Jay Angler

Anne Stobart wrote:... I have found it strange that there is no 'measure' of coppicability that could tell us whether a tree is suited or not.

There are a lot of factors involved, but one that's not obvious on your list, is that I have noticed some plants putting our huge numbers of shoots after being cut to the ground, creating an unsustainable situation, and other trees putting out only a few, which allows the tree better odds of getting those few sprouts through our summer drought. Variety of tree, micro-ecosystem, and weather can influence what actually happens to a specific tree, and makes it quite difficult to make a measure that will be meaningful without many caveats.

Dennis Barrow wrote: I am thinking of making a new one with "good" brick, semi-permanent.   I have almost 20 extra chickens to butcher yet, wonder if I built one big enough to hold the scalding pot???   I could put one of my grandkids in charge of it.....  

If I was doing semi-permanent and planning to use it regularly, I would use a "J-tube" pattern that self-feeds so you don't have to be constantly watching that the wood gets pushed in. That is more complicated to build, but the increased usefulness would be worth it. The style of house I'm in, doesn't justify trying to cook on an outdoor stove. I can't even get hubby to BBQ due to the nuisance factor, let alone do major cooking on a rocket stove outdoors.

However, if we have a bad earthquake - anything over a 5 - we could easily loose our chimney or even our whole house, and definitely electricity. Cooking outdoors would become an important option.

I don't have enough bricks to do a side-by-side test, but I am thinking of trying a sequential test, as no one has suggested they've used a "model C" stove with the side air intake, and I really want to know how well that one works in real life. Alas, that will take more time than I currently have...

lorrie hughes wrote:Can you make Dakota hole mixed with bricks to make a stove?

In some ecosystems, absolutely. I'm on glacial till, so "hole digging" often requires the rock drill and feathers and irons to make big rocks into smaller rocks.

For people in appropriate soil and topography, and maybe even in groundhog territory so they dig the hole for you, a Dakota hole with bricks or rocks to give one the height that makes it a real rocket rather than a smoky campfire, would be a great emergency option.

You would want to make sure you were high enough up that your hole wouldn't collect water - the most common "emergencies" I've read about in the last month have involved atypically heavy rain. This is expected to the north of me starting tomorrow, but I think we're far enough south to miss the worst of it.

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According to the experts in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, they're called Fairy Homes.



They seem very popular with young and old alike. Apparently, Moss is a very important component.

Pearl Sutton wrote:I have made fake raisins out of baked winter squash, that's been diced small, and soaked in lemon juice and molasses. Possibly some water if you wanted. The juices might be helped to absorb by boiling gently or microwaving them.

Winter Squash: That's another one I've never tried drying. I would look for one of the drier, sweeter squashes to try this with. Squash is hit and miss in my garden, but this would be a good use on the years when they produce well. The nice thing about dried fruit is that it easily stores well for several years in a glass jar in a cool spot.

And wrote

Like everything in permaculture, It Depends!  What part does the raisin do in the cookie that makes makes it important? Is it the sweet lump, the flavor, the texture, the idea there is something in there just for a surprise in a bite? Knowing which are the important parts you are trying to replicate might help figure out what will be an adequate replacement.

These are very good points, and I will need to ask more questions. He has expressed the opinion that he'd prefer raisins than chocolate chips, so that suggests that the chewy texture is part of the preference.

Eino Kenttä wrote:Dried mulberries! They are way tastier than raisins in my opinion. I've only eaten store-bought ones so far, since our mulberry trees will probably need a few more years at least to give enough fruit that it'd be worth drying it.

Dried Mulberries - good idea! So far all of mine have been eaten by the birds or hand-to-mouth by humans, but increasing production is in the works, so it's good to know they can be dried. I've never seen dried mulberries in the shops, but then maybe I just haven't looked hard enough!

tel jetson wrote:hoshigaki (dried astringent persimmon). can chunk them up into raisin size pieces once they’re dry.

not everybody thinks daily fruit massage is a remotely reasonable way to use one’s time, but I enjoy it. and the persimmons look nice hanging in strings during and after the process.

Having to cut them up to use, is totally an acceptable approach in my book. I find scissors work better than a knife for some dried fruits, and I do it with a video or music on, so it's not so much like a chore.

That said, alas, persimmon would be very marginal in my climate. I'm not sure anyone is growing them locally, so I would have to investigate that. Sometimes temperature is not the only factor.

Currants:
I have tried to dry currants in the past, but I don't usually get enough currants to replace what a grape vine can produce. Currants in our climate are very susceptible to some sort of bug that grows in the fruit, so we have to be careful not to plant too many. The good thing is that the seeds are very small, so removing seeds isn't needed.

Cranberry:
These need fairly special conditions to grow, and the store ones have gotten very pricy in the last few years. However, being a drier fruit to start, I expect drying them would be much quicker than grapes, and again, the small seeds don't need removing.

The commercial dried cranberries hubby bought are injected with cane sugar, but some raisins may also have either sugar injected, or are grown to maximize their sugar content.