Posted on 03/23/2008 11:36:40 PM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Small cans of Libby’s Vienna Sausage have long expiration dates, and are not expensive. Neither are small cans of sardines, and they have a good storage life as well; the ones packed in oil would probably be a better choice than those packed in sauce. A recent telephone call to Hormel Foods revealed that their SPAM AND OTHER HORMEL CANNED PRODUCTS HAVE A SHELF LIFE OF FOUR TO SIX YEARS because they are cooked in the can. Again, consider these items for 72 hr. packs.,,,
Dr. Bill says that you can live for 3 days on one can of Spam,
It was designed for the military in war/rations.
He is talking about surviving, not being full, it is the fat in it that does the trick.
The big cans of peanut butter that Montai had, some were good 10 years later, but a couple were not.
Ongoing Thanksgiving recipe thread on FreeRepublic:
Thanks for the link, it is a good one.
You have posted several excellent posts tonight, thank you.
I turned on KGO and they may have a fill in host.
Yes I didn’t see Bill Wattenburg’s name on the show schedule, so maybe he alternates with another host. You are right, you have to choose between talk radio and the scanner.
I could probably pick up KGO on my AM radio in the evenings. Most of the Bay Area stations come over here to Fresno quite easily in the evenings. There are lots of Giants, Athletics and Raider fans here.
You really have to concentrate on what the dispatchers are saying. The calls intersperse each other between different calls, so you have to keep listening to get the complete story.
Arson in Big Bear, wow, that is sad. Maybe the fires are set to get out of a bad mortgage?
The news just reported a dead body found down in Choinumni Park by the Kings River below the dam. Also there are people upriver from us who deal in drugs or some such. But, I don’t fear yet. They are isolated incidents. The drug use is the worst problem, people smoking marijuana or maybe other stuff.
Dr. Bill is on a 2 week vacation.
http://scannerfeeds.us/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=5
This page will have Fresno on it.
I am listening to something in Kern County, LOL, they sound like a southern accent.
It is something that I know nothing about, so haven’t a clue as to what I am talking about.
My breathing meds are so expensive that I don’t have a supply ahead of time, but I get some help from Oregano and Lavender Essential Oils, and use it still when the meds don’t do the job.
LOL, guess that I should not be surprised that the doctor who took over when the good one died in an accident, hates to see me coming....I won’t take all the things he dreams up, as he pushes pills and not cures. And he starts frowning when I tell him I use E. Oils.....last time I suggested he do some research, as they are now doing honest tests on them and proving they work, and not just by the E. Oil folks.
Oregano E. Oil kills germs and Lavender is better than any tranquilizer or sleeping pill.....and all I do is smell it, not drink it.
I went to a naturopathic doctor down in Irvine a couple of weeks ago. He had been a kidney doctor before he started practicing natural medicine. The kidney diet is a bizarre set of foods selected because they are low in potassium, phosphorus, calcium and sodium. I've only had one visit but I am really encouraged. He prescribed a supplement that doesn't mess up the electrolyte balance, an Omega 3 fish oil capsule and melatonin for better sleep. He said the labs were really good and that I might regain kidney function. I'm sure he'd be fine with lavender - as the Jewish moms say, "It can't hoit."
I'll see him next month and maybe we can move into some other areas. I actually have multiple myeloma (cancer of the antibody cells) and that's what caused my kidneys to fail. I have been doing a lot of things to try to kill the cancer cells and perhaps my kidneys will recover.
Thanks for setting up this thread. I love reading your posts, that's why I'm going through the old posts from earlier this year. Once they're all in the Word document, I can read them even if I don't have an Internet connection at dialysis.
That's not a surprise, this area was settled by Okies and Arkies back in the 1930s (think The Grapes of Wrath, it was set in the Central Valley). My husband's family all has southern accents even after living here 60 years, and so do many of the older folks at my church. It really feels like home here.
About as wild as you can get, links to webcams of every kind, pets, people and , and , more:
http://www.camstreams.com/liveinlast24hrs.asp
This said it was cats on camera, but it isn’t loading for me, too much open, I guess:
http://hillmanjohn2.camstreams.com/
Kittens, but I can’t see much with my eyes:
http://mythicbells.camstreams.com/
Grapes of Wrath,<<<
Now, you know how I came to California in the 1930’s.
I find that I still do better with southern folks, and my sister was shocked at my choice of words, she was born in San Diego in 1945, so she is almost not related to those of us who came west, from Texas as fruit tramps.
It must be something in the salt air, that makes them so different from us.
I could probably pick up KGO on my AM radio in the evenings<<<
You should be able to do so, I get them here at night and also did in San Diego.
