The Incredible Pinto Bean

In these times of food uncertainty, nutrition and calories are paramount in my books. What I am going to write about pinto beans could generally apply to most shell beans, such as lima or navy. I have had some questions about canning pinto beans so I will include what I know and have experienced here.

First off, if you can find dry beans, I would recommend you buy them. As many as you can afford and find available. I tried to look up bulk pinto beans in preparation to write this article and find that many bulk providers are out, or only have one pound bags or like Amazon, who has a 24 pound bucket for $63.92!! or a 25 pound box for $57.69 or a 20 pound bag for $54.25. I am afraid most people cannot afford these prices. If you have waited this long to try to stock up some long term nutrition, I am afraid you probably waited too long.

We received an email with some information about bulk food items that may be useful to you. We appreciate the effort this person made in sharing a resource with all of us. Here is the email in part:

You mentioned, however, that bulk foods are getting difficult to find. I am LDS and have used the LDS Home Storage Centers for years. You may know all about them. But in case you don't, they are open to everyone and carry bulk items. You can choose to buy 25 pound sacks of wheat or you can buy #10 cans of wheat in cases. You can buy it In a home storage center or you can buy it online and have it shipped to your home. They just want people to have food storage, so there is not a huge markup. Most of the packaging is done in Salt Lake by missionaries who are donating their labor. The older couples who run the centers are also donating their labor.

All of their locations are listed here:

https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations?lang=eng

Here is their product and price list:

https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations-map?lang=eng

Many of their items are out of stock with all of the crazy buying that has been happening over the last few months, but my local center has restocked many of the products that I use and my brother, who uses a center close to his home in Virginia, tells me they have many items back in stock as well. I just bought more white wheat, red wheat, elbow macaroni noodles, and spaghetti. So if you are interested, it is worth calling the center nearest to you and asking what they have in stock.

I don't know if this is of any interest to you, but in times like this we should help each other however we can. 

Nutrition. Everyday, but now more than ever, I turn to foods I know will provide good nutrition. This will be crucial as food supplies continue to be impacted by the Plandemic and resulting economic disruptions. I use this website for comparing nutritional values on many foods.

Beans, pinto, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt

As you can see, one cup of cooked pinto beans with water and salt packs a powerful punch, thus our preference for it. It is often said that beans and rice make the perfect protein. We don't eat rice, but we do eat wheat in the form of sourdough bread or tortillas. We prefer wheat to rice for the comparative nutritional value the wheat provides.

We have a number of buckets of pinto beans that we have had for at least 10 years, which by the way, came from the LDS Home Storage Center in Oklahoma City. We bought in bulk and stored in our own buckets with Gamma Seal lids. If you're not aware, LDS stands for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or commonly called Mormons. I have long thought theses beans would be too hard to cook and eat, and that is true. I also thought they would be too hard to can. This is one of those instances that I was more than happy to be wrong.

Last winter I wanted to get more pintos canned and on the shelf for everyday eating, and to have if the country and world went south. I bought several four pound bags from Wal-Mart, before the virus when they were still available, and we canned a batch of 32 pints. Then recently, we decided to find out if those old beans were still usable. We put three pounds of beans in eight quarts of water and brought them to a boil in the late afternoon. Let them boil for five minutes, then let them sit until morning. I turned the fire on low when I got up around 6:00am and let them simmer until morning chores were done and we were ready to fire up the canner. Here are both types of beans. Both great, on the shelf and ready to eat. The 2010 beans turned out great, good texture and flavor. The older beans are on the left and the Wal-Mart beans are on the right in this picture. Some of the benefits of having beans canned and ready to go is that if you want a quick meal, or the world doesn't allow time to cook a pot of beans, you have nutrition, water and salt ready to nurture your body.

This summer one of my goals is to grow, harvest and can as many pinto beans as possible. In a survival scenario we need calories for energy and adequate protein. Pinto beans provide 245 calories per cup, a healthy form of carbohydrates that does not cause an insulin spike with a quick drop off in energy, and a good level of protein. In my books, an excellent form of nutrition any time.

