Located on 750 acres of beautiful land in the mountains of Tennessee, is a sustainable living community called The Village on Sewanee Creek. It is an experiment in living wisely. The members of the community have a vision of living simply, practically and within their means.

Energy

One of the main projects at The Village is looking at real-world, sustainable, alternative energy sources. Forsaking many of the fads in the green industry, Grant Miller, the developer of the community is looking to develop real, always-on fuel sources. Whereas solar panels and windmills provide seasonal and weather based power, Mr. Miller is looking to an old technology known as Wood Gasification which turns good into electricity. Since trees are abundant in certain areas and a constantly renewing resource, it makes perfect sense to consider them as an alternative energy source. Many people think that burning trees is bad for the environment, but actually, the burn cycle of wood is completely natural. Another virtue about wood is that truly allows for self-sufficiency and independence. If you own land with trees, you can produce your own electricity.

Water

Some of the members of The Village are using rainwater collection systems on their roofs to collect and store their own drinking water. Water is the essence of life, and having your own water on hand in case of a drought can be critically important. Rainwater collection systems allow you to conserve all that rain falling on your roof throughout the year and put it to good use.

Heating

Outdoor wood furnaces have become the most common form of hot water heating and even whole house heating. Outdoor furnaces have the benefit of not polluting your indoor air with toxins from smoke. Plus, they are much more efficient at heating. They keep water in the loop at about 180 degrees and require filling once in the morning and once at night. The 180 degree water can be used for a variety of things from heating a greenhouse in the winter to heating the concrete slab in your basement to keeping a never ending supply of hot water in your tank.

Food

All members of the Village will be looking to grow their own food. Some are even looking to grow 100% of their own food and gain food independence. Raised bed gardens and greenhouses for organic gardening are being used. Also, at the current time, chickens are being used to produce eggs and rabbits are being raised for meat. Some members have plans to raise their own beef cattle and others to grow Tilapia.

Getting control back over our food supply is a major goal of many of the people in the community.

Most environmentally aware people try to keep up with the science, the debates, and the drafting of policy that will hopefully address Global Climate Change (a.k.a. Global Warming). The hope is that we can diminish human contributions to greenhouse gases before the planet becomes unlivable. Things like developing energy sources that don’t require raping the earth or poisoning the air and water (Mountaintop Removal) or never-ending oil wars, conservation at home and at work, switching urban transportation fleets to biodiesel, purchasing hybrid cars, commitments to rebuilding infrastructure such as the electrical grid so it doesn’t ‘lose’ nearly half of our generation capacity, ending the decimation of tropical rainforests, etc.

And many of the people young and old who are paying attention and doing what they can to mitigate their own carbon footprints are also well aware that with some tweaking of our antiquated agricultural policies that were originally designed to ‘beat’ the Soviets in some kind of mock Cold War game of who can produce the most corn, we could be saving 20% of our fossil fuel consumption simply by switching the nation’s primary shipping systems – trains, ships and semi fleets – to biodiesel made with alternative feedstock crops. Along with our agricultural machinery. A combine can run just fine on biodiesel – or, with a pre-heater refit, straight vegetable oil.

Yet there’s a huge contributor to climate change that people don’t seem to be particularly aware of or take seriously as far as choices they could make to lessen their own impact. It’s not about carbon dioxide, which is the primary focus of most attempts to mitigate Global Warming, but about other greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide and methane. For these the agricultural sector is again the most significant contributor, and it all revolves around our hard-to-kick habit of eating way too much meat.

Meat production accounts for a majority of the deforestation both in the tropics and temperate regions. Researchers from Johns Hopkins published a paper in the journal Public Health Nutrition last year examining the shortcomings of media reporting about agricultural (thus food choices) contributions to climate change which illustrates why this aspect of the issue is escaping so many otherwise concerned citizens.

According to the United Nations meat production accounts for 9% of human CO2 production. Yet meat production accounts for 65% of humanity’s contribution of nitrous oxide, which has nearly 300 times the greenhouse impact of carbon dioxide! Meat production further produces 37% of the methane contribution (a gas 23 tomes more greenhouse potent than CO2) and 64% of ammonia – a potent contributor to acid rain. Land use dedicated to livestock production includes 30% of the planet’s entire land surface and 33% of global arable land just for growing food for those cattle, swine, chickens and such. Together, livestock production accounts for a fifth of all global emissions. Which is higher than all transportation sources combined.

