Spotlight On Poultry: Rhode Island Red

I’m so sorry for the delay in getting out a new Spotlight on Poultry. Things have been hectic around here. I do always feel like I am back in high school writing a report when I do the spotlight because I do a lot of research on each breed. I was looking forward to writing about this breed because of how popular it is!

Ruby's Portrait ~ Jane Steele

 Rhode Island Red chickens are one of the most popular breeds of backyard chickens. They are good for both eggs and meat and do well in all climates. They are very friendly and have a good nature, therefore making a good pet for small children and adults alike! RIR’s lay brown eggs and rarely go broody. Their eggs are normally large in size and they can tolerate the cold. They are red in color and sometimes can be a darker “rust” color and also sometimes have white streaks in their feathers. They have red/orange eyes; yellow feet and their beaks are a reddish brown color. Males can get to be 8.5 pounds and females can be 6.5 pounds.

RIRs From The Chicken Fountain

 This breed originated in Massachusetts and Rhode Island , around the 1840’s. The early birds had both single and rose combs. Breeding began in a little town in Rhode Island called Adamsville. The chickens were bred with a Black Breasted Red Malay Rooster. The Rooster is actually on display at the Smithsonian Institution as the “Father of the Breed” RIR’s were accepted into the APA in 1904. As the breed gained popularity, it has now become one of the best known breed of chicken in the world! There are two types of RIR’s. Over time, breeders would try to breed for the qualities that they liked the best. The first type is often called industrial, or production. These birds are lighter in color and lay about 300 eggs per year. The second type are referred to as exhibition, or heritage. They are darker in color, have a larger body, and lay fewer eggs than the industrial strain of RIRs.

Rhonda ~ Alexis Henry

Talking With ~ The Chicken Fountain

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity and the pleasure to have lunch with the owner and inventor of The Chicken Fountain! We just happen to live about 20 minutes away from each other.  Once we figured that out, it was only a matter of time before we just had to get together.  A few days before we met, my 14 yr old daughter Autumn had been the 1,000^th LIKE on Frank’s FB page, therefore winning her a tshirt. My daughter and I showed up for lunch and Frank had brought us a chicken fountain in hopes that we would put it together, use it and review it. Well, we did that. I honestly have no idea how I have lived without this! Let me tell you a little more about Frank and I will explain why his product is amazing.

Frank Cardaropoli lives in Davidson, NC on 6 acres with his wife and kids. His kids are ages 7, 8, 16, and he also has a 23 yr old niece.  Needless to say, with the kids alone, he has his hands full. Then you add in his 14 chickens, 3 dogs, 2 goats, a cat, and a few hermit crabs. He is one busy man! They have lived in this area for 12 yrs and about 3 years ago Frank started making Chicken Fountains. He made them for himself and friends and family started wanting them. A good friend of his pushed him to start producing them and here we are today, with the best way to water your flock that money can buy!

So I sat down when I got home to put together The Chicken Fountain.  I opened the box and pulled it all out. It took me about 10 minutes to put the whole thing together and that included the time it was taking my 14 yr old to figure out how to use the camera on my phone to take photos for the blog. The hardest part of the entire thing was opening the bottle of PVC glue! It was SO SIMPLE to assemble! Everything you need is included in the box.

Once I got the fountain hung up out by my coop, I attached the rubber bands to the nipples to create a drip. This is only used until the chickens realize that there is water there for them, it helps them to learn. Once they have gotten it, you take off the rubber bands and the drip stops. I love that I am not wasting any water with the Chicken Fountain.  I have seen many concerns from others about their chickens learning how to use the fountain. I will be the first to tell you, I don’t have the smartest flock.  I have a Rooster that is a wimp, a hen that is the Alpha in the flock and 2 birds that just don’t  “get it” when it comes to laying eggs IN the box. My chickens learned the Chicken Fountain in less than 4 hours. It only takes ONE to learn it and once the others see one doing it , they have to be nosy. Also, when you place the Chicken Fountain out there, you remove all other source(s) of water and the fountain will be the only option for them.  

I saved my favorite part of The Chicken Fountain for last. Before I had the Chicken Fountain, every 3-4 days I had to go out to the coop, empty the water bucket and clean it. Which meant me touching this slimy gross build up.  Never again will I ever go back to that. The standard Chicken Fountain holds 1.5 gallons of water and fully refreshed the supply within two days and the slime NEVER forms!  It is made from heavy duty PVC pipe and you can add anything you want to, like apple cider vinegar, directly to the unit.

