Paul Gardner

Ralph Kettell wrote:Hi Moira,

It is none of the above.  I to was confused until I saw some this year in the woods.  Wild Lettuce is like a very tall dandelion.  There leaves look like the shape of dandelion but it has an upright growth.  The ones I saw were between one and two feet tall and not yet starting to bloom.  They were growing in the woods and supposedly this is an extremely common weed.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Ralph

And no need to plant seeds in my area as far as I am concerned. I only really learned about these and their properties a few months ago. I have been pulling them up out of my garden/yard for years and trying to get rid of them. This year my wife is saying to get rid of them when i want to "Harvest" them for their medicinal properties. As mentioned, the leaves are similar to Dandelion leaves except they grow up the stalk. Plus they have like tiny prickers on the back spine of the leaf.

You can tell them easily by breaking one in half and observing the white latex sap coming out.

So I have been reading up recently on the use of Wild Lettuce as a Pain killer. I have Opiods, but hate them and only use them when absolutely necessary. That coupled with I am trying to look for more natural ways to do things with less reliance on Big Pharma and really, Big Business in General. So with that, I am looking for doing things in a more natural way.

That said, The "Milking" of the Wild lettuce seems like an extremely SLOW process and might cause me more "Pain" while I stand there waiting for the sap to come out. (Not like I have Taps like collecting Maple Sap). Cut, hold cup, collect, move down, cut, hold cup move down, rinse, repeat. It would take me an hour just to collect from ONE plant.

I found a video where they cut the plant and clean it. Chop it up in a blender with some water. Cook it in a crock pot for a long time (but I can do other stuff during this time) then strain/drain the fibrous material. Cook the remaining liquid down to a "Paste" then "Dehydrate" and then turn it into a powder that you can then put in capsules. While this is also a long process, I feel much of the time is spent "waiting" but freeing me up to do other things (where cut, collect, rinse, repeat keeps me actively involved for the full process).  

So is there better value in the more actively involved process of "Milking" the plant for the sap then taking the full plant and cutting it up and processing it?

Nicole Castle wrote:Safety-wise? No. You can't home can fat safely; the bacteria doesn't all get killed in the process. Fat also prevents a good seal from forming.

Some people do it anyway, but it's among the least-safe things you can can.

I don't entirely agree with your response. If canning fat doesn't kill all the bacteria in the process, then that means that no food with any fat should be canned. Sorry, but you cannot get 100% lean meats and yet they still can it. I realize of course there is a difference between canning very lean mean and (near) 100% fat, but the premise is still the same. If you get the temperature high enough for long enough it will kill the bacteria. Fat or no fat. That is why different requirements for canning Tomatoes versus Chilli. Granted the higher temperature for Fats might not make the bacon grease (or other fats) as palatable though.

Also if the Fat is preventing you from getting a good seal, then you are doing something wrong anyway. Part of the canning process is to ensure that the top of your jars are CLEAN which might mean using a warm/hot clean rag to thoroughly clean it as well as ensuring your sealing lids are clean as well. I have even heard of people using Alcohol to clean the top of jars and then following it up with a clean rag/towel.

People can butter all the time even though the County Extensions and FDA don't recommend it. It must be possible, otherwise why would one be able to buy Canned Butter? http://www.internet-grocer.net/butter.htm To be sure the ingredients in Red Feather Canned butter are Pasteurized Cream and Salt, so no other preservatives. So if they can do it why can't we. Same holds true for bacon. If they can Can bacon, (http://www.campingsurvival.com/yodersbacon.html) I guess one could take it a step further and can the bacon grease.

Now, if you are going to can bacon grease (or butter or bacon) you definitely need to be aware of safety. I wouldn't use the "Oven Canning" methods as found on youtube rather I would opt for Pressure Canning. Obviously keep everything as sterile as possible (is that even possible with Bacon grease?) and expect that the flavor and/or consistency of the final product will likely change (which may make the whole effort a waste for you). I have canned butter, and I can tell you that it does alter the taste and consistence of it, but not enough to upset me at all

Lastly, I would like to say that before using ANY canned product, Commercial or Home Canned (or any product for consumption for that matter), You need to be cautious and follow a few common sense guidelines:

Make sure the seal is intact - If not dispose of it

Make sure it looks ok (as best as possible as canned food often changes from it's fresh state appearance) - If not, dispose of it.

Make sure it doesn't smell funny - if it does, dispose of it

Taste a small amount, make sure it doesn't taste funny - if it does, dispose of it.

Safety is always relative. It's inherently not safe to travel in a 2000 pound bullet (i.e. a car) at 65 Miles per hour, but if we take care and follow some common sense guidelines, we will be ok. Same with canning ANYTHING.

