Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

@Baymule ... I buy my vacuum seal bags online, first off Ebay... much more reasonable than in the store. Actually found a place that I got the super big ones for the turkeys I had years ago... I found a place in Canada that has the normal size bags and rolls...., heavy duty..... and they are nice. Haven't bought any in 3 years since I got a good supply back then. Plus, I cut them long, then wash and reuse once or twice for smaller quantities of things.... When the canning jar lids were hard to find, I got what I could. Since then I ordered some made in USA from a company that I believe is Amish or Mennonite, through Lehman's, when they were promoting them... and bought a sleeve or 2......(200-250 to a sleeve?) plus what packages I have still.... And I reuse alot of them at least once... put in a pan of hot water for 15-30 minutes... not boiling.. but it helps to "plump" the rubber part. If one or 2 don't seal, then I use a new one. But I have good luck with doing that also... and I know there are some that have been reused more than once or twice... but I try to mark the lid....

I also have gone to using the Tattler lids... you can buy the replacement rubbers like the old canning jar rubber rings for the glass top jars... The nice thing about the Tattler lids, they are reusable... AND... they last and do not corrode at all because there is no "coated metal" to come in contact with the food inside. The tightening part takes a little more finesse... but not that big a deal...once you get the feel for it, they are GREAT... the rubber ring is also reusable if you do not cut it getting it off.. Standard canning jar screw bands...

I actually like my old glass top bail jars with the rubbers. Sadly, the one company that is supposed to make the replacement rubbers for them, does not make them as thick as the original type, and they do not work that well... no guesswork with the tightening as they clamped down the right amount with the older style rubber rings, and when done canning and cooled, unlock the bail and they sat on the shelves... for years.....food went bad, the glass lid just got loose, vacuum gone, tossed it out...

 

[farmerjan]

So, today turned out real nice. The recording thermometer shows 65... not sure how much was direct sun... but car thermometer showed 59 earlier...
I did get the clothes off the line at least.

Made a bottle and went up to the nurse cow pasture... Cows were all out in the pasture "grazing"... looking for a blade of green I guess... and they were all ambling towards the barn when I got there. I put the grain in, and a pile for 1305 black cow since she was right there at the barn... Betsy - jersey - went in and "her " 2 calves and the littler jersey bull calf... Then I backed off, went to the other side of the car and 1305 went right in the barn too... Calf went in the barn and went right on her.. Been 2 days since she was in there... obviously he was getting some milk.. he had the typical "milk wet" nose... and then they came out and I had opened the gate and the 2 cows went out... I opened the dividing gate inside the barn and the calves all went over to eat grain with the others... and I fed the calf a full bottle. He can handle more milk and not scour now...
She sure is mercurial in her attitude and disposition... so.... here we go again... if she comes up and comes in, fine.. the problem is that she will PROBABLY never feed the calf out in the field, so they can't go out with the bull so she can get rebred in June... with the calf with her.. DS will have to make up his mind what he wants to do with her... but for now. I will just deal with it... If she keeps coming in then the calf will get extra. He is growing good... and after he took the bottle, after she had gone out, I walked over near the bunk and he put his head right in there and started eating grain... He is VERY SMART....really hate he is a bull....

 

[murphysranch]

FJ: I'm now a certified Master Canner. I took the 10 week course via one of WA extension depts. 18 page final. Passed with 89 out of 100. (it was hard!!).

Anyhoo, the rubber on canning lids is far less thick than the older days. They no longer recommend putting them in warm or hot water. It doesn't plump the rubber anymore, just adds to failure rate.

I like my Tattler lids. Most extensions don't like them. But I do. I take good care of those rubber rings...

The class taught me to not use canning lids that were more than a year old. But I still do, and am careful with testing and leaving on counter for a week before storing away.

Back to canning - there are so many new varieties of bacteria, virus, and molds, that what we used to do is scarily wrong nowadays. My mother (now 94) taught me and since I'll be 70 in 5 days, I've had alot to "unlearn".

Sorry to derail your journal.

When are you going down to stay with friends to look around??