The Chicken Fountain comes in 3 sizes for different sized flocks. There is the MINI for 2 to 6 bids, The STANDARD that is made for flocks of 4-16 birds, and the MEGA which can handle 40+ birds.  Have you ever had a problem with your current water freezing in the winter? Not with the Chicken Fountain. They also make a drop in heater that will keep water flowing to your birds in the coldest of temps! I will be raving about the fountain forever! Check out his site and how to order your Chicken Fountain at www.ChickenFountain.com

Or….

You could also try to win one!!  The contest is HERE

Frank is a great guy and will answer any questions you have. You can contact him many ways, through his website, Facebook page or email him directly at info@chickenfountain.com.

Talking With ~ The Chicken And The Dog

I had a chance to speak with Amanda Maxwell, Author of The Chicken and The Dog! I wanted to tell you all about her and her book that is one of the cutest books I have ever seen. Its based on a true story too!



Amanda grew up in Connecticut and didn't have chickens but she describes her hometown as "Cow Town" so there were a lot of farms around. She ended up going to college in Arizona, where she met her husband. They both decided that the hot and dry weather wasn't for them. I totally get that. I live where its hot and humid! So, Amanda and her husband moved to a little waterfront cottage in Washington. They enjoyed that house with their dog Sean Connery. Sean is a black lab and as I understand it, he is such a great dog! When Amanda and her husband had to move to Olympia, Washington for work they went house hunting. Here begins the story of the Chicken and the Dog!


Sean the Dog and a Chicken

While looking in Olympia for a house, they found the perfect one. The only catch was that the sign in front of the house said "Backyard Chickens" The house that they found, came with two chickens that resided in the greenhouse! Everyone they knew were warning them about Sean and the chickens. Saying to be careful that their dog didnt hurt the chickens. Once they moved in and got accustomed to having chickens and learning about them, they realized that Crimson and Clover were using the window box right outside their back door to lay their eggs! How neat is that? Amanda could open up her back door and reach into the box!

Sean and Crimson and Clover all freaked out about each other for about a week when they moved in. After about a week, the Chickens and the Dog were the best of friends! They lived as a happy family for a few years and the chickens lived in their greenhouse. Amanda and her husband decided they would build the chickens a coop. Once the little coop was built, they heard a noise one night. It was 3am. They went back to sleep.The very next night Amanda thought she heard a chicken out of the coop. She didnt think anything of it until about 5 minutes later when she heard a huge crash! She ran into her bedroom to look out the window to the chicken coop and a
raccoon was staring back at her. They were devastated. Clover had been able to get away, but Crimson, poor thing, all that was left was feathers.



The next day as they headed to work they were both just really bummed out. The chickens that had become part of their family had been attacked and they lost one. Amanda's husband texted her that day and said " I want to write a children's book about the chickens" That was the beginning of The Chicken and The Dog. The thing they had to figure out was how were they gonna make it child friendly when one of the chickens had died. I cant give it away, you will have to read the book to find out!!

They initially contacted Jill Carter to do artwork for the book because Amanda's husband had worked with her and knew she was a wonderful artist. She agreed to the the artwork. In my opinion, I am really glad that Jill agreed to draw the characters because they are perfect!

Amanda and her husband originally had made the book for Christmas presents for friends and family but the story needed to be shared. Its a wonderful story and I now read it to my son, Ian, who is 4 yrs old, every night before bed. He asks me every night if we can read the story with the red chickens.


Andre, Amanda and their son.

Amanda loves getting together with other chicken people and talking. Whether it be on the phone, in email, or in person. Who wouldn't like talking to chicken people! We are awesome! She and her husband replaced Crimson and also have added
another chicken to their flock. She is a silver laced Wyandotte and they named her Ms. Money-penny. Amanda is working on a second book too! I personally cant wait to get a copy of it. I expect that this book will go places.

Contact The Chicken and The Dog
The Chicken and The Dog On Facebook

Buy The Book:
TheChickenandTheDog.com

Gearing Up For Fall With Simmer Pots!

Simmer pots are the best thing to use during the fall and winter!  I use them every year and everyone loves them. I wanted to share my recipes with you so you can have your house smell yummy too!!

 

Orange  Cinnamon (My Favorite One)

What you need:

A pot

Orange peels

Cinnamon , I use powdered but you can use sticks

Cloves (or ground cloves)

Nutmeg

Vanilla extract

1 bay leaf

Peel your oranges into pieces. Place your oranges in your pot.

