Snowshoes

I spend a lot of time wearing snowshoes and have become something of a snob I suppose, when it comes to bindings and construction. I have used some very poor snowshoes in my time and am a bit opinionated about them.

I'm not a purist as far as material goes. The traditional wooden shoes with rawhide webbing are classic, but honestly I prefer newer materials if at all possible. I currently have 5 sets of snowshoes. Everything from the very traditional, to modern aluminum.

I'll go through these and compare them a bit, so you can make the best choice for you. If you plan on homesteading in a northern climate snowshoes will become an indispensable part of your life. Gone will be paved driveways and cement walkways. Trying to get around without a good pair of shoes will result in complete frustration.
Let me recount a true event that happened several years ago. My snowmobile was broken down, and a friend offered to bring up a load of winter supplies. He borrowed a machine and a small freight sled and drove through very poor snow conditions to my landing on the river. However the snow conditions were so bad, that we were unable to get the snowmobile up the embankment without the fright sled, let alone with it. Working until well after dark, we finally admitted defeat. Packing what we could we began the long trek back to my cabin. The snow was deep and there was very little traffic on my trail other than what I had made with my snowshoes. The packing down I had given it on the way to the river was insufficient to hold the weight of a person wearing just boots. And that was all my friend had. He not only did not own any snowshoes of his own, which I find almost unbelievable, he had not even thought to borrow any.
Understand, that if you are in a rural setting and your machine breaks down. You won't be going far without snowshoes. Even back tracking on your trail, (the best method, of getting out of your situation), you probably will be breaking through every other step.
My friends experience in walking up to my cabin was no doubt a learning one. I had to stop every 40 steps (yes I counted), and let him rest. The snow was a good three feet deep in mid December and he was sinking through to near ground. Eventually he even ditched his day pack, which held food and water. He did this without my knowledge of course.
It took us approximately six hours to walk the distance to my homestead, that I can normally walk in less than half that. He was exhausted and soaked in sweat. I built a fire and fed him and he went to sleep. Within a few hours my snowshoes were back on my feet and I was heading back down to the river retrieve more supplies. I ended up carrying nearly a hundred pounds of meat and goods, including the day pack he had discarded. By the time I got home it was 4pm, and he was just waking up.....
The purpose of that story is to illustrate, that my friend had an extremely difficult time, when it should just have been a walk.
As I mentioned I have five pair of snowshoes, and wear them nearly every day in winter.
In the picture below I show my traditional wooden shoes with rawhide webbing, along side a pair of wooden frame shoes with modern skirting material and steel cable in place of rawhide.

The traditional shoes on the left are fairly maintenance heavy. Under daily use in moderate temperatures the rawhide will get wet. Once it does the rawhide will loosen and unravel as you walk. You will be spending some time relacing and securing the bindings. By hanging them high in the cabin the warm air will dry and retighten the webbing. In order to minimize this you will need to put a good coat of varnish on your shoes as it wears.
Note the unique rubber bindings on these shoes. They are inexpensive and utter and complete JUNK... True, they are very easy to get into howver they do not secure your boot in aliognment with the shoe. Something that is quite essential for manuvering. You will find yourself literally able to step off of your shoe while trying to turn. While I have used these binding a lot, and have cut many trees down wearing them, I feel they are very hazardous, and I only use them as backup. Another detractor is that there are no cleats or grippers on the bottom of the shoes, making going up slopes without ski poles difficult.
The hybrid shoes on the right are very good shoes for level country work. The flexible material that replaces the conventional webbing (refered to as decking) is tough and stays supple even in very cold temps (Note: not all of them do). These shoes do have simple pegs on their bottom, but they are still insufficient for travel uphill, and ski poles are recommended. The binding are not the best however. the laces tend to ice up and are not easy to snug up though the holes. I will try different materials in the future, such as para cord, to see if they can be improved upon. The heel strap also tends to fall off the back of your boot if not pulled very tight. I plan on adding an additional strap that will go around the instep.
I find bindings to be the bulk of most of my snowshoe complaints and there are reasons for that I will go into later. Overall the hybrid shoes are excellent for breaking trail. The overall length of 44 inches gives them very good floatation as well.

The shoes above constitute my favorite shoes. The pair in the left are my Sherpa's. Totally modern material they are extremely lightweight and have great floatation. Grippers un the bottom make going uphill much easier and any sliding is kept to a minimum. The bindings are similar to the hybrid shoes above, however the flat lacing and the metal buckle are much easier to adjust and are much more secure. I highly highly recommend Sherpa snowshoes. Nuff said.
The pair on the right are also excellent shoes. Made of all modern material they are the cross country equals to my Sherpa's. The bindings are so far the best I have used on an intermediate priced shoe (under $100) They lock your foot in securely and are very fast to put on and remove. They secure with a rubber bunji type arrangement, that after a bit of familiarization are quite handy. My only reservation is that the rubber may get brittle in cold weather and break while stretching. This has not been an issue so far however. The aggressive grippers on the bottom of the shoe make it very versatile in hilly country.

