Posted on 03/23/2008 11:36:40 PM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach can battle back by growing their own food. [Click image for a larger version] Dean Fosdick Dean Fosdick
Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies.
At the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta this winter, D. Landreth Seed Co. of New Freedom, Pa., sold three to four times more seed packets than last year, says Barb Melera, president. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say, 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in the supermarket.' That's a 180-degree turn from the norm."
Roger Doiron, a gardener and fresh-food advocate from Scarborough, Maine, said he turned $85 worth of seeds into more than six months of vegetables for his family of five.
A year later, he says, the family still had "several quarts of tomato sauce, bags of mixed vegetables and ice-cube trays of pesto in the freezer; 20 heads of garlic, a five-gallon crock of sauerkraut, more homegrown hot-pepper sauce than one family could comfortably eat in a year and three sorts of squash, which we make into soups, stews and bread."
[snipped]
She compares the current period of market uncertainty with that of the early- to mid-20th century when the concept of victory gardens became popular.
"A lot of companies during the world wars and the Great Depression era encouraged vegetable gardening as a way of addressing layoffs, reduced wages and such," she says. "Some companies, like U.S. Steel, made gardens available at the workplace. Railroads provided easements they'd rent to employees and others for gardening."
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1255&PR=True
LEMON ICE
blackdash.gif (929 bytes)
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 cups lemon juice
1 TBSP. grated lemon peel
Directions: In saucepan over low heat, cook and stir sugar and water till sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Pour into freezer container. Freeze for 4 hours, stirring every 30mins. or till mixture becomes slushy. Sprinkle with lemon peel. MMMMM soooo refeshing!
Submitted By: Debbie
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1276&PR=True
CRANBERRY FUDGE
Preparation Time: 15mins
Number of Servings: 25 pieces
Calories Per Servings: OH MAN!!
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Ingredients:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pkg. Ocean Spray Craisins(6oz), any flavor
1/3 cup chopped walnuts OR pecans, optional
Directions: Line bottom and side of 8inch square pan with plastic wrap; set aside. Combine chocolate chips and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat till melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Add icing sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla; stir vigorously till mixture is thick and glossy. Add cranberries and nuts, mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Cover and chill till firm, about 8 hrs. Cut into 1-1/2 inch squares. Store covered in fridge. Serve at room temperature. MMMMM!!!
Submitted By: Debbie
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1347&PR=True
Cuban Cake(Yummy! )
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Number of Servings: 5-6
Ingredients:
1 square loaf Angel Food Cake { store bought }
1 LARGE pkg. Vanilla Puddiing { cook style type}
1 8oz. pkg. Cream cheese
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained well
2 ripe bananas
1 8 oz. Cool whip
Directions: Slice cake half, lengthwise, on cookie sheet, laying CUT sides UP. Cook pudding according to pkg. directions and add cream cheese to it til melted.Pour hot over the cut cake Let set awhile til it sets a little. Sprinkle the pineapple over the pudding, and add sliced longways the 2 bananas, Frost entire cake with the Cool whip. Refrigerate til serving time. Yummy !
Submitted By: Chyna
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1365&PR=True
Puppy chow(a fun novelty treat that kids love ! East to make too.)
Preparation Time: 10 mi nutes
Number of Servings: makes a lot !
Ingredients:
1 cup peant butter
1 cup chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons margarine
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 box Rice Chex cereal
2 cups confectioners sugar
Directions: MELT TOGETHER : peanut butter,chocolate chips,margarine and vanilla . Pour over 1 box Rice Chex. Then pour into a plastic bag that has 2 cups powdered sugar in it. Shake to coat well. Store in airtight container. Eat as snack food.
Submitted By: Chyna
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1370&PR=True
Spam Pie(A hearty meal made with Spam,mash potatoes, green beans and a golden biscut top.)
