As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

meanmarie

Sorry GreyQueen.....not willing to let it go yet as we have only really had yellow ball to-day....could probably let you have it for a while on Monday.

Laughed at whoever was talking about their granmother (or was it greatgrandmother?) who wore a crossover bib and had her hair in a bun....I have adopted this style lately when at home....means that if I need to go out I just doff the bib and comb out the hair....saves me so much time! Got the bib in Sardinia where elderly women still wear them in house.

My John Seymour self-sufficiency book advises rock salt for beans but have no idea where to get any so will use ordinary table salt....

Marie

ceridwen

Rock salt is on the shelves in my genuine independant health food store I favour - right next to the seasalt. I even spotted some pink salt there the last time I visited (was it Himalayan or something??).

The chain "health food stores" (eg H*lland and B*rrett) probably have it too - ie the Pill Popper type of shop should do, as well as the "real deal" shops I use personally.

kidcat

WE buy rock salt to clear the drive from a builders merchants cant say I fancy using it anything I want to eat though eurrggh

GreyQueen

meanmarie wrote: »

Sorry GreyQueen.....not willing to let it go yet as we have only really had yellow ball to-day....could probably let you have it for a while on Monday.

Laughed at whoever was talking about their granmother (or was it greatgrandmother?) who wore a crossover bib and had her hair in a bun....I have adopted this style lately when at home....means that if I need to go out I just doff the bib and comb out the hair....saves me so much time! Got the bib in Sardinia where elderly women still wear them in house.

My John Seymour self-sufficiency book advises rock salt for beans but have no idea where to get any so will use ordinary table salt....

Marie

It was my great-gran. My Nan wears a tabard-style pinny-overall type thingy, buttons with tabs on the side. They're very practical; Mum's always dropping something on her top and having to do a spot-treatment and then run a washload. She owns several pinnies but usually doesn't wear one.

I feel that I haven't grown into an apron yet.....think I need a few more grey hairs first and possibly a cottage. I do have a nice wooden rolling pin and am practising folding my arms under my bust and saying "Have you SEEN the state of her whites?!"

I'm planning on being a battleaxe when I grow up.........



EDIT; have just been reading more about salting veg. Apparently table salt has been treated to make it free-flowing and rock salt has crystals which make it better for this use, but there is even something specifically called "picklng salt" which I never saw in my life. I'm going to hit H & B and the health food shop and see what these things cost. If it's extortionate, I'll try a jar with ordiary cooking salt and see what happens. Whoever knew sodium chloride could be so complicated........

Jolaaled

I have found this site (sorry, can't do linkys yet):

http://lavendercreek.wordpress.com/2007/08/16/salted-green-beans/

Seems like fairly clear instructions. I'm still not sure I'm brave enough to try it tho...think I'll likely end up sticking to freezing my bean glut.

Seakay

Re storage - you can put glass jars onto brick etc just not earthernware ones.

I've seen pink Himalayan salt - you take it as a sort of mineral supplement - it's very expensive to use for anything else though!

Some rock salt for roads is mixed with grit but this stuff isn't so should be fine for cooking:
http://decorativeaggregates.com/rock_salt_and_winter_products/msgrs050/Rock+Salt.html?gclid=COfkxe7hl6oCFcEd4Qod9k6yxg

Going back to the allotments conversation (especially the need for more) I noticed that the National trust is donating some land:
http://www.landshare.net/organisations/listings/the-national-trust/

Actually - for anyone who wants some land, the landshare organisation is still growing in size. you sign up if you cannot manage the garden or land that you have and would be willing to share, and also if you are looking for a plot to cultivate. It's especially lovely for pensioners or those who have become ill or infirm to see their land looked after and enjoyed in return for a few veg or whatever.
http://www.landshare.net/index/

Charis

For those planning to preserve vegetables in salt, don't forget that too much salt (NHS Choices) is not good for you. True you can soak the vegetables in water overnight before you use them but by the time they land on your plate most of the vitamin content will have leached out, firstly into the salt, then into the water.

Those with blood pressure problems should be particularly careful.

[Deleted User]

2 tbs of cheap salt to a quart of boiling water. Let cool. Put beans into sterilised jar and lightly press down. I broke some beans and cut runners. I washed the beans if needed and spun in a salad spinner then rested on a t towel until bone dry. Cover with the brine so they are all under the salt solution. Cover and put into a cool dark place (cupboard under stairs for me). Its lacto fermintation, like the method for sauerkraut

I have ordered a very expensive crock for making fermented veg like sauerkraut and mixed veg. Ok my dh did say I could have it for my birthday (jan lol, he`ll forget )

Today I have been sorting troughs of all sorts in the garden, pulling out useless plants and tidying really as I hate leaving it all for september. I pulled all the carrots and beetroots from a raised bed, 6sq` and have sown phacelia to boost its structure, when I chop it down. I`ve decided to put overwintering garlic in there as it is planted very close together. Lol that is me partly sorted for winter, garlic, carrots and kale in 3 beds and annuals replaced with perennials

Last year it was 4th sept when I sowed seeds for overwintering lettuces, so that is pencilled on my calendar. Lots of toms are ripening now and I am getting twitchy about preserving them but I am definitely not going to use the freezer. I keep telling myself to have faith in the old ways

softstuff, thanks for an excellent idea

Nice week weatherwise next week but watch for white rot under onions as it likes hot weather. If you get it then you can`t use thet area for alliums for 20 years as the spores stay in the soil

kidcat

Am so excited - just been setting up garden and noticed my courgettes have finally grown into courgettes (rather than just flowers) so I now have a least six baby courgettes all three inches long. Question is a what point do I pick them and once I pick them do more grow??

Charis

kidcat wrote: »

Worried by the reports of Americas default talks breaking down too - from what I can see the sides are chasms apart.

I've been following the blog of this Green economist. She's very shrewd and so far has not shown signs of panicking, which I find very reassuring. She definitely knows her stuff.

Incidentally, in the tiniest print on a BBC web page, I have discovered that the US owes Britain $0.35 trillion. (=£8,873,040,000 on the day of the article)

See Who Owns the $14.3 Trillion Debt? It's listed under the picture of Obama.

Unfortunately the talks broke down again today, but some say it's just posturing. The rich don't want tax hikes.