These are obviously not the only shoes available, however let me touch on a few things. Choosing the right show for your lifestyle is important. The small, bear paw type shoes are easy to use, and not cumbersome, however, unless you are on a pre broken trail they offer almost no floatation, regardless of how cool they are. The only thing worse than trying to walk through hip deep snow, without snowshoes, is walking through hip deep snow with snowshoes that don't hold you up. Choose a shoe that is designed for your weight, and the type of snowshoeing you do.
I buy most my shoes at garage sales and estate sales. You can find really good bargains on outdoor gear by cruising the summer sales. Many folks buy snowshoes, cross country ski's and other outdoor gear, then never really get around to using them. Much like an exercise bike or a treadmill.
The only real issue I have with the intermediate priced shoes is that the bindings are not as sophisticated. The cost needs to be cut someplace, and it is usually in the bindings. I have had few structural issues with mid priced shoes. Likewise with shoes in the $200 plus mark the bindings will be much better.
I have had issues with the synthetic decking on some modern shoes. In colder temps (single digits to below zero), the decking can become brittle and break if it comes into contact with broken branches, etc.
I also tend to shy away from those plastic snap type buckles that are so popular on most of the new high tech stuff. They ice up right away and are almost impossible to manipulate once they get wet. They also don't hold very well. I much prefer the good old metal buckle.
There isn't much to snow shoeing. Remember to lift your knees a bit higher when breaking trail. Make sure you can see the front of the shoe before trying to step forward! Accept the fact that branches and such will poke through the decking and webbing causing you to lurch forward or send you sprawling on your face from time to time.
Ski poles are great and I recommend them. There are times whn they do get in the way, but if I'm traveling in uneven terrain I like to have them along.
Snow shoeing is great exercise, and a fun way to travel. In mid winter when the snow is good you can really cover some ground...
I encorage everybody to give it a try, even if you aren't a homesteader!

Your first Wilderness Home

When I first envisioned my homestead, it consisted of log structures, cut hauled a hewn from the Alaska bush. that mindset stayed with me until I met up with a friend I had met on a hunting forum, years before I moved north. My friend had been a long time Alaskan, and proved to be a wealth of practical knowledge.

Even so I resisted his advice in true male fashion, at least until I was able to fully get up to property and survey the terrain with a better eye than just a guy who flew to Alaska to buy land. The land I purchased was indeed challaging to get too. My insidious plan was working in reverse! I realized that many miles of trail would have to be built before any real homesteading could be done. Doing this with nothing more than a tent to live in suddenly wasn't as appealing as it had once been.

It was evident that I would be reconsidring my friends advice, which was actually so practical that it was no wonder I had rejected it.

The advice was this. Build a cabin/house, out of conventional lumber. While at least initially it seems counter productive, to haul all that lumber so far, lt me tell you that cutting and dragging trees across unbroken ground with minimal equipment was even more daunting. Besides fighting the trees themselves, there are mosquito's, black flies, whitesocks, devils club, and a dozen more nasties you would have to endure during the process. How did the pioneers do it?. Well, honestly, I believe that 99% of them quit in the first week. The rest either had no sense, or just could not afford to leave.

With that being said I deduced that I could haul enough lumber up to get a small "starter" cabin going in much faster time than the hard laborious work of cutting and peeling logs. And in fact it was true. While it took me the course of several months it required only a couple trips to get the lumber for the shell to my landing.

It took about a half dozen full trips from the landing to the property but all in all it was fairly quick and efficient.

The best part about the conventional cabin was that it allows you to stay at the homestead for extended periods of time comfortably. Imagine staying a summer in just a tent with bugs and bears. With the first cabin I could actually be "home".

I decided that a structure 12'x12', would allow enough room for me and two dogs to live in relative comfort for an extended period of time. I would not go smaller, as once you put in a bunk, wood stove, counter, etc, it gets small quite fast! I know a guy who put up an 8'x8' shack for the same purpose. There is barely room to turn around, while I actually have to take a few steps to get from the bunk to the kitchen sink. If you desire more room, it will be something you will need to consider on your own. Are you alone? Wife? Kids? You might want to camp out in the livingroom or some other smaller space to experiment a bit before you start.

My decision for 12x12 was partly based on utilizing full sheets of plywood and OSB, etc while trying to eliminate waste. Based on 2008 lumber prices I found that the shell for my little cabin would cost about $750. This included all 2x6's for floor joists and roof rafters, 2x4 walls. OSB exterior sheathing and 3/4" plywood for the floor.

I also had enough to run a loft across the back 4 feet of the cabin for storage purposes.

