TenOaks Homestead Ways

[~MG~]

Nice haul!

So garlic... yeah git u sum German purple hardneck garlic cloves from a good source. Heirloom preferably then plant the cloves in the fall. Plant 3 to 4 inches deep 6 inches to 1 ft apart in rows. Garlic is easy and low maintenance it doesn't like to be to wet but you may have to water sum. We plant here in October and harvest here in mid to end of July. Probably different in Texas. Its so darn easy even I can do it.

Major thanks! Does it require a winter or a cold season?? The nights might get down to 40-45 here in Dec-Jan, but otherwise Texas is like warm spring-hot summer 10 months out of the year. I'll probably need to order that variety from a seed catalog maybe... any recommendations on sources?

I am gonna plant some garlic and probably a few other things too. The garlic I got at the store today is called elephant garlic - one really big bulb, just thought I'd try it.

[Hawg]

Major thanks! Does it require a winter or a cold season?? The nights might get down to 40-45 here in Dec-Jan, but otherwise Texas is like warm spring-hot summer 10 months out of the year. I'll probably need to order that variety from a seed catalog maybe... any recommendations on sources?

I am gonna plant some garlic and probably a few other things too. The garlic I got at the store today is called elephant garlic - one really big bulb, just thought I'd try it.

I grow hardneck but we have a winter.

It looks like Texas does better with softneck varietys.

Grow garlic in Texas by planting cloves in October or November (around Thanksgiving) for a May–June harvest. Choose softneck varieties (like 'Inchelium Red' or 'Early Italian') for better adaptation to warmer climates. Plant cloves 2–3 inches deep, 4–6 inches apart, with the pointy side up in well-draining, nutrient-rich soil amended with compost.

[Inor]

You best plant some horseradish too. But plant it in a big pot. If you plant it in the ground, it will take over the whole yard in a year or two. Nothing beats homegrown horseradish.

[~MG~]

No more store-bought jams or jellies , so right now I'm making up a batch of my favorite cranberry apple compote that I'll just keep in the fridge.

One bag frozen cranberries, one apple peeled & chopped up, one cup of sugar. Simmer in a saucepan till most all the berries have popped, mash it up, put it in a jar. That's it.

[~MG~]

That is awesome MG! Please update the post with your wins.

Along with the wins, I'll post my fails, too.
So I made the spaghetti sauce for PO for supper tonight and the Roma tomatoes don't really mash up and blend in like sauce; guess I'll need to cook them down and make my own sauce but I didn't have the energy for that, so I waivered and threw in a can of Contadina tomato sauce just to bring it all together.

He can let you know how it tastes; he's cooking up spaghetti noodles at the moment, lol.

[Texas PO]

Along with the wins, I'll post my fails, too.
So I made the spaghetti sauce for PO for supper tonight and the Roma tomatoes don't really mash up and blend in like sauce; guess I'll need to cook them down and make my own sauce but I didn't have the energy for that, so I waivered and threw in a can of Contadina tomato sauce just to bring it all together.

He can let you know how it tastes; he's cooking up spaghetti noodles at the moment, lol.

I am going back for seconds.....maybe thirds! Good eats babe.

[T-Man 1066]

That is one trait of a good cook... sometimes things go not as planned. How to salvage a meal is a skill.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

[Inor]

Let me make one point explicitly clear: I am 110% solidly in favor of what you are doing! Don't stop! Don't change a thing!

Mrs Inor and I are to the point where we are producing somewhere around 70-80% of everything we eat right on our little plot of land. We still buy some stuff, but in a pinch, we would not have to. Pretty much everything we purchase at a grocery store is a luxury purchase now... That said, just before Christmas I decided I should go to doctor and get a check-up. I had not had a check-up for more than 20 years and being 58 years old, I figured it would be best to at least get seen and establish a baseline for when parts start falling off me over the next couple years.

So they did all the blood tests, etc. and even drove a robot up my ass looking for colon cancer. (The robot was actually the only worthwhile part of the whole experience since they did cut out 3 "things" and 2 of them were "pre-cancerous" - whatever that means). Anyway, doctor had an absolute fit about my diet. Apparently my blood was all whacked out with a bunch of crap that I don't even want to think about. So, I sort-of went on the diet doctor wanted and started taking a bunch of dope they wanted me to take. I went back about a month ago for a follow-up. Doing what they said to do, eating what they said to eat plus taking a bunch of dope they prescribed, my blood was still all messed up according to them! Plus, I felt like shit and was absolutely miserable because I couldn't eat all the stuff I like and I lost enough weight that I was starting to look like a Biafra guy! In short, their metrics of my blood may have been a little better but I felt like hell warmed over.