Our first harvest of beans yielded 10 1/2 pounds from about two 30 foot rows of plants. Now this is not equivalent to the same weight of dry beans because they were fresh. Some were partially dried, but most still retained a lot of moisture. We canned 32 pints with enough beans left over for another 3 pints. I was very pleased with the yield and hope the plants will continue to bloom and provide another harvest or two before fall.

To can fresh or dried beans, we bring them to a boil the evening before, then let them sit overnight. In the morning, simmer until ready to can. We use the liquid from the pot to fill the jars. In pint jars, fill with beans about 2/3 full, add 1/2 tsp. non-iodized salt, fill to within 1/2" of the top with bean liquid, then pressure can at 10 pounds for 40 minutes. This timing comes from our Stocking Up canning book.

Jacob's Cattle Beans

Something I learned about canning fresh beans as opposed to dried beans. Fresh beans tend to be much softer when you cook or can them. I prefer a bean with a more firm texture, like the old beans and the Wal-Mart beans. We grew Jacob's Cattle beans a few years back. It's another shell bean very similar to a pinto. We also canned them fresh and they were much softer, just like the pintos we just harvested and canned. I always thought the softness was just the nature of the Jacob's bean and never thought about the difference in canning fresh instead of dried. Accidental learning can be a very interesting teacher. Now, instead of canning our next harvest fresh, I will dry them first and see if I can get the type of canned bean I prefer instead of the softer variety. One benefit of the soft beans is the ease at making a type of refried bean for tortillas. By the way, if you have trouble finding pinto bean seed to plant, the ones from Wal-Mart work just fine.

A few years back we tried a different method of canning beans we had read somewhere. In quart jars we added dried pinto beans to half of the jar, filled with boiling water and 1 tsp. salt, then canned according to recommended time (I don't remember now how long.) They were tough and crunchy. I don't know how old the beans were or any other details, but we found out for us, this process didn't work.

Ground pork, pintos & salsa with sauteed cabbage

There are many different ways to add beans to a meal for a nutritional boost. I've already mentioned refried beans and a bowl of beans. You can add them to soup or to just about any dish. Like this. But folks, nutrition and energy is, and will be the name of the game as our future continues to unfold. I pray the day never comes that I can't sit in my comfortable, air conditioned home and type on a computer on the internet. Just how much infrastructure has to remain in place for me to continue doing this? How long will it last?

We will never forget someone asking us why we go to all this work to raise and preserve our harvest. Why do all that work when you can just buy it at the store, they asked. Because now you have a hard time finding or affording the humble pinto bean at the store. Grow it or buy it, food is of utmost importance right now for everyone. Like I've said before, regardless of the events surrounding us, peace or anarchy, without food, you are dead.

Until next time - Fern

It's Time

I have come to the conclusion that it's no longer time to hide. It's time to choose and stand. We - I - have been too accepting and complacent for too long. No, you can't say that, it might hurt someone's feelings. All lives matter. Babies lives matter. No, you can't say that, it's a hate crime. Well, that's just tough. It's my opinion and I am just as entitled to it as the next person.

Quite some time back Frank and I told you we are no longer nice people. We aren't. We work very hard at being good, decent, honest people, but we are no longer nice. I find it quite refreshing to read about people actually standing up for themselves. Even though I don't agree with everything the current protestors are saying, I defend their right to say it. On the other hand the criminals that foment violence, looting, rioting, burning, destruction and mayhem? They need to be treated like the criminals they are.

Life will never return to the 'normal' that existed as we welcomed in the New Year on January 1, 2020. Never. Is this difficult? Absolutely. But because of the virus or the economy or the intolerance, events have brought us truly to a point of massive change, one way or another. Will 2020 be the year the silent majority is no longer silent, but now emerges with a roar? Will it be the year when we finally wake up and realize that enough is enough? Or will it be the year that we watch the final death throes of life as we knew it? Life that will become one big autonomous zone of freedom where you have to be searched, follow all rules, give up any means of self defense, submit all possessions for the good of all, and face violent, physical consequences to the point of death if you do not comply. Sounds like the summer of love, doesn't it? What do you choose? Regardless of what we choose, it is probably too late. Events have been set in motion by a well organized group that has been planning, training and implementing their destruction of our country from within. They are embedded deep within our governmental structure and have been for decades. Will the roar of the silent majority sound like more than a meow even if it is expressed at all? 