Some place at kgo is a part that has Dr. Bills stuff on it.
He has kids as old as you and a young family that is about 5 to 10 years old....time goes so fast, that years are like months to me.
I’m sure he’d be fine with lavender - as the Jewish moms say, “It can’t hoit.” <<<
You will be amazed at how well the lavender works for sleeping, I put a drop or two on my pillow case, it washes out and I sleep.
I gave Theresa a small bottle, when she was fighting for her life, she kept it in her purse, for those chemotherapy days and for the stress of waiting for another bad report.
It helps to return the heart beat to normal, when it goes crazy.
All I do is take the cap off and smell deep for 3 or 4 times and do not have any fancy machines for dispersing it and don’t want any.
When I do go to the doctor, I put it on my wrists, helps and smells clean.
The small bottle that I have used for years for smelling is from the health food store, a brand called NOW, Lavender Essential Oil....do not buy fragrance oil, it is chemical perfume type stuff and not for healing.
I am glad you are checking other methods of being cured.
Scott found a woman who makes an herbal cancer cure in Kingman, that several people he works with swear cured them, I haven’t checked the formula, but suspect it is the same as the Nurse developed in Canada about 50 years ago.
By the time he heard of it, it was already too late for Theresa and she had it every where.
It pleases me when someone finds the thread of value, as that is what I meant for it to be.
I have always thought that i was still here to do whatever God intended, so keep trying to follow his paths.
Arson in Big Bear, wow, that is sad. Maybe the fires are set to get out of a bad mortgage?<<<
No, the fires are to start forest fires and burn lots of homes.
Las Vegas has had 5 bodies, in the past 2 weeks, it is on the radio, 720 on Am dial or kdwn.com.....found burned in the desert.
In checking for pings, I found 2 of the cracker recipes in posts #6488 and 6470.
There should also be, before that I think, a post that had several in the one post.
Tenth Amendment Champion has posted excellent links and posts on storing food and using it.
We are blessed that she found us and heeded the call, for help in posting..
We are getting far ahead of you, with a wild variety of recipes and hints, you are welcome to drop in any time.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your loved ones.
Thanks for all your wonderful ideas and advice! What a treasure trove of information you are.
Ping to a whole slew of new information on the thread.
You are welcome to visit anytime, the thread is growing.
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/vegetable-gardening-rules-just-made-to-be-broken/
Vegetable Gardening Rules Just Made to be Broken
Seems like some of you were surprised by the previous post to discover that I don’t always follow all of the conventional and established rules of vegetable gardening:
“I really like your website… your honesty about breaking a cardinal rule and not hardening off your cool weather seedlings, got my attention!” – Cameron
Well I usually do harden off my transplants and always recommend that you do likewise to protect your precious seedlings, but it’s true that I have managed to cheat occasionally and have gotten away with it. If a little insubordination catches your attention then here’s a long list of popular gardening ideas that I always refuse to abide by:
1. An edible garden has to be an eyesore – In reality a planned out and well tended vegetable garden is every bit as attractive as a flower or ornamental bed. You may not want to place them in your front yard, but there are a ton of great reasons to grow vegetables as part of any home gardening landscape.
2. You must grow veggies in rows – Organized and orderly maybe, but just plain boring and inefficient in my book. Give me a raised bed that is inter-planted with a mix different of crops arranged in a matrix pattern that covers the entire bed. It can’t be topped for yield, appearance and making life simpler for the organic gardener.
3. It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature – Let’s be honest, messing with the old lady is what gardening is all about… planting gardens in the fall, northern grown artichokes, starting seeds indoors, planting under artificial grow lights, how’s that for starters? Ok, just call it “working with Mother Nature,” but whatever you do please say no to GMO (genetically modified organisms) in the garden.
4. You need to pull all those weeds – Well to start with my garden doesn’t produce many weeds thanks to a few simple and very effective weed control techniques. But on the other hand an occasional and well behaved dandelion, lambs quarter, or chickweed is always welcomed and appreciated in my backyard.
5. You must spray chemicals – I have my own twist on this universal gardening practice… rather than use the sprayer to deliver pesticides, insecticides, and poisonous weed killers, I use it to apply foliar fertilizers like liquid kelp, compost teas, and fish emulsion which all add micro-nutrients and trace minerals to nourish the organic garden.
6. Hybrid seeds are superior – Claims of disease resistance and productivity, labeled as new and improved… okay, if they say so. But I prefer to grow those unique and flavorful heirlooms such as; Japanese Climbing Cucumbers, Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce, Black Krim Tomatoes, Thai Long Green Eggplants, Prescott Fond Blanc Melons and other varieties that were familiar to our great grandparents!