Lastly, you should take care where you store it. Cool dry place out of light is ideal

I am guessing it has more to do with the Moisture content than anything else. Since it's vacuum sealed but their could still be bacteria/germs in the jar (because it wasn't "Canned") I suspect you will get a couple of months (6 maybe?) to perhaps a year.

I think you might actually get longer life if you vacuum sealed them in bags. Just play it by ear and experiment. You should be using your storage anyway as opposed to just waiting for the "SHTF" day. Trust your senses. If the seal is popped... then get rid of it. If it's not Popped, open it (when ready) and smell it. If it smells funny, get rid of it, if not Taste a small part of it. If it tastes ok, then enjoy, if not get rid of it.

I know this is not fool proof, but it's worked for me with other stuff (such as food past it's expiration in the fridge). If I could only get my wife to have faith in her senses when it comes to this stuff....

From what I recall, compost should be limited to "Vegetation" type of foods and not the meats or dairy (Milk, cream, etc..) eggs and egg shells ok. Basically avoiding the 'FATS' in the compost.

of course the yard waste and dirt too is encouraged.

I am currently in Plymouth PA (just around the corner from Wilkes-Barre) and I am originally from Tunkhannock PA.

Last year I started just a small garden (only 4 tomato plants) and my wife gave me a bit of hassle (Why you doing that.... only you like the tomatoes), but alas, she did like the spaghetti sauce I made with it.

So this year, she decided, we needed Corn, Cucumbers, Zucchini, yellow beans Plus my tomato plants and now Green peppers.
Corn didn't do so well, tomatoes were slow this year but I still got a descent amount. Only got about 5 peppers from my 2 pepper plants. Goat quite a bit of zucchini. Yellow beans were a bust, and we did also plant squash, but it wasn't the "Right" kind and I didn't know what to do with it. (It did get added into the compost though).

SOOOOO.... Now next year my wife is already planning the garden. Good thing I also got into canning this year. I got an All American pressure canner (I also have a standard water bath canner to) and I have made plenty of chili (Venison) as well as canned some spaghetti sauce and made Zucchini relish (Yum!) and since I had a lot of green tomatoes at the frost this year, I know have 6 quarts of Green tomato relish. (I haven't tried it yet though since it's been canned).

I would REALLY REALLY love to discuss these types of topics with someone else who "Get's it". Although part of me wants to learn this to avoid spending so much at the stores, part of me just thinks it's better overall. I won't lie, I am also trying to prepare for the time when our economy collapses and this is all we have.

Lastly, I have saved seeds too. I have bell pepper seeds (green and red, although I have little faith in the red since they were harvested from a grocery store pepper), tomato, cucumber, zucchini seeds all harvested. I have other seeds (corn, basil, squash, and yellow bean) that were purchased, but I have sealed them in a bag and put them in the freezer. Not sure if that will keep them or not, but I will try late winter/early spring indoors to try and sprout them.

I am not looking to save the earth, just my portion of it.

When CFL's first started coming out, I decided that I wanted to save all this money. It was a hard pill to swallow to spend $6 - $12 a bulb (at that time) but hey... to save $50 - $80 over the life time? Great!

Well, It seemed that the CFL's were requiring replacement long before the "8 Year" (or so) life time. So much so, that I started marking the bases with the installation dates. Some of have lasted for several years (around 4) most are dead within 2 years. What happened to my 8 years?

A little more investigating and I find that CFL's are not recommended in an "Enclosed" space. WTF.... MOST lights (usually for asthetics) in my house with the exception of a handful of table laps have some sort of "Globe" or enclosed space.

I was (and I stress WAS) such a CFL Advocate (before my non-scientific empirical results) that I even put the "Outdoor" Halogen replacement (CFL) bulbs in our back yard so the dogs could see when they had to do their business at night. They worked Ok, that is until Winter hit. (I live in Northeast Pennsylvania). Since the light was on a motion sensor, when they would go out it would come on. In the winter, a bic lighter would give off more light until these things warmed up 5, 10, 15 minutes later. They were horrible for letting the dogs (or us) see at night. They were even WORSE as a Security light. No worry about figuring out the life span of these... They have are over 8 years old, but that's because I have them and don't use them any more.

I still have CFLs in my house and I will use them in those areas where the light will be on (generally) for an extended period, but otherwise, I am switching to LED lights. Although they are significantly more expensive the both Incandescent AND CFLs, I truly believe they will last longer the both of them (combined) and I know they use significantly less power then both. I suppose the down side is, is that I can no longer use them to supplement my heat in my house.

I truly appreciate this forum and all that are providing insight in to this (and other) topic(s).

Paul Gardner
--------------------------
eschew obfuscation