Preparation Time: 1 hour
Number of Servings: 6
Ingredients:
6 small potatoes
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine
1tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch or two of pepper
1 can of Spam (cubed)
1 can of greenbeans (drained)
1 roll of biscuts
Directions: Start by peeling and cubing potatoes. Boil submerged in water until tender. (25-30 mins.)Drain. In med. bowl mash potatoes with margarine,salt,pepper and garlic powder. In casserole dish smooth out potates. In a skillet fry cubed spam with greenbeans in butter or margarine and seasonings of your choice until the spam gets darker around edges. Place greenbeans and spam on top of potatoes and top with the biscuts. Place in oven (preheated to 400 degrees for 20 mins. Let stand 5 mins. before serving.
Submitted By: Heather H.
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=777&PR=True
Rio Spa Fruit Salad(An Apricot, Date, Apple & Celery Delight)
Preparation Time: 20
Number of Servings: 4
Nutrition Info: Low fat, vitamin and mineral rich.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dried apricots, plumped with hot water, drained and finely chopped
3/4 dates, plumped with hot water, drained and finely chopped
6 celery ribs, finely chopped
3 crisp red apples, cored and finely chopped
4 T. plain yogurt
1/4 t. nutmeg
pinch of salt
5 t. finely grated coconut, toasted in a dry frying pan
Directions: Combine the apricots, dates, celery and apples in a large bowl. Add the yogurt, salt and nutmeg, mixing thoroughly so that the salad is coated completely. Garnish with the toasted coconut and serve immediately. Serves 4.
Submitted By: Rio Caliente Hot Springs Spa of Guadalajara, Mexico
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=776&PR=True
Low Fat Spa Granola(The best Granola you have ever tasted. Try it today!)
Preparation Time: 30 Min
Number of Servings: 4
Nutrition Info: From The Whole Enchilada, the eco spa cook book published by Rio Caliente Spa Vacations. For a sample spa menu based on the book, visit: http://www.riocaliente.com/cuisine.html
Ingredients:
Rio’s Granola
2 lbs. rolled oats (not the quick-cooking or instant variety
3/4 cup pecans, chopped or broken
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, whole
3/4 cup hulled sesame seeds, toasted or raw
1/2 cup powdered low fat milk
2 T. sesame oil
1/4 cup honey
Directions: Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Add the powdered milk and mix again. Then add the oil and honey and mix thoroughly, using your hands to turn the mixture over and over. Place into baking pans and bake in a slow (250F) oven for 45 minutes to an hour until it is golden brown. Stir every 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. Note: If you add wheat germ, the granola must be refrigerated. Additional ingredients: Powdered soy milk or flakes, peanuts, wheat germ, bran, oat, rye, wheat or soy flakes, soy nuts, raisins, currants or other dried fruits, almonds or other nuts. Note: If you add soy flakes, be sure to include them at the very end of baking as they tend to burn.
Submitted By: Rio Caliente Hot Springs of Guadaljara, Mexico
Email/Web Site: http://www.riocaliente.com/cuisine.html
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=787&PR=True
Turkey as an alternate meat sauce(Sauce)
Preparation Time: 8 minutes Frozen to done
Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 package’s) of sauce mix
Directions: Brown ground turkey in a couple table a couple spoons of olive oil add your favorite taco or spaghetti mix. Have fun and enjoy.
Submitted By: Mike
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1013&PR=True
Marshmallow Disappears
Ingredients:
Refrigerated biscuits
Melted butter
Cinnamon and sugar
Marshmallows
Shortening
Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease muffin tin. Flatten biscuit with your hands, place 1/2 of large marshmallow in cneter of flattened biscuit. Roll dough over marshmallo and pinch together so marshmallow is inside. Dip each one in melted butter then roll in cinnamon sugar. Place in muffin tins, rounded part on top, closed edges on the bottom. Bake 9-10 minutes. Tip out of pan immediately.