7. The primary objective is to kill bugs – But what about all of those beneficial insects that make their home in the garden? Sure there are some bad bugs out there too, but if the situation isn’t critical then I’ll leave it to nature to sort things out, or if necessary I’ll employ the least invasive organic insect control that’s available.
8. You must till the garden each year – Refer to the 2nd rule above; raised beds are the only way to grow. Frequent tilling probably creates more problems than it solves in the typical home garden setting. My tiller hasn’t moved from the corner of the garage in at least five years and I haven’t missed it a bit.
9. Spring is the best time to plant – Well I actually prefer to do as much planting as I can during the fall season. Winter vegetables, gourmet shallots, fall planted garlic, hardy greens, who says that you can’t grow an incredible vegetable garden outside of the usual spring and summer season?
10. Tomatoes are the Essential Garden Crop – I do plant tomatoes in my garden, but I also plant tomatillos, sea kale, elderberries, mushrooms, edible flowers, goji berries, and other plants that you seldom find growing in back yard veggie gardens. The point is to make room for something new and unusual rather than simply grow row after row of tomatoes, squash, or green beans.
So don’t be afraid to experiment or try something unconventional out in your vegetable garden. I’ve had fun breaking every one of these popular gardening practices and most of the plants lived to see another productive harvest!
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/worm-farming-livestock-for-the-home-gardener/
Worm Farming: Livestock for the Home Gardener
Who says that you need big acreage, fencing, and a place in the country in order to raise small livestock? You can ignore zoning ordinances, noise restrictions, or the neighbor’s objections when it comes to worm farming no matter where you reside.
Composting worms are the perfect breed of livestock for the gardener who wants to raise a little more than fruits, vegetables, and herbs in the backyard. The worms won’t put meat on the dinner table but they’ll happily recycle your kitchen waste and turn it into a rich, organic plant food known as worm castings.
It’s Time to Open a “Can-O-Worms”
I was fortunate enough to inherit a four-story worm bin, complete with red wriggler composting worms when a co-worker relocated out of state this summer (thanks Gretchen)! I’ve written about the perks of vermiculture and worm castings here in the past but this was my first attempt at vermicomposting.
The worms spent the summer contentedly out on the patio but this weekend I decided it was time to bring them indoors for the winter. The transition gave me a perfect excuse to tear things apart and take a close look at what was happening inside the worm bin. The experience was very similar to inspecting a colony of bees inside of a hive.
While there isn’t the same level of complexity, communication, and organization that the bees employ, the worms do enjoy their own sense of community and teamwork. My bin has four stackable trays in which the worms are free to roam around as they forage for food, mate, lay eggs, and do whatever other things worms do.
Touring a Deluxe Multi-Level Worm Condo
The lower level of the bin was full of finished worm castings along with a surprising number of earthworms in every stage of their development; full grown adults, juveniles, new hatchlings, and freshly laid eggs or worm cocoons. I had assumed that all but a few stragglers had abandoned this section of the worm bin to move up to greener pastures but I was wrong.
The second level of the bin was empty except for the commuters traveling up or down to reach the other levels so there wasn’t much to see in this section. The third level is where I thought all the action would be taking place because this is where I had been depositing table scraps and yard waste all summer long to feed the hungry beasts.
A giant overgrown zucchini, water hyacinths out of the pond, those mysteriously half eaten tomatoes left on the vines, weeds yanked from the garden, and other assorted organic yard matter joined the kitchen waste and shredded strips of paper that made their way into the third level to be assaulted in a piranha-like feeding frenzy.
Warning: Compost Under Construction, Do Not Disturb!
It was amazing to see just how quickly the worms were able to devour whatever came their way and convert it into the black crumbly gold of rich worm castings! Unlike bees, it wasn’t possible to actually watch them work because they retreat from sight and disappear the second that a tray is exposed to any light. That led to some interesting bouts of peak-a-boo and hide-and-go-seek between the worms and myself.
The top tray of the bin was a wasteland of dried leaves, stalks, and debris that the worms didn’t seem to be taking much interest in. The only sign of life in this tray was from light colored, threadlike strands of baby worms that you had to look really close to notice. Guess these youngins were still finding their way around, figuring out up from down, and learning what’s good or bad.
After exploring the can-o-worms bin, I spent the rest of the afternoon separating worms from castings. The job was made a lot easier by the worm’s determination to avoid the light of day and move away and down deeper as each thin layer of castings was gently scraped away. They could only run so far until eventually I was left with nothing but a twisted mass of wriggling worms.
Relocating the Composting Worms Indoors for the Winter
Sorting through the castings you could clearly notice some areas containing concentrations of adult worms and others with pockets of barely discernible baby worms. I tried my best to save every single worm but I know that some of the adults and many of the babies will be going off to the garden when I add the castings to bed that I just finished preparing to plant the fall garlic in later this week.