The thing with the spices, I never measure because I don’t need to. A dash of cloves, a few dashes of cinnamon, just add a little of each. I always add a bit more cinnamon because I LOVE cinnamon.

Cover with water and place on LOW on the stove. Make sure to keep an eye on it every now and then to make sure it always has water! I have ruined a pan because I didn’t keep water in it.

The great thing about simmer pots is that you can use the same one for about a week, if you find you aren’t smelling as much cinnamon, add a dash more the next day. After a week of simmering it everyday, I pour it out and start new with all new ingredients. That is it. They are cheap and easy to make and your house will smell great! Right now my house still smells bad because of the rotten egg I broke, but the first thing I did was go over and turn up the simmer pot!

 

Here are a few other combinations that you can try. I have used all of them and they all smell wonderful!! These recipes are ones my mom taught me to make and never really had a name. I decided to give them a name.

Apple Cinnamon:

Apple Juice (or you can also use apple peel or apple slices)

Cloves

Cinnamon

Citrus Cinnamon:

The peel from one orange

The peel from one lemon

1 bay leaf

Cinnamon

Cloves

Lavender Spice

Dried Lavender

1 lemon peel

Nutmeg

Cloves

1 cinnamon stick

This last one isn’t a simmer  pot but still smells WONDEFUL.

Put 2 tbs of vanilla extract in a coffee mug, place in the oven at 300 degrees for ONE hour. You house will smell like you are baking something! Without the work of actually baking!! Win/Win right?

Play around with scents that you like, if there is something in one of my recipes you don’t care for, then don’t add it! Simmer pots are also great for expired things. You can use juices that are a day or two past their date, and spices that have set on your shelf for a few years! Don’t throw them out! Put them in the simmer pot!

If you have any other recipes I would love to hear about them! Comment below so I can try them too!

**Another great idea is to use the recipes in a crock pot! You can let it go all night and it will add moisture to the air! Thank you Deleith Campos for sharing that tip!

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On another note, I wanted to make everyone aware that we are holding a HUGE contest in a few days! There is still time to submit your item for the contest! If you would like to be included , please email me : jessica@talkingchickenscratch.com

Raising Mealworms for Your Chickens

When I first told my husband I wanted to raise bugs in my kitchen so that my chickens had treats, he thought I was nuts. By this time I had jumped in head first into the world of chickens. I had a chicken purse, a tshirt and I was growing stuff for my chickens to eat. Which was very weird because I had all but given up on growing anything because everytime I tried to grow something, I killed it. But for my chickens, I tried again and got a whole garden of things grown just for them. So as you can imagine, I told my husband i needed some things to start growing worms and he of course was blown away. Once I got my "worm farm" started though, he didn't think I was so crazy.

First I want to say this. I have done A LOT of research and reading. I am going to share with you what works for me. It is not the only way to do this. There are many other ways. This way is just the best way that I have found to do this.

Ok, so starting your worm farm is so easy to do. Its also pretty cheap. The things you need to set up:

- a 28 quart clear tote

-a 56 quart clear tote

(note that the smaller one needs to nest inside the bigger one, see photo)

-an exacto knife

-a hot glue gun

- a piece off window screen big enough to cover the bottom of one tote

- a screw gun and a drill bit

First, take the smaller of the two totes, turn it upside down and cut out the bottom, leaving about an inch lip to glue the window screen onto.  I found that the easiest way to cut it out is to not use much pressure and go over and over it with the knife. It will get weaker and pop right out. 

Once you have the hole cut, get your glue gun ready and glue the window screen to the bottom. Try making it as tight as you can so that the screen wont sag.  Let it dry at least an hour so that the hot glue isnt sticky.

Next, get one of the lids. You want to drill holes in it for air. I put about 15 holes in mine, you can gauge about how many you need. They dont need much air but you need some air to circulate in the boxes. I also hot glued a small piece of window screen on the inside of each hole to help prevent moths from entering the setup.

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Setting up your worms and what you need -

- a jar of plain oats (not the instant kind)

- layer pellets, yes the ones for chickens

- a basket strainer

- a potato, carrot or celery stick.