When you begin hauling your lumber you will find it very helpful to set aside enough funds to build a storage unit/toolbox out of plywood and 2x4's. I built one approximately 4'x4'x8' with a sloping lid, that I securd plastic sheeting and a tarp over, to keep the weather out. It has been a very worthwhile part of the homestead. While it is not technically bear proof, it is far better than leaving your tools under a tarp out in the woods.

You will also need a foundation for your little cabin. I decided on concrete piers with adjustable screw jacks (available at most bulding centers). These allow for leveling as the cabin settles a bit.

I built my piers using a bag of portland that I hauled up, and used sand and gravel from the creek. This saved a lot of expense and hauling. I used old plastic pails (5 gallon), cut down to a bit, as you don't want them higher than they are wide, to use as forms. I wrapped a piece of plastic around a 1" dowel, or broom handle and pushed it down 8-10" into the center of the pier to allow for the screw jack. The plastic keeps the concrete from adhering to the dowel.

Most everyone knows enough of basic constructon to build a small building so I won't go into that. I did opt for a shed style roof to keep it simple however.

I built a 3' pony wall on one side to be my high end, and I made the door fairly wide, 38" to make entry and exit of me and stuff easier.

A lot of the additional items used to build the cabin, I scrounged for. By doing a few construction cleanup jobs, I acquired much of the insulation, tin roll roofing, and additional lumber and plywood. You will be suprised how much material you can find simply by asking. You will very likely be doing a remodeling contractor  favor, by hauling away the old insulation, and roofing etc.... Even windows.

Another outlet for inexpensive windows, and furnishings, etc, is the "Habitat for Humanity", re-stores. These stores sell off the donations that they deem not up to what they would use to buils a H4H home. However over the years, I have found many excellent items, including windows that where still in the plastic wrap.

In this pic you will see the framework for my little cabin. I don't even have all the rafters up, if you look closely. The structure is covered in nylon reinforced plastic (visqueen). Befind you will see the plywood storage box I built. Not visible is the moose bed just infront of where I'm standing when I took the pic.

In this photo you can see the OSB, going up on the walls. I have my lumber covered with extra tarps just in case. (Note: Something I aleadt knew, but neglected anyhow. Put your blocking in between your rafters as you are putting them up. It is just much easier)

In this pic the OSB is further along. Not the dark area's on the sheathing. This is mold from sitting outside under tarps for to long of a period of time. Tarps do not work if they are removed by wind or critters and bleach and scrubbing was required to remove.

Here you can see I have begun placing the OSB on the roof. If I had to do it over again, I would have more overhang on the ends of the cabin, before this process. It can be remedied, however it is usually easier to do before, than after the thought. When done with the sheathing I restapled the visqueen on the roof as a substitute for tar paper.

 The last of the OSB to go up was on the gable ends and above the door, as this required the most cutting of material, and the most potential for waste and mistakes. As it was I had just enough OSB to finish the job. A total coincidence on my part. Not pictured is a loft that goes across the back of the cabin (front of the pic), which serves primarily as storage but has plenty of head room for sleeping.

Because of a lack of 2x4's the windows got put in last, and portions of the walls needed to be reframed. This really bad picture shows the installatin of the first window. the frames were all made on the spot to fit salvaged glass panes. It doesn't show well, but trust me that all cripple jack and king studs are there.

It may be basic, but it evidentally got the seal of approval from Uljas, as he had no trouble getting acclimated. This was our moving in day. The first day when we did not have to go anyplace else to sleep. There was no stopping over at the trapper cabin to stay while the roof or walls were going up... And we have been here ever since.

Thats right.... When we moved in we didn't even have a door. We hung up visquees and mosquito netting to keep the skeeters out. When we lwft we put up the last remaining sheet of OSB over the opening to disuade any bears from coming in. The OSB fit flush with the rest of the sheathing and there was no permanent steps, so it seemed to work well. That piece of OSB is still functioning as a door cover to this day.

I began putting together a crude interior. Installing insulation and building more windows. It has been in flux ever since. However this is how it looked early on.

I might add that you will want to be sure to vent your roof if you are going with a shed style arrangement as I did. Without venting you will start building up mold quite quickly and it will cause major problems. My cheapo solution was to scrounge all the cardboard boxes I could find and I stapled them up about 1.5 inches below the roof OSB. This let air flow through. I then put R-13 insulation up over the vents and then my interior plywood, which is being painted white in order to maximize my lighting potential.
My roof is aluminum roll roofing that I got off of a remodeling job and the 1/2" plywood I'm using as the interior walls was purchased used as well. I paid $75 for 24 full sheets. Other than a bit or tar paper stapled to it, the sheets were in very good condition. My door is also made of plywood and built on site.

Trail Building 101

Once you have found a piece of land to build your little home, you will need to get there. Regardless if your lot is just a few hundred yards off of the road system or you are much more remote, you will find yourself needing to build a series of trails. If nothing more than to get your ATV to your wood cutting area's.