 

[Ridgetop]

The class taught me to not use canning lids that were more than a year old. But I still do, and am careful with testing and leaving on counter for a week before storing away.

I don't reuse canning lids, but I do use glass jars that are not commercial canning jars. Oddly enough the only jars that ever broe were Ball or Kerr jars. LOL Plain old glass mayo jars never failed.

My mother (now 94) taught me and since I'll be 70 in 5 days, I've had alot to "unlearn".

When I learned to make jam from my grandmother she sealed the jars with melted parafin! I started water bath sealing with canning lids later because I didn't like using melted parafin with little kids underfoot. Now it is hard to find parafin.

 

[SageHill]

When I learned to make jam from my grandmother she sealed the jars with melted parafin! I started water bath sealing with canning lids later because I didn't like using melted parafin with little kids underfoot. Now it is hard to find parafin.

Yup. Same here. And I played with the parafin discs when we'd open a jar.

 

[murphysranch]

I used parafin until the 90's!! Didn't know any better!!

 

[Finnie]

In fact the "4" stick pretty much together out there... and the 2 month old calf on my char x is hanging with them and coming in the barn some too..
Will be interesting to see how long it takes the new calf on the heifer that he just moved there, to start hanging with the other ones..

Do cattle bond in groups like that as they are growing up, like how chickens do? Or is it easier to mix and match cattle from one group to another?

(Actually, from reading your posts I think I can answer my own question because you seem to move cattle from one group to another a lot. But the part I quoted got me to thinking that maybe they do bond somewhat with the group they grow up with, similar to chickens.)

(And, my chickens are used to me changing groups a lot, but I do try to move any given one with a friend or two and not just throw a single one into an already established group.)

 

[farmerjan]

@Finnie ... yes they do bond in groups.... and sometimes in family groups if they spend the first year or so together... some will gravitate back to the "rest of the family" or the group they grew up with.
Yes, seldom ever move a single into an established group... like you, try to move at least 2 together into any different bunch.
They will establish a "pecking order" in the cattle too... and try to keep similar sizes together when we move them around....
Chickens tend to me more "blood thirsty" when mixing in new ones... cattle will run them off a little, or hog the roll of hay, But they seldom ever go at it to the extent of hurting another one... and chickens will peck til they draw blood, then all bets are off...
Alot of the moving is to keep cattle in similar situations.... preg dry cows together for calving... then cows with calves that go to pastures to get bred... sometimes we will keep the "older cows" at certain places... all the bred heifers went to the one place for the fall grazing, that we just went and brought back... and if the snow hadn't been so bad on the second load, they all would have gone to snyder's to calve out... BUT.... they are with the group of cows that will be calving at the same time....
We try to keep the same sex together in some of the groups... making it easy to catch them up to sell groups, to look at heifers all in a group to compare them against each other.... easier to make decisions when you see them compared to each other in one place.... not scattered. What might look "ok" in one field, doesn't look very "ok" when in a group of similar age and size....

Case in point... my longhorn had a mostly white, with a few "speckles", bull calf 2+ years ago... made a steer, then had another completely black bull last year...made a steer. Until a few weeks ago, when I got the black one in and sent him to doug's barn so the longhorn cow could get a definite break... although I thought he was weaned off... you would see those 3 together eating hay, grazing, whatever... Because of putting the bull in and then pulling him out, the longhorn got on a 12 month schedule... she had 4 calves in 3 1/2 yrs... backing up a couple months each time... because the bulls had not been moved in and out regularly: and she was so fertile that she was breeding back 30-45 days after calving instead of 75-90 days to be on a 12 month schedule... and I wanted her to get a more normal break. The white one was born in late Jan I think... then the black steer was not born until the following March so she had weaned the white one off and he was not nursing and she went 14-15 months between those calves... this year she will calve again in Mar/April , I guess. She does not get preg checked... due to facilities not being favorable to dealing with her horns....you will see her with her white steer closeby often... he will be going in the freezer probably this summer... but she will have her new calf to occupy her time...

 

[farmerjan]

39 degrees overnight, up to 66 today on the recording thermometer... Mostly sun all day...

