What Did You Do Today?

[Eric Krewson]

There will never be an accurate set of test trials by the pharmaceutical community for anything that is readily available and free.

I have watched a bunch of herbalist videos about poke weed, leaves, roots and berries. They all say the parts are beneficial if used properly but like wild mushrooms, you had better research what you are doing before you jump in.

[GlisGlis]

thankyou for the info
Phitolacca americana is an invasive species around here and is quite new
It's in rapid expansion tough

[Eric Krewson]

I planted my winter greens patch 3 days ago and found this today; amazing. I had the best seed bed ever this year moisture wise and rain right after I planted.



My food plot isn't up yet but is covered up with deer tracks, time to energize the plot, I run a combination of three extension cords from the house to my charger. I use the fence to keep the deer out of the plot until the wheat, oats and rye has time to grow and establish itself, without the fence the deer would eat the small seedlings to the ground as soon as they come up.

I replaced one T post that I ran over with my tractor bucket and broke off while tilling the plot and a bunch of insulators that got brittle and broke. I use recycled fence wire that is spliced in a dozen places where the deer have run through it, usually during the rut.

I finally got everything in order and plugged up my charger, deer beware. I have them all trained from encountering my energized garden fence, when they hear the charger clicking, they know to stay away.

[bjrogg]

I was curious if they would get trained and then not want to cross where fence was after you turned off the fencer.

I remember we had a pen for freshening heifers that had a spot where we could use a “handy gate” to hold the wire and take it down. It was great for the tractor but the heifers wouldn’t cross it to save their lives. We ended up having to mount a traditional gate that they would pass through.

Of course there was alway the oddball that would figure out the moment you turned off the fence and then knock down the fence.

Bjrogg

[Pappy]

Looking good Eric, finely getting some much needed rain here, maybe to much, calling for 4/5 inches over the next 24 hours, but we did need some for sure. I don't usually put out food plots but wished I had this year, the mass crop is almost 0,would have been a good year for one that's for sure.
 Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

I can take down the fence in the morning and deer will be in the plot that evening. My neighbor has an electric fence around his garden as well, if it ever gets unplugged the deer will be in it in no time. It is either the clicking of the charger that isn't there or they can sense when the fence wire is dead.

I have heard that pigs won't cross a place where an electric fence has been.

[Eric Krewson]

Fun foraging today; I saw two trees on the TVA trail Tuesday that were covered up with oyster mushrooms. I had never picked oyster mushrooms before; I had never found them.

I didn't have a bag or bug spray on Tuesday so I went back today and picked two Walmart bags full of them. Of course, I researched them to be sure this is what I found. They have a raw oyster/licorice smell to them, kinda' funky but unmistakable.

Having never eaten them before, I sliced up a few, sautéed them in butter with onion, garlic, fresh ground pepper and salt. Just about the time the onion was done cooking I gave them a splash of dry white muscadine wine. The end result was the best mushrooms I have ever eaten.

I couldn't reach the higher clumps on the first tree, on the second tree about 1/4 mile away I found I could push up on the higher clumps of mushrooms with a long pole, they would come loose easily and fall to the ground.

These mushrooms will go bad in the frig in a few days so I am dehydrating one bag and plan to can the contents of the other bag.

[Eric Krewson]

Electric fence follow-up; The first night the deer broke one strand of wire on the east side and stretched it in several places without breaking it, they usually have to hit it at night a few times before they get the message.

I filled a 4-tray dehydrator with oyster mushrooms, they take up very little space when dried. Here they are in a 750 ML jar, not quite a qt. Next to them are dried green tomatoes, I rehydrate these, bread them and throw them in when I am frying squash and okra together. I don't put them in the mix until the other ingredients are 90% done or they will burn. There is another jar on the right that has dried chanterelle mushrooms in it that I use often when I am cooking.

I canned the rest of the mushrooms.

[YosemiteBen]

Daggone fuel pump went put on m wife yesterday. Nearly put her in the middle of the highway! Just a third of a mile from home. Started trying to change it! Dang Dodge people put it in so you cant reach nothing in the driveway. Can't get it high enough to do anything. Got the tank all loose. now I can't get the wiring connections loose, just not enough room to see anything. Guess I will ratchet strap it back together and try to get it to a shop..... dang part was 217$

[GlisGlis]

I dry alot of mushrooms during summer (sun dried. not dehydrator )
I prefer to long term store them in brown paper bags instead of glass jars so they can keep drying if for any reason there are bigger slices of if they where overlapped during dehydrations
Brown paper also add some protection from light
My house is dry. I'd rather use glass jars in humid climate

[WhistlingBadger]

I'm putting up elk meat.  Ground about 16 lb of Italian sausage today, after about 40lb of burger yesterday, and probably over a hundred pounds of steaks and roasts the day before that.  Tomorrow, around 20 lb of bratwurst, and a couple gallons or so of bone broth to finish, and a big bag of dog scraps, then I'm done processing this beast.

Unfortunately the hide is ruined.  There wasn't room for it in our freezer, and with the unseasonably warm temperatures, it spoiled--I mean really, really rotten--before I could get it scraped.     It would have been fun to have a bark tanned elk hide to make stuff out of, but there just wasn't time.  Hopefully I'll do better with the antelope I plan to harvest next weekend.

Did a euro mount with the skull, just need to finish bleaching it.  But I think we're going to need a bigger house to hang it in!  It isn't a record book bull, but this critter is BIG.

[WhistlingBadger]

Bangers and smash for supper tonight, made with homegrown taters, tomatoes, and green onions, and homemade elk bratwurst.  Yum


Less appetizing but still useful:  Boiling elk legs and jawbones.  The hooves will eventually become bow tip overlays; the jawbones will be knife handles.

[Pappy]

Looking good WB, lots of good meat and supplies on them critters.
 Pappy

[WhistlingBadger]

Looking good WB, lots of good meat and supplies on them critters.
 Pappy

My previous elk were both cows, and I'm amazed at how much more meat is on a big bull like this.  I'm going to have to wait until the end of the month to hunt antelope, just because the freezer is packed and there's nowhere to put one!  Nice problem to have.

[Eric Krewson]

I had a great time yesterday; I went to a little get-together near my home with a bunch of other black powder enthusiasts. We do a little shooting and a lot of talking; I even gave a bow building instruction to those who were interested. Some of us were rifle builders, some just like to shoot.

This gathering is twice a year and open to anyone who likes traditional muzzleloading or would like to learn about it. This gathering is small, there were 6 of us there yesterday, cap and ball pistols were shot more than anything else.

My best friend Joe gave me one of his hand crafted "Bogle Rifles", I put it through its paces yesterday, what a shooter! I was working up a squirrel hunting load for it, I think I got it right.

Joe's 5th great grandfather was a famous gun builder around 1810, only a very few of his original guns have survived, I think there are three. These are considered very special because of the unique style that transitions between gun building eras of the time.

The picture is of Joe holding one of the last surviving guns that his granddad made, Joe took pictures and measurements and replicated this rifle perfectly.