Building a decent trail will make your travel more bearable. Notice I did not say fun. Even the best trail you can build through the woods will knock you around quite a bit. However you will want to make the experience the least abusive as you can.

Tools will be needed to accomplish this mission of course. While a chainsaw alone will do the bulk of the work a few other items will make the chore much more effective.

I would recommend the following, if you can afford it.

1. Chainsaw with a sharp chain
2. chainsaw with a bad chain. (this is the saw that will be biting into the dirt and cutting dead fall on the ground.
3. Pulaski (which is an axe with a pick on one side, that will be used for chopping at root structure and evening out bumps and depressions).
4. trail marker tape (I like pink best).

In the event you are not able to have a second saw don't sweat it... just be careful. There is nothing worse than a dull chainsaw. If you can't afford a Pulaski then just bring a shovel of some sort.

Begin by scouting your trail carefully. Don't rush it. If your land is in a true undeveloped area you will be going through area's with a lot of dead fall, undergrowth and wet area's.

Take your time, as it will be worth it in the end. If you are concerned about getting temporarily confused about your location simply use the marker take as a guide.

I like to take about an 18 to 24 inch piece of tape and secure it to a branch along your prospective trail, about head high. Tie it with a simple overhand knot, as you can remove it easily and use it over and over (remember, you are on a dime here). Tying a square knot is not needed if your tag ends are long enough.

Look back and gage how straight your trail is. By placing your tape about 30 feet apart or withing easy sight of the previous piece you can judge your route. When you need to turn your trail try and make gradual bends in the trail. Remember, you will be hauling lumber, roofing and supplies on this trail. Two and three point turns on a trail, just to maneuver your trailer will be quite annoying.

Try to stick to the high ground, avoiding wet spots. They may not seem bad, but will only get worse, much much worse. Cut out any deadfall, and cut it a few feet wider than you need. Remove small trees and saplings completely, rather than going around. If you feel a bit guilty about doing that just remember, you can use them for projects or firewood.

I handle deadfall in two ways. If the deadfall is very old and sunken and rotting into the ground, I simply take the chainsaw and make curf type cuts through the tree down to near ground lever, about 1" apart. I then take the pulaski or axe and break out the pieces. Any deadfall that is above ground I cut into sections big (or short enough, depending on your perspective), to throw off to the side. Taking note of any wood that may be usable for firewood and keeping that separate for removal. Dips and mounds are then broken down with the pulaski or shovel. This might not seem important, but trust me. After a few trips down the trail you will remove them. Don't worry. You won't get them all the first day.

As you survey and walk, look back and see how the trail is progressing. Use your tape for visual confirmation and you'll see how straight you can keep things. The work will go slowly, but after you drive the trail a few times you will notice how visible it becomes.

Also take the time to remove the undergrowth. Brush, bushes and the like which obstructs the view of the trail and will only get in the way. Do as nice a job as you can. The chainsaw works fine for this, but if you have a grass trimmer with a saw blade you will save your back.

In the foreground of this photo you will see a very old dead birch tree. It is enough above ground that it will need to be removed completely. Even in open area's such as this you will probably have to remove brush, at the very least. Remember to cut at least a few feet either side of your ATV, and try and picture hauling a loaded trailer behind you.

Here is a photo of a very old deadfall that has sunk/decayed into the ground. These are still a pain to go over, so I make the curf cuts as shown, then break the pieces out. These littl things may not seem like much, but after you have crossed them a few times you will do this anyway.

In the above two pictures you will see a before and after of the removal of a down birch and misc brush. Note that a few low limbs on the spruce trees were also removed.

Trail building is not difficult, but it is time comsuming. The real key to remember is that you want to picture yourself hauling a trailer, perhaps one with 12 to 16 foot 2x6's, etc, behind your machine. The extra time you take at the beginning will make your travels less of a chore.

Remember to use a lot of marker tape, in order that you may be able to look back and guage how your trail is coming along. Better to backtrack at the beginning a few yards and look for a more suitable route than rebuild later. You will be in less of a mood, trust me.

In this photo the white arrows show the trail marker tape. While it does not show up very well, due to image size limitations the arrows show a fairly straight trail easily allowing the the hauing of even large ungainly loads.

Hills: There will be times that you will need to nativate up hills. This is often difficult, as finding a suitable route will require much searching. Viewing from a distance the hills always appear steeper, so scout ahead, find your best route and then back track to your established trail. You should absolutely try and avoid a traverse, as the last thing you will want is too roll an ATV downhill. Don't be suprised that you may need to actually tie two ATV's together in order to haul a load to the top of a hill. This is not actually uncommon, but requires some experience with ATV's.

My common routine, since I live in the mountains, is to haul small loads on my ATV racks, up to a freight trailer that is stationed on more lever ground at the top of the last big hill. This is time consuming, but much easier on equipment in the long run.

