One of the cooler things we have come across in our homesteading adventures is hand-held vacuum sealing. The current process for vacuum sealing usually involves a Food Saver or similar appliance. Almost all of these run on electricity and require plastic bags that are only single use. Pretty wasteful, but still good for keeping food fresh. However, this can be done with a reusable container and no electricity. The following video demonstrates our hand-held vacuum sealer as I use it to marinate jerky:

We found the idea on Youtube and while I explain it in the video, the necessary items are canning jars and lids as your reusable containers, a hand-held brake bleeder, Food Saver jar sealer attachments, and a Food Saver Accessory Hose. While these links direct you to the Food Saver site, go to eBay and buy a kit that has the regular mouth and wide mouth attachments and the accessory hose. We would have saved $5-$10 doing this. We bought the brake bleeder from Harbor Freight and I think we paid $25 for it. For the sake of saying it, I do think a new, in-package brake bleeder would be a good idea here.  Don't go digging in the toolbox for the greasy grimy one you used last year.  

After getting it, I attached the hose that came with the brake bleeder and then cut off an end of the Food Saver Accessory Hose. This cut end fit perfectly in the clear hose that came with the brake bleeder--no sealing necessary. If you do this, I hope it fits great for you too.

Notice that there are no bands on the sealed jars that I am holding in the last three pictures. For the Hershey bars or any already-wrapped packages, you will need to poke a hole in the wrapper. They are already sealed and that air will stay in there unless you poke that hole.

This video demonstrates how crunchy the cereal is after being stored for over ten months in the vacuum-sealed jar.  For some reason the kids were happy to help with this video.

If you have good canning jars with no cracks you can pressurize up to 20 PSI per my research. We try to shoot for over 15 PSI at least.  This will be easier and harder based upon what is in it. A jar of herbs will be almost all air so that will take longer than the same jar full of rice. By harder I mean more elbow and wrist grease to squeeze the brake bleeder.  Good exercise!

Words of warning.  The brake bleeder is not meant for this purpose so please use at your own risk. Some people have been concerned about the brass fittings at the end of the brake bleeder. Our logic is that the brake bleeder is only pulling the air out of the jars and not putting any air into it, so there should be no brass residue. Anyway, we are okay with it.

Also, please research what foods to use. Powders can be used (e.g. flour, dry milk), but keep the level lower in the jar so as not to suck up the powder in the hose. Use only dried materials. Even though the air is out, if there is water in the jar it will still work to cause food to spoil. Also, leave your recently-sealed jars close by for a week or so and check the seals. After a week, if it is still sealed, it will likely remain sealed. No promises though!  Some theories state that if you seal it well, it should stay good for a very long time, perhaps 5+ years as long as that lid is safely sealed on there.  

If there is a leak, the pressure will equalize and loosen the lid on the jar, so if the lid is solidly attached, then the jar is still sealed as the day you did it.

In regards to wasting, another great thing is finding a use for "spent" canning lids.  Since water bath and pressure cooker canning require tight seals, it is always recommended that you use new, unused lids.  For this process, as long as the lid is not bent and the seal is in good shape, it should work.  It's not using heat to melt the seal around the lid, it's sucking the lid onto the jar and this allows you to use "spent" lids as opposed to throwing them out.  

Finally, in case you are new to the world of food preservation and think that vacuum sealing is a substitute for water-bath canning or pressure canning, you are mistaken! Those foods need to be properly sealed through the appropriate canning method--not through the use of a vacuum sealer.

The only downside to this process is that the jars can be expensive. However, just buy all the ones you can find at garage sales (just not the ones we are going to) and start stocking up. Canning jars are invaluable items. Great for storage and canning (obviously), but can be used for any number of other uses, decorations and even for bee hives!  Email us if you need more information on this handy, no waste, electricity-free food storage device.

- Trevor

About 2 weeks ago we started fermenting our chicken feed. In all honesty, the initial motivation was to cut down on feed costs without sacrificing nutrition. I remembered stumbling across Garden Betty's article, "Why And How to Ferment Your Chicken Feed" and decided to give it a try for myself. 

There are a lot of great resources that explain the benefits of fermented foods, but I won't go into detail here. Basically, fermented food contains Lactobacillus, which is a live, beneficial bacteria that aids in digestion, is rich in enzyme activity that helps us absorb more nutrients, and leads to a stronger immune system. For more info on the benefits of fermented foods, check out article "Fermented Foods Bubble With Helpful Benefits."

I couldn't find any definitive proof that fermenting the chicken feed cuts down on overall feed costs, but some sources claimed that chickens will eat about 50% less. With all the other benefits, I figured it was worth a try. Since this is our first time raising broilers, we don't have any data to compare, so it is difficult to say if they are eating less, and if so how much less. Also, most of the information available on fermenting chicken feed is directed at layers, not broilers. Since broilers are generally given access to food 24/7 and spend a good chunk of their waking hours eating, it has really been difficult trying to determine how much food to give them. The benefits of fermented food diminish quickly, so I have been feeding them fresh feed 5-6 times a day. Every day they just get a couple scoopfuls more than the day before.

