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]

1. The Land of Nod Recalls Children’s Canopies Due to Entrapment and Strangulation Hazards (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09108.html)

2. Outdoor Research Recalls Warming Gloves Due to Burn Hazard (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09110.html)

3. CPSC Warns of Deadly Fire and Carbon Monoxide Hazards with Winter Home Heating

[nw_arizona_granny]

Date: Fri 23 Jan 2009
Source: US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), press release [edited]
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/stonewall01_09.html

As a precautionary measure, Stonewall Kitchen of York, Maine is
voluntarily recalling 7 dessert sauces because they have the
potential to be contaminated with _Clostridium botulinum_, a
bacterium, which can cause life-threatening illness or death.
Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look
or smell spoiled.

The following list of products was distributed nationwide to
consumers through the 9 Stonewall Kitchen Company Stores, Stonewall
Kitchen’s direct-to-consumer division (catalog/internet) and through
their wholesale division. Products could have been purchased
individually or within a gift basket. This recall affects all product
codes and expiration dates for:

- Stonewall Kitchen Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce (SKU 161312) — round
glass jar, 12 oz.
- Stonewall Kitchen Chocolate Peanut Butter (SKU 161211) — round
glass jar, 12 oz.
- Stonewall Kitchen Coffee Caramel Sauce (SKU 161204) — round glass
jar, 13 oz.
- Stonewall Kitchen Dulce de Leche Sauce (SKU 161214) — round glass
jar, 12.5 oz.
- Barefoot Contessa Espresso Dulce de Leche (SKU 542313) — round
glass jar, 10.5 oz.

Additionally, the following list of products was distributed
nationwide to consumers through A-Hold Corporation (Stop & Shop and
Giant stores). This recall affects all product codes and expiration
dates for

- Simply Enjoy Coffee Caramel Sauce — square glass jar, 13 oz.
- Simply Enjoy Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce — square glass jar, 12 oz.

To date, Stonewall Kitchen has not experienced any problems or
complaints about our dessert sauces. No illnesses have been reported
to date.

Stonewall Kitchen is voluntarily recalling these products due to the
fact that during manufacturing, the pH level and water activity did
not meet our food safety standards.

—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett

[Because of the potential severity of botulism, ProMED-mail posts
such recalls even if, as in this case, there are no human cases
associated with the food. Most of the food recalls (as in this case)
are related to defective preparation procedures, which could, but not
necessarily do, result in the germination of viable spores of _C.
botulinum_. - Mod.LL]

[Quix]

Thanks much!

(I think! LOL)

May try and adapt it . . .

to some sort of nut/fruit cake

[I know, predictable! or exceedingly fitting! from some perspectives! LOL]

I’m not a great fan of normal cakes. What a surprise!

My Dad would like a German Chocolate Cake version.

Now you’ve got me thinking . . . Oh Whee.

[metmom]

The main trick with seeds is to press them firmly into the soil, that is almost more important than covering them. If they are not firm against the soil, they will rot.

Good to know.

I haven't had much luck with onion seeds either so this year I'm trying onion sets.

[upcountry miss]

Many, many (30=40?) years ago, while driving to work, I listened to a commentator,(conservative, libertarian?) sound off about government in our lives..He went on and on about people helping people and acting responsibly in our lives, maintaining that if we all took care of our own to the best of our ability, we wouldn’t need so much government intervention in our lives. That program made so much sense to me that I eventually gave up my Democrat affiliation and turned conservative.

Many years later, when my mother required 24 hour care, my two sisters and I provided that care with my retired sister caring for her days and my other sister and I doing night duty.

My husband always was more giving of his time than I. For several years, he carried water all summer for an elderly neighbor when his well went dry. He had an elderly widow neighbor that he mowed her large lawn all summer and plowed her driveway and shovelled her walks in the winter. As he was in the heating business, he was always fixing leaks and thawing frozen pipes.

Now, all this is coming back to reward us. If a neighbor sees us lugging, stacking wood, in no time, there are several helping hands arriving. Likewise, we have a neighbor showing up every Saturday morning to do any *heavy* work we have.

What a joy for me and my 80 year old cancer survivor hubby! What a wonderful world this would be if everybody lived by these precepts.

[WestCoastGal]

I will think about this greenhouse while at work today. I’m pretty sure it is beyond what i can do and there is no window on the deck, just the door. Downstairs is a cement patio with the deck above and several 2x4’s to wttach plastic sheeting to. I wonder if that would work?