Choose Gear Carefully (pt1) Winter boots

When you are homesteading on a dime, you try and avoid making any financial mistakes. Choosing your gear is a very important part of your life. Likewise not letting the opportunity to purchase additional or backups, to your inventory. When the deal comes along you better grab it while you and your wallet can.

You will gravitate to what works best for you in terms of boots, clothing, etc. Bear in mind that you will be using your gear much harder and under more extreme conditions than most. So you won't really be able to apply the standards you did back in town.

For this particular article, I have chosen the much lofted bunny boot and mickey mouse boot for the topic. 

Back when I was in the Military, we did our annual winter/arctic training every winter. Part of our arctic issue was the white, rubber, much coveted bunny boot. While they had their issues, I generally found them acceptable. They were indeed warm, though they really did not offer much in the area of ankle support. They also tended to be a bit heavy.

That being said I never had to actually use these boots for more than 30 days at a stretch (our typical deployment duration).. Once out of the military I returned to the customary pac boot that I grew up with. Back then Sorel was the only way to go. I recall buying a pair of sorel pacs at Fleet Farm for a grand total of $20. I used these boots exclusively (actually I had two pair) though out the Minnesota winters. Eventually after moving to Alaska I felt the need to upgrade to a true arctic boot and made the leap to a pair of black, mickey mouse boots.

Now as I mentioned, you will not be going from the house, to the car, to the office/shop, then putting on safety shoes, or penny loafers, or whatever. You will (provided you homestead in a northern clime) be in your winter boots much of the time.

Remember... you are homesteading with meager income and resources. If your boots or other gear fail... you may be in a tough spot. And you can not afford to put your money into worthless gear.

During my second winter with these boots I noticed something about my groovy winter boots that I had not noticed before. They had split at the seams. In many places the individual parts had parted ways, leaving gaps. No biggie as I was a bonified homesteader. Being prepared, I simply placed bicycle patches over the split seams. This held for awhile, but eventually (within weeks), the splits appeared beyond the patches. The boots still worked fairly well, and I continued to use them until it became apparent that they just would not go any further. I then switched back to my well worn Sorel pacs. Now these boots were purchased in the mid 80's. The soles didn't have the drip they once had and the leather uppers were no longer bright green. However they functioned as they always had.

After spring sprung and I returned to work, in order to get ready for next winter, I retired the black boots. Undaunted I bought a pair of white bunny boots... much cooler anyhow. I also decided to retire my faithful and loyal sorrel's (still had one pair). I had worn them every winter for twenty years. All I had to do was replace the pacs once in all that time. Replacement pacs are readily available by the way. Not a bad run for $20. The black mickey's had lasted two seasons before retirement.. Not as stellar.

To make the story short, I am on my second season with the white boots. The seams have already begun to split and the right boot is letting in moisture. Not good in an arctic situation.

In the above photo you will see the split in the seam. Note that MUCH of your daily movements during the day will be in a kneeling, squatting or other position. Rarely will you be standing up straight and imMobile. Perhaps I am a bit rough on my gear, compared to folks who live in a more conventional environment, but it gets to be a sore issue with me when my equipment fails in what I feel is a short period of time. I simply do not have the funds to waste on items that so not perform.

The above photo shows a split developing in the side of the left boot. This, in my opinion is totally unacceptable in the relatively short period of time they have been in use.

If I could find an acceptable way of repairing them I would be a bit more forgiving perhaps.

As I mentioned earlier, I am always on the lookout for more gear. I would never have just a single pair of boots, nor snowshoes or any other important piece of equipment, unless I had absolutely no choice. Every estate sale I come across I scout for replacement gear for future use. As long as it is in decent shape I make an offer and take it home. I currently have four extra pair of pac type boots on hand.

Unfortunately, I will have to eliminate the military vapor barrier boot from my list of choices, and focus primarily on pac boots, which have served me quite well in fifty plus years of living in northern climates.

I am going to look into purchasing a pair of Steger Mukluks, which have come highly recommended. If I can make the purchase this winter, I will test them and give a report. I also plan on fabricating my own primitive mukluks out of reindeer hide (domestic caribou), and black bear, for field testing.

You may find that the military VB boot to your liking. I hope your experiences are better than mine. However, if you do plan on using them in a remote setting be sure to have an additional pair of winter boots available.

Just in case...

Home canning of meat and berries

Living in a remote setting like I do, I have neither a refrigerator nor freezer, to store my food. Fortunately in northern climates, that isn't a difficult issue to overcome. Homesteading is simply taking a bit of a step back in time. After all, this has already been done. There is no reinventing nor pioneering in any stretch of the imagination.

When I need to keep food cool, in the brief summer/warm months, I simply keep items in a sealed bucket in the creek. In the colder months just setting stuff in the corner on the floor of the cabin will suffice.

However this article is about canning, as there is just so long meat, vegetables and berries will keep without proper preservation techniques. Canning is, in my opinion the most effective way to store long term. It isn't rocket science, in fact you can equate it to reloading ammunition. Buy a manual and follow it. it is just that simple.