Submitted By: Jessica
http://www.recipebookonline.com/asp/getrecipe.asp?ID=1085&PR=True
Lemon Pound Cake——Easy, Easy Easy(Fast and easy to make, comes out every time)
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Number of Servings: 8-10
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
Directions: Mix together 1 cup sugar and butter Add eggs and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, mix well. Add salt, flour, and baking powder to mixture. add milk. Bake at 325 in a well greased loaf pan for 1 hour, or until golden brown. Mix 1.3 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup sugar. Use a toothpick to make holes in top of cake and drizzle lemon juice and sugar mixture over the top of the cake. serve warm or cold
Submitted By: jeannie
Good for you, getting your bread going, ‘before’ sitting down to the computer.
Many finish their breads in the oven, not I, once that bread machine starts, it gets to do all the work.
It never ceases to amaze me, dump a few things in a pan, punch a button and smell the bread baking..........so easy and unreal to me who has spent many days of my life baking it.
But time and styles change.
When I started cooking, you made biscuits in the top of the flour bag, LOL, I don’t think I could do it now, but on the farm that was how it was done in our family.
Glad you came to read the thread.
I don’t think of canned beans on toast, but will admit that they could be used and a taste for them developed.
About 5 years ago, I was kinda doing a version of them, a slice or two of bread, a layer of Pork and Beans, a layer of lettuce, fresh tomatoes, chopped onions and whatever else in the salad line I had, plus a healthy drizzle of ranch dressing.
It suited my taste and I ate it for months...........LOL, then quit.
I painted one as a ladybug for each of my sister’s and brother’s families and one for ours and my parents. I put the date and family vacation on the bottom. They loved tehm, and it made a nice paperweight sized momento.<<<
That is exactly what I was talking about, enhance the natural features and bring out the thought.
I can spend hours with a template and rock slabs, looking for the best ‘design/photo’ that is in the rock, so it can be cut and polished.
Lapidary work is fun and it excites me to find the beauty in the rocks.
When I had my shop, I sold the art work of a young lady, who could take the ugliest flat common desert rock and with a few strokes of her brush, paint a desert scene on them.
The smallest ones, she painted birds and desert flowers on and those I set in the findings for jewelry....think I still have one of her bird rock necklaces.
Yahoo has rock painting groups, or did about 10 years ago, I ran across them and joined about 10 years ago, just to read the fun things they were doing.
You have lots of lost treasure stories in your area.
If I remember rightly, Georgia has gold mines.
Shells are almost a lovely as rocks, I collected those for years, still would if I found one.
Prospecting is something that gets into your blood, you will more than likely never find enough to pay your expenses, as the money in mining comes from investors in your dream or scam and not the minerals.
For me, it was healthy, a reason to walk miles, look and see the country.......and talk to God, for he has always kept me safe.
He did not let me get bit by the many rattlesnakes that I so foolishly over looked, once two at eye level, on a rock wall, of course I was looking down and had to have been only inches from them.
He shared so many of his creations with me, that I still do not understand how he did it all.
Yes, it is fun to write about that which you love to do, and for me, to dig out the unknown facts and be able to write about them was the fun part.
A hundred years ago, there was a mail route here that they could not keep going, it went 125 miles to the mining camps on the Bill Williams river, almost to Wickenberg.....
The reason that it was always running late, is that the mail carriers kept going insane.
I went down and camped there several times, considered moving to the area and am sorry that I did not, as few people live there, there is no work.
I took real estate clients with me one time, they took their dogs and all went well, until, as we sat around the camp fire, all of a sudden Joyce said “They didn’t, tell me they didn’t!!!”.
I did not have a clue as to what she was talking about, but soon found out.
Their dogs were ‘working dogs’, from their recently sold horse ranch at Tucson.
The dogs went out, rounded up all the wild horses and wild burros and brought them to camp.
A stampede of them, it was dark, so no counting of the animals but 50 to a hundred or more.
They managed to call off the dogs and get the horses on past the camp.
If you want to read a good book that is accurate, on western ghost towns, get “Ghosts of the Adobe Walls”, by Nell Murbarger.
50 years ago, she camped in all the old mining towns and wrote about their histories and she is accurate, I have gone back and retraced her trips to many of them.
