Home gardening offers ways to trim grocery costs [Survival Today, an on going thread]

Dallas News.com ^ | March 14th, 2008 | DEAN FOSDICK

[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."

[nw_arizona_granny]

English Muffin Bread (1 1/2-Pound Recipe)

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 16 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread Machine Recipes Breads
Breakfast/ Brunch Fleischmann’s Yeast

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
1 1/2 cups water (70º to 80ºF)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon gluten (optional)
2 1/4 teaspoons Fleischmann’s® Bread Machine Yeast

Measure all ingredients into bread machine pan in the order suggested by
manufacturer.

Process on basic/white bread cycle; use medium/normal crust color setting.
Do not use delayed-bake feature. Remove bread from pan; cool on wire rack.

Slice and toast to serve. Store bread in airtight container or plastic
storage bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, slice, wrap airtight
and freeze for up to one month; toast frozen slices, without thawing, as
needed.

Source:
“Fleischmann’s Yeast”
S(Internet address):
“http://www.breadworld.com/index.html";
Yield:
“1 Loaf”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 129 Calories; 1g Fat (4.2% calories
from fat); 5g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; trace
Cholesterol; 232mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0
Non-Fat Milk; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : Do not make loaves larger than recommended by bread machine
manufacturer. Use a 1-pound recipe if your bread machine pan holds 10 cups
or less of water.

* Gluten, a protein product from flour, improves loaf height, texture and
structure; it can be found in health food stores and some supermarkets.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bread-machine/

[ErnBatavia]

Those flood maps, should be included in every escrow, but folks would not read it, as they don’t read contracts.

Amen....of course flood maps are not in California escrows (so far as I know), but they should be.

.........given all that, back to the thread title:

On a total lark, wifey and I sowed some leaf lettuce seed in an 18" by 18" pot, irrigated by a drip tube, in mid September..........we are plucking sufficient greens for our salads and forthcoming turkey sandwiches; what a hoot: desert fall/winter/container/cool-weather-crops-only gardening.

Our total pest control program is to pluck a mantis off the wall (once it's done laying eggs, as in this picture from just this afternoon) and plop it amongst the young tenders...

(Ten minutes after I snapped this pic, the green mantis was gone, leaving the egg pods......we'll be monitoring)

[nw_arizona_granny]

Rina wrote:
> I’m not sure, but my guess is that it causes a reaction that makes
> the holes in the bread... When you mix baking soda with an acid it
> foams.

Yar, it’s why some heavy cake and quickbread batters call for both
baking soda and baking powder—and notice that all of those kinds of
recipes have an acid component. First the baking soda and acid (lemon
juice, buttermilk, vinegar, even fruits/fruit puree) meet up and make
carbon dioxide to lighten the batter and then the baking powder steps in
and finishes rising the product.

From what I’ve seen, English Muffins and English Muffin bread are an
anomaly in calling for both yeast AND baking soda. I theorize, without
doing much reseach into it, that this is because this isn’t as highly a
hydrated (wet) bread as say, the Italian ones that form such big holes.

(which is the fancy way of saying I think Rina’s right).

Brian

[from same link as last post]

[nw_arizona_granny]

I made the Sourdough version of English Muffin Bread that’s posted on
the Sourdough Home web site here:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/sourdoughfasttrack1.html

He also has a regular yeasted English Muffin bread recipe here:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/bakingintro.html or here:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/bakingintro2.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing the photo.

I have always enjoyed the Mantis and when I could catch them brought them in the house for the plants that are indoors.

Yes, on the lettuce, isn’t it wonderful, to pinch a few leaves here and there and always have fresh and real food.

Try the oriental greens, and a few sprouted onions or even a bag of the sets from the nursery and you can cut the onion tops a little at a time and have fresh onions in every thing.

Swiss Chard and Spinach will also do well in a pot, as do the pepper plants.

I read the other day that if you plant the root of an onion, it will grow new ones, I have also read the same with celery, takes a while, but so what, you were going to throw it out.

I had a half of an onion, in the refrig for too long, so went to toss it, noticed that it was growing leaves from the center and set it on the counter, still in its plastic bag, mold and all and it is growing a new onion top from the half plant.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

“Try this... Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a small bowl, then add on top of it pour a tablespoon of balsalmic (sp?) vinegar!”

That is especially good with sourdough bread. Yummy!!

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Thank you, I didn’t test it before posting, oops.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Yes even if the price is higher, what are you going to do? I’m sure it’s a fraction of the per-pound price on the shelf, and given your recommendations, probably three times the freshness and quality. I would store the organic, in hopes that I wouldn’t need to use it in an emergency and would be eating it myself later on. LOL

[nw_arizona_granny]

Urban Agriculture in Naga City, Philippines - Cultivating Sustainable Livelihoods

Naga is a mid-size city of 150,000 residents in Bicol region, central Philippines.
It is internationally and nationally renowned as among the ‘best practices’ in good
local governance in the Philippines and in the developing world.
Naga City currently sits in an interesting position with regards to local UA (urban
agriculture) practices. Despite being enclosed by rich agricultural lands, encroaching
development and social stigmatization of farmers pose serious threats to the future
of local agriculture in the city.