I bought several canners, years ago, and delved into it a bit before I moved into the sticks. However my experimenting was quite casual, and only for practice.

Two summers ago, I found myself in a situation, with a problem bear, (see "the break in bear", posted here). After I had killed the bear and found that any attempts to secure a ride out either with a charter service or a friend not available, i decided to take the bull by the horns and get the bear 100% processed at my homestead. In reality I was already set up. It was just the sudden turn of events that caused a minor, temporary panic. Once I gathered myself together I got on with the task. It went somewhat as follows:

Since the daytime temps hovered in the mid 60's I didn't have much time, and the meat would go bad. It was obvious the next few day's would be rather full. My process was to par-cook the meat to buy me some time. So I slow cooked the meat in my large dutch oven, on the kitchen propane stove while I fired up the cache cooker, to run the canner and the stockpot used for sterilizing the cans, lids, etc. Now under normal conditions you do not need to cook the meat as the canning process will do that.

I focused on cutting the meat into cubes to be used in stews and chili, rather than steaks etc. As soon as a batch of meat was cooked, I'd fill the sterilized jars as I saw fit and added water up to about 1" from the top of the jar. I then placed a lid, from a pan of hot water onto the jar and screwed on a ring to just finger tight. I placed all the jars into the canner and filled the canner to the specified amount. The canner lid was locked on and brought up to temperature. Once there the weights where placed in the canner vent and the flame adjusted until the weights slightly jiggled. This takes a few minutes to adjust but is no big deal. The directions suggested 75 minutes for the canning process. During this time, I sterilized more jars and cut and cooked more meat. There was always something to do...

Once the processing time was reached I shut off the heat and waited for the canner to cool down.

Pic of canner and jars being prepped.

Once the canner has cooled down. I removed the weights and waited for steam to stop coming out of the canner. Basically I relieved the pressure.... I then placed the jars (very very hot) onto a towel, using a pair of tongs designed for the job. As the jars sit and cool the lids will pop from time to time, sealing and unsealing. This is totally normal. Once the jars are cool to the touch, you can test the seal by thumping the lid with your finder. It the seal is broken you will hear and see it pop. This is not a total defeat, as all you have to do is inspect the lid, re clean the rim of the jar and try again, perhaps using a new lid.

Then you simply repeat this process until you are done. In the many quarts and pints of bear meat, every and all jars sealed. The cooking time of 75 minutes at boiling temps totally cooked the meat and stored it securely.

Preserving vegetables is no different. Simply wash and cut the potatoes, carrots,etc as you see fit. Place the food in the jars packing as tightly as you wish. Fill jars with water (and a bit of salt if you wish), then can for the suggested time.

Canned food does resist freezing, in that enough fluid boils out of the jars that in the event of freezing temps, there is not enough liquid left to break a jar. I have not had any jars break although I did lose a few seals. This was no big deal since if the temps allow liquid to freeze, so will the meat, thereby preventing it from spoiling. I simply placed the jars outside. In effect I lost no jars...

Canning fruits and berries is no different although you will have to decide what you want the end result to be. Juice, syrup, or jam?

The initial processing is pretty much the same. The main difference is in the amount of sugar, and pectin you decide to use. In the case of my canning high bush cranberries, which I decided to can mostly as juice, I began by placing a large batch of berries in my stock pot, and adding aboutt an inch or so water. Heating the water and mashing the berries with a potato masher began to produce a lot of juice!

Cranberries and water in stockpot...

Berries and masher...

Within a very short period of time you will get a lot of juice. In fact you can even pour off the first batch and add water and get a bit more juice out. The cranberry has a rather flat dislike seed inside which will need to be separated along with the berry skin. I found that straining through typical U.S. army mosquito netting worked very well.

After a large batch of juice was obtained I needed to add sugar, to taste. If anybody has tasted a cranberry raw, you will know that it is not the type of berry you will eat a lot of without some help in the sweetening department. However the store bought juice is way to sweet for me. I simmered the juice, adding a bit of sugar and stirring it in, until I came up with a flavor that suited me. Now I'm not sure the exact combination, however my jam worked out to be 2/3rd cup sugar per pint. That is no where near the recommended recipe for any of the pectin companies which recommended 3 cups plus, sugar per pint! Rest assured that if you do it slowly to taste you will end up with a lot less sugar than the store bought stuff.

Once the sugar was added I increased the heat, and let the sugar thicken the mixture up, to a thinnish cough syrup consistency. I then poured the syrup into the sterilized jars to about 1" from the top. I placed a lid and ring on nd put the jars in the canner.

The recommended times for fruit is much shorter than mat, but be sure to follow the recommendations of the canner manufacturer. When the juice is done, it will be a semi concentrate. I found that a dilution of two parts water to each jar was about right, or until the juice left no film on a glass when swirled.

That is simply how it goes...

