Beth Yeoman

I had a little fantasy going for a while, about quietly hiking into a large forested site that was owned by the local school district, used for forestry education, and open to the permies... I would hike up to the top and plant a bunch of hazelnuts... shrubs that would do well in the Pacific Northwest woods. But between a) lack of funds and b) the only info I could find on hazelnuts said that I needed an assortment of varieties for crosspolilnation, I let the idea slide into oblivion.

Carrots with ginger and sauerkraut are both pretty easy. Except for grating all the carrots, which I find tiresome.

Sheep's wool is flammable (and stinky) if lanolin is not washed out. Without the lanolin it is slightly flame retardant. Wool moth larvae will damage it, and I suspect earwigs might too, but I'm not sure. Technically, the wool moth larvae eat particles that are ON the wool, and supposedly won't damage clean wool.

I am curious about the use of cordwood in seismic zones. Are there any extra difficulties in getting building permits? Do you know of any cordwood structures that have been through severe shaking, and how did they perform?

That is a fantastic site for dreaming and drooling. Thanks for the link.

I am going to take a course in Sustainability at Coursera.org. It's a university level course with video lectures and discussions forums. It occurred to me that it might be of interest to some people here, and also that it might be interesting to have your voices in the discussions.
https://www.coursera.org/course/sustain

The heat might have contributed to the mold. What you really want to create is anaerobic conditions. As little air as possible. Weights help (because the keep the kraut (or other food) pushed down under the surface. The various crocks/airlock designs also help. Tamping the kraut down tightly so that there are no air bubbles trapped in the jar -- that helps.

I use a tightly sealed mason jar and release the pressure once in a while. (I know, there is a risk of the glass exploding. But it hasn't happened to me yet. )

Also -- in my limited experience, I have never had any mold or the white yeasty growth on any ferment that includes chill peppers -- they have a really nice clear brine.

I have not yet seen the really big benefits Wardeh describes above, but I haven't been on this journey as long or as consistently.

A couple of benefits I am know of:

-Sauerkraut or sauerkraut juice is now my first choice home remedy for nausea and/or painful stomach cramps. I put a spoonful of juice in a glass of water and sip it -- works wonders.

- Raw, unpasteurized milk is more digestible.

- Kefir/yogurt are good for battling candida

- I can make home-made vinegar for both cooking and for a hair rinse. It saves me from spending what seems to be an outrageous amount of $$ on raw apple cider vinegar (I use "no-poo" for hair -- a baking soda wash & vinegar rinse.)

- I eat a lot more vegetables when I have veggie ferments in the frig. I am lazy, and also I cook for just myself. So I can buy a whole cauliflower, cook half of it for dinner with cheese sauce, and throw the rest of it into a mason jar with chunks of onion, pepper, and/or other veggies. Then whenever I have a green salad or a want a a few veggies on the side, I can add pickled cauliflower and onions. And my "leftovers' are MORE nutritious instead of less!

You really can use just vegetables and salt. Some people add whey from yogurt of cheese making, or a purchased starter culture, or the juice from a finished culture. The whey gets the culture going faster, so you can use less salt.

Fermenting, in general, refers to processing foods using micro-organisms. Yeast feed on sugars produces alcohol as a byproduct. Lacto-bacilli produce lactic acid. Acetic acid bacteria (acetobacters or acetobacilli) produce acetic acid: vinegar.