Ulla Bisgaard

I make a lot of extracts, and I find, that using a broth and fat separator, works the best. A separator, is a small pitcher, with a hole in the bottom, you can open and close by squeezing the handle.
You simply pour your extract and oil into the separator. Wait until all of the oil is on the top. Then I drain out the alcohol extras, through the bottom of the separator pitcher. Since the oil flows on top, you eventually end up with only oil in the pitcher.
Is some slips through, I just run it through again.

I processed mine yesterday. Two quarts of peach pie filling in the freezer, 9 pints of canned peaches, and 1/2 gallon for peach lemonade concentrate.

I love this, and wished I had known about it sooner. Now I feel like a cheater for using Google earth instead.

Riona Abhainn wrote:I'm glad you're writing a book Ulla, you've gained so much knowledge in your process of learning and growing and fostering abundence in your yard that I think a lot of people will want to learn about your permaculture skills and methods.

Thank you. I just hope people likes my writing style, don’t mind I use AI for editing since I am dyslexic and also has used AI in some illustrations, since I can’t draw anything more complicated than stick figures.
It also has my sense of humor, with me rewriting my field observations into funny stories the AI then illustrates.
Here is one. It’s part of me explaining, that some years the weather are just strange, and it’s negative for some plants, while positive for others.

Jay Angler wrote:To make this sort of thing work, I think knowing your ecosystem and your limiting factors are key.

My zone is cooler, but in particular, I have cooler nights. The sun is at a much lower angle, and thus gets cut off by trees much sooner, particularly in the fall. These are important considerations and limits that I simply have to accept even though I know there are people near me who are able to grow for longer, more effectively than my micro-ecosystem will allow.

I think, Ulla, that you've set up an incredibly productive system and I hope it will inspire more people in your region to do the same!

Thank you, I hope so too. After writing this, I decided to wrote a book, about the systems and planning I use, in the garden and in our house. Hopefully people will like the book and get the courage to start growing their own food. The goal of the book, is to not only show them how big a difference planning and logistics is, but also how to eat what’s fresh to preserve less, and how it work with nature by showing respect for all living things. A good example, are gophers. Every gardener and homeowner I have talked to in our area complain about them, because they leave piles of dirt on their lawns. Then they come to me, and don’t see any. I have had one neighbor accuse me of sending them to their house lol. The thing is, gophers do all of my tilling, which saves me a lot of work each year. Because of that, I make sure to plant lots of root vegetables through out the forest garden. This is food for the gophers. The things I want them to stay away from, I wrap in gopher netting. Like all living things gophers will go for the easiest food source, and since their food are ready available underground, they don’t need to come up very often. Instead they create their homes deep under ground and keep working.

I have a sayin:  “An observation a day, keeps the problems away” and l” observation before design, saves money and time”.

It’s very important to spend the first year observing. I know it’s hard, but like the other says it’s a big risk to take. That doesn’t mean, that you will spend a year doing nothing. During that first year you need to find out a lot of things about your grow space. What wildlife do you have? from what direction does storms usually hit?  Are there spots, where there is a lot of shade? Are there spot that are always wet or one that stays dry?

That said, if you can’t wait, I suggest you put up some nursery beds. Nursery beds are beds, where you start perennials from seed or small cuttings. Here you can baby them until the year has passed. Once that year has passed, you will have trees and shrubs, that are a lot larger and has acclimated to where you live. At that time you will also have more information about the land, the seasonal changes and its inhabitants. That’s how you save money.
If you haven’t already, you might also look into polyculture. I grow over 50 different kinds of herbs, teas and spices, and many are medical plants and flowers. What I have found, is that medicinal herbs and flowers, like sharing space with vegetables, and fruits. My strawberries are growing with onions, sage, marigolds and perennial root vegetables. If I were you, I would spend that year learning about companion planting and poly culture.

Anne Miller wrote:Did the hydrogen peroxide work?

Since it is fat related, I would try rubbing with bar soap and working that into fabric with fingers.

If the garment has been wash there might not be anything that will work except sewing an patch over the stain.  May6be something like the border around the neck.

It didn’t, but I decided to use it for gardening. I don’t need nice clean clothes doing that, and it’s light and comfortable to work in.

Carla Burke wrote:How would you feel about turmeric dying the whole thing? It's a lovely shade of yellow, and dyes well on almost anything. Unfortunately, it tends to be permanent, even when you don't want it to be, and even without a mordant.

It’s a good suggestion, but the stain also contains fat from the sauce. I have considered dying the whole thing back though.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:I've gotten difficult stains out with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit till it stops bubbling, then work some more. I have not tried it on rayon though.try a test patch first.

Thank you, I will try that.

Nancy Reading wrote:From wikipedia:

Rayon, also called viscose, is a semi-synthetic fiber made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose

It sounds like it is likely to stain easily... Most of the online advice seems to be to repeat the spot treatment and laundry again (eg wikilaundry). What was the food stuff involved?

A meatball covered in a homemade curry sauce containing turmeric, dropped when I was carrying a plate and my hand gave out (do to my neuropathy).