Making syrup for pancakes is the same, except you add pectin during the heating process. Note that low sugar cranberry jam will not set up as firmly as you might want. In my case I found that adding blue berries solved this, and most of my jam was blueberry or a blueberry/cranberry combo. If you want a store bough firm jam, you will need to add a Lot more sugar. That is totally your call.

The finished product..

A few notes on thinghs concerning canning. My canner's don't use pressure valves. My models use the weights that go on the vent hole. I find these very efficient, and they do not go out of spec! The worst that can happen is that you lose them.But not having to worry about whether they are reading properly is definetly something to consider.

If you are having a good berry year, can a lot more than you will need. Next year may be a poor berry year.

I have found that if you are very gentle with the lids when removing them, you can use them over several times. As I mentioned. If a jar does not seal, simply clean the rim, inspect/replace the lid and re can!

I have had nearly a 100% sucess rate in my canning. The only jar that failed, failed in freezing. However no food was lost. If I can do it.... you can do it!!

Firewood basic (pt2)

You have chosen your woodstove, and you want to install it. May I recommend that you put the chimney going straight up from the stove through the roof. Preferably near the peak. The reason for this is that it will help minimize any leaking that may occur due to melting snow load.

This is just a personal thing, but I find it to be a good idea.

A chimney liner should be used at the roof of course. Asbestos lined ones are available for a whole bunch of dollars. Remember.... you are homesteading on a dime. My solution was to run my 6" pipe through an 8" pipe and line the larger with fiberglass insulation. I made spacers out of tin, to hold the liner in place on the smaller pipe, and it has worked very well. A chinese hat should be placed on top of the chimney. I have a friend who likes to use a T instead, with the T facing into the prevailing wind. He claims it is nearly fool proof and I believe it. I wish I had thought of it!

As with all northern homesteaders the top of your stove is too important to just let sit unused. By placing a rack (in the event you have a barrel or round top stove) on top you can utilize the heat rising to heat water, simmer coffee, and even cook your food. Stock pots and water bath canners will be an important item in your homestead.

 

In the photo above you can see the mounting brackets for the steel rack on top of my stove. Utilizing my woodstove to it's fullest has saved me immesnsly on propane, which I use sparingly.

The fuel you use for your wood stove will depend on your latitude. Since I am primarily a northern type of guy and have lived most of my life north of Minneapolis I am familiar with three main tree species. There are more of course, but these where what we used the most of.

Oak: the mighty oak was the real heat maker. Lesser wood was used for getting the fire going. once everything was hot you could rest assured that seasoned oak would burn the hottest for the longest.

Birch: In Minnesota we used this to get the fire going good, then would switch to oak if we had it. The bark of the birch is nearly waterproof and lites easily. The bad news about birch (there always is), is that it prodces a lot of creosote. Especially when green. So care must be taken in burning it. I'll get more into that at some point in the future.

Spruce: The most forgiving of firewood? It lights and burns beautifully when seasoned. Seasons quickly... and is very light to carry. The only down side is that it burns rather quickly. An iron stove will off set this, but if you are running a barrel stove you will be going to the stove more often. Note: with a barrel stove you will want to try not to burn through the stove?... Just a thought, as it can happen.... Red glowing barrel stoves are NOT a good idea.

Up here in Alaska I have primarily two types of wood. Birch, and spruce. I burn mostly spruce as I find more of it ready to burn. Why this is I do not know. However much of the down birch I run into is too far gone. You would think, with it's waterproof skin it would be more impervious to the elements, but it is not. Therefore I only cut up birch that is still rather green. Spruce seasons faster, and I find a lot of it lying down or slightly hung up. (I do cut down snags... I have a technique for this that is quite reliable).
Up here in Alaska, my primary available wood is birch and spruce. Since birch is my only real hardwood it has become my oak. I use it for the prolonged heat after I get a good fire going. I must admit though, to having a great liking for the white spruce that grows here. I find it in clusters of down tree's all over the place. Just a few quick cuts will let me know what condition the wood is in. Even the saw dust will give a good indication. A reddish sawdust means that the wood is getting punky, and if you are going to use it, you should do so first. What you want is a nice light colored sawdust. You will also quickly learn to gage spruces' dryness by the weight. When finding a down tree, if it has any green needles, on it at all, it will to wet to make decent firewood. That does not mean you should not cut it however. You will be needing wood next year, and by splitting it and stacking it, you will speed up the seasoning process. If the spruce is too punky, it won't split worth a darn, and it will burn with little heat. You can use it however in a situation such as tanning leather or smoking meat where you will want lots of smoke and little fire.
Birch is much heavier than spruce, even when seasoned. I don't cut much spruce unless it is very green. I will haul it, split and stack it, and make sure it is out of the weather. If done so, it makes beautiful firewood once properly seasoned.