---

Urban Agriculture Film - Dakar, Hanoi, Dar es Salaam and Quito

This film, produced by the RUAF, is a very good, brief introduction to urban agriculture.
Cities visited include: Dakar, Senegal; Hanoi, Vietnam; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;
and Quito Ecuador.

Part 2 of the video is on the following page.

---

Urban Vineyards: Multiplying with multiple benefits

Production of wine within the modern city is increasing from Vienna, Austria to
Vienna, Virginia. This form of urban agriculture includes tourism, recreation,
gourmet meals and picnics as well as diverse wines.
In 2007, Virginia was declared one of the Top Five new wine travel destinations
in the world by Travel and Leisure magazine, the only one in the USA. In urban northern
Virginia [Washington DC commuter zone], Loudoun County from 1986 to 2005 was either
first or second in population growth amongst all American counties, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific.

---

We harvested Jerusalem artichokes today.

Maria planted lots of Jerusalem artichokes last April and now we are harvesting
buckets of these tasty tubers.

Jerusalem artichokes or Sunchokes are a perennial sunflower with tasty potato-like
tubers. 6-8 ft tall with daisy-like flowers, sunchokes are very hardy and can become
weedy, so plant them in a bed that is permanent. Harvest from August through late
Fall. Nutty tasting tubers become sweeter after frost when left in the ground!

---

1933 - Prince of Wales (Edward) and the Unemployed Allotment Scheme

Newsreel: H.R.H. (His Royal Highness) the Prince of Wales sees Abbey Wood small-holdings,
where 350 unemployed are hard at productive work.
The Prince of Wales undertakes a little spadework at an allotment garden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All stories are on our web site here:
City Farmer News [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001xwJrVZqdX8u8aLnVkGBlJsCaLe956MptrGVoFT7W2PQ2ugRfro7rQ4jB3uR3TYqLk49JTc62S442b1XrazubmW3zC3YQzE6_pZrdi766KQjF7C_s0Q9c8A==]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Levenston
City Farmer - Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

That is fantastic!! I find those mantises amazing!

We moved to Arizona in 1989. My daughter was four. We were outside one afternoon and I saw a praying mantis on the wall of the house. I showed it to her, told her it was a Praying Mantis, and explained what it did, and she was captivated by it. It stood still for a while and then flew off. Of course we both screamed and ducked, then looked for it to make sure we didn't let it into the house.

After we went into the house, she went to watch TV and I made dinner. Later I gave her a bath and put her in bed, and she looked at me with big eyes, and said, "Mom, is that FLYING MENACE going to get into the house?"

[nw_arizona_granny]

LOL, not a problem, easy to fix.

That is one of the reasons that I don’t like the hidden urls, you can’t copy them and if I get careless I often click one and find myself with a frozen computer, as some of the big sites are just simply too big and busy for my internet connection and computer.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Yes even if the price is higher, what are you going to do? <<<

When I was ordering from Walton’s in the past, there was a big savings over the Kingman supermarket prices, and that was before I knew how fresh it would be.

Organic is nice, but to afford it, I must grow it.

Praying that we never need more than a 3 day emergency supply.

I worry about the people in California, they all think they can head this way and when they get here, they will find that there is less here than they left.

Not one bite of food is grown in the Kingman area for markets and very few locals grow a garden.

There is a small sometimes farmers market, at the extension office, during the summer, I could never get to it and now do not drive at all.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

If the worst happens, we will not leave California... we will try to make living in the mountains work somehow. We know what the desert is like... no water, no way to grow anything, overwhelming heat, and cactus everywhere. It would be better to try to “hide in plain sight.” If/when that time comes.

[ChocChipCookie]

Have you tried freezing eggs? I’ve read directions online to do this and am wondering if the thawed eggs would perform the same as fresh in baking and the usual egg dishes.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

According to the stuff I posted above in post 6813, you can freeze whites and yolks separately for about a year. Yolks will thicken after freezing. They don’t recommend freezing whole eggs. I imagine there’s a formula to measure whites/yolks to simulate a whole egg (i.e., 1 1/2 T white to 1 T yolk or some such might equal one egg). I can try to find that on the internet if you like, just write back.

Granny, thoughts?

[JDoutrider]

Did you quit cooking?

How did you know I took a hiatus from the culinary arts???

LOL!

Just for a little while... going back to it this week!