If we end up with underweight birds at our processing day next week, then we will know that they weren't receiving enough food and will have to make adjustments next time. I have also decided to start feeding the chickens fermented feed only in the morning at night, and then go back to offering them their dry food free-choice throughout the day. First of all, it is too much work to feed them every couple of hours, and secondly, I believe everything is best in moderation, so feeding the chickens solely fermented food may not be the best choice. On the other hand, the choice to reduce fermented feed has nothing to do with observation, because the chickens look fuller and healthier than ever!

To start we just filled up the fermentation bin halfway or so with the dry chicken mash, then covered it with several inches of well water (it needs to be chlorine free), and stirred. The feed was already bubbling away 24 hours later. Now we just scoop out the feed with a slotted spoon and fill the 5-gallon bucket to take to the chickens. I put a few more scoops of dry feed in the bin, cover it with more water, stir again, and cover. I am constantly subtracting and adding to the same bin so that it is never empty. That way the bacteria will stay alive and happy--as long as it is stirred regularly and kept covered with water.

- Diana

As we endeavored on this farm, one of our goals was to utilize scraps and repurpose random things into the items that we needed.  This hasn't always been the case as some things were needed "right now" and a trip to TSC worked better than trying to build chick feeders at that particular time.  However, looking around there are a number of interesting builds on the property that have come at almost no cost, minimal cost, or at a cost far less than what one could have purchased the originals.  Perhaps some of this post is pride, but also a chance to help others move past their commercial addictions and use their creativity to "MacGyver" things with the items one has at hand.  When you succeed, its quite a sense of accomplishment.

Bee projects were a combination of scrap and new melded together in a good way.  Hives built by myself and my dad this winter.  Bee feeder thrown together with scrap by me.  Tables by me.  Overall, not bad considering bee feeders are $25 and top bar bee hives are much much more!  We love Christy's bees, but we can build the rest!

The above pics are associated with the chicken tractor and the hens/pullets.  A lot of new, but a lot of repurposed and invented things.  Chicken tractor is mostly based upon the plans of Harvey Ussery.  With the brooder, we also repurposed a broken baby gate for a lid and the other lid was a divider from a dog kennel.  Not pictured, but I just made a chicken feeder with a "found" bucket that I drilled holes in the bottom and then glued that to the bottom of a cheap laundry basket with the top 3/4 cut off.  It looks similar to this, just without a garbage bucket, but a standard five gallon bucket.

More chicken stuff thrown together at the last minute . . . the best way!

Broiler pen and accessories.  Pen frame was all new, treated wood and new screws.  Some pics of construction.  Most of it was 1" 2x6s that were ripped.  Found some plans online for Salatin-style pens and made it 6' x 12' instead of 10' x 12'.  Framing was pretty much to plan.  Chicken wire was scraps and a roll found in under the work bench at my dads.  Steel was leftover from a building and was free!  Used leftover screws to connect it together, so that was good.  I have this pickle jar full of extra screws that finally came in handy.  Small changes is the framing under the door for stability and added another stabilizer beam on the back to make the steel sturdier.  Salatin-style pens sit flush on the ground and require a dolly to move.  These are often made of steel tubing like this.  While I'm sure his is very sturdy, why not repurpose a seed rack.  HUH?  Well, we took a leftover seed rack, cut off one set of legs on back, found a steel rod that went through some old lawnmower deck wheels and wired that on for now.  Then, we smashed the remaining feet flat for ease of sliding and added buffers to keep the pen off the wheels.  Frankly, we didn't think it would be sturdy enough.  WRONG!  It works like a charm.  This was definitely a Trent Grice creation.  The last pic is our broiler feeder.  We cut some scrap tile and nailed it to a leftover, weathered deck board, added scrap for a handle.  It needs stabilizer feet, which I was going to do before my foot exploded.  However, what do you use for end caps?  Why empty worm dishes of course.  They fit perfectly in the tile and slid nicely into the groove.  This a cool build for sure.

This looks like a pile of rocks, which it is.  However, I'm excited for this one.  This is the foundation for our future shed.  The stones are the limestone strippings from my father-in-law's driveway after he had it flattened in preparation for his asphalt driveway.  I also got three other loads on my driveway to help some trouble spots.  While this is cool, I'm more excited for the shed that will be built.  Walls are expected to be old plant display tables, siding will be leftover steel siding/roofing, base beams are treated 4x6's that are laying around my dad's place. We will try to use other "found" stuff as well as we search for leftover windows, doors, etc.  The plans are in my head, but hopefully on this foundation by the end of the year.  The shed in the back was just saved from my brother-in-law's place as he almost tore it apart for scrap.  Not sure what we'll do with it yet, but it's still good and sturdy.  I guess it's like 40 years old.  It was pretty easy getting it on the trailer.  I sat in the hammock and watched my dad and brother-in-law do it.  I had to keep my foot up.  What did it cost?  Sounds like it may cost us some chickens.

I have a post on the "hugel" mound, but this is also one of the cool builds on the property.  I was going to dig this by hand, so I'm glad I used the tractor when it was here.  The woody material is brush and tree branches we had for free.  Top soil was originally in the previous owner's raised bed garden that I forgot about and the mulch top layer is free wood chips from tree trimmers.

While this is a small breakdown of some of the stuff that we are doing on the farm, I also shared this to show that if you look around, most anybody can get started on projects.  We don't need to go and buy everything.  Sure, not everybody has a bunch of tools or woodworking know how, but the worst thing you can do is not try to build it.  You learn a lot during the process.  I look forward to "MacGyvering" more stuff as we go along

- Trevor