Jocelyn Campbell

I'd highly recommend any of the courses at Inspiration Farm! I just added this thread to the PDC and workshops forums, too - albeit probably too late with the PDC starting this weekend already.

Brian, if you'd like, in the future, create your post/thread, then use the "report to moderators" button to ask to have this added to other forums. It's super easy for staff to add it for you.

When, on your smartphone, you try to tap the apple 🍎 to give to someone on permies, but your thumb still has cobwebs on it from rummaging through saved/to-be-reused/gardening/tool items in the barn closet.

Cobwebby thumbs don't work well! 😄 Haha!

S. Bard wrote:Boiling indeed helps with the chlorine. I usually just fill a big pot of water and leave it uncovered overnight though (maybe a cheesecloth on top if you have flies in the house). The chlorine evaporates overnight.

I have not verified this, but someone said that some water municipalities use a more pervasive type of chlorine these days that doesn't evaporate off easily. I don't know the specifics, but if someone else does, please chime in.

Paul Houtz wrote:I do a lot of lacto fermenting, mainly cucumbers but also veggies.  I just want to remind folks that it is critical to add sufficient salt to your recipe.  Don't attempt to reduce salt for dietary reasons. My minimum is 4 tablespoons of salt in 4 cups of distilled water, but lately I have been upping the salt a bit to 4.5 tablespoons.  The symptoms of too little salt are:  1. Lots of white mold; 2) slimy cucumbers and other veggies; and 3) somewhat peculiar odor or flavor.

Welcome to permies, Paul!

And yes, lots of salt is important. I served some Giadiniera to a workshop group as just a side to a meal and one woman was surprised at how salty it was. I think she was expecting a salad, not a pickle or condiment. Plus, a lot of what people are used to for pickled veg are the canned vinegar type that usually include a lot of sugar. Like sweet pickles. Personally, yuck! Without that sugar, which is of course another type of preservative, it is a more salty product, but I prefer salty over sweet myself.

As I wrote above, I have had ferments go moldy, even when using lots of salt. For onions, for example, since they do not always naturally have the right bacteria, adding a "starter" to get the right bacteria going made a big difference in my experience.

Jenn Lumpkin wrote:This very recent article says Azure's headquarters burned to the ground overnight.
just search for the word Azure on here:
https://www.dcclothesline.com/2022/04/21/food-production-is-going-to-be-substantially-lower-than-anticipated-all-over-the-globe-in-2022/

Yes, Azure wrote their members about the fire. The fire has been deemed an accident, somehow a tote of corn ignited and started the fire, and even at the initial loss, Azure wrote:

The loss of the facility and the impact on company-wide operations is being assessed and expected to be limited and temporary. No other Azure Standard facilities were affected.

Which means most of their warehouses and growing operations were not affected. Only some liquid manufacturing/bottling and carob candy manufacturing will need to be relocated per the attached press release.

On being an introvert from Parkrose Permaculture in Portland, Oregon:

While I identify as a social introvert (ha! does one "identify" as this?!) I think I am also very much, or perhaps even more, an HSP.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/02/are-you-anxious-introverted-or-just-a-highly-sensitive-person

Dave Boehnlein is one of the founders of RootedNW and a very cool guy. I've met him and even worked with him from coordinating some events where he taught or spoke on permaculture topics. He was/is the education director at Bulloch Brothers Permaculture Homestead (there's a thread about that here somewhere...) on Orcas Island in Puget Sound outside of Seattle.

Dave used to be active on the forums, might still occasionally pop in, and there might be a RootedNW thread here, too, but I couldn't find it when I replied.

Hi Brandon, I wish I knew of a place for you!

This property and developing community, https://www.rootednw.org/, doesn't have living spaces built there yet, but I wonder if the community members might know of a place in that Edmonds to Mount Vernon corridor for you.

Good luck!

Ryan Carson wrote:One of the main drivers of bitterness  is oxalic acid.  There are wild plants that are extremely dangerously high, and one can actually consume if unaware, a deadly level.  Rhubarb leaves are the commonly known one to avoid, but many others if consumed, say daily, in a tea would not be good.    So for those that live with gout, arthritis,  kidney stones, or any of the other high oxalate symptoms please be sure to question your daily tea, weed consumption, or regular foods in general.  Finding this out changed the health of my wife and I in a big way.  And neither of us had the more common symptoms.  One can have their levels tested using an Organic Acids Test.    

That is a fascinating point to consider. Though I have heard that cooking destroys oxalates, and a quickie search confirms that might be true. But certainly, any good thing can be over done, so it's certainly important to keep in mind.

I second the recommendation of dandelions - but the roasted root, not the leaves - for that tea-like astringent flavor. Some folks like roasted chicory root for a similar bitterness. And while these are often touted as coffee substitutes, in my mind they are more similar to tea, than coffee.

As an aside, I was buying a "caramel" tea of roasted dandelion roots, stevia, and caramel flavor, but found I could make the same with less packaging with my own homemade or bulk purchased dandelion root and some toffee or caramel flavored liquid stevia. Yum!

I've been wanting to try blackberry leaves myself. What Nicole described about raspberries leaves I've found to be very true as well, though in people who are prone to constipation (which can be common in pregnant women!) raspberry leaves are not always great because then can cause or exacerbate constipation.

Another leaf I want to learn more about is mulberry leaf. I saw some in a store that was touted as a weight loss tea, but I don't know much about it. If it's drying or astringent, or has that tea-like taste, that would work for me, too! I have a glorious mulberry tree just outside my door, so I think *this* spring/summer is when I'll harvest some leaves to dry. (I've lived here less than two years and haven't tried everything this property has to offer yet!)

The other herb that might not have been mentioned is rosemary. I love the flavor and the mental clarity boosting effect of just the scent, so I'm thinking that could be a happy thing in a tea blend - maybe rosemary, tulsi (aka holy basil), and nettle.  Might add blackberry leaf, and/or mulberry leaf and see what works for my taste.

Oh, right - tulsi! Have you tried that one? Currently I prefer its flavor in a blend with other herbs, not all on its own.

My experience with Oregon grape root is that I must not like bitter as much as Thekla does! :-D When I've used it in an immune enhancing tea blend, I've had to add a lot of rose hips, mint, lemon, cinnamon, etc. and maybe even add honey (for extra picky tea drinkers!) to help the bitter go down from that root!

Would love to hear what you gravitate towards, Dan.