My wife and I can, both BWB and pressure with a high BTU outdoor burner. The one we have is great for BWB -- it brings the large kettle to boil VERY quickly and adjusts low enough for that purpose... But there are better choices for pressure canning, chiefly one of those three burner individual valve jobs. For pressure canning, the problem is that instead of raw heat output, you need very fine adjustment which turkey fryers and large BTU burners won't give you. Also as mentioned, you need a good wind sheild and prep area, and too, the house kitichen nearby...Those requirements aside, outdoor canning is just a terrific way to keep the kitchen freer and if doing fish, as Carol said, keeps the mess and smell outside. Highly recommended.

Well the eagles and bobcats do not seem to phaze them.I live next to the lake and have had 4 eagles flying around even circling and they do not run.Every thing else does feral cats, squirrels, and little birds disappear instantly. Bobcats live down here and a mountain lion as well but I think they are pretty much nocturnal here and the goofy birds are up roosting in the trees at night.. Cars seem to be their best predator here so far,at least when they get up onto the highway. If the huney was not allergic to dogs I would barrow one to chase them around for a week.Hmm maybe the fake predator could be an option if I moved it around on the roadside in front of the house. We have been hoping that they move back up into the mountains with the snowmelt, Please please please...Before the vege garden gets put in. LOl, after reading the trapping suggestion, called the game warden, no go on that since we are in their natural range and their population is just reaching a healthy level. bah David,, I do not have much of a grasshopper problem, do you think anyone would notice if I shipped a few down there to be spoiled,lol, not to mention for some reason my other half has decided we need to go back to raising chickens so we have a hundred of them coming in a week or so. Thanks for the help, any suggestions are worth checking into. Mary

Hi Perennial! :O) Great to see you post, it HAS been awhile, huh? Baby's doing fine (her name is Lili), she'll be 1 in December...and we've got another one on the way in April (long story, and a true miracle!). I do like your idea, BTW...it's kinda like a white elephant, isn't it? Sounds like it'd be fun, in any case! Okay, Dan....here's the deal....I almost NEVER use a written recipe when I make soup! I'm a "what ever I darn well feel like" kinda gal. I only use recipes as *guidelines* when I'm baking...never cooking. Anyway...here's what I usually do when I make chicken soup (keep in mind, I make enough to feed 10 people or so!): I take about 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; one large, chopped onion; 4-6 crushed garlic cloves(large ones); red pepper flakes (probably about 2 tsps); 2-3 chopped jalapeno peppers; fresh chopped oregano (or dried, probably about 1 tsp dried, a good fistful if fresh); salt & pepper......I boil all of that in a stock pot that's about 3/4 full of water. Boil it until the chicken starts falling apart, usually 1.5-2 hours. Then, I take the chicken out & shred it...pop it back in there, add bunches of chopped carrots & celery stalks, plus some more spices- paprika, cumin, tiny pinch of sage, curry.....and whatever else I feel like it needs. Let that boil for another hour, then I add either some cooked rice or uncooked noodles- just however much I want to fill in. Sometimes I like a lot of broth, sometimes I don't. That's basically it- just throw & go, is my motto. :o) Oh, and when there is a sick person in the house (with a cold or such), I usually go for more spice & more broth. I've even thrown some lemon balm in there, along with catnip & other "cold fighting" herbs. I don't think I cook the same soup twice. LOL

When I was a kid, they didn't have the "Dead Stock Removal" businesses that appeared later, who, when you gave them a call, would come to your farm within a couple of days, usually, winch the dead (and without blood having been drained) animal up on to their (stinking) truck and take it to their (stinking) plant. The hide would be removed, for processing into shoes, belts, purses and the like. Some of the meat would be sent to mink ranches, fox farms, etc. Some would be sent to pet food processors, where it was cooked and had other stuff added, to be put into cans and sold to townies and other pet "owners" to feed to their pets. ole joyful