We lost two chickens yesterday.  I went down about 1:00 to give them some scraps and one was missing. I only counted 14, but I didn’t see any signs of the missing pullet. When Corey got home at 2:30, there were feathers all over the pen and another one was missing.

He went into the pen and found one half eaten and another with it’s head gone. The one with the missing head was in a pile of leaves. Because it was brown, it was the same color as the leaves.  The fence didn’t seem disturbed, so we think a fox must have gotten under it. Both Corey and I probably interrupted a meal.

Because we wanted them to free range, we have a movable fence that can be relocated to different parts of the lot.  They have about 1200 sq feet of grass to scratch around in. We need to think of a way to make the fence more secure.

The Helianthus Tuberosus, or as most people know it, the Jerusalem artichoke grows naturally and it’s usually thought of as a weed, but it’s a great source of food. In addition to people food, it can be used feed livestock, make alcohol, or sweetener.

American Indian tribes used the Jerusalem artichoke before European settlers came here.

Because the plant looks like a sunflower, it’s also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or the Italian name for sunflower – girasol (which which kinda sounds like Jerusalem).

They’re an ugly root, but they taste pretty good. When they’re cooked, they taste similar to an artichoke, and if you eat them raw, they taste like a potato but with the feel of a carrot.

I planted some this spring and dug up a couple the other day.  They will still be good to eat next spring as well.


This is all the roots from a single plant.

We got a ham on sale for 1.49 per pound.  I first cut off 3 pretty good ham steaks and put them in the freezer.   I trimmed the meat from the bone and used it to can 7 quarts of ham and bean soup.  There was another 2 quarts that we froze.  I put the fat away to render later to make lye soap.  I took the meaty bone and fed it to our chickens.

I also bought 10 pounds of chicken legs @59 cents per pound.  I removed the skin, bones and cartilage and canned 4 pints of chicken meat.  Then I took the offal, threw in onion and celery, added water and canned 7 quarts of chicken stock.   I threw the bones, skin, etc. into the composter.  Feeding chicken scraps to the chickens just didn’t seem right.

One of the things I would miss most if the grocery stores were empty is butter.  Recently I found butter in a can online. I figured that if someone was doing it commercially that it should be possible to can it at home. So, when I ran across this recipe, I had to try it.  Aldi had a sale on butter for $1.99 per pound, and I just bought 11 pounds, followed the directions, and made 12 pints.  I haven’t eaten any yet, so I don’t know the results.

Here is the recipe I found.

    1.   Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

    2.   Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.

    3.   While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

    4.   Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4″ of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

    5.   Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids “ping,” shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

    6.   At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. The person who submitted the recipe said it does last a long time, and it was fine after 5 years. Canned butter does not “melt” again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

I figure if it doesn’t work I’m only out twenty-something dollars, but when butter goes up in price, I’ve saved some money and learned something new.

There are a large number of families that are putting away food, learning skills that our fathers and grandfathers used to survive, and preparing for a disaster.

I wonder how many people would survive a disaster like the 1930′s depression, a disaster like an eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano, or a terrorist attack.

Would you survive a solar or nuclear EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) that took away our electricity for a year or more.

I’ll bet if you took a look at the food in your house, you would be scrounging for food in two weeks.

It makes a person think.

Is this just another way for the government to control your life?