-  blender or food proccessor

Start with your layer pellets, you need to grind them up in your blender/food processor. I actually use a knockoff of the Magic Bullet, I bought it for $17 at walmart. Add the layer pellets in and grind them up. Get a big bowl and sift the ground layer pellets into the bowl to get any big pieces out. Make sure the bowl you use can be put in the microwave.  Do this until you have a full bowl.

 This next part is VERY important. Are you listening? Place the bowl in the microwave and heat it up for 30-45 seconds. This will kill anything that may be living in the feed. I didnt do this the first time I set up my mealworm farm and I ended up with grain mites. They bite and they are very tiny! So make sure you do this!!!

Keep grinding them up until you have about 2.5 inches in the bottom of the big tote, the one you didnt cut. Once you have them ground, heated and put in your tote, add 2 cups of the oats to the tote and mix well. Now you are done with the bottom set up!! Congrats!! Set the smaller tote inside the bigger tote. Now you have created a sort of sifting system.  In the top tote, add 2 cups of oatmeal.

Now, for the fun part. Worms!!! There are many places you can get your initial worms from. I will put some links at the end of this post for you to check out.  I started my farm with 500 worms. I bought mine from the pet store at $3.50 per 100 of them. I could have gotten them cheaper (and more of them) if I had ordered them online, but I have a problem with instant gratification. Make sure that you start with MEALWORMS. Don't get confused and buy superworms.  If I had to do it again, I would have gotten about 3,000 mealworms to get started.

Once you get your worms, place them in the bottom tote with the oatmeal and layer mash. You need to take your vegetable and cut it up into 2-3 pieces. Place it in the tote with the worms. Humidity is important and the veggie helps with that. The worms will eat the veggie along with the bedding they are in. Don't let the veggie ever get moldy, so replace it every couple of days.

 

Keeping your worms-

The first part of your mealworm farm is the most time you will spend with your farm the whole time you have it. The life cycle of the mealworm is very simple:

 

Your worms will turn into these little alien things. They are called pupa. They dont move much and they dont eat. I went a little crazy with checking on my worms. I would do it multiple times a day because I was so excited to see the change happen. So when you go through your bottom tote ( you can do it every other day ) You put the pupa that you find into the top tote. They will turn into beetles. Each femal beetle can lay up to 500 eggs in her short lifetime. That is A LOT of worms. Its hard to wait on the worms to turn and the pupa to turn and its a HUGE deal when you get your first beetle. Make sure that the top tote has a veggie in it for the beetles.

The mealworm beetles are actually called darkling beetles. And they are named well. The beetles love dark. They love having places to hide, so make sure that you have some toilet paper rolls or some cut egg cartons. Give them places to get under.

 

Im sure that you are wondering why you have a top tote that has window screen on it. When the beetles lay their eggs, sometimes they can be a little bit canabalistic. The window screen allows the eggs to fall through to the bottom to join the worms. Therefore, beetles cant eat them.

That is about all you need to know about a mealworm farm! Its one big cycle. The worms turn to pupa, then to beetles, they lay eggs that fall to the bottom and turn into worms. Simple!

Things to do with your farm......

Name each worm. My kids did, well they tried.

Feed them to your chickens, they will follow you everywhere for a worm. Its quite funny actually.

Freeze them! Click here to get instructions on how to freeze them for your chickens.

Thats all I can think of really. There isnt much you can do with worms, hahaha! They will save you a bunch of money and give you some really cool entertainment watching the life cycle. I hope everyone  sends me pictures when they start their own! I want you to show off your worms!

Resources to buy worms online -

Uncle Jim's Worm Farm

Fluker Farms

Worm Man's Worm Farm

Spotlight on Poultry ~ Silkies

Silkies, We have all seen them and many of us have them. They are a breed all their own. I remember thinking when first saw a silkie, "that looks like an abominable snow-chicken!" Which is exactly what they look like! They are covered in feathers from the top of their head, to their feet! So if you own them now or might be interested in one day getting them, here is some cool info about the breed!


A Splash Silkie owned by

Tamara Paradis-Bittner


Silkies come from Asia. They are an ancient breed because they are mentioned by Marco Polo during his travels to china in the 13th century. He wrote about a fur covered fowl with black skin. Silkies have a blue slate colored skin under all that fur. That is one old chicken! Once a trade route was established and they were brought to Europe, Silkies showed up in the Netherlands and were sold as "a cross between a rabbit and a chicken"

Deana Rogers's day old silkie chicks

The silkie has many characteristics. Most of them are easy to spot. Having fur completely covering them is one but another is that they have 5 toes! If a silkie doesn't have 5 toes, they consider it a genetic condition called polydactylism. Silkies have what is called a Walnut comb. The comb is normally a black or mulberry color. As I mentioned above, they also have black skin and also they have black bones. Centuries ago in China the bones of a silkie chicken were thought to have healing powers and they would be ground up and eaten. I myself, am not going to eat ground chicken bones, but hey whatever floats your boat.

