What are you canning now?

[Ridgerunner]

Ducks I imagine you know how easily pumpkins cross pollinate. If you grow two different pumpkins where the bees can easily get to them you can get some interesting crosses next year. Of course it is more complicated than that, isn't it always. Some squash are called pumpkins in some places. If they come from different scientific families I don't think they can cross or may not cross that well. I think @digitS' is the expert on that. I did that once with winter squash just to see what would happen. I saved Delicata squash seeds and they obviously crossed with something, looked really different. Whatever the cross was (and it was two different crosses) they tasted really good as a winter squash but did not store worth a darn.

I did a quick look at that Porcelain Doll pumpkin. It's a hybrid, which means it will likely not breed true. If you save those seeds you can get some really interesting stuff next year. It will still be pumpkin but there is no telling what they might look like or how big or productive they will be.

 

[ducks4you]

Very interesting. I HAD read about cross pollination, but I love ANY kind of squash, so it won't matter to me.
I saved the seed pods from a yellow calla lily and I understand that it won't produce true either. THAT doesn't matter bc it's fun to see if I can even Grow them from seed next year.
I have saved the seeds from every pumpkin I processed and I hope to plant those next year. Did you know that the University of Illinois Ag school documented a 50 yo pumpkin seed that sprouted? Pretty hardy plant.

 

[Ridgerunner]

@Ridgerunner purty nice lineup you got there!

Thanks. I do this every year, make jelly and jam as our Christmas presents for several people. I'm not one of those people that negotiates with others as to what we want for Christmas, that just doesn't have the spirit of the season for me though on one level it's very logical. No returns that way. I don't like giving money or gift cards, though I do for nephews and nieces. Money, not cards, I've had those gift cards not work without the receipt. So this gets us off the hook and I enjoy doing it.

 

[ducks4you]

I want to add that many of us grow hybrid tomatoes bc they produce better and don't think anything of it.
We are all hybrid sinners, ya know.

 

[ninnymary]

Bet you didn’t think this city girl could be a Suzy homemaker.

 

[thistlebloom]

View attachment 23215 Bet you didn’t think this city girl could be a Suzy homemaker.

Well that looks real good! Are you going to tell us what it is?

 

[ninnymary]

Ooops forgot to say it’s turkey broth.

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

I understand about the fresh meat smell. I've never been a vegetarian but I still can smell a certain aroma when I butcher chickens. The clothing I wear for that never come in the house until I'm ready to wash them. I rinse parts of the kitchen with a bleach solution after I package them for the freezer. The shower afterwards is a good feeling. I even wash my glasses, frames and all, when I'm finished.

Ridge, I remember that smell....the smell of barnyard in the meat. Even when it was cooked you could still get faint whiffs of corn..and manure...no matter how clean the butchering was.

After switching to fermenting my feeds, that smell is no longer evident in my butchering, nor in the meat cooking later on. No smells at all during the butchering and just a pure goodness when the carcasses are cooked. I was amazed at that dividend of using the FF, as was my mother...she's still amazed to walk into the chicken coop and never smell "chicken".

Even the eggs lack a sulfur smell or taste. Just a clean, nutty flavor and no smell at all when cooked.

 

[journey11]

DH got a young buck on the first day of gun season this week. We butchered yesterday and I canned it that evening. Got 5 quarts stew meat, ground and froze some as burger, did the backstraps up with my new hand turned steak cuber (my favorite, country fried ) vacuum packed and froze steaks and burger, and saved the big round roasts to slice thin and make jerky. Will do that on Monday. Ran out of time and stuck them in the freezer for now. Got a meat slicer for last Christmas and can't wait to try it on jerky!

 

[canesisters]

View attachment 23215 Bet you didn’t think this city girl could be a Suzy homemaker.

HEY, look at you! Great job!!