Nancy Reading

Conratulations everyone!
Let's carry on making permies the nicest place to hang out! Making the world better one post at a time.

This popped up in backyard larder's sales for this week. Alison did some experimental cooking with the root at the end of last year which may be of interest to you. Apparently it is rather slow to cook although easy to prepare. Grating and boiling or pressure cooking being the quickest. Alison did say it was quite tasty though and drought tolerant.
I'm tempted to try it myself!
Also Alison is successfully overwintering the tubers, which may give you an earlier start next year.

It sounds like there is already quite a diversity of inulin content in different, so the trick maybe to select those that have a reduced amount, and then plant those in a poor dry spot so as to reduce the inulin further and then harvest later in the season.
Joseph Lofthouse has a diverse range of tubers available seasonally, so if I were in the USA I'd be trying to get hold of some of these and see what suits:

a diversity of tubers

source

I think the problem would be in choosing the ones with less inulin in them. If our gut bacteria adapt to eating the tubers over time, we can't just eat them and see which have the worse/better effect! I wonder whether a brix metre may indicate inulin content, or wether there is another easy test one could do at home?

Thekla McDaniels wrote:We numbered the outer flaps and colored or named the inner flaps, with the fortune under the inner flaps.

Ah that's it Thekla! Thanks for jogging my memory

Susan Mené wrote:    Permies is my favorite place.  However I am finding a lot of snarky, and even what feels like hostile, attacks on western medicine and its providers.

I'm a bit sad about this Susan. If anyone feels something goes outside what is acceptable on permies then the report button is an option.

I don't have experience of USA medical providers, and am sure that as individuals the vast majority are doing the best they can with what resources they have. I remember a thread somewhere where paul talks about bad people making good people do bad things...can't find it now but this one is slightly similar.

 We don't hide successful natural treatments in order to make money; we do focus on the large, double-blind scientific studies.  

My understanding is that the money is behind new chemical treatments, so some of the alternative and holistic treatments don't get to be tested in a scientific way. Ethics can be a part of that of course too.

Thank you and others in health care of all flavours for what you have done and continue to do.

Easy ones -
Black leggings and top with some cardboard ears and drawn on whiskers for a cat.
Borrow the husband's Dinner Jacket and go as James Bond
Short shorts and a vest top for Lara Croft

I'd be looking at opportunities for grey water use perhaps.

I wonder how you got on with this Michael? Other than the suggestions given, I'd be struggling with the criteria you have too.
The only other thing I would suggest that wouldn't get rid of the nettles, but does seem to like similar conditions with me are raspberries. They seem to form a happy polyculture. A nuisance when I want to harvest the berries, as the stings do not make it a pleasant experience! I'm hoping that mint will do a similar job where I haven't got nettles with my raspberries.