I went up and fed the calf a bottle and it is loose again, so too much milk.... The calf was actually out with the jersey and 1305... and she was licking it some, but then tried to head butt it away a little... so I have no idea if it is getting on her out in the field... at least it is good weather for it to be out there with her... trying to catch it nursing out in the field... I did not bring them in this morning and knew I would not be up there this evening with testing... sorry that their schedule gets a little screwy when I am testing... and home after dark.

Tomorrow I will be testing but ought to get home before dark so will see if she will come in for grain with Betsy, the jersey, and the calf should go on her... maybe he is getting some out there in the field.. I spent about an hour just watching them but since he got the bottle and then was so loose, he wasn't motivated to go on her to try to nurse... She is soooo fickle... but at least she "mostly" is behaving... if I just pretend that I am not interested in her going in the barn when she comes near it... PITA.....

DS came by and changed the battery in the 2 wd ranger as I could not get the cable off the post... literally could not pry it off. and he had to use a small pry bar after undoing the nut nearly all the way off... he said that he didn't know who ever put it on there, but they must've used a hammer... and the post was not corroded.. the terminal end of the cable that goes on the post must've been bent somehow... then he found that the water line had come apart at the elbow, in the "basement" and there is a split... and he needed to get a replacement... I think he said it was a "shark bite" one...gee, could have had water weeks ago, if he had just gone down and looked at it.... said it might have been leaking for awhile and maybe when it froze it popped it off the end with the pressure... so maybe my low water pressure was from that... yeah, like when I started having trouble back last summer with low pressure...Said he would get what he needed to replace that elbow.. then turn on the water and see if there was any other damage to any pipes... then he had to leave to go to a dr appt... he didn't tell me about it until Monday, and I had already scheduled this farm.... so I could not go to drive back... and I got my stuff together and then went to test.

Left there after computer work, and got the meters loaded, went and got the milk at the farm on the way home. Locked in the NH rooster... brought in the sample bottles... have to get them packed to drop off tomorrow at UPS... Need to tray up more for the farm tomorrow.

I have a chiropractor appt in the morning, then will come back and go to test.. going to be a long day of "running"... but my hand is tingley numb and the shoulder is aching and I have had a dull headache nearly every day, so I more than need this appt. Need another session with the massage therapist too...

@murphysranch Haven't gone down to the friends' place, as he has had a flare up of the flu bug he and his wife had... and was in the hospital for his heart for 2 days... he's had some problems over the years, and they think the "flu bug" had maybe affected it not beating right... nothing terribly new for him... treats it like a minor inconvenience... but decided that with the cold/snow and mess from all the rain they had near there, after the 10 inch snow, and more flooding, we would put it off. Plus I was not going down in the snow either... and now I am playing catch up testing for a week or 2... and I am dealing with that dumb 1305 cow right now... we are talking 2-3 weeks maybe.... more spring looking weather hopefully... Said there is nothing really "interesting " that his auctioneer/real estate friend has seen available now either...

 

[farmerjan]

FJ: I'm now a certified Master Canner. I took the 10 week course via one of WA extension depts. 18 page final. Passed with 89 out of 100. (it was hard!!).

Anyhoo, the rubber on canning lids is far less thick than the older days. They no longer recommend putting them in warm or hot water. It doesn't plump the rubber anymore, just adds to failure rate.

I like my Tattler lids. Most extensions don't like them. But I do. I take good care of those rubber rings...

The class taught me to not use canning lids that were more than a year old. But I still do, and am careful with testing and leaving on counter for a week before storing away.

Back to canning - there are so many new varieties of bacteria, virus, and molds, that what we used to do is scarily wrong nowadays. My mother (now 94) taught me and since I'll be 70 in 5 days, I've had alot to "unlearn".

Sorry to derail your journal.

When are you going down to stay with friends to look around??

CONGRATULATIONS for passing the test...
Yes, they keep changing the "proper way to can"... and I get that there are some things that were not heard of ,,, and newer strains of bacteria and viruses that have evolved...
Yeah, the rubber on the new canning lids is alot thinner...
I'm with you on the Tattler lids and rubber rings...