package bc I like the idea of the heirloom variety. Martini is a hybrid.
Is it a good cucumber for pickling?
I am discovering that a few cucumbers produce a LOT of fruit.
I think I started planting them late bc I had such a BIg problem with squash vine borers.
I plan to make a gardening calendar for 2025 that will tell me when to plant. I am pretty sure that 6 weeks out from flowering, past the vine borer season, will work.
I need to figure out a schedule to avoid first flowering of my different vegetables, and plant them a little bit later to avoid their egg laying. With my new right knee I should have a better variety of vegetables next year.
Life Cycle

• Squash vine borer adults typically emerge late June to early July from cocoons in the soil
• Squash vine borer moths singly lay eggs at the base of the plant stem after emergence
• After approximately one week, larvae hatch from the eggs and begin boring into plants.
• Larvae block the flow of water to the plant by feeding through the base of the stem
• After larvae feed for four to six weeks, they exit the stem and bore one to two inches into the ground to pupate
• Squash vine borers can remain in the field until the following Summer

This means, for ME, all flowering cucurbits must be preflowering until mid August.
This includes:
Cucumbers
Pumpkins
Summer/Winter squash
Watermelons
Muskmelons
I know that I don't have it in me to perform surgery on my vines.
I have considered, in the past, using pesticides, but now I am pretty much against it. Two years ago I planted pumpkins in July and got a crop with NO vine borers. Certainly I could start seeds inside and wait to transplant, too, until they are done with breeding and egg laying, which they ONLY do on host plants.
I also put out a rotting pumpkin in the horse's training area and it has grown about 5 fruit, which I plan on harvesting soon. There were no vine borers present, so I can start with a clean slate in 2025 on my property.

 

[heirloomgal]

Is it a good cucumber for pickling?

I wish I knew! I don't do any canning, and my attempt at highbush cranberry jelly was a total fail last year.
But you're right, cucumbers can really pump out fruit. My neighbor was telling me that for the 2nd year in a row he grew beautiful cucumber vines in huge pots, that didn't produce a single cucumber. I think he's giving up on them as a result, so I asked to see the planters - there was about 50 plants in there! So, yup that would cause the vines to fail to produce. Hybrid cukes seem to be able to produce regardless of crowding, whereas I find the heirloom def need space. Hybrid vigour is VERY pronounced in this species.

 

[ducks4you]

Try doubling the pectin next time you want a good gel bc you never KNOW how old the pectin IS.
Mine are mostly 6-8 inches apart, but the Munchers got planted close bc the other seeds didn't germinate, probably bc I let them dry out during a short drought after I planted them.
The Munchers are about 4 inches apart.
In 2022 and 2023 I really crowded my cucumbers, and they produced, but it's ALWAYS good to reassess growing practices.

 

[ducks4you]

For an "old stubborn pain in the back," apply garlic and hog's lard to the feet.
—John Wesley, English religious leader (1703-91)