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/china-food-industry-toxic-substances-7603.html

Toxic Substances Have Entered China’s Human Food Chain, Say Vet
By Xin Fei
Epoch Times Staff Nov 23, 2008

Ms. Wang Haizhen, a vet from Hebei Animal Pharmaceutical Co., exposes corruption within the industry. (The Epoch Times)

Tainted Products from China
Ms. Wang Haizhen, a veterinarian from the Hebei Province Animal Pharmaceutical Co, recently went public with some inside information exposing corruption within China’s food industry. According to her, as early as 2005, several toxic substances including melamine were detected in some animal feed further resulting in contaminated milk powder, eggs and pork having entered the food market and harming consumers. She said after the Sanlu Company’s contaminated baby formula incident, many other companies in the area had still been using chemicals such as the known carcinogen iodized rhodium protein, which is more dangerous than melamine.

Wang’s husband was actually arrested a few years ago for contacting the authorities in regards to contaminated animal feed. When the Sanlu incident occurred, she made the decision to not only continue appealing for her husband’s release but also follow in his footsteps by appealing for the people.
Wrongfully Imprisoned for Publicizing Bureaucratic Corruption

Gao Songlin, Wang’s husband, was a sales manager for the Feilong Company, a subsidiary of the Hebei Animal Pharmaceutical Co. In 2005, Gao discovered that certain banned substances had been used in the formulas for some animal feed the company had been producing. Much of this feed was already distributed, which means counterfeit drugs and toxic feed additives had already entered the market and contaminated the animal husbandry in some areas. This later led to the subsequent emergence of contaminated milk powder, eggs and pork.
Gao was shocked by all this. He made arrangements to speak with An Diajin, the head of the legal department of the company in the peaceful effort to have the toxic substances removed from the animal feed formula. Gao also reported it to the Ministry of Agriculture several times. A month after the seizure of the company, An Dianjin falsely accused Gao of embezzlement. What should have been a civil case turned into a criminal case without a criminal investigation. Gao was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison.

Wang said, “The accusations are entirely false!”

Wang remarked that authorities had long since been aware of the presence of toxic substances in animal feed and its harmful effects but did their best to keep it quiet. She said they failed to take any preventive measures, and in order to protect their own best interests, they retaliated against the reporter.

“When my husband said he would report it, the person from the Pharmaceutical Company said, ‘Go ahead! Many of our men are the authorities.”
Toxic Materials Still Being Added to Animal Feed on a Large Scale

According to Wang, Hebei is the largest manufacturing base in China. It contains several large animal pharmaceutical companies for food additives, animal feed and animal pharmaceuticals. The Feilong Animal Pharmaceutical Company is one of them.
Wang said, although the Feilong Company was closed, it quickly changed its name and went on with business. Its plant and employees never changed. Just like the Sanlu Company, it changed its name and went right on with business.

According to Wang, a lot of manufacturers are still using melamine even after the Sanlu Scandal was exposed. Besides melamine, they also add large doses of Rh proteins, Lipiodol, Clenbuterol, attractant agents, just to name a few, to get the effect of accelerating the growth rate of animals. But the chemicals and toxic materials they are adding can easily have carcinogenic effects. Some of these additives are more dangerous than melamine.

She reported that in Hebei alone, there are several hundred companies like this. Besides these, there are several thousand unregistered companies. There are many cases like these in other parts of the country.
Hidden Rules Within the Industry

According to Wang, people on the inside know all the dirty tricks. Therefore they are usually very careful when it comes to eating meats. Consuming meat containing these additives on a long-term basis can lead to serious health consequences. Higher cancer rates nowadays are directly associated with eating these type of meats.
She said it’s a secret trick of the trade to avoid meat as much as possible.
Chased by the Police

Because of further exposing the dark side of the animal pharmaceutical industry, Wang is also now wanted by the HeBei Police and so she is on the run. She said, “Ever since my husband was persecuted, I stopped all my other work to focus my efforts on seeking justice for him. Now after the Sanlu scandal, I will not only seek justice for my husband, I will also seek justice for people’s food safety.”

She said, “Seeing that many people, including children are suffering and even dying due to diseases which were unheard of a century ago, I am compelled to stand up and tell the truth, otherwise, I won’t be able to face my own conscience.”

“I believe my husband will be very pleased to learn what I am doing. He will always stand up for truth and justice.”

Original article in Chinese.
Last Updated
Nov 23, 2008

[nw_arizona_granny]

LOL, I do not remember having frozen eggs.

I have used Walton’s dried eggs for bread and cakes, works fine.

It would be interesting to learn the ratio of yolk to white.

Mary once told me that as she taught her girls to cook, she once scraped the whites out of the egg shells and saved it until she had enough for making an Angel food cake.

I don’t remember how she saved it, but she froze everything.

[nw_arizona_granny]

How did you know I took a hiatus from the culinary arts???<<<

I looked in my tea leaves.

Actually, I missed having you on the thread.

[LucyJo]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, granny, and to TAC, and to all the FReeper family.

I read some of that good info from TAC.

Thanks again for this great thread of useful info.