Have you ever read the book, Who Moved My Cheese? I would highly recommend it. Because not only has the cheese been moved, there is no cheese to be had anymore, I don't care how far you go or how long you look. It's gone. Never to be found again. So, now what?

If you have not already done so, please listen to Tucker Carlson, then we'll talk some more.

**Blogger has recently updated and done something weird with the font when creating an article. I don't know what and can't find a good size. One is too small, the other too big. Sorry about that.

We received this in an email recently. I don't know the author, but found it interesting reading.

I'm not posting this for debate. When you think the President is a jerk ...Just please consider this..,

The bottom line has been that Trump IS a jerk. He’s crude, he bloviates, he gets his feelings hurt and he’s a hot head. And he should stay off Twitter.

Let me tell you what else he is. He is a guy that demands performance. He is a guy that asks lots of questions. The questions he asks aren’t cloaked in fancy phrases, they are “why the hell....” questions.

For decades the health industry has thrown away billions of face masks after one use. Trump asks, “Why the hell are we throwing them away? Why not sterilize them and use them numerous times?” He’s the guy that gets hospital ships readied in one week, when it would have taken a bureaucrat weeks or months to get it done. He’s the guy that gets temporary hospitals built in three days. He’s the guy that gets industries to build ventilators and face masks in a business that’s highly regulated by agencies that move like sloths.

He’s the guy that asks why we aren’t using drugs that might work on people that are dying; what the hell do we have to lose? In spite of all the naysayers. He’s the guy that shut down travel from China, when the liberals and the media were screaming xenophobia and racist. Now they are asking why didn't he react sooner? He’s the guy that ran on securing the border in the face of a screaming press and media. When he shut down borders in the midst of the corona virus virus they were up in arms over such a draconian move. Then the rest of the world followed suit all over, including the European Union between member countries.

Has he made mistakes, yep. Everyone I know would have. All of these experts wouldn’t have done any better. Trump is working harder than I’ve ever seen a President work. He isn’t hiding in his office, he’s out front every day.

Take for instance, all the shortages of PPE’s and ventilators. I’m unaware of anything that prevented all of these governors from ordering all the PPE and ventilators for emergency purposes over the last two years. And yet, it is Trump’s fault that they didn’t.

He’s balanced his approach and listened to the experts, when his distracters said he wouldn’t and couldn’t. When he offers hope, "he’s lying" … and when he’s straight forward, "he should be hopeful". It’s a no-win, but he is not deterred by all of that BS coming from the press and the liberals.

I’ll take this kind of leadership over a nice guy that can make eloquent speeches but does nothing.

Biker logic … He is my President!

 

The world will never be the same as it was a few weeks and months ago. Employment opportunities have changed. The way schools function will never be the same. I attended a virtual meeting with the leadership team from the school district I continue to do contract work for. The plans they are having to put in place to deal with COVID-19 and the possible impacts it may have as school starts back in the fall are daunting. You can hear the stress in the way people try to cope with the new requirements, the concern they have for the children and the health of everyone. The stress of working adults will affect the children, which will affect the families, which will.......

Folks, it's time. Time to choose which side you're going to be on. Actively choose. If the rioters come to your town, your neighborhood, your door, what are you going to do? If you are not allowed to speak, work, shop, vote, etc. What are you going to do? There are some locations that are starting to reimpose restrictions because of the virus. It will be the death of the economy, the country and the world if there is another massive shutdown. Impossible. I don't know if we will make it to the election. Even if we do, regardless of the outcome, regardless of who wins, I think there are those that are highly organized that are bound and determined to burn down the country and leave it in the ashes. Those that cry the loudest about oppression and the unfairness of it all, will be some of the most brutal dictators in history if they are allowed to gain the power to control our country and the world.

It's time to choose. When The Man comes around to your location, to collect your food, your guns, your fealty.....what are you going to do?

