I LOVE Winter Squash!

Of all the things I grow in my garden, I think I love winter squash the best. It is one crop that I get to eat for several months exactly as it comes from the garden, simply because it stores well. All the other vegetables from the garden must have some kind of processing in order to eat them later...  freezing, canning, dehydrating, fermenting or pickling, all of which require various amounts of my time, labor and often some expensive energy consumption.

With winter squash, all I have do is pick them, cure/harden them on the shady porch with good air circulation for about 3 weeks, and store in the root cellar. Easy-peasy.

Even growing them is easy: stick the plants in the ground in June, and start looking for squash in August. I do water occasionally if it's a very dry season, but other than that, I do absolutely nothing after planting except to hunt for squash under the umbrella leaves later in the summer. Usually I can harvest them from mid-August right up until just before the first frost.

Generally, I grow C. maxima and/or C. moschato, and have not had a problem with squash borers the way summer squash (C. pepo) do. This year I grew some acorn squash, C. pepo, and had some squash borer problems with them... but I did get a few fruit anyway. (Their stem is hollow, allowing the borer to lay eggs in the stem, killing the plant.)

Squashes can belong to 4 branches of the Cucurbitaceae family:

C. maxima (Hubbard, Banana, Buttercup, Turban or Turk’s Cap)

C. pepo (summer squashes like zucchini and yellow crookneck, plus Pumpkin, Spaghetti and Acorn)

C. mixta (Green stripe, cushaw)

C. moschato (Butternut)

Within a branch they cross-pollinate freely, plus Pepo crosses with Mixta and Moschato, and Moshatao crosses with Maxima.

Every year it's a quandary for me as to which winter squash to grow... there are so many and I always want to try them all! I like the vining types best, maybe because I love to see the vines march across the yard, escaping the prepared bed area. I prefer to grow heirloom and open-pollinated squash and I'm always looking for new-to-me heirloom squash to try. It helps promote genetic diversity, and allows me to save seed as well.

Generally, winter squash fall into the following types (and with several varieties within each type): Acorn, Butternut, Buttercup, Hubbard, Turk's Cap or Turban, Vegetable Spaghetti, Sweet Potato Squash, and Pumpkins (which includes a couple of hull-less seed varieties).

Here are a few I have grown with notes on them, although some of the photos are not mine. 

Cushaw

Half a cushaw, plenty of seeds to save or roast

Canned Cushaw

Cushaw was one of the first large winter squash I grew, and I no longer grow it merely because it is HUGE (10-12 pounds)! There is no way I can eat more than one cushaw, so if I want one, I get it at the farmer's market. Although the flesh was fine-grained and not stringy, I thought it was a tad watery.

I did pressure-can some cushaw in chunks for pumpkin pies; the majority of the canned "pumpkin" in grocery stores is a mix of winter squash and mostly cushaw, but seldom pumpkin because pumpkins are so stringy. It is not advisable to can pumpkin/squash as a purée ready for pies due to the density; heat may not penetrate into the interior of the jars enough to guarantee safe processing.

Tromboncino

Tromboncino squash are edible but mostly a novelty. The ones I grew (by accident) came in a seed trade that were supposed to be something else. They can grow 3-feet long, and turn tan when cured. The seeds are only in the bulbous end. I gave one to a friend, who peeled and sliced a portion of the neck... breaded them and fried. He said they tasted like fried green tomatoes! Fine-grained, rather bland.

Hubbard Squash, photo courtesy of Hellsgeriatric 's photostream

The Hubbard squash has been around in the US since the 1700's, mainly in New England. I haven't grown the Hubbard above (which looks like a Red Kuri), or even the Blue Hubbard below simply because they are too large for one person; most Hubbards range from 12-15 pounds. There is a Baby Blue Hubbard that is to 5-7 pounds that I have grown. All Hubbards are very tasty, fine-grained flesh. Store well.

Blue Hubbard Squash photo courtesy of Linda N's photostream

Banana Squash, Photo courtesy of Jcarbaugh's photostream

I have not grown the Banana squash, popular in American pioneer gardens during the 19th century. Long, prolific vines produce squash 2-3’ long and weigh 10-40 pounds. Banana-shaped fruits turn pinkish-orange when mature, with firm, sweet, yellow-orange flesh. Excellent for pies, baking, and canning. 100-120 days.

Kakai squash photo courtesy WxMom's photostream

The Kakai squash sold by Johnny's is said to be hull-less so the seeds don't have to be hulled to roast. Seed Savers Exchange lists it as Lady Godiva: "This variety is specifically grown for its naked, hulless, greenish seeds. Very unique. Seeds are nutritious and rich in protein, great roasted or raw. Flesh is not suitable for eating, but they do make nice Jack-O'-Lanterns. Up to 3 ounces of seeds per fruit and 12-15 fruits per plant. 90-100 days."

I don't know this squash either (or where I got the photo long ago), but I'm going to order seeds this year. The size is right for me, and the description of a chestnut-like taste in intriguing! Seed Savers Exchange says: "Famous winter squash from France. Name derived from potiron (pumpkin) and marron (chestnut). Very aromatic and chestnut-like in taste. One of the very best for baking and roasting. Nice-sized 3-4 pound fruits store well. 85-95 days."

Another winter squash I plan to grow next year is the Red Kuri, also known as Baby Red Hubbard and orange Hokkaido. (Follow link for photo.) It's a teardrop shaped red-orange squash from Japan, grows well even in a short season, weighs in at 3-4 pounds and stores well.

Butternut photo courtesy of Kaustav Bhattacharva's photostream

My favorite winter squash, at least so far, is the Waltham Butternut. "Prized for its uniform shape, rich dry yellow-orange flesh, nutty flavor and high-yielding vines. Fruits are 3-6 pounds and exceptional keepers. The result of years of patient refinement and selection by Bob Young of Waltham, Massachusetts. One of the most recognized types of baking squash. AAS winner in 1970. 83-100 days." I grow this squash every year, and have photos of my winter squash in a post yesterday titled "Garden Bounty".

Below is a favorite recipe for butternut squash, although I generally just bake them with a bit of butter like the photo above when there's just me and little time to cook.

Butternut Squash Chowder
Serves 6

1/2 pound smoked bacon, diced small (I have used less if the bacon is really smoky)
1/2 cup onion, diced small
2 tablespoons garlic peeled and minced
1/2 cup celery, diced small
1 cup carrots, peeled and diced medium
1/2 cup flour
1 bay leaf
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced medium
1 cup sweet potatoes peeled and diced medium
3 cups chicken stock (I use home-canned chicken stock)
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced small
1-2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pot with 1 tablespoon of oil, render the bacon on low heat until crispy.

Add carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and bay leaf; sweat for 5-10 minutes. Do not brown vegetables.

Season with salt and pepper. Add flour to make the roux, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and add squash, sweet potatoes, red bell peppers and thyme. Simmer for 20 minutes or until squash and sweet potatoes are tender. Use a stick blender and mash about half the vegetables for a creamier soup, optional.

Add heavy cream and simmer for another 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Variations: You could add corn, shellfish, tomatoes or any other vegetable you like. (I wouldn’t… it’s fabulous as it is!) 

Why Do We Need Enzymes?

I have written several posts mentioning enzymes in foods, particularly fermented foods. Somehow though, I don't think I have talked about why we need enzymes, and what they actually do.

First off, there are 3 basic classes of enzymes: metabolic enzymes, digestive enzymes and food enzymes. They are basically complex proteins that catalyze almost of our body's biochemical processes, and thousands of them have been identified. No mineral, vitamin or hormone can do any work without enzymes.

The metabolic enzymes affect body functions like breathing, moving, thinking, and affect the immune system.

The digestive enzymes are generally manufactured in the pancreas, and break down the partially digested foods leaving the stomach going into the small intestine.

Food enzymes are contained in raw foods, and initiate our digestive system's actions beginning immediately upon contact with saliva in our mouths and continuing through the stomach. Here's the thing to know and remember: enzymes are deactivated by heat in cooking. (All enzymes are deactivated at a wet-heat temperature of 118F, and a dry-heat temperature of about 150ºF. ~ Nourishing Traditions.)

No, I am not going to promote a raw food diet... so don't even go there! It is true most of us don't get enough raw foods in our diets; even milk is no longer available as a raw food but only heat-pasteurized in most states, . So-called "fresh" fruit juices available for purchase in the cold dairy section of a store, or even canned juice concentrates, have all been heat-pasteurized, destroying enzymes.

However, if all we ever eat is cooked foods, it puts a considerable strain on the pancreas (and other digestive organs) to make the enzymes that should have been in our raw foods.

Most of us get some raw foods and thus some food enzymes... we eat a few salads, some fresh fruit, maybe an occasional bit of fresh raw (untoasted) nuts, and raw seeds like sunflower seeds; some of us still eat medium-rare steaks or steak tartare. That is, assuming we trust the safety of the meat. Remember when you could order a rare/medium-rare hamburger? That was before the gubbmint decided safety of meat had to be insured by the restaurant folks cooking it, and not 'just' the responsibility of the folks raising, processing and packaging it. The Consumer has no choice of 'rare' anymore unless we buy grass-fed... or take a big health risk by cooking CAFO meats rare or medium-rare at home.

However, there are many other foods we can eat that are not really 'raw' but still contain food enzymes, thus giving the pancreas and other digestive organs a break. Fermented dairy is one category and includes foods like butter, yogurt and cheese if made from raw milk. (Even the fats in raw milk contain enzymes.) Raw milk cheeses are legal in the US if they are aged, usually 60 days or more although it may vary by state. The advantage of raw milk cheese, butter and yogurt is that the milk was never subject to heat pasteurization, which kills the enzymes along with any "potentially harmful bacteria from unsanitary conditions". Cultured butter, cultured buttermilk, and yogurts in stores are all made from pasteurized (heated) milk.

Another category is lacto-fermented vegetables. These vegetables contain all the enzymes (and nutrients) of the foods in their raw state, and in fact, increases the enzyme and nutrient content by the fermentation process. Those of us who are older may remember when our grandmothers made sauerkraut and pickles in crocks, rather than the enzyme/nutrient-killing vinegar-heat-canning processes common today. (Today's processed kraut and pickles may be safe, but they are nutritionally lacking.) However, we may not remember that many folks also fermented almost any and every vegetable, not just cucumbers and cabbage. The only fermented vegetable that requires a bit of heat processing is a quick blanching necessary for green beans, but since the beans are not fully cooked, some enzymes remain.

So even if we are not considering a raw food diet, food enzymes are necessary to digestive health which in turn provides all our health, and we should get more raw foods any way we can.

The late Dr. Edward Powell, a noted pioneer in enzyme research, said that our enzyme-poor diets result in illness, less resistance to stress, and shortened life-spans. (1)

Dr. Howell formulated the following Enzyme Nutrition Axiom: The length of life is inversely proportional to the rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential of an organism. The increased use of food enzymes promotes a decreased rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential. Another rule from Dr. Powell can be expressed as follows: Whole foods give good health; enzyme-rich foods provide limitless energy. (2)

The Amazing World of Whipped Cream

Whipping cream is an almost dead gustatory art, gone the ways of Beef Wellington, puff pastry, and home-made demi-glace. Probably has to do with the availability of imposters, and a generation who have never savored real whipped cream.

Since my dietary changes a few months ago, the only dairy I can have is either real butter or cheese, and fermented products like yogurt... with one exception: I can have heavy cream in my coffee (as long as it is not ultra-pasteurized) and it is extremely difficult to find.

One of my small treats that's becoming a rite, is whipping some of that heavy cream for my coffee on Sunday mornings. I fondly remember reading in The Little Prince many years ago about the fox, and rites: "Rites are actions too often neglected. They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours."

I have always loved whipped cream. As a youngster in high school (and the oldest grandchild), I was permitted to whip the cream for our extended family's Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. My grandfather still had my grandma's old tall and somewhat narrow thick glass container, barely wider than the old hand beater we used. The jar (and the beaters) went into the freezer for several hours before whipping the cream; it is essential for success that everything be well-chilled. One small half pint of real cream when whipped would fill the jar, and be just enough for everyone to have a dollop on top of their slice of pie.

Cream with a milkfat content of 30% or more (light cream is 30%-35%; heavy cream is 36% or more) will double in volume as air bubbles are captured into the network of fat droplets by whipping. You just have to be careful not to over-whip the cream or you will have butter for your pie! It was my job to also add the correct amount of powdered sugar as I was whipping. Just enough sugar will stiffen the mixture, and help reduce the risk of over-whipping as long as you are careful. Too much and the whipped cream will weep. I use just over a measured tablespoon, and taste... it sometimes needed a bit more, depending on the sweetness straight from the cow.

Did you know whipped cream with sugar added is known as Chantilly Cream, or Crème Chantilly across the pond, and sometimes also has a bit of vanilla added? I didn't, but I may try a bit of vanilla whipped in my whipped cream since I cannot have sugar.

You can also make a chocolate whipped cream by adding a tablespoon of cocoa to the cream before whipping. That might be interesting in my Sunday coffee too!

The internet offers up ways to save left-over whipped cream, or keep cream you have whipped in advance and placed in the refrigerator from weeping. I cannot imagine either... we had the anticipation of the pie while the cream was being whipped at the table, and we never had any left over! However, if you must, you can add a half teaspoon of cornstarch to a cup of heavy cream before whipping. (Powdered sugar contains a bit of cornstarch; it may be enough.) Old cookbooks say you can keep left-over whipped cream up to 2 days by putting it in a small strainer over a bowl to catch the drippings, and cover well before placing in the refrigerator.

Whipped cream for a frosting is possible if you stabilize it with gelatin. For each cup of cream, you need 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin and 2 tablespoons cold water. Mix the gelatin and water in a small saucepan with a heavy bottom over low heat, and stir until melted. Cool, set aside, and start whipping the cream. When the cream barely starts to mound, slowly drizzle the gelatin mix into the cream with the beaters running. Beat until it is stiff enough to frost your cake or pipe through a pastry tube.

I always heard you cannot freeze whipped cream, but a couple of sites say you can as long as it is sweetened and flavored first. But why would you want to?

The imposters

Reddi-wip, from Con-Agra Foods, actually uses real cream in their ready-to-use pressurized containers (Original, Extra-Creamy, Light, Fat-Free, Non-Dairy, and Chocolate), and is propelled by nitrous oxide (and approved by the FDA), the same gas that is used as a weak anesthetic by dentists. I'm not sure how the Fat-Free and Non-Dairy versions can possibly be made from real cream, though.

Cool Whip is a brand of imitation whipped cream named a whipped topping my its manufacturer. Cool Whip Original is made of water, hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, skim milk, light cream, and less than 2% sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), natural and artificial flavor, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, and beta carotene (as a coloring). In some markets, such as Canada and the United States, Cool Whip is available in an aerosol can using nitrous oxide as a propellant. Cool Whip was formerly marketed as non-dairy, but in Jewish dietary traditions, Cool Whip was classified as dairy rather than parve (non-meat and non-dairy) because of the sodium caseinate (which is derived from milk). Some Cool Whip now also contains milk and cream.

According to a Wired Magazine article, Cool Whip consumers are paying 41 cents per ounce for mostly water and air: twice the cost of homemade whipped cream. “A delicious blend of sugar, wax, and condom lube.”

ALERT!!!

I just received this email from Sarah Alexander, Outreach Director, Food & Water Watch:

"I was outraged when I found out that Jack DeCoster's eggs, which are at the center of the largest egg recall in history, are ending up back in our food supply. Recalled eggs shouldn't get a second life in the food system as liquid or powdered eggs.

Jack DeCoster is the "habitual violater" who's at the center of the massive egg recall.  Unfortunately he's still making a profit from his bad eggs because they are now being made into liquid or powdered eggs, and being put back into food products like ice cream, pies and cake mixes.

Under current FDA rules this is totally legal, but we think that if eggs are bad enough to be recalled, they should be destroyed, not put back into our food."

I'm outraged too! Although I don't buy liquid eggs (like Eggbeaters) or products that contain liquid eggs like mayo (I make my own, fresh), I do occasionally buy ice cream which usually contains egg yolks. I don't buy products that may contain dried eggs only because I don't buy most products requiring any label at all. I also don't eat scrambled eggs from a restaurant food bar.

But YOU might... and should be outraged too.

The USDA has this to say:

Egg Products and Food Safety
Of the 76 billion eggs consumed in 2004, more than 30 percent were in the form of egg products (eggs removed from their shells). Liquid, frozen, and dried egg products are widely used by the foodservice industry and as ingredients in other foods, such as prepared mayonnaise and ice cream.

Strange Place to Grow Potatoes

Potatoes growing at the back of my root cellar, on a concrete floor

I store potatoes over winters in layers of straw on shelves in my root cellar building. The first spring thaw this year flooded the root cellar where a water pipe had frozen and burst during a really cold spell. Well, the concrete floor in the back had some loose straw that got saturated, but I didn't remember there were any potatoes stored there, so it stayed in the corner while I threw away all the soggy cardboard boxes and trash.

Early this summer I was inside that building looking for something, and noticed potato plants emerging from the straw. After that, I left the door open for whatever possible bit of light to penetrate as far as possible, and the plants continued to grow even though 7-8 feet from the open door! There is always some moisture along the floor, where hydrostatic pressure from the hillside has breached the buried rear block wall, so the potatoes were in somewhat damp straw.

Yesterday I was cleaning out there so I can store my winter veggies, and decided to turn the straw and see what, if anything, grew. Imagine my surprise to find several large potatoes and a bunch of nubbins. They will get 'cured' for a few days, and re-buried in clean straw on a shelf. Potatoes are not on my diet right now, but they will be good for seed 'taters next spring!

Posting Schedule

As I start working on getting my house and garden ready for winter, I realize I have bitten off more than I can chew... so something has to give. For now, it's my blog schedule... I will try posting every other day and see if that works better for me. 

I have to be out of town for 10 days starting Sept. 9, but I already have a few posts in the pipeline. Plus, I'll have my laptop with me and maybe some time for research...  I have so many things I want to write about, but many of them either need money for pieces-parts, or research... and I'm short on both counts right now.

Interesting Unemployment Graphic Visualisation

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 31 million people currently unemployed -- that's including those involuntarily working part-time and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one. In the face of the worst economic upheaval since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are hurting.

"The Decline: The Geography of a Recession," as created by labor writer LaToya Egwuekwe, serves as a vivid representation of just how much. Watch the deteriorating transformation of the U.S. economy from January 2007 -- approximately one year before the start of the recession -- to the most recent unemployment data available, updated 7/15/2010.





Scary, isn't it? 

Added: On Thursday, Aug. 15, unemployment figures released the news that the number of first time jobless claims rose to 500,000. That's equivalent to another whole, good-sized city's population now unemployed.

According to wikipedia, 500,000 is larger than any of these US cities:
Kansas City, MO

Fresno, CA

Sacramento, CA

Long Beach, CA

Mesa, AZ

Omaha, NE

Miami, FL

Cleveland, OH

The More I Change...

While I watched the boob-tube off and on last night, I was reflecting on the many changes in my life just in the last 15 months, as well as changes over most of my whole adult life. As is typical of me, I usually don't even realize I am 'processing' something until after the fact, and major changes over the years have seemed to almost miraculously appear. Some decisions of course have been deliberate, while others feel like I had no alternative...  just pulled along like a pig with a ring in my nose.

Right now I sense something is afoot... perhaps something is percolating along in my sub-conscious, or percolating in the Universe? I really don't know... I just have a suspicion my life is about to change again, and no clues whether for the better or worse, although hopefully better... even in this crappy situation our country and the world is in.

Over the years I have accumulated working knowledge in so many diverse fields. Serial (and successful, depending on your definition) careers have been all over the map: working in open heart surgery, architectural sales and marketing, raising show horses, passive solar design, real estate legal stuff, graphic design, home building, research and development... 

None of those fields were deliberately chosen; I just seemed to fall into one after another, without any 'connective tissue'. Some allowed me to participate in some pretty awesome things, for which I am grateful although it doesn't pay the bills now. As I grew older and the list lengthened, most folks except close friends seldom believed I did all those disconnected things. Sometimes I even wonder, except I have documentation... and scars.

I have always wondered if there was some reason I was being exposed to, and learning, so many different things, and if someday those skills would all focus for a purpose. I am no closer to an answer now than I was 30 years ago. Sigh.

Garden Bounty

Winter Squash 2010

I am getting a lot of Waltham Butternut Squash from the 6 plants I started from seed! In the garden next to them I also planted a few acorn squash... big mistake on my part because they can possibly cross-pollinate, which only affects seed saving, not this year's crop. However, I have only found a few Thelma Sander's Sweet Potato Squash under the umbrella leaves, and 50% of those were rotting. Plus, I only have found 3 of the dark green acorn squash. Drats.

I have NO clue where the the pale striped squash (above) that are shaped like a butternut came from (no previous squash planted in that area) but clearly they are not pure butternuts. I actually suspect bad seeds on all winter squash, and I am very unlikely to purchase seeds from that vendor again. I have written to them, and sent photos... just waiting to see what they have to say. Edited to add: they say they are butternuts, and will turn tan as they cure.

My red raspberries are still going great guns in spite of being weed-infested from neglect. I didn't pick any of the early ripening berries, knowing I wouldn't make jelly since I cannot have sugar (and still have lots on the shelf from last year). However, as the late berries are ripening I have picked at least 10 pounds, maybe 15, so far.

To give you an example of raspberry volume, a gallon zip-lock bag about 1/2 to 3/4 full of picked berries weighs around 3 pounds. I have several bags in the freezer now, and more berries yet to ripen, although fewer each day. (The berries in the bowl above weighed 2½ pounds.) These berries will be raspberry wine in about 3 months, and some of that wine will become real raspberry vinegar early next spring.

It looks like I may get some golden raspberries this year, too. That's a real surprise, considering a friend gave me just one small cane last summer... and it has spread to probably 20 or so canes already. I guess it likes that bed!

My tomatoes grew like weeds and produced lots of fruit... but all are inedible, thanks to a bad stink bug infestation. Yuck. I do have a few late-planted tomatoes in another section of the garden but they are just now flowering. I may get lucky and get a few tomatoes from them if we don't get an early frost, but surely I won't get enough to can. Only the Husky Red has given me some cherry tomatoes to eat. I can't complain, they are certainly tastier than the red tennis balls from the grocery store.

To my dismay... I was bad and didn't get any fall crops planted. Sigh. Some of the spring kale has reseeded (or regrown) in with the buckwheat I broadcast for a cover crop. 

The buckwheat has been growing great, but one long edge of that bed was under water for several hours when the creek flooded last week. I haven't checked it in a few days, but it probably all survived. We got 5" of rain in several hours, but uphill from here got even more... which all came down the creek. The lower garden (nothing planted in it) and spring house had at least 5 FEET of water in them above the creek bank. Fortunately the muddy and probably polluted creek waters didn't get to the edible garden area.

Kellog's Boycott and Food Labeling

No, not the boycott of Kellogg's cereal company for dropping their sponsorship of Olympian Michael Phelps after he was caught on film smoking from a bong... but instead, the boycott by the Organic Consumers Association to stop Kellogg's from using GMO (biotech) sugar.


If you joined the OCA boycott, you probably received this letter from Christina, their "Consumer Specialist":

Thank you for your comments regarding the use of biotechnology ingredients. Like you, we want only the best ingredients to go into our products.

Biotech ingredients are safe and have become common in the open market. Sixty to seventy percent of packaged foods in the U.S. include biotechnology crops. Even organic ingredients can contain biotech ingredients due to cross-pollination.

We use biotech ingredients based on the backing of groups including the World Health Organization, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the American Medical Association that confirm there are no safety concerns.

You have placed trust in us to provide healthy, nutritious, and safe food. We will continue to evaluate our ingredients, suppliers and product formulas to give you the best products possible. Please be assured your concerns will be shared with our nutritionist and food developers here at Kellogg.

Sincerely,

Christina Calleros
Consumer Specialist
Consumer Affairs, Kellogg's

I do agree with the statement: "...have become common in the open market. Sixty to seventy percent of packaged foods in the U.S. include biotechnology crops. Even organic ingredients can contain biotech ingredients due to cross-pollination."

However, the statement that GMO's can contaminate organic crops... is an admission growing biotech crops is not a controllable situation. And the fact that 60-70% of packaged foods in the US now contain GMO's is alarming, or worse, since NONE of them are labeled as such. (I have recently read the percentage of GMO's in foods is actually much higher.)

If I believe GMO's are harmful for my health (and I do)... how could I possibly avoid them if they are not labeled?? 


Lectins are naturally found in most foods, but how much lectin varies with different foods. The amounts of lectins present in many foods are not thought to be high, or as potentially toxic as lectins in just a few food groups. Common foods with known toxic lectins include all soy and wheat products including oils from these substances.  Lectins are often spliced into modified varieties (GMO's) in order to enhance “natural” pest and fungal resistance. Furthermore, lectins have been associated with leptin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition linked to obesity (and is very similar to insulin resistance). 

How would a pre-diabetic who is studiously avoiding grains and legumes know he was still getting lots of lectins in his other packaged foods via 'biotechnology' if they aren't labeled?

Pencil Carvings

My cousin sent me this link and I am suitably impressed! Much as I hate to send anyone away from my site, his art is worth it.

Pencil Carving Art by Dalton Getty

The Road to Real Fruit Vinegars

I've been fascinated by the few reports I have read about Real [Fruit] Vinegars ... those are NOT the fruit or herb flavored vinegars [other than Bragg's Raw Apple Cider Vinegar] we usually find in our stores in the US. Apparently there are a few stores who import these luscious vinegars from France, Italy and Spain where they are more commonly made, but the purchase cost is higher than a bottle of fine wine.

The process to make real vinegars from fruit is to first make fruit wine. Then you expose the wine to oxygen where the acetobacter convert the alcohol to acetic acid. Actually, the process to make any real vinegar is to first make the substance into a wine, then convert the alcohol in it to acetic acid. Quickly distilling GMO corn or corn by-products into vinegar may give you a good product to use as a household cleaning product, but there are far better options of vinegars for foods.

One important distinction besides the taste is the health benefits of the nutrients in the vinegars. When wines are bottled, sulphites are added to kill the bacteria and stop any residual fermentation, and act as a preservative. If you have bought Bragg's Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (or made your own vinegar) you will notice a "mother" in the vinegar. That's a product of the action of the acetic acid bacteria on the alcohol where no sulphites have been added to kill the good bacteria. It is harmless (but alive). Real apple cider vinegar retains all the nutritional goodness of the apples from which it was made,  plus it is fortified with the enzymes produced during the two fermentation steps. The same is true of any fruit fermented into real vinegar.

The photo above is blueberry wine on the left, and plum on the right. I made both of these from what winemakers call 'seconds'... that is, the second brewing of the same fruit pulp after the first batch has been drawn off. Not being a winemaker myself, it will be interesting to see if I have successfully made wine at all! Those bottles will be left to 'age' for several months, and then I will siphon the liquid into jars with a large mouth, and cover the mouth with cheesecloth to keep out dust and bugs but allow contact with oxygen to convert the alcohol.

In my freezer I have enough red raspberries to start fermenting a 3 gallon (or more) batch of wine from scratch, and I have higher hopes of success in making wine than with the jugs above. If I actually succeed in making a drinkable wine, most of it will be bottled for friends since I don't drink. The rest will get converted to vinegar.

I'm also hoping to find enough elderberries left this year to start a gallon of elderberry wine. I used all the elderberries I had picked to make an elderberry syrup for colds and flu before I thought to save some for wine.

I have an invitation to visit a cidery when apples ripen, and I'm hoping to buy some just-pressed juice to make some hard apple cider, which will ultimately become raw apple cider vinegar. I use a lot of Bragg's and it would be nice to make my own, but buying a cider press is out of the question financially.

One of the apples I hope to find for cider is an heirloom crab apple "Virginia Hewe's Crab" Thomas Jefferson grew in his North Orchard at Monticello for cider. Someone discovered one growing somewhere in Virginia several years ago and has been grafting lots of new crab apple trees from it. The old cider made in England and Colonial America was a mix of sweet and bitter apples; most of those heirloom apple varieties are long gone since cider fell out of favor as a beverage, and they did not make a good eating apple.

About the Egg Recall...

Everyone is aware of the 500 million+ egg recall because of a salmonella outbreak, and a some folks are aware of the despicable environments of the hens who lay those eggs. Fewer are aware of the lower nutritional value in those eggs.

However, many groups are really having a field day because of the recall. Animal Rights groups are pushing a vegan diet that excludes all animal products including eggs. Environmental Groups are pushing the hazards to our ecosystems from waste products. Some groups are pushing for 'Free-Range' to actually mean something more than a small door to a concrete lot. Organic Farmers and Environmentalists both are pushing for non-GMO beans and grains in feed. BigPharma is giddy at the financial prospect of the vaccines that may be required for every chicken.

It's a political and media football, and us folks in the grandstands get to watch... but generally don't get to win. Nor will the hens. BigAg will find a way of 'compliance' that still insures the biggest bottom line, just the way one of the big companies involved in the currant recall has either avoided making real changes as a result of their health citations, or given the citations lip service while really changing nothing but still making a big profit.

What I foresee happening is that before long you will not be able to buy local farm-raised eggs at the farmer's markets, nor from your neighbor, except under cover. Already some civic groups are prevented from having fund-raising pot-luck suppers (which often include deviled eggs) open to the public unless all food is prepared under USDA facilities and rules. 

Have you ever heard of an outbreak of salmonella poisoning from a neighbor's eggs or eggs bought at a farmer's market?

Time to get my ducks... er, chickens, in a row... in my back yard.

Secrets to Tomato Sauce(s)

Photo courtesy KReese

Like many folks, I grow and can tomatoes in many forms. I make some into salsas, some into flavored sauces for spaghetti, pizza, etc... and some for all kinds of tomato relish, even green tomato 'mincemeat'.

Over time, I have found roasted tomatoes make the best sauces, whether fire-roasted, or oven-roasted; fire-roasted is best but not most convenient. I started oven-roasting tomatoes several years ago with a recipe posted in the Recipe Forum over on Dave's Garden. The first time I made after moving here, a neighbor's son stopped by... and insisted on a taste. He said it was the best-smelling, best-tasting tomato sauce he ever had... and now his mother makes it this way too.

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

4 pounds (+/-) tomatoes, stem and quarter

1 large onion, red or yellow, coarsely chopped (or 2-3 small)

2 Jalapeño peppers, seeded (leave seeds in one for extra heat)

16 cloves garlic

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dry oregano (or a bunch fresh oregano and basil)

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Use a 9 x 13 baking pan. Oil the bottom and sides of the pan, add other ingredients and drizzle remaining oil on top. Roast for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until juices are getting thick and tomatoes are just beginning to char. Let cool, and run through a food mill to remove seeds and skins. Season with salt and pepper. Freeze in portions, or process in a pressure canner following USDA guidelines. (To be safe, I only pressure-can tomatoes with some lemon juice in each jar.)

Photo courtesy KReese

Roasted Tomato Sauce Adaptations

Several pounds tomatoes, stem and quarter

3-4 large onions, quartered

2-3 bell peppers, quartered

several cloves garlic

extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Use directions from recipe above. Add any herbs to taste. After straining, you can add a can of tomato paste if you want it thicker, or some red wine to thin it. I've even added mushrooms! You may want to add a bit of sugar if your tomatoes are very acidic-tasting. Freeze, or pressure-can.

Now if you really want to make a jazzy fire-roasted salsa, gather:

Lots of tomatoes

Some Bell peppers

Some Hot peppers

Onions

Celery

Garlic

A few Carrots

Fresh herbs, your choice

Salt and pepper to taste

Soak some wood chips overnight. Build a hot fire on the grill (not with charcoal briquettes, they have additives that will taint the taste). Slice the carrots lengthwise into quarters, core the peppers, halve or quarter the onions... leave everything else whole. Add the wood chips to the hot coals to make smoke... and place everything on the grill to smoke/char for a few minutes. (You may need to do it in batches if you are making any quantity.)

As ingredients are roasted, place in a large soup pot on the stove. (Tomatoes will skin easily after being on the grill.) Cook over medium heat until the flavors mellow and the sauce has thickened. Run through a food mill if you don't like chunky salsa. Freeze in smaller portions, or use a pressure canner. The smoke/char flavor adds a dimension to salsa not found on grocery store shelves. YUM!

Another Small (Temporary?) Victory Against GMO's

A few days ago a federal district court judge revoked the government's approval of growing GM Sugar Beets in the USA, citing inadequate assessment of environmental consequences by the USDA.

The USDA and Friends argued that their mistakes were minor, and that the crop would eventually be approved anyway. The Dept. of Agriculture will now have to prepare an environmental impact statement before approving the crop again, a process that could take up to 2 years.

Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled to lift the injunction on GMO Alfalfa. The earlier injunction on planting GMO alfalfa had come from the same federal district court, but this time the court did not issue an injunction, merely revoked the FDA's approval of the GMO crop. 

So for the nonce, both GMO crops are on hold...

Goodbye, Haagen-Dazs

Photo from joyosity's photostream

Haagen-Dazs is not quitting... I am quitting them. Or at least until they stop using rBGH (bovine growth hormone) milk in their ice cream. Several other major brands have now guaranteed their dairy products are rBGH-free: Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, Yoplait yogurt, Dannon, Tillamook cheese, Chipolte restaurants, and many more.

Haagen Dazs, Breyers, Edy's, Nestle's, Baskin-Robbins and others have not.

rBGH is a genetically engineered bovine growth hormone developed and marketed by Monsanto for years until they sold it in 2008 to Elanco, a division of the Eli Lily drug company. The hormone is injected into cows to increase milk production by 10-15%. However, the drug causes many problems in dairy cows such as painful mastitis, deformed calves and lameness, and is linked to health problems in humans. It has been banned in Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia and all 27 of the European Union countries since the year 2000, if not before. Of course, Monsanto assures us it is safe.

A 1991 report by Rural Vermont, a nonprofit farm advocacy group, revealed serious health problems with the rBGH-injected cows that were part of a Monsanto-financed study at the University of Vermont. Problems included an alarming rise in the number of deformed calves and dramatic increases in mastitis, a painful bacterial infection of the udder which causes inflammation, swelling,¹¹ and pus and blood secretions into milk¹². To treat mastitis outbreaks, the dairy industry relies on antibiotics. Critics of rBGH point to the subsequent increase in antibiotic use (which contributes to the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria) and inadequacies in the federal government's testing program for antibiotic residues in milk¹³. The FDA relies on pasteurization to kill off bacteria, hormones and antibiotics in milk.

Injecting rBGH into dairy cows increases the amount of a substance called IGF-1 in their milk, by as much as six-fold (source). Why does that matter? The European Commission's authoritative international 16-member scientific committee reported the excessive levels of IGF-1 found in the milk of cows injected with rBGH may pose serious risks of breast, colon and prostate cancer.

How serious is the increased risk? According to an article in the May 9, 1998 issue of the medical journal The Lancet, pre-menopausal women with even moderately elevated blood levels of IGF-1 are up to seven times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with lower levels. (source) There are many links to studies about cancer risks from rBGH here.

How this nasty Monsanto drug became part of our dairy industry is well-noted in this article by John Robbins (son of Irving Robbins who co-founded Baskins-Robbins). Some of the other offensive moves by Monsanto and collusion by the FDA are reported (scroll down in the article) here. 

Several of my friends have developed breast cancer, and some had radical mastectomies. I'm appalled at the FDA for allowing continued use of unmarked rBGH in our milk supply (cheese, butter and yogurt are included, too). We are not allowed to buy raw milk because we "might" get foodborne illnesses, but we can have all the milk we want that could cause cancer.

So, Goodbye Haagen Daz... Goodbye Baskin-Robbins, Edy's, Breyers and anyone else who still uses rBGH in milk and milk products.

What to do if the freezer stops

I've got a busy schedule coming up, and nothing to post.

Instead, here's a link to download a PDF on

Preserving Food: What to do if the Freezer Stops. (It's on the list there, just scroll down.)

Plan ahead! Hurricane Season is upon us, and before long winter (and winter storms) will be upon us, too. The PDF contains some valuable tips. Print it out and tape it to the freezer door!

I'll be back in a few days.

Silver Bullets and Weed Control?

Photo courtesy An Nguyen's photostream

Many of us old-timers associate silver bullets with The Lone Ranger, who always left one as a calling card, and we associate a silver bullet with good guys in white hats. In folklore, a silver bullet was the only thing supposed to kill werewolves and witches... another example of a silver bullet being good.

The term has become a general metaphor where 'silver bullet' refers to any straightforward solution believed to have extreme effectiveness. The phrase typically appears where some new technology is expected to cure a major prevailing problem. 

One such "silver bullet" is glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's  Roundup™which is a broad-spectrum herbicide that kills weeds. The exact blend of ingredients in Roundup™ is a "trade secret" and not disclosed to the public. But is glyposate really a silver bullet? Is it really a 'good guy in a white hat'??

Research has discovered glyphosate in the soil can increase the severity of various plant diseases, impair plant defenses against pathogens, and immobilize soil and plant nutrients making them unavailable for plant use. They also found glyphosate reduces manganese in plants... and manganese is essential for many defense mechanisms that protect plants from environmental stress as well as disease.

Glyphosate also immobilizes copper, potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium and zinc so they are no longer nutritionally functional. When glyphosate is sprayed on a plant, it is absorbed and transported throughout the plant, where it accumulates in the roots (killing the plant) and migrates into the root zone. Some of the chemical is metabolized by soil micro-organisms in the root zone. However, it is also toxic to some bacteria and fungi, so the net effect is a actually a disruptor of soil ecology.

That means if you apply Roundup, it may kill the weed(s) but in the longer run, it may cause far more harm to the soil, and the eventual runoff has been shown to be cell membrane disruptors in fish, amphibians, and other microorganisms in our streams and lakes.

Monsanto assures the public that the ingredients in Roundup™ are inert and therefore non-toxic. To whom?

From NaturalNews.com about Roundup in our food chain:

As the percentage of genetically modified (GM) soy in the US burgeons to over 91%, researchers are beginning to publish harbingers for the potential of a maelstrom of future health problems from GMOs (genetically modified organisms). 

Monsanto's G, the secret blend of glyphosate named Roundup, is the active ingredient utilized in nearly 75% of all edible GM plants that have been engineered to tolerate high levels of this form of G. G works by inhibiting an enzyme that synthesizes the amino acids tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine thereby killing the weed. Researchers examining the amounts of herbicide used on GMO soy have concluded that the GMO soy typically receives several more pounds of G than conventionally grown soy per acre 

One of the potential harmful triggers includes the increased amounts of chemicals present in the environment disseminating at an alarming rate,  with few researchers examining the combined effects of these xenobiotics on plants, animals or humans. Similarly, much of the existing research on GMOs has been undertaken on the individual organism itself and neglects to examine the more important ecological issue of synergism.

Researchers have found that several types of newly created superweeds resistant to Roundup (e.g., pigweed, ryegrass and marestail) have been rapidly surfacing leading to increased amounts of Roundup used on such crops.

The researchers concluded that, "the proprietary mixtures available on the market could cause cell damage and even death around residual levels to be expected, especially in food and feed derived from R [Roundup] formulation-treated crops".

Feeding my Cat

Why should I feed myself nutritious real food, and still give my cat trashy soy kibble and canned waste? In the first place, she is an obligate carnivore.

Obligate or true carnivores depend solely on the nutrients found in animal flesh for their survival. While they may consume small amounts of plant material, they lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. The domestic cat is a prime example of an obligate carnivore.

Now that I have just one remaining cat (who was a 'pound kitty' and is perhaps 3 years old), I have decided I can squeeze the budget to feed her better. I did try raw meats for both cats a few months back, but neither one was interested. Last week I bought some chicken livers for my remaining cat... she didn't like them cooked, and she certainly didn't like them raw! However, she loved the cooked chicken thighs, so that's a place to start.

I've been reading the website by Dr. Pierson, a Veterinarian. She has some excellent information about feline nutrition, and how to transition from (unhealthy) dry kibble. (Now I understand why my attempt to switch to raw meat abruptly was a mistake.) I have also wondered why my cats turned up their noses at kibble that had been in a bowl all day. Manufacturers spray a substance on the dry kibble for cats and dogs to make it more palatable. (Most will lose their fragrance in a couple of hours, and a bag of kibble that is opened repeatedly surely must lose it more quickly.) 

There is a product, "FortiFlora" that is a similar formula but concentrated (it's a probiotic) and Dr. Pierson recommends using a tiny amount sprinkled on new foods as an enticement for picky eaters.

I am going to be out of town for 10 days in September, and my 22 year old niece will feed my cat for me. That means I have to have enough food prepared in single meal-size packages so it is convenient for the Kid. (God forbid she should have to measure!)

I will start with mostly cooked chicken thighs, but they don't contain much taurine or potassium so I will have to add it. I do have some leftover beef heart in the freezer, and the heart muscle is high in taurine so that takes care of that nutrient. Lite salt will take care of the potassium. Unless I grind some of the thigh bones for calcium, I'll need to add calcium also. 

I will eventually try partially or barely cooked chicken, and maybe some raw rabbit mixed in if I can find it local and inexpensive. I also will probably vary the meats in the recipe, depending on what I can get from the grass-fed meat co-op. Dr. Pierson's "recipe" is nutritionally balanced, and she does address the finicky eating habits of some cats (like mine).