So, I have since stopped taking most of their dope and am slowly going back to eating homegrown/homemade food that actually tastes good and I enjoy. I am starting to finally feel better and starting to get some energy back.

The moral of my story: Eating the way you are now eating has kept humanity alive for many thousands of years. The doctors will hate on you for it, but piss on them!

[~MG~]

Let me make one point explicitly clear: I am 110% solidly in favor of what you are doing! Don't stop! Don't change a thing!

Mrs Inor and I are to the point where we are producing somewhere around 70-80% of everything we eat right on our little plot of land. We still buy some stuff, but in a pinch, we would not have to. Pretty much everything we purchase at a grocery store is a luxury purchase now... That said, just before Christmas I decided I should go to doctor and get a check-up. I had not had a check-up for more than 20 years and being 58 years old, I figured it would be best to at least get seen and establish a baseline for when parts start falling off me over the next couple years.

So they did all the blood tests, etc. and even drove a robot up my ass looking for colon cancer. (The robot was actually the only worthwhile part of the whole experience since they did cut out 3 "things" and 2 of them were "pre-cancerous" - whatever that means). Anyway, doctor had an absolute fit about my diet. Apparently my blood was all whacked out with a bunch of crap that I don't even want to think about. So, I sort-of went on the diet doctor wanted and started taking a bunch of dope they wanted me to take. I went back about a month ago for a follow-up. Doing what they said to do, eating what they said to eat plus taking a bunch of dope they prescribed, my blood was still all messed up according to them! Plus, I felt like shit and was absolutely miserable because I couldn't eat all the stuff I like and I lost enough weight that I was starting to look like a Biafra guy! In short, their metrics of my blood may have been a little better but I felt like hell warmed over.

So, I have since stopped taking most of their dope and am slowly going back to eating homegrown/homemade food that actually tastes good and I enjoy. I am starting to finally feel better and starting to get some energy back.

The moral of my story: Eating the way you are now eating has kept humanity alive for many thousands of years. The doctors will hate on you for it, but piss on them!

Thank you for sharing that. I did the same thing when I turned 60 for the same reason (baseline). When the blood/lab work came back, the doctor asked me "How do you explain all your numbers not only being in range , but on the right end of the range??" I told him "Twenty-five years of no doctors."

It's kind of funny and a bit surprising... This morning is the first morning after doing this for what 3 days? 4? that I'm starting to feel really good. It almost feels like I've gone through withdrawals from all the chemicals and additives in the commercial food I was eating and am no longer. Also no more pop tarts, chips, funyuns, frozen potpies for convenience... and doing this is really not that much more work.

I'm staying with it for physical and mental health reasons. I kind of wish the reality of TenOaks was equal to my imaginings... but you know damn well that is a lot of work. I'm grateful that I can do this in this manner... and I still don't do "doctors" LOLOL

[Texas PO]

You should eat what you enjoy and makes you comfortable to be sure. I myself have never been a slave to eating healthy really, never worried about what was on the label. I was more of the workout warrior to stay in shape. Ran 3 or 4 times a week, lifted weights at least 3 times a week, swimming, working the heavy bag, you name it, but never worried so much about the food I ate as much as how much I ate. If I liked it I ate it, if I didn't like it, I didn't eat it.

The only time I forced myself to eat healthy was when I had my heart thing in my 50's. After all the tests and thousands of dollars that the insurance didn't pay he concluded I had a strong Heart but high blood pressure. I knew that the night I went to the emergency room for fucks sake. He could have just given my the damn pills and been done with it but no, everyone needs to get paid. But I digress. After all that money and time spent on tests he gives me the pills and a list of what I should eat and the things I should stay away from. I did it, but hated it. Lost 20 pounds but I wasn't happy about it. The blood pressure pills got my pressure under control and I never looked back, never went back for the thousands of dollars more in follow up testing.

So, At 66 I am going to eat what I damn well please. At this stage in my life I don't figure eating what the doctors and health guru's say is healthy for me will buy me that much more time on this planet. Why eat things you don't like or crap that makes you feel like shit for the time you have left on this planet? No thanks, I have earned this time and I am going to enjoy it.

[Dwight]

One other thing you might consider doing . . . take that aluminum biscuit pan and start feeding the dog in it.

Aluminum as been seriously linked to both parkinson's and alzheimers . . . almost as close as peanut butter is to grape jelly.

Many alzheimers patients were found to be 50's 60's 70's and 80's . . . cookers and eaters out of aluminum skillets . . . pans . . . etc . . . and the aluminum cooks off into the food . . . bringing on the death sentence.

It is a long slow process . . . but so are a bunch of other things . . . and why take the risk. The only cooking utensil that so far has not been connected to something bad is stainless steel and cast iron.

Those are just about all we use.

May God bless,
Dwight