Not much time to write a lot this morning, but will be back this evening and then off two days. I do have to go to the big city tomorrow for food supplies as I hate the local market.

[WestCoastGal]

Stories and recipes from Dale Earnhardt’s mother and Jeff Gordon’s mother.

“It’s a good combination between Martha and myself,” Carol
In the book, Martha mentions her husband, Ralph, liked his pound cake to be “sad” or flat and would stomp around the kitchen to make the cake fall.

“The first time I made a Sun Drop Pound Cake after Ralph died, it went flat. There was not another soul in the house when I put that cake in the oven, but it did not rise; it fell flat as a platter. Sad,” she writes.

“I’d made that cake so many times I figured this was just a fluke. I tried it again one day and darn if the same thing didn’t happen again. It was weird.”

Finally, she told herself, “I’ll try it just one more time; if this one falls, I ain’t never going to try to make one again.”

After she put the cake in the oven, she said aloud, “OK, Ralph, stay out of my kitchen while this cake is baking.”

This time the cake didn’t fall, and Martha was satisfied though somewhat mystified: “I don’t believe in ghosts, and I never saw Ralph. But I’ve never had a cake fall again.”

Secret Cake

Makes 1 sheet cake. “As bullheaded as Dale (Sr., left) could be, he was also that tender-hearted,” Martha Earnhardt writes in “Pit Stop in a Southern Kitchen: Two Moms of Racing Legends ServeUup Stories and Recipes” (Revell, $19.99). “My Secret Cake was one of his favorite desserts. You put the icing on it while everything’s hot. The ‘secret’ is that it gets better and moister each day. This is also called 30 Minute Sheet Cake.”

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup margarine

2/3 cup shortening

1 cup water

3 1/2 tsp. cocoa

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. baking soda

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In mixing bowl, mix flour and sugar. In pan, heat margarine (2 sticks), shortening, water and cocoa and let come to boil. Let cool and pour over flour and sugar. Mix well. Add buttermilk, salt, eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Mix together and pour into 11x16x1-inch jelly roll pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make Icing (recipe below). Pour over cake while hot.

Icing

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup margarine

3 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup pecans

In pan, boil buttermilk, margarine, and cocoa until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla and chopped pecans.

Sun Drop Pound Cake

Makes 1 cake. From “Pit Stop in a Southern Kitchen: Two Moms of Racing Legends Serve Up Stories and Recipes” (Revell, $19.99).

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

6 oz. Sun Drop citrus soda

1 tsp. lemon flavoring

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Icing

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In mixing bowl, cream softened butter or margarine (2 sticks) and shortening together; add sugar while mixing. Add eggs individually, combining well after each addition. Add flour and Sun Drop or other light citrus soda, alternating between them. Add lemon flavoring and vanilla extract. Mix well. Bake in greased and floured 10-cup Bundt pan for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare Icing (recipe below). When cake is done, cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto plate. Pour Icing over cake, as for glaze, while cake is hot.

Icing

2 Tbsp. butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 oz. Sun Drop citrus soda

In pan over medium-low heat, heat butter until melted, then mix in powdered sugar along with Sun Drop.

Martha’s Potato Salad

Makes at least 10 generous servings. From “Pit Stop in a Southern Kitchen: Two Moms of Racing Legends Serve Up Stories and Recipes” (Revell, $19.99).

5 lbs. Idaho potatoes

5 hard-boiled eggs

1 medium onion

1 green pepper

1 cup bread-and-butter pickles

1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip salad dressing

2 Tbsp. mustard

1 Tbsp. pickle juice

In large pan, cook potatoes (washed, peeled, and cubed) in boiling water until done, then drain and run cold water over them. Set aside and let cool. In large baking pan (for ease in stirring) mix chopped hard-boiled eggs, diced onion, diced green pepper, diced bread-and-butter pickles, salad dressing, mustard and pickle juice. Pour in drained potatoes; mix well. Serve family style in large bowl.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Lifestyle/Food/entFOOD01020409.htm

[trisham]

That's a good reason not to have a lawn. I wonder how many of that type of injury happens every year?