The photo above shows two pieces of white spruce. The chunk on the left is a perfectly seasoned piece of wood which will catch fire easily and burn well. The piece on the right has started to get punky, and is slightly beyond prime (notice the white specks thoughout). It will still burn fairly well, and I do keep wood like this as long as it splits well. However if you find that your axe breaks out the side of the chunk of wood while splitting, it is just a bit to far gone. This is my opinion of course, however I get no joy out of chilly cabins, nor continually fighting my wood stove to keep a fire going.

You will become very adept at choosing wood, quickly, that works best for your needs and you simply will not waste your time with substandard wood.

By choosing proper fire wood you will get your fires to start without work. They will simply start themselves with little more than the touch of a match.

My process for getting a fire going is simple, and foolproof (as long as the wood is seasoned).

I begin by placing two larger pieces of firewood in the wood stove approximately 4-4" apart. Between these pieces I place 4-5 pieces of dry birch bark. Over these I place 5-6 pieces of kindling. Simply putting a match to the birch bark will get things rolling quickly. Birch bark loves to burn hot with a nice flame, and rarely do I need to coax anything more out of it. I simply listen for the sound of the wood popping. After 10 minutes or so I check the flame and add more wood as I see fit, without smothering the air flow. I can bring my little cabin up to a nice comfortably wasrm temp in less than 20 minutes. Indeed when I awake in the middle of the night, to just a few embers left, I can simply set more spruce on top, and within a few minutes I can hear the "woosh", of the fire taking off.... No fuss, no muss...

Wood Stove basic (pt1)

If you decide on a northern climate for your homestead you will be needing a wood stove. Remember you are homesteading on a dime and you just can't run out to the nearest fireplace store and pick up a state of the art wood stove.

Indeed you probably won't need too. In the far north, used wood stoves can be had quite readily. Normally there is nothing wrong with them. they are just being replaced by a fancier model.

In fact I have seen many excellent home made wood stoves made from culvert material, and miscellaneous pieces of old iron welded together.

We as poor homesteaders are not as interested in impressing the neighbors as we are getting the job done after all.

I honestly haven't seen very many poor wood stoves actually. Now if you are heating a several thousand square foot log mansion, then yes you may very well need a state of the art system which requires electric blowers etc. However since we (you and me), are resilient, self reliant homesteaders we know that a smaller cabin is easier to heat than a monstrous one.

I in fact am still heating and cooking on my very first wood stove... The lowly often maligned barrel stove. This stove has functioned very well, for three years now. I purchased the barrel from a local fuel oil company for $15... The barrel kit I bought for $10, used, as it was still bolted to a burned out barrel. So for $25, I had a perfectly functional wood stove. My brother in law made a grate to place inside, to keep the fire off the bottom of the barrel. Made of expanded metal, it was made to fold up, so that it would fit through the stove door. You can place sand and rocks in the bottom as well, however most of my available rocks are river rocks and was aware that they can sometimes explode. So.. I opted for the grate.

On top of the stove is a rack that with fit two stock pots for heating water, as well as my coffee pot.

The benefits of a barrel stove are also it's drawbacks. The same with an iron or cast stove. In the case of the barrel stove, it's lighter material will warm the cabin warm far quicker than a heavier stove. The down side is that it also sheds it heat quickly, letting the cabin cool down faster. With the iron stove it may take hours for the cabin to warm (depending on the size of the cabin, the starting temp inside and the quality of the firewood). However it will hold the heat much longer in it's thicker skin.

It all amounts to what you want. You will never hear me bash my barrel stove. It has kept me warm, heated my water, and cooked my food without fair for three years (going on four).

I believe this will be the last year for my stove. But dividing the $25 into the day's it has been used, I think I got a pretty good bargain.

I do have a nice iron wood stove that I have been wanting to get up to the homestead. Smaller than the barrel stove, it will free up some space. It's flat top will allow the direct contact with the stove and will make heating water and cooking (on top), much more efficient. It's glass door will also allow a handy night light.

Still....

I will miss the practical barrel stove. Carrying the unit up here was much easier than getting a nearly 200lb stove up here. While the iron stove was "free", the barrel stove is generally the most inexpensive way to get started.

My barrel stove allows enough room to have a fire and cook food with room to spare. Setting my 9" dutch oven off to one side, and setting the 6" dutch, on top, cooks food very efficiently.



The picture above shows the basic cooking process. As long as the dutch oven is placed off to the side, there will be more than enough draft to keep the wood going. In fact one of the best things about the barrel stove is it's interior volume. Cooking this way saves me a tremedous amount of propane, which I need for other things, such as canning.

In a northern climate you will be utilizing a wood stove from sometime in september until mid may. And I have often lit fires in mid summer to take the chill off on a rainy day.

If you decided to cook tear round with a wood stove you could simply build a cook house, much like was used in colonial day's to keep the house from getting too hot. In fact I am planning a cook/canning shack if nothing more than to free up room in the cabin.

To be continued...