Truth is that feed enough to produce a single pound of steak could provide adequate nutrition for 5 humans. Not to mention livestock production’s contributions to water shortages and pollution loads, epidemic obesity in the population that for some reason believes it needs meat 4 or 5 times a day, thus serious contributions to the notably lousy health of our population across the board – and cost of health care for so many obese, sickly meat-eaters.

Beef and lamb are the most inefficient and most polluting meats, pork is a bit more GHG efficient (but not less polluting per water quality and usage), chicken is lowest. By simply not eating meat during one meal a day, we could cut our GHG emissions overall by more than 10%. Individuals could still maintain their weight problems, hardened arteries and high cholesterol levels just fine despite skipping the bacon or strip steak once a day. If they chose to eat meat only once a day, they might lose some weight and find themselves in better overall health while lessening their personal contribution to global climate change by half!

Chances are that the world’s governments aren’t going to do enough in the next decade or two to delay or prevent massive global climate change and all the deadly consequences of that to humans and the rest of the life we share this planet with. Chances are that individual people’s diet and lifestyle choices will kill them sooner than they might have liked no matter what governments do or don’t do in the future. For those of us who have made serious lifestyle choices to become more responsible and more aware by doing as much as we can for ourselves, we’ve a big investment is staying healthy and active, in wholesome food production and preservation, and in educating our children, friends and neighbors toward healthier lifestyles and smaller footprints on the face of the earth.

Everyone dies in the end, all generations. The questions today are how much of the world will we take with us when we go, and how much will we leave to future generations so they have a chance to experience life too. We faced a similar dilemma with our vast arsenals of WMDs a generation ago, and while it still plays a role in international tensions, we no longer live our lives under Damocles’ Sword threatening to make us extinct 400+ times over just because we can. A decision was made in the ether of humanity’s collective consciousness to have a future, to allow life to continue its evolutionary journey on this rock. We could make such a decision again, without too much sacrifice and both we and future generations would be much healthier and happier for it.

Pick a day and go meatless. Pick a meal and skip the meat in it every day. Switch to chicken and stop eating beef or pork or lamb apart from holidays once or twice a year. If enough of us did just that much we might buy the future some time, and time is a precious – but diminishing – commodity right now.

Here are some links to sources readers may find helpful in educating themselves about this aspect of global climate change, and possibly for help in making the right choices…

WaPo: The Meat of the Problem

AAAS: Climate-Friendly Dining … Meats

IA State: Food, Fuel and Freeways

Why is the Media Afraid to Tackle Livestock’s Role in Climate Change?

Cornell: Food for Livestock or People

Having battled out of control pumpkin vines all summer, I’m glad to report that the last of the pumpkin harvest is finally complete. It rained so much that several rotted on the ground, they’ve been tossed into the compost bin from which I expect next year’s greedy vines will take off. I’d planted an heirloom variety of pie-size pumpkins, not realizing that everywhere there was a leaf there would root a whole new vine. Thus the minimal planting of only 4 vines ended up literally everywhere! It grew over the mints and into the brick pathway. It grew through the roses and tried to cover the grapes. It grew out into the 3rd goal disc golf fairway and down the hill towards the bottomland drop-off. I was literally lopping off new vines daily just to keep some control (and some of my other crops)! Since the compost bin is on the fairway side of the garden, I’m going to go ahead and let the pumpkins have it next year.