We as a people, our side if you want to call it that, has been accepting of too much for too long. When they decided it was okay to kill babies and it became law, even though we thought it was murder, we honored others right to choose. When they implemented searches in airports before boarding a plane "for our safety" we accepted it. Even when it grew to the point of groping genitals and strip searches. Even when they insisted on physically groping the elderly in wheelchairs and nuns. But not women in burkas, we can't have that now can we?

We accepted, we respected, the rights of others. But what happens when you appease and appease and appease. What happens to a dog that has no structure, no boundaries, no limitations? It becomes more and more aggressive in it's demands to be fed, it's demands for freedom, to wantonly destroy or pursue anything that comes within it's realm. Then when that is not enough, it invades any territory it comes upon and makes it's demands known. You will do as I want or I will hurt you. I will kill you. How many times a year do we read about a dog mauling someone to death? An innocent person walking down the street. A child that came over to play.

When The Man comes around will you be ready? This song can be interpreted in a number of different ways. I choose not to lay down and go peacefully into the potter's field when The Man comes around. What will you do? Time is short. It's time to choose and be ready.

It's already a hot summer. Listen to Frank. He says it's going to be a very, very hot summer. Don't ever get on the bus.

Until next time - Fern

Growing Seeds

The condition of the world and the shortage of seeds this spring have motivated us to save seeds early in the season instead of later. I always wonder about the viability of my own seeds. Sometimes the germination rate is definitely higher than at other times. If these seeds were our only supply for the coming year's food, it would cause not a small amount of worry. We have read a number of books about people that lived in a time that what they grew/harvested/hunted was what they ate. No harvest, no food. Starvation was not uncommon. This is why we grow only open pollinated or heirloom seeds. With that in mind, here is how we are doing so far.

Some of the fall planted turnips went to seed early in the spring. Those seeds have been harvested, dried and stored for fall planting.

We bought this book long ago. I thought it was published in the 1980's, but maybe that's just when we bought it. I still refer to it each year. It has information about starting seedlings, planting, companion planting and seed saving. I highly recommend it. There is an updated version available.

I harvested our yellow squash 'seeds'. We will let them mature for about eight weeks, then remove and dry the seeds. So far we have eaten quite a bit of squash and canned 16 pints. We usually plant our summer and winter squash at the same time, but this year we wanted to make sure they didn't cross pollinate, so we just recently planted the winter squash. We will pull the summer squash before we let some of the winter squash start blooming.

The first pinto bean pickings included seeds for next year. For us, this looks like a lot of seeds, but I wonder if it will be enough. I should have enough shelled to can in a couple of days.

I harvested a few lettuce seeds. Most of them I let fall where they grew, along with the spinach, in hopes they will self seed. We'll see how that idea works out in the fall.

Our beet crop gave us 14 pints this summer. We have never had any beets go to seed. This fall I will plant some in the greenhouse and see if I can get them to go to seed next spring since they are biennial.

So. Are fertilized eggs considered to be chicken seeds..........

Folks, the seeds and winds of change are upon us. Some seeds produce much needed food. Some seeds grow noxious weeds and thorns. Some people would rather sow the seeds of destruction. Like we've said before, without food you are dead. Without the ability to provide for ourselves and our families we are trapped under the Boot of The Man.

Some seeds bring pleasure and beauty to a dying world. What kind of seeds are you sowing in your life and the lives of those around you? Do you have enough seeds to feed your soul?

Until next time - Fern

What's Growin' In the Garden 4

Well folks, it truly is turning out to be a hot summer, isn't it? Frank has long thought the unraveling of our society would come to pass about this time. The uncertainty of life affects us all in many different ways, even the earth is unsettled and behaving quite different. Gardens and pastures in these parts are not growing anything like they usually do. Some things do okay, not great, but okay. Other standard crops are barely growing or doing anything. I have found ONE squash bug this summer. ONE. By now they are normally here by the hundreds and the plants are dead. Instead, we have had many fewer yellow squash, but the plants are happy.

