Jamie Yvonne

Jeanine Gurley wrote:I am in love with my dehydrator. I have dried pounds and pounds of produce with little to no effort. I love the minimal effort part.

We also love the benefits of dehydrating foods for long/short term storage- the simplicity and minimal effort are lovely benefits- it will be so awesome to finally have a solar dehydrator- the electrical ones just eat so much electricity its just crazy! Hubby and I plan to build one on our farm- I love the various designs we have found other permies enjoying, gives us lots of inspiration and ideas of how we want to design ours

Honora Holmes wrote:We love fermentation as well, Jamie. I've been fermenting foods for years. My problem is about the only place I have that it's cold enough to store it is in a fridge. Are you building a root cellar that will be cold enough?

I have a nice canner but hate the long drawn out process and heating up the house. I'm totally a prepper or at least a prepper wanna be. It goes along with wanting to be self sufficient. I might not be able to grow it all but I can certainly store it and reduce our dependence on the grocery store. We store grains and bean and oil and honey in buckets. And we store a lot of meat in the freezer. Other than that I plan on mostly storing vegetables in the garden. I grow vegetables year round and under pvc hoops and plastic in the winter. I hope to have even more out there next winter! Right now I have leeks, fennel, cilantro, varieties of lettuce, radishes, beets and spinach.

I do store a lot of my veggie ferments in the frig at this point, since we don't have a root cellar yet. We do plan to build an underground cold root cellar to store the long term ferments once we are homesteading our land. Fermented veggies can last years if not forever if they are processed right. My husband also plans to build me a ferment room for the needs of our warmer temp loving cultures. We also brew Kombucha, Water Kefir, Ginger Beer & Hindu Lemonade, which like temps to be around 70 degrees F.

Last year we stocked up on canning supplies, and I did a couple small practice runs. We plan to save as much of our harvest this season as possible, tho canning is not my favorite preservation method as I feel boiling and killing food to store it totally defeats the purpose. I do plan to ferment as much as I can, as I believe the quality and nutrient availability is far superior to canned. Last year we had a HUGE harvest of green beans. Hubby wanted me to can them, and so I did try to can some of them.... what a huge pain in the ass! lol! pardon my language, but it really is such a long killing process to get the food "safely stored"... to me fermenting is easier than blanching and boiling, the whole canning process is all about "oh no, nasty little microbes, so scary! kill them all".... ugg... I just don't like it. Fermenting green beans, oh my what a treat! And with no blanching, or killing of any kind! Plus the pickling liquid left over from a ferment makes great digestive tonics! No cooking needed!

Kari Gunnlaugsson wrote: When you guys are talking about fermentation, we're talking about the same process as sauerkraut or kimchi?? I had no idea there were other foods besides cabbage stored this way... Is it fairly safe? Could anyone suggest any good books or websites with basic info on it?? thanks!

Yes, you can ferment nearly anything.

'Nourishing Traditions' by Sally Fallon
and
'Wild Fermentation' by Sandor Katz

not only is fermentation the traditional way of storing food before the invent of refrigeration, but the process actually increases the foods digestibility, absorption and increases the nutrition density of the food as well. Microbes are amazing allies!

Suzy Bean wrote:Here is a link I found very helpful, written by another permie!
6 steps to natural contraception

She talks about more than herbalism, but the two herbs she discusses are queen anne's lace and tansy.

Suzi thank you for posting this link! I am loving AarTianna's views, knowledge and her creativity! Wonderful! Thank you again for sharing this

Susun Weed is my Muse in the Herbal Arts and Womanly Arts. I've adored and learned so much from her sparkly example for the better part of 10 years. I've not met her in this life, but feel as if she is a close kindred Sister Spirit- I revere her message and her drive to help empower her Sisters globally

Susun Weed's "Wise Woman Herbal For The Childbearing Year" is hands down the best book on female reproductive care I have ever found. She has a list in this book of herbs that help to stimulate and encourage the monthly blood cycle, also herbs that can sterilize naturally. I have been interested in natural methods of birth control for quite some time. Pulling out DOES NOT WORK! hahaha After having my 4th child I became very serious about finding a natural solution, as pharma's pills, rings, IUDs, hormone hijackings, shots, surgery and the rest of it is too dangerous to even consider (at least for me). So I started charting my cycle, not tracking useless things like temps or using any kind of device tho. I track my moods, vaginal mucus (texture/color/consistency- as these are all indicators of where I am in my cycle and indicates fertile days) and I also chart my desire for sex. I like to look back and see how my patterns unfold so that I am more attuned to my body's natural cycles. This information and practice gained has been life transforming for me, as I feel more attuned to the Natural Cycles of the Earth and Moon and Her Seasons as I attune to my body. To do this, I just got a folder, made up some charts (I can share them if any are interested). I chart daily, and 2 days before my expected start date, I start drinking some homemade Ginger Beer, (Ginger Tea would work too, but I find the Fermented Ginger to be more reliable and potent). Ginger stimulates the womb, and moves the energy in that area and stimulates the moon blood to start. Its worked wonderfully for me so far, and I'm wicked fertile! It would help greatly if the woman cultivates a friendly, loving respect for her uterus, her moon cycle and the power that brings, rather than the all too common attitude toward female fertility known as "the curse". Attitude weighs heavily on a woman's creative aspect.

www.susunweed.com

Thank you Matt Interesting about the 'boron deficiency'- I'll be looking in to that. I'm pretty sure tel is correct about it being lamium purpureum, or red dead nettle, it is a member of the mint family and is a traditional nourisher and medicinal herb. I feel confident in this because now that I've looked into this I remember seeing the purple stalks and flowers of the mature plants last year It looks like the link you posted about Glechoma hederacea is also part of the mint family with many of the same medicinal and nourishing properties. Thank you both so much!

tel jetson, thank you! I am beyond excited at this discovery! So thankful I posted here about it I live in a very busy city suburb of Portland Oregon, I've been looking for nettle in this area to no avail. Little did I know I had her Sister growing right under my nose Thank you again!

here it is in its natural habitat (aka my garden bed, lol)

this is a shot with my girl, Henny-Penny, kindly helping with perspective of this Winter Green of Mystery, by posing for us, she is so cute!

ok, so it has a very subtle mushroom, dirt or potato taste very very mild flavor, almost reminds me of chickweed, but chickweed is sweeter. If I don't get sick from eating it, I'm throwing it on salads, as now I'm craving them covered in my homemade Italian dressing mmmm