Samantha Avery's White Silkie Rooster & Splash Hen

There are many types of silkies that are recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) and the American Bantam Association (ABA). Yes, they do come in a bantam size too! The colors that are recognized are White, Partridge, Gray, Splash, Black, Blue and Buff. Silkies are also available in bearded or non bearded.

Silkies are great mothers. They can become broody whether they have eggs to sit on or not. They were used in china to raise chicks because they are so great at it. Also, because of their feathering, they do very well in colder temperatures. They are fair egg layers giving between about 100 eggs a year. They lay cream colored eggs.  As far as their meat goes, most people in America don't care to eat silkies. They are great pets and very friendly, but in China they consider it a delicacy. Silkie meat was actually featured on the 3rd season of Top Chef. It was also on the show "Chopped" twice.  Famous chicken.


A white silkie sitting on her baby owned by Deana Rogers

Great Pyrenees ~ She needs a name!!

Our family just adopted a Great Pyrenees puppy to watch over our chickens and what ever else we may get. We wanted a dog that would be great with kids and keep our property safe. I did tons of reading on what breed would be best. Great Pyrenees kept popping up. We found some puppies in the area and we just brought our new little pup home tonight. I thought I would ask all of you for help in naming her! She is so sweet. We played in the backyard until it was dark.

We gave her a bath, at that point she fell asleep in my arms while i was drying her off.

And now, she sits on the couch with the kids watching a movie.

As you can tell, she is fitting right into our house. So she needs to be called more than just "puppy"

Can you put some ideas in the comments? Thank you!

She is already doing great with the flock!! :) Hope everyone had a great weekend like I did!

Spotlight on Poultry : Wyandottes

As a new addition to the Talking Chicken Scratch blog, to inform everyone about each breed of chicken. I am starting with Wyandottes because I love my wyandottes. We have 6 wyandottes. One white wyandotte rooster, a splash hen, a columbian hen, and 3 silver laced wyandottes. Their names are Nugget, Sesame, Omega, Turtle, Rainbow, and Buffalo. I sure hope that you will enjoy this spotlight each week as much as I will enjoy writing it. 

A silver laced wyandotte hen, Courtesy of Tamara Paradis-Bittner

The wyandotte breed of chicken originated in the United States somewhere in the 1870's. The silver laced wyandotte was the first of the variety to come about. It showed up in New York state.  Before it was called a Silver laced Wyandotte, it was called an American Sebright and/or a Sebright Cochin. It wasnt until later on that it was named a silver laced wyandotte. The breed was named after the Wyandotte American Indian tribe of the Iroquois Indians. 

Silver Laced Wyandotte hen and White Wyandotte Rooster

Wyandottes are a wonderful dual breed chicken that are great egg layers and great moms. They lay brown eggs and will lay around 200 eggs per year.  They are known to occasionally become broody.

There are 8 colors of wyandottes that are recognized by the APA (American Poultry Association) which are golden laced, silver laced, white, black, buff, columbian, partridge, and silver penciled. However, there are more colors too! Blue laced red and buff laced. There is a total of 17 wyandotte colors. 

A Silver Laced chick

There are also bantam wyandottes. Bantams are smaller birds. There are different colors associated with bantam as well. Buff columbian, black breasted red, blue red, lemon blue, barred, brown red, and birchen.

With personal experience, Wyandottes have been a grreat breed to have with kids and as a starter breed. They are easy to take care of too.  I wouldnt trade my wyandottes for anything. 

My kids, when we first got our chicks

Every afternoon, I go outside with raisins or bread, and they all come running up to me. Its one of the best parts of my day.They have made my family stronger. We all work together with the chickens and they have taught my teenagers how to be more responsible. 

Basics of Canning with Kelly Nale

I had a chance the other day to speak with a Chicken Scratch member, Kelly Nale, about canning and what I need to know to get started. She shared with me her knowledge. She has been canning for 30+ years.