Now, processing pumpkins – even pie-size pumpkins of 5 pounds or less – is an arduous task taking lots of time and energy. I spread it out over a couple of weeks, once haviing brought them inside when the temperature dropped to freezing. Once frost is upon them they go fast. Protected from frost in a dry, cool basement or root cellar, they’ll keep for months. So while it’s possible to avoid all that processing by spreadiing it out over the entire winter one pumpkin at a time, pumpkin simply doesn’t last long enough around this homestead to justify not doing it all at once well before the holiday season. I’ve got grandkids who can each eat an entire pie at a single sitting, and grown relatives who fully expect their pumpkin/hickory nut bread along with the fudge and cookies in December (my standard Christmas gifting). One thing you never want to do is find yourself processing a pumpkin at the same time you’re baking cookies/bread and making fudge. You’ll end up not sleeping for days…

Ended up with 12 full quarts of puree, ten of which were bagged and frozen with two for immediate pie-making. This involves cutting, cleaning, peeling and chunking the pumpkin – I like chunks no bigger than 1-2 inches – and saving the seeds. From each of these meaty pumpkins I got about 2/3 usable fruit and 1/3 compost waste, which is a lot better than large modern pumpkin’s yield of half and half.

First, the seeds. squeeze them loose from the stringy pulp, and set aside in a bowl, but don’t wash them. Stir occasionally while processing the rest of the pumpkin to let them dry out a bit. After you’re done using the oven, turn it back to 250º for the seeds. Ad 1 tbsp. vegetable oil per 3 cups of seeds and 1/2 to 1 tsp. of non-iodized salt. You could lessen salt and add pie spices, or chili powder for flavored snacks. Stir well, spread thinly on a baking sheet, and let roast at 250º for an hour. If not good and dry by then, separate and stir, return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes. When dry let them cool and store in zip-lock bag or airtight jar. Eat whole, they crunch easily! High in vitamins E and A, iron, magnesium and trace minerals.

I fill a large oblong cake pan with chunks in a single layer, add 1/4″ of water, cover and bake at 350º for 20 minutes. Puree the soft chunks in the blender (you’ll need to add some water, as little as possible to make it blend well) and pour into quart-size zip-lock freezer bags. These I allow to freeze solid lying flat for a day, and when that’s done they’re the size of a thin box of frozen vegetables and can be stacked or slotted as easily. Some people go ahead and box the bags, but I’m not big on excess packaging. Flat frozen they’re easy enough to find room for.

A quart of puree will make 2 large, deep pumpkin pies or 3 pre-made pie shell size pies. Rather than use the standard pumpkin pie recipe that comes on the back of those cans of pumpkin puree on sale at Thanksgiving in the grocery store, I use a much older ‘traditional’ recipe that my pumpkin pie connoisseur grandson thinks is much better than any other ready-made or home-made from canned pie he’s ever had. Best part is that you don’t have to buy those cans of evaporated milk, which aren’t good for much besides pie or fudge and are always in short supply on a moment’s notice. It’s also very easy…

For a large, deep pie:

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
3 medium eggs (2 extra large or 4 small)
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. each allspice, ginger, nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

You can go ahead and use the pre-mixed Pumpkin Pie Spice from the spice aisle, or a new spice mix my grandson picked out and now insists upon – a McCormick “Gourmet Collection” blend called Chinese Five Spice. It contains (in order of appearance per the label) anise, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and ginger. The anise gives a bit of a licorice flavoring, I compensate with a quarter teaspoon of extra ginger. If you’re using a blend, 1.5 to 2 tsps. per pie.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425º, then at 350º for ~45 minutes more or until the pie is firm and a butter knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. I like not using “the usual” spice blend or recommends, as they tend to make your pie taste way too much like everyone else’s. That Chinese blend with anise and some extra ginger (which most people don’t use) is truly different, and vanilla in the mix adds a little something unusual as well. Try it!

In addition to the puree, I also dedicated a whole pumpkin to slices. Got it down to meat, then cut into 1.5 x 1.5 inch slices between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Froze into four family-size portions without blanching or baking, as you’ll want these semi-dry to make sautees spice slices, a truly great side-dish with any meal, particularly good for holiday meals. The same dish can be made with chunks – and the half to three-quarter inch chunks tend to hold together well – but I just prefer the look and texture of the thin slices instead.

To make, first melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a heavy pan on medium-low heat, add your favorite spices or blend (total of about a tablespoon’s worth) and 1/4 cup brown sugar or maple syrup. Keep on the heat until the butter clarifies and the spices release to the fat. Pour into a bowl and add 1/4 cup lemon juice, mix well and add the pumpkin. Stir often to ensure all the pumpkin gets time in the liquid, let it marinate for a couple of hours.