Today we pulled the beets and planted grocery store red potatoes. Yes, it's very late to plant potatoes and it's a toss up whether they will grow in the heat of the summer here. We weren't going to grow any at all, but feel the need to grow more calories and nutrition.

Old beet patch, one new potato patch

More potatoes between the cabbage & sunflowers

                Here is a look at the rest of the garden.

Parsley in the front, carrots and yellow squash

Sweet potatoes on  stock panels are growing well.

Pinto beans, some are climbing and some are not....

Tomatoes are growing slowly with little production

Purple hull peas after 4 plantings

Okra, barely growing, and it's mid June

Sunflowers for chicken feed

There are a number of cabbages that survived the worms.

Small pepper plants

Planted Thelma Sanders winter squash by wooden stakes today.

Apple with curculio infestation

I was very hopeful of a good fruit crop this year. Our young plums were loaded with fruit, but each had this little brown mark on it. Every plum dropped and now the apples are slowly joining in. I pick up half a dozen or so every other day as they fall and feed them to the chickens. I found a beneficial nematode that is supposed to help control curculio and applied them below the trees a month or so ago. My research indicates curculios may produce up to two generations per year, so I hope the nematodes are established enough to affect the second generation this summer. I don't know if there will be any apples left to harvest or not, only time will tell.

Rather dismal outlook, isn't it? It is definitely a strange growing season. As the COVID19 outbreak grew more serious, we decided to grow more food this year instead of less like we had planned. But the way the garden is performing, we don't know how much food it will produce at all. If we were truly in dire straits and dependent upon this growing season for survival, it would be a very stressful situation indeed. Well. What if this is it? What if our life does depend upon this harvest?

Folks, we are in perilous times. Do everything in your power to have enough food for your family for the long term. It matters not if you grow one morsel, have food for your family. Do everything in your power to provide a safe environment for your loved ones. Between the virus, the economy, the riots, the anger and hatred, our country is a pressure cooker just waiting for the lid to blow. The tentacles of the enemy are long and well camouflaged. Distance is your friend.

Frank has been saying for many months that it is going to be a very hot summer. The summer is upon us with burning and death. There are a couple of videos at the end of this article that may give you pause. If nothing else, I hope they give you something to think about.

Food. You can't have too much & without it you are dead.

Until next time - Fern

National Emergency - Jon McNaughton

        Speak Truth - A message that needs to be heard

Disturbing Times

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

I haven't had much to say lately, because I am sure you are watching the news media and the small folks like us that put opinions out occasionally. As you are well aware, we are under attack. This is not just some random kids running around pulling stunts, this is an organized, structured, well planned attack by a group that is out to overthrow our government. They are succeeding.

I don't have a solution for this problem, and I haven't read or seen anybody with a solution. The people orchestrating these events are not going to be satisfied and back off. These folks are playing to win by any means necessary. Let me say that again. These organized, structured combatants are trying to overthrow the government of the United States by any means necessary. They are succeeding.

Do you have a solution for this? I sure don't see one. Yes, I know we can all hold hands and pray, which is good. Or we can take action. Like what? We're not going to do that. I'm not going to go into all the things they are doing. I'm sure you see them on TV and read them on the internet. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are losing. They are winning. You know what that means? Everything that you have becomes theirs. Everything.

Let's see. No police. Do I need to say more?

Our country will soon look like Somalia, that's where this is heading. We have governors that are supporting these things. We have senior politicians that do also. You've heard it here before, we are in serious trouble.

Ok, so who is we? I am an older, white male, heterosexual, republican, married to a woman, veteran, Christian, taxpayer, property owner, and several other little titles. Everything just mentioned about me is a threat to them. Now we, obviously you are not all males, so therefore, we is a varied group, but I think you get my drift.

We are losing. They are going to continue to attack and attack and attack. Why wouldn't they? They have the momentum. They would be stupid not to continue.

Fern and I have been talking here for a few years. There is nothing new to say. If you have space for a garden, I hope you have one. You should have been stocked up on beans, bullets and band-aids a long time ago. We are now seeing shortages. In my humble opinion, if you are not ready and you are not prepared, it is too late. Try to buy bulk wheat lately? Try to buy bulk bullets lately? They're not available as are many items not available. Want to go joy ride through a big town somewhere? I'm not. The talk is the economy is doing great. It's not. Are you up with the term repo in relation to the Federal Reserve?

