Anthony Powell

Peeling isn't an option, when the tubers are no bigger than walnuts! I think there's only one variety circulating in the UK, and it's sterile - possibly to prevent it spreading aerially! The flowers appear late, and seem to remain sealed to pollinators. Then they die. I've only ever boiled the tubers, taste like baked potatoes. I've a theory that tubers that grow in reliably damp soil don't need to swell with water, so the food value is more concentrated, unlike spuds, sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), dahlias and yacon.
I've grown them on a large pot, climbing up sunchokes.
I've heard they can become a nuisance in blueberry fields. Attempts at weeding those chains of tubers leaves tubers lodged between blueberry roots, so be warned!

There is a clay in places like Africa, found in river/lake bottoms, that's very rich in iron. It has the unusual quality, when formed into bricks and dried in the sun, of behaving like fired clay.
I thought it would be fun to try mixing rust and clay and keeping the mix underwater to see if that could be replicated.

The ancients roasted hazelnuts, to enable them to keep into the next year. Also made them more palatable, you can eat more than a couple a time.

This was written by Lawrence Hills, founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic) in the style of “Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandry” by Thomas Tusser (1524-1580).


You have in your drawer since Candlemas Day,
All the seed packets you daren't throw away,
Seed Catalogue cometh as year it doth end,
But look in ye drawer before money you spend.

Throw out ye Parsnip, 'tis no good next year,
And Scorzonera if there's any there,
For these have a life that is gone with ye wynde
Unlike all ye seeds of ye cabbagy kinde.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Sprouts, Cabbage and Kale,
Live long like a farmer who knoweth good ale:
Three years for certain, maybe five or four,
To sow in their seasons they stay in ye drawer.

Kohl-Rabi lasts with them and so does Pei-Tsai,
The winter 'cos-lettuce' to sow in July,
But short is the life of ye Turnips and Swedes
Sow next year only, enough for your needs.

Mustard and Cress for when salads come round,
Sows for three seasons so buy half a pound,
Radish last four years, both round ones and long,
Sown thinly and often they're never too strong.

Last year's left Lettuce sows three summers more,
And Beetroot and Spinach-beet easily four,
But ordinary Spinach, both prickly and round,
Hath one summer left before gaps waste ye ground.

Leeks sow three Aprils and one hath gone past,
And this is as long as ye Carrot will last,
Onion seed keeps till four years have flown by,
But sets are so easy and dodge onion-fly.

Store Marrows and Cucumbers, best when they're old,
Full seven summers' sowings a packet can hold.
Six hath ye Celery that needs a frost to taste,
So hath Celeriac before it goes to waste.

Broad Beans, French ones, Runners, sown in May,
Each hath a sowing left before you throw away,
And short Peas, tall Peas, fast ones and slow,
Parsley and Salsify have one more spring to sow.

Then fillen ye form that your seedsmen doth send,
For novelties plentie, there's money to spend,
Good seed and good horses are worth the expense,
So pay them your poundies as I paid my pence.
​
LAWRENCE D. HILLS,
1963
​From his book “Grow Your Own Fruit and Vegetables”, 1973

May Lotito wrote:I found out that seeds from green bell pepper are mature enough to sprout. I can just buy one and get hundreds of seedlings in a couple weeks. I tried one last year and it produced just fine.
I also rooted this small piece of store bought ginger to grow free plant.

Lucky! - but green peppers are unripe red/yellow peppers. I found green chilli's seeds immature.

Eden van den Bogaard wrote:Re: Saponaria officinalis
I have lots on my property and it's great for a mild soap but doesn't really replace laundry detergent or regular soap as it's not as concentrated. To wash clothes, hair etc. you need quite a bit. It also doesn't really make a true "soap" (as in bar soap) but rather a mild liquid detergent that also needs to be used up within a few days. But great for washing wool etc or hands in a pinch!

Soapwort is reputedly used by those washing heritage fabrics, as in the UK's National Trust properties.

Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum, conker) are reckoned useful (related to American buckeye). I've been on a road bordered by conker trees after an autumn shower. Cars crushing the conkers resulted in a foam, running down the road and into drains - probably going into nearby watercourses, where it'll be a fish toxin!

Last resort - wood ash. Used to be left outside in a tub, with a bucket to collect rainwater running through, which would gain potassium hydroxide/carbonate. That would combine with grease in the clothing you've not washed in too long, to make real soap. Or grease in your skin, if you're not careful.

Dennis Barrow wrote:Always let your vehicle run, idle, for a minute or two.  This lubricates all the engine parts properly and this will help you vehicle run better so better mileage.  
I have over a million miles under my belt driving and every mechanic I spoke with agreed with this.

I'm usually starting in an urban location, on the flat, maybe 20mph. So the engines hardly working. I turn the key when I'm ready to go.

Matthew Nistico wrote:

M Ljin wrote:Cuban man fuels car with charcoal!

I wish they would have provided a more in-depth, technical explanation of how that conversion works.  My first thought was wood gasification, but that doesn't make sense using charcoal.  Charcoal is what you have left AFTER the volatile wood gases have been cooked off.

Any ideas?

It did look rather coal-ish I thought, maybe even sounded coal-ish. But getting the volatiles out still leaves a lot of potential, in the coke.
When I was a kid we were taught about gas works in chemistry, how they made town gas from coke before we went over to fossil methane. Step one is to burn it with air to get it hot, then (step two) limit the air making carbon monoxide - still exothermic. Step 3 send water/steam through, makes hydrogen and CO, and cools the charcoal. I guess a 2-stage process is impractical at the back of the car, so maybe he's feeding air and water simultaneously.

My dad, a car salesman in the 1970s, had a lady come in about her new car. It was over-revving, inefficient and misbehaving. He passed it to the mechannics, who could find nothing wrong. It went back to the lady, who returned with the same complaint. Bit more back and forth. Eventually the mechanic said 'take me for a drive so I can see what's happening'.
He took the passenger seat, she got in the driver's side, pulled the choke out, hung her handbag on it....
(For youngsters unfamiliar with  the choke, it's a device to supply more fuel to the engine when it's cold. You push it in gradually as the engine warms. Nowadays the choke's automatic.)

You can monitor your fuel use in Excel.
My car hasn't a handy trip meter, so I write the mileage on my petrol receipt. Get home and enter the litres (gets converted to gallons) and miles (previous miles subtracted) and out comes mpg.