Once the worm bin was cleaned, castings removed, and everything reassembled, order was restored as I divided the worms onto the top of two of the trays where a smorgasbord of delightful organic waste awaited them. Then the entire production was moved indoors to a corner of the room used for propagation and seed starting activities.
I have to admit that I’m very impressed with these red wriggler composting worms and the work that they are doing in their bin. They seem to be healthy and multiplying, with little effort on my part beyond feeding them garbage. Now I’ll see how it goes in the house and over the winter for my small livestock and worm farming operation.
[Next there is an ad for a composting bin]
Thank you for the kind comments, you are welcome here and do feel free to join in the thread.
A person is often amazed at what they can learn in a lifetime, LOL, you will see one of these days.
I am still learning and at times think I don’t know much at all.
http://www.growinggroceries.com/?p=139
Life Lessons From….Vegetables?
By admin | Oct 10, 2008
This morning I was sitting cross legged on the ground in front of a few rows of young pepper plants. I had a little cultivator in my hand and was unenthusiastically scratching at the ground around them that had grown rather thick with weeds. I was trying to go about it as quickly as possible, as I had already spent more time than I had intended doing things that ‘just couldn’t wait’ in the garden and had to move on to things that ‘just couldn’t wait’ in other areas of my life.
I got bit on the hand by a fire ant at this point, but that’s largely irrelevant.
There’s something intrinsically relaxing in a vegetable garden, as I’m sure many of you noticed. As I sat there sucking my newly injured hand, a fresh wave of this restorative effect washed over me. The wind was blowing nicely, the sun was just popping it’s head over the treeline and making the dew soaked leaves sparkle a little bit. Pretty cool.
As I looked at these young pepper plants in front of me it sort of struck me that a pepper plant, like everything else on this earth, has a lot to overcome and many problems to face. Bugs, weather, animals, a scary three pronged sharp cultivator in my careless hand that had already badly nicked one of their brethren- they all threaten this poor guy’s very existence.
It doesn’t seem to bother him, though. At lease, I’ve never seen a plant have a nervous breakdown. What little he can control of his own exsistence, he does. He’ll branch out towards sunlight if he’s in the shade, for instance, but what is outside of his control, he accepts.
He goes through many stages. he’ll sprout, grow leaves, flower, fruit, and die. But he doesn’t seek counseling in between stages. He’s not trying to grow faster than his fellow peppers, and he doesn’t try to change and become a tomato plant. He doesn’t even notice the tomato plant.
People, unlike plants, strive and worry so much for what we want to be that we don’t focus on being what we are now. They aren’t worried about the economy, and they don’t give a dime if Obama or McCain wins the White House. Job security is not an issue to them. And you know what? Nine times out of ten they usually make out just fine. And when they don’t, I get more upset about it than they do. I’ll loose sleep over a squash bug invasion. They just wing it. Funny how that works out.
I want to be more like a pepper plant.
[Are we too late to sign the petition? Just plain laughing at the thought of it all...granny]
http://www.growinggroceries.com/?p=181
Sign the Petition at EatTheView.org for a Healthier President!
By admin | Oct 21, 2008
I’m often late when it comes to finding out about stuff. I’m always the very last person to find out about every internet craze or popular website, for instance.
Well, I think I’ve done it again, but in case you haven’t heard about eattheview.org, then please head over and sign the petition for the next president to turn the White House lawn into a veggie garden! Wouldn’t that be so freaking awesome?
I can just picture McCain (not so much Obama, he doesn’t have the farmer look, I’m afraid) in overalls, a plaid shirt, and a hanky hanging out of his back pocket whilst hoeing the Presidential cabbage patch and whistling along to Woody Guthrie’s ”This Land is Your Land”.
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2 Comments so far
1.
Esther Montgomery October 27, 2008 7:41 am
Big flat lawns perplex me. I’m not even struck on rose gardens. I wouldn’t wouldn’t make a good American. (I’m English.) Turning a wide expanse of empty grass into an interesting vegetable garden sounds like a very good idea to me.
Esther Montgomery
ESTHER IN THE GARDEN
http://estherinthegarden.blogspot.com/
P.S. I came across you through Blotanical
2.
admin October 28, 2008 7:24 pm
Esther (Esther totally my favorite name, btw), sometimes I think I wouldn’t make a good American either, which is a problem since I’ve spent my entire life here.
Cool blog, btw!
I haven’t been on Blotanical much since my feed stopped showing up in the picks. Very selfish of me, I know. I keep meaning to get back on there.
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