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Kelly Nale was raised in California and married her husband in 1979. That year they moved to Indiana where they still live. Since then they have had three wonderful children. Samantha, Charles Jr. , and Heather. They are now all grown up. Kelly also has a few grand kids that she thinks the world of. I asked her why she got into canning. " I started gardening and canning as soon as we moved to Indiana. It was June and all of my husband's family was working in the gardens and canning so I had to jump in there and learn how to do it too! His mother showed me how to can things and his father showed me how to grow it all. It has been our way of live here for our whole marriage and I love it. I love planting something and watching it grow and I love to can it, freeze it, and dry it. We grow 95% of all our food. I love knowing what my family is eating and looking at all the jars of food and a freezer full. It is very comforting to me." 

Kelly, like a lot of Americans are beginning to do in today's economy, has figured out how to provide for her family. They skip most all processed foods and eat what comes from their land. They know that there is no chemicals going on the food that they eat. I myself am very proud of her. 

Orange Marmalade and Candied Apple Jelly

 

So, You want to start canning? Here is the info from Kelly on how to do that.

What Every Beginner Needs To Read

Kelly gave some links to things that you will need. 

Tools that you need

Pot for Canning

Pressure Cooker/Canner

Of course you dont have to buy from those links, you can find them at your nearest Walmart. Just make sure that you get something that is good quality so you can use it for years to come. 

Canning done by Kelly Nale. That is a lot of jars!

Before we get on to the recipes that Kelly uses, it is very important that you read and memorize the next information. It is how to prevent getting food poisoning. It helps to identify what you need to know about your canning process to make sure that you kill the bacteria that can make you sick. 

Canning Saftey - Prevent Food Poisoning

21 quarts of Green Beans

Now we get on to the fun stuff! Recipes!

Kelly has so many photos of things that she has canned I cant possibly share them all with you at once. You would be reading for weeks! So, we thought we would share the simple ones first. Applesauce, Pickles, Green Beans and Grape Jelly. I would say pickles have to be my favorite. I love them so much that I had a cat named Pickles when I was young.

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Applesauce

Applesauce is very easy. You can add cinnamon or other flavoring to create variations on just plain applesauce.

• Use sweet apples. Such as Fuji, Gala, Red Delicious, and Rome. Using sweet apples will make your applesauce sweet enough that you wont have to use sugar. 
• Wash and Peel your apples. Slice them up and cut out all of the cores. 
• Cook the apples. You can cook them in a few inches of water or you can use apple juice. Cook them until they are soft. Apples are 99% water so you dont need much liquid. 
• For thicker applesauce, ladle off the excess liquid once the apples are done cooking. Save that liquid! Is apple juice, home made and it tastes great!
• Now, make the applesauce by mushing or blending. You can use a masher, a food processor, a blender. Anything that will make a sauce consistency. 

Canning the Applesauce

• Put the applesauce in a big pot, heat it up and add your cinnamon (optional) You do not need to cook it any further, you just need to get it hot.
•  Wash your canning jars. You can put them in the dishwasher or soak them in boiling water for 10 minutes to sanitize. To wash the lids, do them the same way! Only boil them for 5 minutes though. 
• Fill the jars. You want them to be filled to within 1/4 inch of the top of the jar. Wipe any that may have spilled on the top of the jar. 
• Place the lid on and screw on the ring. Tight.
• Place the jars in your canning pot, boiling. Make sure the jars are covered with about 1 inch of water above the lid. 
• Boil the jars for at least 20 minutes. Keep the water level above the jars. Dont boil them any longer than 30 minutes. 
• Remove them from the boiling water and put them in a draft free place to cool. Loosen or remove the ring while they cool. It will keep the lids from rusting. 
• Let them cool overnight.
• Once they are cool, check to make sure you have a good seal. If they are sealed correctly, the lid will not pop up and down when its pressed on. Replace the ring.

Thats it! And you have just canned applesauce! 

If you would like to see the website that Kelly uses for this recipe , Click here

Kelly's Apple Canning

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Other simple recipes:

Grape Jelly

Pickles

Green Beans

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Kelly recommends that you also check out the Ball Canning & Recipes for more tips and tricks. Lots of great recipes can be found there as well.

I hope to find that many of you will try canning! If you have any questions you can leave a reply here or Email Me and I will do my best to get you an answer! Now go get some fresh cucumbers or green beans and get started!

Dont forget to thank Kelly Nale for all her help with this! Thanks Kelly!
You can also contact Kelly directly on her FB page! The Empty Nest Farm