Garlic Powder...

I finished my garlic powder today and I have to say, it is GREAT!

Making my own...

In my never ending attempt to make things which I should probably just buy I have decided to try my hand at granulated garlic.

Now I have to say, this is amazingly cheap. We buy many of our herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and there you can get 4 ounces of certified organic garlic for 2.25. That is a lot of granulated garlic!

But I read online that if you make your own it will taste so much better you will never go back, so I decided to give it a try! Last night my sister and I peeled the cloves of about 30 heads of garlic (heads which were culled because they were less then perfect.) Then I sliced them.

This is where farmer hubby comes in, when I am almost done, saying "Why don't you just chop them?" I explain that they cannot fall through the food dehydrator rack. He suggested cheese cloth, so tired of slicing garlic I agreed and got a peice of cheese cloth and got out my pampered chef chopper and went to work.

Once done I scopped them on my knife and spread them out. Then the fun started. My hand started BURNING. It hurt so bad. It felt like I had chopped 100 habeneros, instead of some garlic. I ran it under water fora long time, tryed soaking in milk, and finally held an ice pack for an hour. This morning my fingers are still red and hurt. All I can think is that I got a mild chemical burn from the garlic juice...

So maker beware, if you try this WEAR GLOVES. I don't know how it is going to turn out, the garlic is still in the dehydrator, but I will let you know what happens and how it turns out.

More things to worry about....

A Scientific Investigation Found that Bottled Water Caused Teenage Angst In Gen-Xrs So Just Don't Do it!

A Survey Found that Driving Causes Impotence in Dogs so Just Don't Do it!

A Paper Found that Sunshine Causes Hangovers in Canadians so Just Don't Do it!

If you are looking for something else to worry about look here...

Sigh, there are so many inconseqential things which are brought forward as things to be worried about that when a real thing comes along, how do you identify it?

My general idea is the more natural the better, or at least not the worst. Staying away from chemicals in foods (whether applied in the growing or processing) is hard to argue with. It may not cause Liberalism in Tattoed Women but it can cause a good feeling in me...

Food dyes...

There are so many things to be careful of in the food we eat that it can be overwhelming. A recent study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest talks about risks of petroleum based food dyes. Here is the report.

Blue 1, Blue 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have all been implicated as potentially hazardous.

In 1975 the average person consumed a little more then 30 mg of food dyes a day. Today it is more then 60 mg! Over 15 million pounds of food dyes were recorded with the FDA last year.

There are alternatives. In Britain (where artificial food dyes are not allowed) Nutri-Grain bars are made with Beetroot red, Annatto, and Paprika Extract. In the US the same product is made with Red No 40, Yellow No 6, and Blue No 1? Why is that?

Veridian Dynamics Food Commerical...

This is pretty funny, and frighteningly close to reality...



We canceled our satellite this spring and have been watching some series on Netflix. We just started watching "Better off Ted" and it is pretty cute with scary kernels of truth. Like the boss who says "Remember my door is always open for you, please close it on your way out!"

Pickle Class...

We had to reschedule our pickle class to the following weekend. So now the class will be July 24th. If are intrested let me know. We will be making dilly beans, bread and buttler pickles, and talking about making classic fermented pickles.

Garlic Drying...

We have long had trouble with what to do with our garlic to dry it after we have harvested. Finally we found a good solution. If all the other small farmers out there know this, WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL US!

It would work well for even a 50 head patch in a home garden. First lay out a rod.

You can use a 1x2 but we use left over tomato stakes.

Then you lay them out one at a time.

Just put a second on top and tie, zip tie, or heavy duty rubberband them together.

Then just set them on saw horses or speciality built racks to dry.

Who is Organic Food.

When you see organic food in the grocrey store do you think small farmers in the field or do you think Heinz or Kellog? You may need to think again. When you buy at a producres only farmers market or from your CSA you know who grew your food. The Cornucopia Institute has made this chart.

Check out this for a larger view...

SB 510- Again...

Here is a great article on SB510. There is a lot of misinformation out there about the bill, but that does not mean you should support it outright. Please do your research. The site below is a great place to start.

http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/food-safety-interview/?utm_source=roundup&utm_medium=email

New name?

Recent years seem to have seen a regional co-opting of the term CSA. Farmers I know have started to refer to these as "Third party CSAs." Although, these company's (because they are not farms) are sourcing their product from many farms with no direct relationship (other then buying and selling) to the agricultural process.

This should be differentiated from farms which offer a few items from other farms to slightly expand offerings. I like to say if you do not know your farmer you do not belong to a CSA. However as CSA means "Community Supported Agriculture" almost anyone selling any produce could claim the community (their customers) are supporting agriculture.

So maybe CSAs should find a new term? One not so easily co-opted. The orginal name for CSAs in Japan where they originated was Teikei. The defination of the term is a system of community-supported agriculture in where consumers purchase food directly from farmers. But, honestly, I don't even know how to say Teikei.

I found another acronym - LSPPC, Local Solidarity Partenerhips between Producers and Consumers. Maybe that is a harder term to take over? It certainly is longer then CSA, and not as easy for members to say "I belong to a CSA" then "I belong to a LSPPC." Sounds like you should be rescuing animals or protesting in northern Ireland. IT does sound a little militant.

But maybe instead of all of us changing our names, we should just continue to educate our members and the greater community about local agriculture. And while there is a valid place for local food delivery services and "Box schemes" (as they are called in England,) I will stand by my basic assertion. If you don't know the person who grows your food, you do not belong to a CSA.