[Community_garden] Assistance with Project and Intro
Chuck Waibel
newworld at fedteldirect.net
Sat Jul 14 14:37:28 EDT 2007
Hey Mike and All,
Of course, if you know that you're in an area that has questionable
water supplies you take extra precautions. We're not stupid. Do you
realize that your response sounds a bit snotty? Of course, the best
thing is to seek expert advice, rather than rely on tradition and
folklore. One book I can recommend is /The Ball Complete Book of Home
Preserving/, Judi Kingry and Lauren Divine, eds, 2006, Robert Rose Pubs,
Toronto. As I double check I realize that some of my own canning ideas
are wrong, so go to the experts.
I may as well introduce myself. I've been lurking here for several
months to learn and observe. You folks are batting around many issues
that we've had to wrestle with, but our tasks are enough different from
yours that I haven't felt comfortable chiming in yet. We're involved in
local foods issues, and in the reuse of our now-former town schoolhouse-
including turning the cafeteria into a community kitchen. The problems
in dealing with uninformed local officials are especially familiar. I
also have some things that may be helpful to you.
We live in western Minnesota, an area rich in CSAs and
organic/sustainable farms/ranches. (for example-
http://www.prairiefare.com/ , http://www.easybeanfarm.com/ ,
http://prairiefare.com/moonstone/ , http://www.earthrisefarm.org/) We
faced the problem of fresh vegetables going away at the end of summer,
when we had to make do with the limp pseudo-vegetables that the grocery
stores carry. My wife and I thought, "Somebody should do something about
this," which became "We should do something about this." So we did.
Western Minnesota at 45 degrees north is a windy place, and quite
cold in winter. 30 mph winds with temperatures far below freezing are
the norm for months on end. We've designed and built a greenhouse system
that lets us produce 10 CSA shares of greens every week from October to
April. It only costs about $50 per season to heat. From the start, we
designed it for ease of construction and to use off-the-shelf
components. The technology can also be adapted and tweaked from how our
demonstration unit works. We want to share it with community gardeners
and the like. We're working on a book that we expect to publish on Earth
Day, 2008.
By the way, we're not rich people- I'm disabled, and my wife is a
secretary and musician. We didn't develope this for middle-class
dabblers, but serious folks.
Be Well,
Chuck Waibel
Mike McGrath wrote:
> wow; it sure sounds risky--especially on a large scale in another
> country with perhaps dicey water supplies to begin with...
> I always go the 'safety first' way; not the 'oh, let's take the
> chance way'....
> ---McG
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Waibel"
> <newworld at fedteldirect.net>
> To: "Mike McGrath" <MikeMcG at PTD.net>
> Cc: "Mike Leech" <holabol at iafrica.com>;
> <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
> Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2007 2:52 AM
> Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Assistance with Project
>
>
>> As a rule, only meats and dairy products require pressure canning.
>> True, tomatoes and other high-acid foods are best, but only those with
>> the types of protiens and fats that are readily attacked by toxic
>> putrefacting microorganisms need pressure canning. We've been canning
>> many things for years, maybe decades, and have thoroughly researched
>> this.
>>
>> Chuck Waibel
>>
>> Mike McGrath wrote:
>>
>>> Well, gaursh--I sure think you do want to use a pressure cooker if
>>> you want
>>> to be safe with low to no acid foods. (That is, anything other than
>>> tamatas
>>> and pickled things.)
>>> Listers--are I wrong? Or do string beans, corn, etc., require
>>> pressure
>>> for proper putting up?
>>> ---McG
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Heather DeGeorge"
>>> <hdegeorge at yahoo.com>
>>> To: "Mike McGrath" <MikeMcG at PTD.net>; "Mike Leech"
>>> <holabol at iafrica.com>
>>> Cc: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
>>> Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 6:44 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Assistance with Project
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> You don't need a pressure cooker. You can use stock pots of boiling
>>>> water. Most recipes account for the "water method" in the times
>>>> stated
>>>> for processing. It's actually harder to find recipes that account for
>>>> pressure canning.
>>>>
>>>> Canning isn't nearly as hard as people think! I used to do it with
>>>> farmer's market produce when I lived in a 1-bedroom apartment. It's a
>>>> wonderful art that seems to be dying...
>>>>
>>>> --Heather DeGeorge
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Mike McGrath <MikeMcG at PTD.net> wrote:
>>>> If by 'bottled' you mean 'canned up' in Mason jars, you need a
>>>> pressure
>>>> cooker; any state University Extension website will have more details.
>>>> Chill the cooked food down in the fridges; then freeze, never putting
>>>> warm food into the freezer. Refrigeration is the best for food
>>>> safety if
>>>> you
>>>> have the room and power....
>>>>
>>>> Good luck!
>>>> ---Mike McG
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Leech"
>>>> To:
>>>> Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 4:49 AM
>>>> Subject: [Community_garden] Assistance with Project
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Greetings all Gardeners,
>>>>>
>>>>> We are about to commence with a project here on the east coast of
>>>>> South
>>>>> Africa in converting a small municipal depot in to a community
>>>>> gardeners
>>>>> training centre and kitchen.
>>>>>
>>>>> One of the areas in which we are out of our depth is the
>>>>> conversion of
>>>>> surplus garden produce into unique saleable products in our soon
>>>>> to be
>>>>> converted kitchen. We will also be tasked with the cooking up of
>>>>> donated
>>>>> fruit and vegetables for the local school children feeding scheme
>>>>> especially
>>>>> for the children who live in child controlled homes.
>>>>>
>>>>> We do not know much about safe bottling and preparation of meals for
>>>>> freezing
>>>>>
>>>>> We have had fridges and deep freezes donated for the storage of these
>>>>> cooked
>>>>> meals. We also will have enough pantry space for keeping our bottled
>>>>> produce.
>>>>>
>>>>> What we would appreciate if any person could share with us recipes
>>>>> and
>>>>> suggestions that could assist us in making this project a success.
>>>>>
>>>>> Many thanks,
>>>>> Michel Leech
>>>>> eThekwini Municipality
>>>>> c/o P.O. Box 1878,
>>>>> Pinetown.3600
>>>>> South Africa
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org
>>>>> [mailto:community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org]On
>>>>> Behalf Of
>>>>> community_garden-request at list.communitygarden.org
>>>>> Sent: 29 June 2007 06:01 PM
>>>>> To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
>>>>> Subject: Community_garden Digest, Vol 198, Issue 1
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------
>>>> Luggage? GPS? Comic books?
>>>> Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search.
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>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to
>>> http://www.communitygarden.org
>>>
>>> To post an e-mail to the list:
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of
>> ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA
>> and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
>>
>> To post an e-mail to the list:
>> community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
>>
>> To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:
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