The horse roundup, was at Signal, Arizona, we were camped at the wall of the Cantina in her photo.
You should write a book about your adventures! I would love to have seen those dogs rounding up all the horses. Dogs are so funny, and I adore mine. We’ve never had any that didn’t have quite a personality, but then I think a lot of that depends on teh owner and interaction.
For a long time, NC was the top gold producing state that sent gold back to the old world. Hard to believe. We also have quite a history of producing top quality mica. History is so cool, and I’ll never get to read half the books on the subject taht I want to!
We have more copperheads here than rattlers. We do have one weed, long seed pods like a skinny bean—when it dries and you brush against it, it sounds exactly like a rattler. I was out with the dogs one winter day and did. I was three feet in the air and six sideways before I realized what it was. The dogs were all looking at me like I’d lost my mind. I laughed til I almost wet my pants.
I was raised reading Zane Gray and Lois L’Amour. Recently got my hands on a copy of LL autobiography. Fascinating. It was well written, like sitting down and talking to him. If they’d let school kids read stuff like that instead of the garbage tehy force on them, we’d have a lot more avid readers.
Have a great day, Granny! I always enjoy talking with you.
Have a great day, Granny! I always enjoy talking with you.<<<
Thank you and I wish you a special day also.
Prospectors say “Gold is where you find it!!!”
Keep looking, you will find it.
There are pocket of gold to be found, as if God put them there as an emergency supply.
I can show you near Quartzite/Brenda Arizona, vugs on the sides of mountains, about the size of a washing machine or two, that the Arizona mining books say were full of almost pure gold, while the surrounding areas are poor mining.
There is said to be a fairly deep, hand dug welll out of Wellton, that a hundred years ago, a man hired small boys to go down and collect the nuggets off the bottom.
I - 8 out of Yuma, is paved with the ore from a hillside area that is said to contain oat shaped/sized nuggets of gold.
So keep looking, it is out there.
The only claim that I ever drooled over, is one that a man has or turquoise that is veined with a red agate..........you have to see it, to understand its beauty.
When we found it, he was doing his assessment work and had part of the vein exposed, the hole was 15 or so foot deep and maybe 10 foot wide, and beautiful.
At Searchlight Nevada, there is a vein of turquoise that has natural gold in it, you have to see it after it is polished to fully understand its beauty.
No, I won’t be writing a book, I waited too long, and all I have done is lead the life that was dealt to me.
Imagine a real pioneer, with a wagon, headed for the gold fields and a dream that was beyond most of our imagination.
I could never get into the Zane Gray books, have read several.
If you want real adventure stories, read Earle Stanley Gardner, LOL, not the Perry Mason but the few that were non fiction.
“Hovering over Baja” is one that I recall the title of.
Earle was one of the first treasure hunters to use a helicopter to go treasure hunting.
And see if the library can find a copy of “Gold on the Desert” by a lady named Smith.
I have been to her mine and looked at it from miles away, from my place in Wellton.
My friend Mary Rohrbaugh’s husband, did some of the Caterpillar work on the mine, before the depression and she gave me Jays work journal for his work on the Betty Lee mine.
The book is as close to true as one can write a book and all that she talks of, is there to see.
http://www.freecookingrecipes.net/recipes/herbs-and-spices/h/herbes-de-provence.html
Herbes De Provence
Category: Herbs And Spices
Ingredients and Directions
3 tb Dried marjoram
3 tb Dried thyme
1 tb Dried summer savory
1 tb Dried sweet basil
1/2 ts Dried rosemary, crumbled
1/2 ts Crushed sage
1/2 ts Fennel seeds
Combine herbs, mixing well. Pack into an airtight jar (will stay fresh 4 months). Makes 4 ounces. *This recipe dates back to the 1800’s.* Orginated: Joan Tucker, Victoria B.C. Source: The Times-Colonist Newspaper Feb 9/94 From the collection of K. Deck
This is the html version of the file http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/general/en/terrorist.pdf.
Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.
Terrorist Threats
to Food
Guidance for Establishing
and Strengthening Prevention
and Response Systems
Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Disease
Cluster on Health Security and Environment
World Health Organization
The first link above will take you to the html version of the full report.
DATURA POISONING - USA (MARYLAND)
*********************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.isid.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: 16 Jul 2008
Source: The Gazette [edited]
http://www.gazette.net/stories/071608/gaitnew204310_32356.shtml
Officials: Weed turned potato stew into poison
Jimsonweed was mixed into a homemade potato stew the 6 ate at a
family dinner on 8 Jul 2008, a Montgomery County health department
spokeswoman said. An elderly family member made the stew using plants
from the family herb garden. Of the 12 people who attended the
dinner, the 6 people who ate the stew got sick.
County fire and rescue officials initially reported that the sick may
have been poisoned by mint leaves tainted with pesticides.
That changed Thursday [10 Jul 2008] after 2 experts from the county’s
disease control program and a botanist went to the family’s townhome
in the Montgomery Meadows Townhouses on the 1000 block of Travis
Lane, off Watkins Mill Road, said Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for
the county’s department of Health and Human Services. They found
recently cut jimsonweed near the garden, which surprised the
botanist, who said the plant is usually found on farmland and in
fields, Anderson said.
Then the experts went inside.
“In the trash can were not only potato peels but more clippings of
jimsonweed and they thought ‘A-ha!’” Anderson said.
Jimsonweed contains belladonna alkaloids atropine and scopolamine,
ingredients that may cause symptoms such as: mental confusion,
agitation, rapid heart rate, incoherent speech, impaired
coordination, dry, flushed or hot skin, visual or auditory
hallucinations or cardiac arrest, Anderson said.
Satnam Singh, a relative who lives next door, said his 18-year-old
son attended the dinner. The 6 who ate the stew began hallucinating
one half-hour after eating the stew, he said. “They were acting wild
and everything, like hallucinating, they didn’t know what they were
saying, what they were doing, talking all kind of nonsense,” Singh
said. “The ones who didn’t eat, like the kids, noticed.”
His son described his sick relatives, who ranged in age from 20 to 70
years old as behaving “like when you’re high on pot,” he said. He
noticed that “they were not breathing properly” and called a friend
to the home who called the ambulance, Singh said.
Family members returned home in 1 to 3 days, his wife Kamajit Kaur
said Tuesday [15 Jul 2008].
“Everyone is better, everybody is fine, everybody is perfect...” she
said. “No medications, no treatment — they said ‘Just take a rest,’
then go see the primary doctor and that’s it.”
The episode “potentially could have been fatal,” said Chuck Schuster,
the Maryland Cooperative Extension botanist who identified the plant.
“We’re really lucky.” Jimsonweed is a “typically a waste area weed,
not a garden weed,” Schuster said. It was not planted in the family
yard. The surrounding area where the plant was growing was “rough”
and unmowed. Birds or dirt from recent construction could have
brought the plant to the neighborhood, he said. Normal lawn care such
as mowing and use of weed killer typically stops the plant’s spread,
Schuster said.
The family affected has since removed all plants from the herb garden
“to be on the safe side,” Anderson said.
“We did not know it was even there,” Singh said Tuesday. Family
members “thought it was just like a spinach-type of a plant,
something like that.”
Anderson said that jimsonweed does not resemble mint. Instead, the
weed, also known as “Downy thornapple” and “Devil’s trumpet” can grow
to 5 feet tall and has “coarsely serrated” 3- to 8-inch leaves according to
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants , a Web site that contains the
Cornell University poisonous plants database. “You really have to be
careful,” she said. When it comes to eating homegrown herbs, “don’t
eat anything that you haven’t planted yourself and know exactly what it is.”
[Byline: Patricia M. Murrett]
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
promed@promedmail.org
[Jimsonweed’s Latin name is _Datura_ spp. And there a number of
different species giving a slightly different shape to the leaves or
flowers. However, they all contain the same toxic agents, just in
slightly different proportions. A photo may be seen at:
http://www.wildflowersofontario.ca/jimsonweed1.jpg
or
http://www.1000wordsphotos.com/desertflowers/jimsonweed.html The
thorny fruit that contributes to its name may be viewed at:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/D/W-SO-DSTR-FR.001.html
The memory tool for Jimsonweed intoxication is “Red as a beet, dry as
a bone” (flushed, hot, red skin) and “mad as a hatter” (from Alice in
Wonderland, for its hallucinogenic properties.) The seeds have been
collected by addicts trying to get ‘high’ because of the
hallucinogenic properties. The article correctly states that it would
appear that intoxicated individuals can appear as if they have been
smoking marijuana. However, the cardiac affects have proven to be
fatal in many cases.
The texture of the leaves and stems would be far from that of spinach
or mint, so clearly this person did not know much about the herbs in
the garden, or it was done with the intent of “spiking” the stew
without knowledge of the plant’s deadly side effects. The plant has
an almost world wide distribution and is very adaptable to many
climates and habitats.
It is fortunate that this unfortunate event has had a relatively
happy outcome. It should be noted that pets can be come intoxicated
as well and this plant and its seed are much more dangerous to our
companion animals because of their relatively small size. - Mod.TG
To quote from the ProMED reference below:
“In Bangladesh, there is a tendency [to use] powder of Datura
(_Datura_ spp, most probably _D. fastuosa_) or some species of
Oleander seed in food items, drink or cigarettes by miscreants and
offering [th m] to [unsuspecting] people. Because of the action of
Datura or Oleander seed, people become unconscious and then [the
criminals] grab their valuable items. Datura or Oleander seed contain
alkaloids which are [potent] toxins for humans and higher doses may be
fatal.”
Photo of Jimsonweed:
http://www.delange.org/Jimson/Dsc00036.jpg
- Mod.JW]
[see also:
1999
[Almost 20 years ago, the local high school kids were drinking a tea made with Datura to get high, and about 5 of them died on one day.....after their lunch break and drinking the tea....granny]
The Los Angeles Fire Department’s free 40 page Disaster Preparedness Manual is available at: WWW.LAFD.ORG
*DATURA POISONING**
Sigh. I don’t know how some people get up and get dressed in the am. How stupid can you be? Maybe just ignorant. We were always taught growing up, that if you didn’t recognize a plant—don’t eat it! Although knowledge of that kind of stuff makes for great book plots! LOL
I have a beautiful peach colored Angel Trumpet. It’s about 10 x 10, can have as many as 3-500 blooms on it at a time. Never had any desire to munch on them!
Granny—re our discussions about rocks. Hubby went floundering the other night. Not sure how much you know about salt water fishing, not trying to talk down to you—just explaining. :) The guys take the boat out, try to catch a rising tide with no wind. They pole the boat, and try to gig flounder. A gig looks like Neptune’s trident. Flounder are flat fish with both eyes on the same side of their head and the ability to camoflague themselves on the bottom. You have to be really good at spotting their outlines and driving the gig down in the right spot, just behind their eyes. It is a lot of fun! It’s quiet, nothing but wind and water and starlight, and the big lights you have pointed at the water. Like rock hunting, you can get immersed/lost in what you are doing.
Back to the rocks. I told you there aren’t any native rocks here, and there aren’t. However—the ships from the old world used stones as ballast. There’s a spot where my guys were floundering the other night where the ships used to dump ballast stones. Hubby and son brought me back half a five gallon bucket of rocks! Hog heaven! All kinds of rocks. There’s the corner of a handmade brick, probably from the huge house that used to be located on Shell Castle Island. The house and the island are nothing more than memories. Sand moves. There’s a piece of lava rock, a dinner plate sized piece of slate, a chink of mica, some dark granite, all colors and shapes and sizes and kinds. A lot of the ballast stones are big balls of chalk—I often wonder if they came from the Dover area? I love rocks, and wondering where these came from. If they could only talk!
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