I found a tick on my arm last night. Unattached, thank goodness. Two of our dogs were in the woods last week end, where we regularly have deer coming in.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Malicious Code Spreading Via Valentine’s Day Spam

Original release date: January 29, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Last revised: January 29, 2009 at 12:55 pm

US-CERT is aware of public reports of malicious code circulating via
spam email messages related to Valentine’s Day. These messages contain
a link to a website that contains several images of hearts and
instructs users to choose one image. If users click on one of the
images, they will be prompted to download an executable file. Reports
indicate that the executable files could be named: youandme.exe,
onlyyou.exe, you.exe, and meandyou.exe (please note that these file
names may change at any time). If users accept the download, malicious
code may be installed onto their systems.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to take the following
preventative measures to help mitigate the security risks:
* Install antivirus software, and keep virus signatures up to date.
* Do not follow unsolicited links and do not open unsolicited email
messages.
* Use caution when visiting untrusted websites.
* Use caution when downloading and installing applications.
* Refer to the Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (pdf) document
for more information on avoiding email scams.
* Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
document for more information on social engineering attacks.

Relevant Url(s):
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html

http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf

[nw_arizona_granny]

This message contains the following:

1. Skull-And-Crossbones Necklaces Recalled By Spencer Gifts Due to Risk of Lead Exposure (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09111.html)

2. JAKKS Pacific(r) Recalls Spa Factory(tm) Aromatherapy Kits Due to Explosion and Projectile Hazards (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09112.html)

3. DDI Inc. Recalls Toy Construction Play Sets Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09113.html)

4. L.L. Bean Recalls Ice Cleats Used During Winter Weather Due to Fall Hazard (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09114.html)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2009
Release #09-112

Firm’s Recall Hotline: (877) 875-2557
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

JAKKS Pacific(r) Recalls Spa Factory(tm) Aromatherapy Kits Due to Explosion and Projectile Hazards

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Spa Factory(tm) Aromatherapy Fountain & Bath Benefits Kits

Units: About 516,000

Importer: JAKKS Pacific Inc., of Malibu, Calif.

Hazard: Pressure from the buildup of carbon dioxide in the jars of Bath Bombs/Balls or Bath Fizzies can cause the caps on the jars to blow off, posing explosion and projectile hazards. The mixtures also can contain citric acid, which can get into the eyes during an explosion, posing a risk of eye irritation.

Incidents/Injuries: JAKKS and CPSC have received 88 reports of exploding jars, including 13 injuries. Injuries to children aged 6 to 11 years old include three cases of irritated eyes, two eye injuries from flying caps, a cheek welt and a cheek cut. Injuries to adults include four reports of bruising, one swollen joint, and one face gash.

Description: This recall involves the purple caps on jars in the Spa Factory(tm) Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain and the Bath Benefits(tm) Kit toys. The jars are used to make Bath Bombs/Balls and Bath Fizzies. The following models are included in this recall. The item number is located on the bottom of the product’s packaging.

Model Item | Number
Spa Factory(tm) Bath Benefits(tm) Kit | 37836
Spa Factory(tm) Deluxe Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain | 37908
Spa Factory(tm) Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain | 37837
Spa Factory(tm) Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain | 54892
Spa Factory(tm) Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain | 54857

Sold at: Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, Target, and toy stores nationwide from August 2008 through January 2009 for about $13 for the Bath Benefits Kit and between $30 and $50 for the Aromatherapy Fountain.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the toy’s jars and caps away from children and contact JAKKS for free replacement jar caps with vent holes.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact JAKKS toll-free at (877) 875-2557 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, visit the firm’s Web site at www.myspafactory.com, or email the firm at caps@jakks.net

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09112.html

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

And spring is here, are you ready?<<<

Yes! It will be 75 today but rain for the next week. We need it! Once my husband’s tools are outside where they belong we can start planning what we will plant this year, and where.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Now, all this is coming back to reward us. If a neighbor sees us lugging, stacking wood, in no time, there are several helping hands arriving. Likewise, we have a neighbor showing up every Saturday morning to do any *heavy* work we have.

What a joy for me and my 80 year old cancer survivor hubby! What a wonderful world this would be if everybody lived by these precepts.<<<

It is a reflection of your goodness.

I am so glad you have good people around you.

Here, you can live 30 years and not speak to your neighbor or even know their name.

[nw_arizona_granny]

I haven’t had much luck with onion seeds either so this year I’m trying onion sets.<<<

That will work, also plant a couple of big ones from the store and they will bloom and give you fresh seeds to try again next year, plus you will get 4 onions for each one you plant, they split into parts, LOL, don’t ask me how or why, but it happens.

One year my brother brought me about 20 pounds, that where not nice anymore, few were still fit to cook, but he said to plant them and they grew and split into more onions.