By the way, as a side note here. This is happening world wide. Where I live in southeastern Oklahoma there are people buying large tracts of land with houses site unseen. These are not local folks, they are from Virginia, interior Texas, California. Imagine. Buying 100 acres of land on a U.S. highway with a house and outbuildings, but you've never seen it. Recreational vehicles are experiencing the highest sales in history. This is during a lock down.

Does somebody have to spell this out for all of us?

Here is a link to a letter I'd like for you to read. This man is a high ranking Roman Catholic official, lives at the Vatican and he wrote a letter to President Trump. If you've got the time, take a look at it, it's current.

Moving on. It sickens me to watch what is happening. This is not a game. It's not a joke. These people are dead serious. They are not going to quit. Why would they?

I don't have a solution. What I am doing is hiding. A lot of people would say that's cowardly. Well, so be it. I walked on foreign soil and have been shot at. There are times when you keep your head down and your mouth shut.

This thing is going to get way out of hand real soon. They will never allow President Trump to be reelected. Just look around. Prominent Republicans are announcing that they cannot and will not support Donald Trump. If there is an election in November, we all need to vote. I hope we make it to November.

I would highly recommend that you leave large cities, and for that matter, medium sized cities. Prepare yourself mentally to do the unthinkable. We have written for years that the storm clouds are coming, they are near. Well, they're here. Remember, we have been betrayed at the highest levels.

I've always avoided the subject of guns. Several years back I wrote an article about guns used around the farm. You need to prepare to defend yourself. You need to avoid crowds at all costs. I borrowed those words of wisdom from Ol' Remus.

Our 1st Amendment is blatantly being attacked. Our news media is for the most part a lie and corrupt. Most of our senior politicians are also corrupt. This thing is not going to end well for anyone. Wrap your head around it.

Only God knows what the future holds.

I've got one more little clip we received in an email that I want to share with you. You can find it down below. It's intended to be funny, but it's not. It's a story about a man ordering a pizza. Remember, anything you order with a credit card, there is a record. If you have it shipped with UPS, let's say, they have a record of it. If you buy it from a major store, they have a record of it. They have had this information for years now, don't kid yourself.

It's hot here in southeastern Oklahoma. It appears we're heading into our dry time which pretty soon will mean grass and forest fires. If my predictions are correct, it's going to be a very, very HOT summer.

Fern and I wish you all the best.

We'll talk more later,  Frank

2020

CALLER:

Is this Gordon's Pizza?

GOOGLE:
No sir, it's Google Pizza.

CALLER:
I must have dialed the wrong number Sorry.

GOOGLE:
No sir, Google bought Gordon’s Pizza last month.

CALLER:
OK. I would like to order a pizza.

GOOGLE:
Do you want your usual, sir?

CALLER:

My usual? You know me?

GOOGLE:

According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza

with three kinds of cheese, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and meatballs on a thick crust.

CALLER:

OK! That’s what I want ...

GOOGLE:

May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives

on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?

CALLER:
What? I detest vegetables!

GOOGLE:
Your cholesterol is not good, sir.

CALLER:
How the hell do you know!

GOOGLE:

Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records.

We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years.

CALLER:

Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetable pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.

GOOGLE:

Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database,

you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once, at Drug RX Network, 4 months ago.

CALLER:
I bought more from another drugstore.

GOOGLE:
That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.

CALLER:

I paid in cash.

GOOGLE:
But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.

CALLER:
I have other sources of cash.

GOOGLE:

That doesn’t show on your last tax return unless you bought them using an undeclared income source,

which is against the law.

CALLER:
WHAT THE HELL!

GOOGLE:
I'm sorry, sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.

CALLER:

Enough already! I'm sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others.

I'm going to an island without an Internet, or cable TV,

where there is no cell phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me.

GOOGLE:
I understand sir, but Alexa says you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago..