Eating Lacto-Fermented Vegetables

I will be posting a series on lacto-fermentation all week, beginning here with health benefits.

Lacto-fermented vegetables are intended to be eaten in small amounts with each meal, both as a digestive aid and as a nutrient-booster, although some people like a full serving on their plate. It's a matter of choice, but just a few tablespoons daily will improve your health. Put some pickle slices or kraut on a sandwich at lunchtime... and add a tablespoon or two of fermented carrots, broccoli or cauliflower on a dinner salad.

When I was out of high school and dating, my boyfriend always took me to one of the wonderful open-24-hour delicatessens for late-night dessert treat after a movie or a play. I remember there was always a 'relish' tray with perhaps 5-6 small dishes of pickles, kraut, beets, and several other items; Howie said they were to help with digestion. (They didn't go with my cake and ice cream, though.)

I didn't really understand that concept back then, since my family didn't make lacto-ferments and I had not grown up with eating them. It was only in recent years I understood my grandparents couldn't make them anymore due to the year-round warm weather they found in South Florida after moving from the dust bowl during the Depression. Much later, my mother moved to the NC mountains, and she started making sauerkraut and garlic dills for my step-father, who was born in Holland.

I doubt my mother knew the added nutritional benefits of ferments; she made them because they tasted great and my step-father loved them. Once any vegetable ferment has finished over the first 2-4 weeks, all of the ferments will taste great. However, the growth of added nutrients has just begun, and the taste just keeps getting better. The longer they mellow, the smoother the taste and the greater the nutrients (within a reasonable time, which is a variable of months to 2-3 years).

Lactic acid fermentation is a biological process by which sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose, are converted into cellular energy and the metabolic byproduct lactate. (Probiotics) The term probiotics refers to bacteria and yeast found in food that are good for our bodies. Our skin and intestinal tract are completely covered in bacteria and the idea is that inviting the right kind of bacteria into our systems has health benefits. 

The human gut can contain over 2 lbs of intestinal microflora (beneficial bacteria) and they do some pretty important work there. They help digest food and create vitamins, they make it hard for bad bacteria to live there, and they stimulate the part of our immune system (70%) that is in our digestive system. In fact, there is more and more evidence that everything from acute intestinal upset to allergies to autism can be helped by normalizing gut bacteria and using probiotics.

Yogurt, kefir and buttermilk are all very common probiotic foods. These are all fermented dairy products that are eaten while the bacteria are still alive. Vegetables and fruit can also be cultured into probiotic foods through a process called lacto-fermentation. The Old-Timers merely called it 'pickling'.

The lacto-fermenting of vegetables is basically just covering vegetables with a salty brine and letting the bacteria do its work. The brine serves as a protection against the growth of putrefying microorganisms, and allows the growth of the desired of bacteria, Lactobacilli. Fermentation breaks nutrients down into more easily digestible forms. 

Lactobacilli transform lactose into easier-to-digest lactic acid. These cultures then create new nutrients: B vitamins, including folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and biotin. Lactobacilli create omega-3 fatty acids, essential for cell membrane and immune system function. Some ferments have been shown to function as antioxidants, scavenging cancer precursors (free radicals) from the cells of the body. 

Sally Fallon says, "The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented vegetables enhances their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. These beneficial organisms produce numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anti-carcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect preservation [for a varying amount of time] but also promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine."

The bottom line is this: Fermentation is tasty, and makes food more nutritious.

Time to Order Saffron Crocus

 Photo Courtesy of AYankeeCat  

Note the long red saffron stigmas coming off the centers

Saffron is the most expensive spice you can buy, costing thousands of dollars per pound (or several dollars for what would be half a teaspoonful), yet it is incredibly easy and cheap to grow your own. Saffron, the bright red-orange spice, is the dried stigmas of the fall Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) flower. It takes over 80,000 flowers to produce one pound of saffron, and it must be picked by hand. We tend to think of crocus as an early spring flower yet there are many that bloom in the fall, including Saffron Crocus. Without saffron, paella or curries wouldn't be the same.

Now is the time to order saffron crocus corms for fall shipping. (Just like some garlic varieties... they both become scarce if you wait until fall to order.) You can search the 'Net for good values; I found some for 32¢ each, buying 50 or more. 50 is just $16. And, they multiply!

Caveat: Always check any vendor in The Garden Watchdog, where companies are rated by actual customers relating their experiences. A company with a change in management can quickly go downhill... or uphill.

Planting

Saffron crocus are hardy in USDA Zone 6-8 in the South, and 6-9 in the West. Plant the corms 4" deep and 4" apart immediately when you receive them. They do best in full sun, and well-drained soil. If you have moles or voles, you might line the bed with hardware cloth. The flowers will appear about 4-6 weeks after planting, and last 2-3 weeks. Look for the stigmas after the morning dew has evaporated and the flowers are fully open. Carefully pluck the 3 red-orange stigmas, dry carefully and store in a small, airtight container. 25 corms will provide enough saffron for 2-3 tasty meals.

If you live in those zones above, you can leave the corms in the ground year 'round. Otherwise, plan to dig and store them before the ground freezes in winter. To make digging easier, plant them in small pots (and in a good soil mix) and place the pots about 2" below the soil surface so the pots don't show. After digging the corms, cover them with dry sawdust or peat moss and store in a cool(40-50ºF), dry area like a basement. Replant in spring after all danger of frost has passed. Don't water them (except rain) until leaves appear in fall.

About every 4-6 years you should divide and replant the corms after the foliage has faded in fall. Dividing will keep them from over-crowding which cuts down on flowering.

A word of advice: mark the area where they are planted, since most of the year it will look like a bare spot begging for a new plant. I learned that the hard way, and accidentally dug my corms 2 years in a row!

Buying and Using Saffron

If you buy some saffron to use until you have some of your own to harvest, avoid powdered saffron as it is often inferior and has turmeric added. Look for small vials or bottles containing just red stamens without the yellow filaments attached. They add nothing but weight and cost.

Steep the threads in a hot liquid like broth, water or milk depending on the recipe, for about 10 minutes before adding. Add the saffron/liquid early on in cooking or baking because it takes a while for the color and flavor to develop. Don't add saffron directly to hot oil; the flavors will evaporate quickly, and although the dish may smell wonderful, the flavor will be absent.

Saffron Bread in a Bread Machine
Great toasted with butter and honey!

1 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground saffron
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast
3/4 cup raisins

Directions:
Mix saffron with 1/4 cup of the warmed milk. After 10 minutes, add to rest of the milk. Add all ingredients, except raisins, to the bread maker pan in the order listed (or as directed in your bread maker instructions).

Set bread maker to the regular setting and start. Add the raisins when the beeper sounds to add additional ingredients.
Recipe from:
http://www.donogh.com/cooking/bread/saffron.shtml
 

Making Ghee

Some time back when I wrote about ghee, a reader asked me to post pictures of making it and also of rendering tallow, when I did some again. This is the ghee portion.

I take a half-teaspoon of high-vitamin, fermented cod liver oil every morning. Last week it was time to re-order, and the damned stuff is expensive. After some digging around some websites, I found I could order just the fermented cod liver oil, make ghee from my own high-vitamin summer butter, and mix it myself, for substantially less money than I could order it already mixed in one bottle.

Happens I had some organic pastured summer butter in the freezer, and I just needed to cook it down to ghee so I could mix it with the fermented cod liver oil.

This is the wrapper from half a pound of the butter I used. It is generally called 'Summer Butter' and the early summer grass where the cows graze is much higher in Omega-3 and Vitamin A than the grass later in the year.

Half pound of butter in the pan. Turn on to low or barely medium low heat to begin the melting. Don't rush it.

The butter will begin to get a foamy skum on the surface. That's solids from the butter.

If you look closely, you will see bubbles around the edges of the foamy solids. That is water beginning to cook off.

As the quantity of water in the butter diminishes, the bubbles become smaller, and the solids cook and begin to drop to the bottom of the pan. It is important to keep the heat low enough so you don't scorch the butter oil.

I tried to stir this and take the photo at the same time... hard to do! But, at least you can get an idea of the browning layer of solids on the bottom of the pan.

at least

I strained the butter oil through this skimmer into another pan, and dumped the solids back into the first pan so you could see how much there was. The skimmer didn't get all of it, though.

I secured a piece of fine cheesecloth with a rubber band over a pint jar (wasn't sure how much ghee I would have). It strained the remaining solids out nicely.

That half-pound of butter made just a tad under a full pint of ghee. If I had kept the liquid hot while I was straining and jarring it, it may have sealed as the jar cooled, although that is not necessary for keeping qualities. I didn't care anyway since I will be using it immediately.

Cooking with Tallow

Chicken Fried Steak photo from jasonlam's photostream

Cooking with tallow may be something not many of us do, yet it has some terrific advantages. I recently wrote about rendering tallow, so let's talk about cooking with it. 

Tallow from grass-fed cows is healthy, with a low omega-6 content and a balanced omega-3/omega-6 ratio, low level of polyunsaturated fats (around 3%), and vitamins like Vitamin A and K2. Tallow has a high smoke point, making it ideal for deep frying, although it's best to keep the temp a bit lower, like 350ºF. Deep frying in good fats is not the health buggaboo it has been 'touted' as being, and in fact research is now proving saturated fats are good for the heart and cholesterol levels. (Personally, I contend that saturated fats from CAFO animals are not ever healthy since toxins concentrate in the fat and organs.)

If you are frying battered chicken, chicken fried steak or onion rings in tallow, some bits of batter may come loose. They could burn, giving the tallow a poor taste, so fish them out as you go along. When you are finished frying, the tallow can be strained for re-use because heat has not broken down the structure (unless you used it in the smoke-point), something you cannot do with most fats. If you have fried something with a strong flavor, just drop a couple slices of potato into the hot oil when you take the pan off the heat. The potato will absorb most of the flavor in the oil.

Strain it carefully while it is still fairly hot. I place a scrap of clean cotton cloth or muslin in a metal strainer to catch any browned bits I didn't fish out. Tallow is hard to clean out of cloth so I just toss it. Try to get as much of the tallow as you can out of the pan... when it cools it becomes like hard wax. I use a paper towel for the last film. When the filtered tallow is thoroughly cool, it will be hard. Cover the container, and store in a cool, dark place for re-use. (I store mine in a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup.)

If I need enough tallow to fry something, I find it easiest to melt the tallow in the pyrex storage container in a low-temp oven, until it's just barely liquid, and pour just what I need into my skillet. I use a bit of tallow to fry eggs, or anything that needs a bit of 'grease' in the pan, and I plan to use it in making some pemmican for 'emergency' high-nutrition food storage.

ps... I'm betting tallow is great to re-season cast iron pans. I have one that needs it, so I'm going to give it a shot. I'll post results later!

I have several pounds of beef leaf fat on order for the next time my supplier butchers, which should be in about 2-3 weeks. As requested, I will post pictures of the rendering process.

Hamlet's Cat's Soliloquy

Just something fun while I'm away having 2 fillings and a tooth pulled...