[upcountry miss]

Bless your heart. I know we must have been sisters in another time and place. The happiest time of my life was when I gave up my suits and high heels for bib overalls and work boots. At 76 years of age, I am planting fruit trees, planning new flower beds and starting seedlings. People laugh and say I will never harvest fruit, I say “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Anyway, most of the pleasure is in the planning, so here I sit, perusing seed catalogs, planning and wiling away a snowy day.

Your experience in the hay field reminds me of the days helping hubby hay. Shorts are certainly not appropriate!! One day, the knotter on our old baler was not working and we stood to lose a whole field of hay (several hundred bales) so it became my chore to sit on the end of the baler and “trip” the knotter when needed. After several hours of tripping the knotter, I was completely grayish black from head to toe with hay dust. Only my eyes showing any white and ITCHY all over. How good that shower felt when I got home.

We have always been blessed with old equipment as hubby LOVES to take things apart and try to improve on the mechanism, sometimes with disastrous results. He should have been an inventor. Hubby would like to grow rabbits, but I know I could never eat them. We had to stop raising hogs as they can make you grow attached to them if you talk to them and scratch them. When butchering time came, I would hide in the bedroom until they were taken away to the butchers and then couldn't bring myself to eat them. I am such a whusss./p>

[metmom]

Some stuff gets nasty once it goes to seed, like lettuce gets bitter. Do onions do that or are the bulbs still good to eat?

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I think the problem with Kingman is that it’s made up of people from Phoenix who couldn’t make it in the city (or got tired of the heat) and went looking for someplace cheaper. My daughter said there is a lot of meth use up there. Meth makes people crazy - it’s the worst drug ever made up. If there ever was a satanic drug, meth is it.

[nw_arizona_granny]

The patio might work, and if it has a south facing wall or even a western exposure, if you slanted the side wall, as in an ‘A’ frame [half of the wall of an ‘A’ frame,] you would capture more sun/heat storage.

The mass of cement would hold heat.

It will work, if you can get enough sunlight.

The Solar Greenhouse books will have mathematical tables to show the angles to get the best sun from the south, for your location. Need I admit that I am not educated enough to use them, so we built as we could and it worked.

About the plastic, if you use the paint drop clothes, they will last 6 months or a little longer and then disintegrate.

They sell a UV light blocked roll of plastic at the Hardware stores, it is going to cost a lot more, but is good for several years.

You could test it with the cheap plastic and if you want it to really work, then buy the proper stuff.

Does the truck driver that posted on TM haul or know someone who installs mobile homes, if so, they use a good grade of plastic to seal the open parts on the mobile homes while moving them, it may not be UV light protected, but would be free , LOL, or for the price of a dinner.

One might even get a lead, by calling a mobile home installing company and asking about the plastic they remove from the mobiles.

If it is in the right spot, you might get enough heat from it in the winter to make it worth buying the good plastic.

The cement floor will be passive storage and a few barrels of water will store even more heat.

And if you are using a cooler in the summer, it will work better in the summer, if it can draw the moisture from the green house.

The first summer we were here, with the roof mounted evaporative cooler, we never got cool, the next summer the 25’ greenhouse was up and a door opened into the house, when the door was open, the house cooled better, with no changes made to the cooler.

Have a good day at work.....Friday’s are nice, no matter what day of the week they fall on.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Thanks a lot LucyT... for making cake more dangerous. Cake used to be two hours away, enough of an appetite suppressant to make it not happen most of the time. Not any more. So thanks. I think.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I like the taste of dehydrated spinach, better than regular.<<<

Now that is an idea I’d like to try!

[nw_arizona_granny]

That’s a good reason not to have a lawn. I wonder how many of that type of injury happens every year?<<<

Far more than we realize.

With the new ride on mowers, there are so many who manage to kill themselves, by allowing it roll over on top of them.

When I learned to drive a tractor, pulling knives or harrows, I was about 12 and worked with my own tractor the full day, my dad never realized that I was a girl.

The real danger was turning to start the next row and having what you were pulling tilt and come down on you.

I remember Luke Bevels, giving my dad holy hell, for rigging such a wide set of equipment behind a beginner.

I survived.

We have a real tick problem here, I have seen dogs that you could not touch, without finding a tick.

And they get in the house.

If you have tick or bug problems, get a flock of Guinea hens, they will patrol the yard and eat anything that moves.