Hamlet's Cat's Soliloquy 
by Henry Beard from Poems for Cats

To go outside, and there perchance to stay
Or to remain within: that is the question;
Whether 'tis better for a cat to suffer
The cuffs and buffets of inclement weather
That Nature rains on those who roam abroad,
Or take a nap upon a scrap of carpet,
And by so dozing melt the solid hours
That clog the clock's bright gears with sullen time
And stall the dinner bell. To sit, to stare
Outdoors, and by a stare to seem to state
A wish to venture forth without delay,
Then when the portal's opened up, to stand
As if transfixed by doubt. To prowl; to sleep;
To choose not knowing when we may once more
Our re-admittance gain: aye there's the hairball;
For if a paw were shaped to turn a knob,
Or work a lock or slip a window-catch,
And going out and coming in were made
As simple as the breaking of a bowl,
What cat would bear the household's petty plagues:
The cook's well-practiced kicks, the butler's broom,
The infant's careless pokes, the tickled ears,
The trampled tail, and all the daily shocks
That fur is heir to, when, of his own free will,
He might his exodus or entrance make
With a mere mitten? Who would spaniels fear,
Or strays trespassing from a neighbor's yard,
But that the dread of our unheeded cries
And scratches at a barricaded door
No claw can open up, dispels our nerve
And makes us rather bear our humans' faults
Than run away to unguessed miseries?
Thus caution doth make house cats of us all;
And thus the bristling hair of resolution
Is softened up with the pale brush of thought,
And since our choices hinge on weighty things,
We pause upon the threshold of decision.

-Shakespaw

Ice-Glazed Fish for Freezing

 Photo from sabareq's photostream

My folks had a trout pond and raised a hundred or so trout every summer before they went south for winter (with their freezer). My step-father would fish out the trout, remove the heads and gut them, then Mother would freeze them in bags of spring water, the fish entirely covered in 2-3 inches of ice. (It's a 2-step process because the fish tend to float.) I've always done fish that way too, because the frozen fish when cooked taste like fresh fish, not frozen.

I have an opportunity soon to get a mess of trout to freeze. However, freezing a bunch in bags or cartons of water will take far too much space in my freezer. So, here's an alternative... ice-glaze them.

Freeze the cleaned fish on a tray in the freezer; while it's freezing solid, put a large pan of water in the freezer. (It will take longer to freeze than the fish.) When the fish is solid, dip it in the near-freezing water, and put it back on the tray to freeze. Repeat as many times as necessary to build up a good covering of ice-glaze. I'm using 1/8" or maybe a bit more.

Once your fish are encased in ice, wrap them in film, freezer paper, or foil, making sure the wrapping is tight. Vacuum-sealing is great for this. Fish frozen in this manner and wrapped correctly will keep a long time in a manual-defrost freezer. A self-defrosting freezer turns on the heat to melt accumulated ice on the shelves and walls, partially cooking any foods in the process, so keeping time is much shorter for any frozen food.

Do you make Jerky? Pemmican?

I've been looking into making jerky, which I don't even like. Well, at least not the convenience-store pressed version containing soy sauce, sugar, artificial smoke flavoring, chemicals and preservatives. I have never tasted the real thing, which is just dried raw meat seasoned with salt and pepper, and maybe a bit of powdered onion, garlic or crushed red pepper flakes.

I'm interested to hear if you make jerky or pemmican, and how you do it. How do you use it? Apparently jerky-makers are almost fanatical about their jerky, and they must be abundant because there are all sorts of jerky tools for sale across the internet. (I'm away from home until later in the week so I probably won't be able to 'moderate' comments until then.)

Actually what I want to do is make some real pemmican that I can store in my emergency food stash, because it is the most nutrient-dense food I can fit (store) in a small area, and if made properly, it lasts for years.

Properly made jerky is a good place to start in making pemmican, and commercial jerky won't suffice because of government regulations in the high temperatures required for drying, too much salt, and all the additives. (Remember how salty the dried chipped beef in a jar is, for making creamed chipped beef on toast... aka SOS?)  I'm aiming for nutrition, not salty shoe leather.

Making jerky for pemmican is easy, although this method below would not be approved by the USDA because the meat is not cooked, just thoroughly dried as it was done for centuries either in the sun, or near a fire. Most sites practice CYA and recommend heating to 145ºF for at least 10 minutes to kill any salmonella and E.coli, and lots of salt. (I won't make mine that way.) Use your own discretion and faith in your butcher, but I suggest you avoid using store-bought CAFO beef for all the potential dangers and nutritional deficits.

I'll run through the process here, and again later with pictures when I make some. (Right now I'm waiting for the next butchering so I can get enough beef leaf fat make more tallow.) Get some very lean grass-fed beef (like eye round) and trim it completely. Slice thinner than 1/4 inch, which is easier done if the beef is partially frozen.

Season lightly with salt and pepper (you can add a bit of onion powder or garlic powder, and/or powdered red pepper along with the salt and pepper, but don't overdo it) and put it in your dehydrator at about 100º-110ºF. The object is to dry the meat, not cook it, and temps over 120ºF will cook it. (The salt and lack of moisture are what inhibits bacterial growth.) Turn the strips over several times during the drying process to insure uniform drying. How long it takes depends on thickness of the meat strips. When properly dry, it should bend but not snap, and not feel damp or have soft spots. Too dry is better than too damp because it can spoil if it's not dry enough.

If you don't have a dehydrator, here's a link to download plans to build a very efficient dryer for under $20, using a cleverly designed cardboard box and a 100 watt incandescent bulb. It will dry up to 10 pounds of raw meat.

Once the meat is fully dry, you can use it as is for jerky snacks, or grind it for pemmican.

Why use only grass-fed beef?

Grass-fed beef:

1. Higher in beta-carotene
2. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
3. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin (B1) and riboflavin (B2)
4. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
5. Higher in total omega-3s
6. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
7. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
8. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
9. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

What is Pemmican?
"Pemmican was a nutritionally-dense staple of the American Plains Indians, made in the summer from dried lean buffalo meat and rendered fat (tallow) as a way to preserve and store meat for winter, and traveling. When the frontiersmen, mostly early trappers and explorers, discovered it, pemmican became a commodity the Indians sold or traded to them.

The Hudson Bay Company bought tons of it every year to satisfy the demand. The basic unit of trade was an animal hide filled with pemmican, sealed with pure rendered fat on the seams, and weighed about 90 pounds. As long as it was kept away from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight, it would last for many years with no refrigeration or other method of preservation."
(Source: Lex Rooker)

Calories and Nutrition

When made correctly, pemmican from grass-fed beef is a complete food, and eating only pemmican for extended periods induces no nutritional deficiencies. (Think Eskimo diet.) One half-pound of pemmican will provide about 1500 calories.

Not all sites agree about the inclusion of dried berries in pemmican; some think it may have been just to please the 'white eyes'. After reading many sites and explanations, I have decided not to add dried berries to mine. If the berries are not 100% dry, they can spoil the pemmican. I'd rather dry my berries separately and just have them available.

Traditionally, Native Americans pounded the dried meat into a powder; fortunately we have blenders, meat grinders and food processors. Properly dried beef will be about 1/3 or so of the weight before drying, and needs to be ground to a chunky powder with some meat fibers remaining.

Once you have the meat ground to a slightly chunky powder, carefully weigh equal amounts of meat and rendered beef tallow. Then the tallow needs to be heated enough to be liquid so you can mix them; the mix will appear slightly wet, but the tallow/fat should all be absorbed by the meat with no excess fat pooling in the bottom of the dish.

Press the mixture into a mold (mini-loaf pans, cupcake tins lined with cupcake papers, pressed flat in plastic sandwich bags, etc.) and allow to harden at room temperatures. To store, wrap in butcher's paper, or aluminum foil (or both) to keep out any light and moisture. Store in a cool, dry place. I will put my wrapped pemmican in a heavy-duty zippered plastic bag or most likely vacuum-seal it, then into a food grade plastic container with a tight lid.

Some No-No's: 
Do not use butter or vegetable oils. Rendered pork or lamb fat could be used, but not recommended because of a lower melting point (like carrying it in a backpack, or on a shelf in in storage). Do not add anything that is not 100% DRY.

WVa: High Tunnels and Community Gardens

West Virginia, a neighboring state, has the same short growing season I have... only shorter! This year West Virginia State University via the Douglass Institute has helped get some high tunnels in place to extend the garden season.

A high tunnel is basically a long greenhouse, usually covered in plastic, and sometimes called a hoop house. I wrote here about building a 100' long one with community efforts, for about $300, although it used PVC for the hoops. The cost in WV, using more permanent metal framing, is said to be under $1,000. By using a high tunnel, the air just above the plants can be maintained above freezing for both early frosts, and late frosts, extending the growing season on both ends.

I have considered building a short hoop house here, maybe 20-30' long, and just wide enough for about 4 rows of vegetables. The cost would be minimal and I could have more early and/or late veggies. Maybe next year, after I get a chicken coop (and chickens!).

The institute has also been instrumental in getting more community gardens going, where the cities provide the land and the locals work to raise their own vegetables. The obstacle remains bringing citizens and cities together to establish community gardens. A dozen or more have been established in the Charleston-Huntingdon area, and the program is expected to expand into southern counties in the state. This is a great learning experience for many city-dwellers who have never seen a garden, much less raise a tomato.

A by-product of the programs is an interest in growing ethnic vegetables, and raising goats for meat.

MOTHER's Having a Party and You're Invited

From Mother Earth News:

We’re delighted to announce that this September we’ll host the first-ever MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR, a hands-on, sustainable-living festival. We hope you’ll join us! You’ll enjoy two full days of workshops, DIY demonstrations and keynote addresses from some of the nation’s leading experts on wiser living, including the MOTHER EARTH NEWS editorial team and editors from our sister magazines: Grit, Natural Home, Farm Collector, Utne Reader  and The Herb Companion.

This fun-filled, family-oriented event will feature something for everyone, from beginners to experts — and even kids — on the topics of organic gardening, small-scale agriculture, real food, renewable energy, green building, green transportation and natural health. Exhibits and demonstrations with heritage livestock and equipment are also planned, and attendees will enjoy an eco-friendly marketplace and local, organic food and beverages.

Seven Springs Mountain Resort is nestled in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania (about an hour southeast of Pittsburgh).

Details here.

Vitamins, Couch Potatoes, and Government Regulation

July 4th, Independence Day, the day we celebrate our adoption of the Declaration of Independence, seems a good time to post this. Without any fanfare or media coverage, President Obama quietly signed an Executive Order June 10, 2010, Establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council.

Sec. 5. National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy.
Not later than March 23, 2011, shall develop and make public a national prevention, health promotion, and public health strategy (national strategy)

(c) contain a list of national priorities on health promotion and disease prevention to address lifestyle behavior modification (including smoking cessation, proper nutrition, appropriate exercise, mental health, behavioral health, substance-use disorder, and domestic violence screenings) and the prevention measures for the five leading disease killers in the United States...

The Surgeon General shall serve as the Chair of the Council, which shall be composed of:

(1) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(2) the Secretary of Labor;
(3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(4) the Secretary of Transportation;
(5) the Secretary of Education;
(6) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(7) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(8) the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission;
(9) the Director of National Drug Control Policy;
(10) the Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council;
(11) the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs;
(12) the Chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service; and
(13) the head of any other executive department or agency that the Chair may, from time to time, determine is appropriate.

One of the things this order does is to assure the USA becomes fully compliant with Codex:

Sec. 6. Reports.
(g) contains specific plans to ensure that all prevention programs outside the Department of Health and Human Services are based on the science-based guidelines developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under subsection (d) of this section.

The CDC doesn't have a good track record with complementary and alternative medicine... and Vitamins and herbs, under Codex, are considered toxic substances which would be under strict regulation.

The U.K. is already under Codex, as are many European nations. Until 1996, the average German citizen could buy 500 mg Vitamin C tablets.. or 400 IU capsules of Vitamin E. Today the highest dosage available without a prescription is 200 mg Vitamin C, and 45 IU Vitamin E. (If I am coming down with a cold, I take 2,000 mg Vitamin C every 4 hours for 24 hours (per Linus Pauling, I think it was.) Works wonderfully.) In addition, our bodies need Vitamin C to work with Vitamins A and D for optimum health, and our foods contain far less of these natural vitamins with the increasing soil nutrient deficit.

In Norway, citizens can purchase 2.4 mg of vitamin B1, 2.8 mg of B2, 4.2 mg of B6, and 32 mg of niacin. Any dosage for these vitamins that exceed this level requires a prescription.
In Canada, any herb making health improvement claims is classified as a drug. In Europe, the European Economic Community (EEC) has said if an herb is medicinal, it is medicine and should be sold as a drug.

The original proposals for Codex came from Germany. They were made by a panel sponsored by three giant drug companies: Hoechst, Bayer and BASF. These companies resulted from the disbandment of I.G. Farben after World War II. BASF (of Germany) and LaRoche Holding AG (of Switzerland) recently pleaded guilty to the largest antitrust conspiracy as yet uncovered to fix vitamin prices. Each paid hefty fines. Source

As you ponder this, understand that Codex decisions override those of individual countries. When complaints are filed, they are settled by world courts with little concern about whether Americans get enough Vitamin C every day. Severe trade restrictions can be used by the World Health Organization to twist arms of nations into compliance.

Another disturbing clause is under Sec. 3, Purposes and Duties:

(b) develop, after obtaining input from relevant stakeholders, a national prevention, health promotion, public health, and integrative health-care strategy that incorporates the most effective and achievable means of improving the health status of Americans and reducing the incidence of preventable illness and disability in the United States, as further described in section 5 of this order;

Who are the "relevant stakeholders"???

Who will enforce "appropriate exercise"... an armed Homeland Security Officer?

Per the President's order, he expects "changes in Federal policy to achieve national wellness, health promotion, and public health goals, including the reduction of tobacco use, sedentary behavior, and poor nutrition..."

I wonder what effect this might have on all the proven harmful GMO foods on our grocer's shelves? HA! Fat Chance.

There is a silver lining. This is our wake-up call to start eating right and get healthy. We can learn what's really good for us and not go by marketing propaganda, whatever the source. We can grow fruit, vegetables and herbs. We can raise backyard chickens and rabbits. We can plant Rugosa Roses for their wonderful rose hips full of Vitamin C. We can take responsibility for ourselves, our own bodies.

Miracle-Gro?

 Photo from seantoyer's photostream

Scotts is the owner of Miracle-Gro, and the SOLE licensed US distributor of Monsanto's RoundUp.

Below is a copy of a post I made on a gardening forum years ago; the article was originally published in Organic Gardening magazine July/August 2000.

"Miracle-Gro is a synthetic fertilizer that contains ammonium phosphate and several other chemicals that can be toxic to your soil and plants.

It is prohibited from use in certified-organic farming.

Here’s what soil expert Robert Parnes, Ph.D., says in his book Fertile Soil: [Ammonium fertilizer] acidifies the soil, and thus it is probably more harmful to soil organisms than any other nitrogen fertilizer. The application has to be timed carefully and placed properly to avoid burning the leaves and roots.

In addition, ammonium tends to inhibit the release of potassium. Ammonium fertilizers are deliberately manufactured to be spread at high application rates in order to obtain maximum yields with no regard to adverse effects on the soil.

Probably nowhere is the conflict between the mass production of food to feed the world and the preservation of the soil more obvious than in the confrontation over the use of either ammonium fertilizers or liquid ammonia. [editor's note: Now, 10 years later, it's probably glyphosate, aka RoundUp.]

And there’s more: long-term studies at the University of Wisconsin have shown that acidic chemical fertilizers are causing serious, permanent damage to our soils. Usually these fertilizers are also highly soluble, so they leach away and pollute our water systems, too.

Soil fertility authority Garn Wallace, Ph.D., of Wallace Laboratories in El Segundo, California, points out that Miracle-Gro contains muriate of potash, which contains excess chlorine that will burn plants and inhibit the uptake of nitrogen.

Dr. Wallace also warns that products such as Miracle-Gro often contain unsafe levels of zinc and copper that will be toxic to soil life.

And if all that’s not enough to convince you to avoid this stuff, consider this: you have to mix Miracle-Gro with water and apply it ever '7 to 14 days.'

If you opt to fertilize organically, on the other hand, all you have to do is mix a ½-inch layer of grass clippings into your beds before each crop. As the grass decomposes, it will improve your soil’s texture and stimulate microbial life and help prevent disease, all while releasing plenty of nutrients to feed your plants."

--KATHY BAUMGARTNER, Fremont, Michigan

"Real Gardeners Grow Without Miracles!"

Making a Nutritious Soil Planting Mix

 Photo from normanack's photostream

This recipe (from Nourishment Homegrown) will supply the proper nutrient mix for flowers to veggies, and it's easy to make.

Mix together 1 cubic foot of sand and 1 cubic foot of well-aged compost or aged sawdust. (Do not use pine sawdust.)

Mix together:

6 tablespoons High Calcium Lime

3 tablespoons Calcium Sulfate (Gypsum)

5 tablespoons Soft Rock Phosphate

1 tablespoon Kelp powder

1/2 teaspoon Copper Sulfate

1/2 teaspoon Iron Sulfate

1 teaspoon of Side Dressing (see below)

Mix well, add to the sand/compost mix and distribute evenly and thoroughly.

In a separate container, mix:

1/2 cup Fish Emulsion

1 pint food-grade Molasses

3-1/2 quarts water. You will use this mix to moisten the above dry mix, but do not add it all in at once.

To test for proper moisture level in the mix, make a golf ball size ball in your fist. If it will not stick together, the mix is too dry. To test for the mix being too wet, drop the ball from waist-high onto a hard surface like a sidewalk or driveway. If the ball splats but does not break apart it is too wet. If the ball does break apart, the moisture level is okay. You may need to add water if you have used all the moisture mix and it is still too dry.

Let this 'soil' sit for 14 days, and mix it a couple of times during the 14 days. Then it is ready to be used as a high quality general planting mix for any type of gardening.

Side Dressing by definition refers to a synthetic fertilizer that contains the full complement of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. You should have a soil test done to see if you have an abundance of any of those nutrients before applying this mix. If, for example, you have an abundance of potassium, you'd leave it out of the mix. (Note: A Top Dressing by definition contains no phosphate.)

Mix only what you will use immediately. Any unused will harden like a rock.

Side Dressing, equal parts by weight: (Start with 2 pounds of each to see how far it will go.)

Ammonium Sulfate

Single Superphosphate

Potassium Sulfate

To increase effectiveness of the side dressing, add 3 pounds granulated sugar (which is carbon source) to the 6 pound mix above. The sugar will hold the fertilizers in the top active layer of the soil for a longer period, and the carbon in the sugar will pick up moisture and hold it to improve microbe activity in the plant root zone.

Using from 1 to 20 pounds of side dressing per 1,000 square feet of garden area can be very effective in nourishing the plants.

Major Holiday Ahead...

This is the new "Wear your Seatbelt" ad the UK is running... started not be someone paid to do it, but because the 'cause' is important to him. He came up with the idea, and now it's being hailed across the world as a 'beautiful' commercial!

Keeping Stored Canned Goods from Rust

I created a long-term storage room for dried foods by enclosing part of the back porch. Unfortunately, we soon needed the space so I moved jars of anything that would not freeze and break out to the root cellar, which remains above freezing usually, but also a little dampish because it is set into the hillside. By the end of last winter, the lids to the mason jars I use for storage were showing spots of rust.

I took off the lids and rings of about 2 dozen jars and spray-painted them (just the outside of the lids, but both sides of the rings). It took forever to get a good coating inside and outside of the screw channels on the rings, and I used up an entire can of spray paint. That stopped the project because I still had well over a hundred jars to go... jars of beans, pasta, grains, dry fruit... you get the picture.

Ball makes a plastic replacement lid for both wide-mouth and regular canning jars (NOT to use in canning, just opened cans in the fridge), but they would be expensive because I need so many. So the jars have been sitting on the root cellar shelves, rusting slowly into total decay. I figure about 3 more years, and the rust will have eaten a hole all the way through the lids.

However, last week I came across a post somewhere about waxing cans and boxes for long-tern storage, to prevent rust in metal cans, and insect invasion in cardboard boxes. They just melted beeswax or paraffin in a large double-boiler (actually a stockpot large enough to hold a cereal box, inside a larger pan of water) and dipped the containers, first the top half, and when cooled, dipped the bottom half. I don't see any reason this wouldn't work for my mason jars.

I would only have to dip about 2" of the jars to cover the lids completely, thus not needing nearly as much wax as if I had commercial metal food cans needing to be covered entirely. Paraffin, a petroleum product, is less expensive than beeswax or a vegetable candle wax and since it won't contact any food I'm okay with trying it.

Next month I will wax some, and see how they fare over this next winter. I have the idea it will work just fine!

Apples, and Cider Apples

Photo from mp eds' photostream

Neck and neck with brewing beer at home is the resurgence of making cider. Whether sweet, hard, blended, or sparkling, trend watchers say cider, once the preferred beverage of early America, could very well become the drink of the future. (Hard cider is the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry.)

More than I ever wanted to know about apples... that's what the internet offers. What's missing is information on the majority of the 'missing apples', those great old apple varieties we have let go by the wayside. There once were 15,000 -16,000 named, grown and eaten varieties in North America, and today fewer than 20% (+/-3,000 varieties) remain; some sources say not more than 1,000.

The big and beautiful Red Delicious is the stereotypical but tasteless apple that has come to dominate the supermarket shelf, comprising more than 40 percent of all apples sold in big box chain stores. With today’s mass marketing, only a handful of large nurseries control what gets planted in large commercial orchards. And they want 'pretty', not taste.

Where variety really matters, though, is in finding cider apples. GOOD cider apples. Not all apples are suitable for making cider, whether just pressed apples for fresh cider, or fermented hard cider. Take a look at apples broken down by their best use... There are apples for cooking (think pies!), apples for eating, and cider apples. In 2 of those categories, I can only show a few named varieties still in use because we have lost SO many, notably in the cider apples, but also in the baking apples.

For a baking apple, you want a flavorful yet firm apple, because heat breaks down an apple's structure. Gala, Braeburn, Northern Spy, Rome and Granny Smith can hold their shape (and taste) in baking pies and cobblers. So will Gravenstein, Pippens, King, Snow and Wealthy. The apple I prefer for superb pies is King Luscious (and I don't know if it is related to the King apple). I only know of one place that still grows a few, although they were almost lost before the old orchard was purchased by someone with vision; it's on the Blue Ridge Parkway about 100 miles from here.

For applesauce you'll want a softer variety like McIntosh, maybe mixed with a few Red Delicious. Early apples good for applesauce also include Lodi, Melba and Transparent. The harder Granny Smith apples will give you a chunkier sauce.

Many of the mid-season and early fall apples do not keep well, and are used for juice. Overripe, soft and/or pulpy apples make for poorly flavored juice. Under-ripe apples make a starchy juice. You can check for ripeness by cutting one apple: if the seeds are still mostly or even somewhat white, they are under-ripe. As the apple matures, the seeds turn light brown. Late varieties have darker seeds when fully mature.

Cider traditionally was made from a mix of three distinct apple tastes, in equal volume: sweet, bittersweet, and sharp, with each varying in the amounts of tannins and acidity. However, if you were making a single variety apple cider, the bittersweets are best. Today, you might only find and mix sweeter apples like Baldwin or Delicious with tart apples like Jonagold or Winesap.

Some older varieties of bittersweet apples are still around, if you can find them, but fewer bittersweet apples still exist compared to Sharp/Bittersharp, and even more Sweet varieties still exist. Probably fewer bittersweets because cider fell out of favor, and cider apples are not good eating apples. These variety lists below come from the UK site, The Real Cider and Perry Page, although many of these varieties were brought into the US in the 1800's. (Perry is hard pear cider.)

Bittersweet apples: Brown Snout, Improved Dove, Chisel Jersey, Knotted Kernel, Somerset Red, Fillbarrel, Tramlett’s Bitter, Harry Master’s Jersey, Yarlington Mill, Dabinette and Kingston Black. Raintree in the US Pacific Northwest carries the last two. They also carry Foxwhelp and Tompkins King. Fedco (which is a highly-regarded co-op) in Maine carries several cider apples, but they are usually sold out by Feb. and the website doesn't list the varieties when none are available. You may, however, download the 2010 fruit tree catalog on this page. It lists apples by taste, and use.

For some Sharp and Bittersharp varieties, click here. For some Sweet Apple varieties, click here.

So, if you get really interested in making good, old fashioned cider (which you can freeze if you don't want to make hard cider), you can plant some heirloom varieties. Slow Food USA, via the Ark of Taste, is trying to save and renew interest in heritage foods of all kinds. This year, their RAFT (Renewing America's Food Traditions) Alliance is focusing on heritage apples by holding workshops on cutting, grafting, documenting tree histories, and distributing scion wood of the most flavorful historic fruit varieties. They recently held a workshop in Madison, WI with 20 heirloom apple experts from across the nation to discuss status, and efforts to conserve and promote heirloom apples, and the Madison, WI group has started planting apples in earnest.

You can download the Forgotten Fruits Manual and Manifesto - Apples here.

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

Homemade apple cider vinegar is easy to make. There are 2 basic methods, and if you happen to be a home-brewer, you may elect to start by making your own 'hard' cider. For the rest of us, the easy way is similar, but much shorter and less complicated.

Either way, the fruit sugars must be converted, first into a fizzy alcohol, then the alcohol breaks down in the presence of oxygen into acetic acid, which is vinegar. (Many home wine makers have inadvertently made wine vinegar instead of wine, myself included.)

To begin, you  will need a container, some apples and a bit of some raw apple cider vinegar to use as a culture. Choice of apple varieties greatly affects the resulting taste, and I'll post later on apples for making cider. For now, just juice your own apples, or if you are lucky enough to be at a country fair where someone is pressing apples, get some fresh juice. Using bottled apple juice will not give you the health benefits of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar.

(I apologize... I lost who took this photo)

Fresh apple juice will start to ferment into alcohol on its own within a day or two (due to the yeast that naturally occur on the apples and in the air), so don't delay in starting this process unless you want to make hard cider. When you have your fresh juice, measure it, and add 5-6% by volume of the raw apple cider vinegar you obtained, or had on your pantry shelf. A half-gallon canning jar works well for fermentation, but if you have a crock, by all means use it but don't fill either one up all the way. Stir the mix well, pour into the jar, cover with several layers of butter muslin (fine muslin), and stick it in a dark closet. I fasten the cloth with a rubber band. The object is to keep dust out yet allow oxygen in, necessary for the bacteria to convert the alcohol into acetic acid.

The bacteria do their conversion work on the surface, so surface area affects total time to usable product. That's what makes a crock work better: less liquid depth to surface area. In a canning jar, it might take 3-6 months. During the fermentation, a "mother' should form on the surface, perhaps with spots or strands, formed by the bacterial digestion, and it will have a clean but sour smell. There should be no mold forming on the surface.

After several months, it should no longer have any fizz. When the fizz is gone, you know all the sugars have been converted! It should have a sour taste on your tongue, not a fizzy residual taste... and you have vinegar! Now, siphon off half the vinegar into a bottle, cap it, and you have raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar ready to use. Take it internally, use it topically, use it on salads with extra virgin olive oil, cook with it... you'll love it!

With the remaining half still in the bottle, top it off with more FRESH apple juice, starting the fermenting procedure all over again. This process can go on for years, giving you a continual supple of good, healthy apple cider vinegar.

Now, if you want to make hard cider first, I suggest you begin by checking with your state laws as they all vary in the legality of making hard cider. If it's legal, go for it. I have never made hard cider, so here's a link that sounds like an excellent starting point. Once you have your aged hard cider, here's their link for making some of it into cider vinegar.

Here's another easy method I have read about but not tried: Put apple cores in a jar and cover with non-chlorinated water. Add 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar. Put a breathable top to the jar, such as a fine-woven cloth fastened with a rubber band or string. When the bubbling calms down, you should have vinegar. Not much to lose. Hey, were you planning to save those apple cores for something else?

Why Raw Apple Cider Vinegar?

Photo from AndyRob's photostream

Raw, unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar (not the sterile, distilled, nutrition-less apple cider vinegar sold in grocery stores) has mainly been used for centuries for its health benefits (and some surprising benefits in and around the household). I have been buying and using Bragg's apple cider vinegar off and on for at least 40 years, but only lately have I become convinced that this unassuming vinegar is potent for my health. (There are other brands, but Bragg's has national distribution in natural foods stores and in many grocery stores, and has been around almost a hundred years.)

Now I have learned I can make it myself. There are 2 basic processes; one is by the purists who first make real hard (alcoholic) cider as the base. The other, easy home-method, is starting with freshly pressed apple juice, adding the culture and processing...

I'll cover both ways in following posts, but first... why should anyone use raw, organic ACV daily, what will it do for each of us, and why bother to make my own?

There is so much emphasis today in marketing about everything being pasteurized or irradiated to become sterile (thus devoid of health benefits) that I'm sure an immediate concern, if you are unfamiliar with raw apple cider vinegar, is that raw ACV is not pasteurized. Vinegars in general, raw or distilled, have antiseptic properties. Raw vinegar is perfectly safe because pathogens cannot live in that acidic solution. Because it is raw, it contains all the natural acids, enzymes, minerals and nutrients that are destroyed from distilled apple cider vinegar in processing.

Raw apple cider vinegar taken internally helps the body with digestion, metabolism of minerals (esp. calcium), balance pH, support the immune system, and is said to help control weight and help longevity. Applied externally, it soothes skin problems and helps aching muscles.

Around the house, raw vinegar is an excellent all-purpose cleaner, particularly in the kitchen and bath. Use it in cooking by adding a bit to the water for poaching eggs... it helps them clump. Add some to potato or cauliflower cooking water to keep veggies whiter. Add some to gelatin to help hold it firm, and to the water for boiling eggs so the whites don't leak from cracks in the shells.

Use raw vinegar to clean galvanized metal objects before painting. Add some to animal/pet water to reduce pet odors, keep coats shiny, and promote health.

Photo from AndyRob's photostream

Bragg's advertises their "Bragg Healthy Cocktail" is designed to flush out wastes that are clogging the organs of elimination, the bowels, lungs, skin, and the kidneys. Take it at least twice a day, and you will start to see changes like increased energy, soft skin, and decreased muscle and joint aches from exercise. Make sure you use raw, organic vinegar, never dead, distilled vinegar because the natural enzymes, minerals, and nutrients are destroyed in the distilling process. Any vinegar that is clear and has no "mother" (the strand-like substance in the bottom of the bottle) has no nutritional value. Natural raw vinegar should be pungent, with a rich, brownish color and a visible "mother."

Patricia Bragg, N.D. Ph.D., Health Crusader and daughter of founder Paul Bragg, recommends a "healthy cocktail" of 2 teaspoons of their ACV twice daily, in distilled water, sweetened with a natural sugar if you prefer. I don't sweeten mine as I rather like the taste, and  I don't use distilled water, although I do avoid using chlorinated water. I took 2 tsp. twice daily for about a month, and now generally take it just in the mornings, or just at bedtime. There was an almost immediate, noticeable difference in how I felt.

It seems to me that something used for great benefits for so many centuries deserves merit. ACV was used by the Egyptians as far back as 3000 BCE, used as well as the Babylonians, and Julius Caesar's army used a vinegar tonic to stay healthy and fight off disease. Hippocrates, in 400 BC, treated his patients with apple cider vinegar.

The Greeks and Romans kept vinegar 'vessels' for healing, and for flavoring and preserving food. In Paris, vinegar was sold by the barrel and was used for deodorant, and for a delicious tonic drink to keep the body ageless. Even Christopher Columbus took vinegar barrels for his sailors on his long sea travels to prevent scurvy and disinfect wounds.

There is nothing 'magical' in Bragg's ACV; it is simply a raw apple cider vinegar (which you can make) with a bit of the 'mother' still in the bottle. ('Mother' is the substance containing various bacteria that forms on the surface of liquids undergoing acetous fermentation. It can be added to wine, cider, etc. to promote vinegar formation. Also called "mother of vinegar."

Japanese Beetle Infestation

Photo from Benimoto's photostream

It's too late to do any prevention for this year's Japanese Beetles, but here's a suggestion for capturing some this year before they do much damage. I use it in preference to the 'pick and squish' method.

You could also try interplanting with species that are known to actively repel the adults: white mums, rue, tansy, larkspur, garlic, citronella. Down below the recipe is a prevention suggestion for next year.

Japanese Beetle Mix
This recipe is to be used in the height of the Japanese Beetle season.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 mashed banana
1 pkg yeast

Mix all ingredients in a milk jug. Place the jug (with the top off) in an area where Japanese Beetles gather. The bugs get in but not out. (It doesn't draw all the neighbor's Japanese Beetles the way the traps do.)

A very organic way to go after those beetles!

Prevention

Prevention is not much help for this year, but controlling grubs in the immediate area will reduce the numbers in succeeding years. Chemical controls are best applied in late summer, after the current season's eggs have hatched and the grubs have begun to feed. There are numerous products available for eliminating grubs, the one you choose must be labeled for white grubs, and the package directions must be followed exactly. Your local Cooperative Extension Service can help determine the best time to apply in your area.
 

Biological controls include beneficial nematodes and Milky Spore disease, and both of these attack only grubs, and prevent recurrence for years. See "Help! Grubs are killing my lawn!" for more info on biological controls for grubs.

Keeping Potatoes

 Photo from Jason Doucette's photostream

I keep potatoes all winter and into spring in my root cellar, buried in straw. The standard tips for storing potatoes are storing them out of light, having good air circulation, and optimal temps of 42-55ºF and high humidity so they don't dry out. Potatoes should not be washed before storing, and they should be allowed to cure for 2-3 days in a cool place to harden the fragile skins.

Check carefully for blemishes and soft spots, or damage from digging. Use those right away (or discard) instead of storing. Store in paper bags but not plastic bags so they can breathe. (As I said, I bury mine in straw.) Potatoes exposed to light will develop a green tint which make the potatoes bitter, and eating a lot of green potatoes at one time is potentially toxic.

Potatoes will enter a period of dormancy, and research has shown temperatures of 42-50ºF extends dormancy the longest although that varies somewhat with variety. The colder temps, however, will cause the potato starch to turn to sugar, and those potatoes if fried will be dark. Do not store potatoes next to onions or fruit, which produce hormones and gasses that will spoil both crops.

I always lose a few from rot, probably from a blemish I overlooked when storing them. But, by the time spring rolls around and the temps are warming, the remaining potatoes always start to sprout, even in the absence of light.

Recently I read on The Old Foodie a notion she took from old ship's logs (logged 200 or more years ago). It seems the potatoes stored on ships for the long voyage from England to Australia didn't fare well. One log said if you drop the fresh potatoes in boiling water for a minute or so, then chill immediately, it 'cooks' the eyes just enough that the potato will not use it's energy to sprout, and will keep better on the long journey.

I'm curious to see if it really works, so I think I will experiment with a few potatoes this winter. I always have an abundance from my garden. The only thing is for me to remember that the potatoes I dip have to be set aside so I don't try to use them in spring as seed potatoes!