Strain out the pumpkin and reserve the butter/spice/lemon mixture. Put it into a large frying pan on medium and let the lemon juice reduce out. When down to mostly butter and spice, add 2 more tbsp. of butter. When hot add the pumpkin and let it simmer until the bottom starts to brown, flip-stir with a spatula and continue sauteeing for another few minutes. When done you may wish to put the pan under the broiler long enough to evenly brown the top. Very yummy!

That sautee recipe is also good for winter squash if you get sick of the basic mushy baked stuff. Pumpkins and winter squash are jam packed with vitamins and are one of the most nutritious foods the season has to offer. It’s good to remember that pumpkin can always be substituted for winter squash in cookbook recipes, and visa versa. Try those chunks in a hearty winter soup too, always delicious on cold days.

If readers have any favorite pumpkin/winter squash recipes or preservation hints, do let us know!

Today it is officially Autumn, my personal favorite season (for the colors and smells and crisp, clear air). Unfortunately, this year it’s been so cool and wet that we basically had no summer. The tomatoes turned black and died, pumpkins are rotting in the field, weeds have taken over and it’s been weeks since we’ve seen the sun.

But now is the time to prepare for winter, beyond just putting up the harvest. We managed to get the H1N1 flu right after school started, but the immune-strengthening tea I’d previously gathered and dried worked quite well to keep it relatively mild. Was only abed for a day, which is less than with any other flu I’ve ever had. It does seem to go straight to bronchi and lungs, though, so I’m glad I was prepared. I’d encourage everyone to either gather and dry the recipe’s herbs now, or get some from a local (and organic) supplier and have it ready to brew. It tastes good enough to drink hot or cold just for fun, and certainly won’t hurt you if you do!

The winter comes with its own issues for keeping yourself healthy. There’s a dramatic lack of sunshine – thus a shortage of vitamin D – and cold weather’s general ill effects on a healthy immune system. There’s also a notable lack of fresh foods (at least, those not from some South American country you’d rather avoid), and a steady diet of grains and processed or preserved foods will often come up short on nutrients that would help keep your family going. Thus as soon as it stops raining cats and dogs here on the ’stead, I’m planning to gather and process the ingredients for a winter tonic packed with goodies. Only four ingredients (you can always add more, of course), and some local organic apple cider vinegar.

The vinegar is a preservative and solvent that will keep the vitamins and other nutrients active and accessible to your body in easily assimilated form. There’s no cooking involved, so delicate nutrients won’t be destroyed. Even herb teas have some issues with that, in that they are brewed with boiling water which destroys some of their effectiveness. So first thing on the list is to obtain a quart or two of the very best cider vinegar you can. Don’t substitute white vinegar, as it’s mostly just chemicals in water. You want the natural goodness and medicinal/nutrative properties of the cider vinegar.

First, cider vinegar is a natural germicide. It helps to fight infection and eases inflammation. It also helps to prevent blood clots and contains vitamins C, B6, E, beta-carotene (vitamin A precursor and anti-oxidant), potassium, magnesium, calcium, riboflavin and thiamin. It also stimulates excretory organs and aids digestion. Plus it tastes good!

Second ingredient is dandelion roots. We grow some hefty dandelions in a lower terrace of the garden for greens, but also for roots in the fall. They’re easy enough to harvest with a potato-fork or hand trowel in soft ground. The roots go deep, usually straight down but sometimes they’re forked or grow at angles around rocks and such. I usually just loosen the soil around at about a foot distance and a foot deep, then pick them out by hand carefully. Dandelion root is a rich blend of vitamins A, B, D (you’ll need this one), iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, sodium, calcium and silicon. It’s a mild diuretic, eases digestion, and promotes healthy blood circulation.

Third ingredient is chickweed, of which we’ve plenty in the yard and garden. We don’t use artificial fertilizers or weed-killers or other chemicals, but if you do you should obtain your chickweed (as well as dandelion) from someone who doesn’t. It’s high in vitamins B1, B2, B3, E and C, beta carotine, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron and zinc, and contains flavinoids that aid in absorption of nutrients. It’s rich in chlorophyll, contains saponins, is a rare plant source of essential fatty acids and is useful against respiratory infections. Chickweed is renowned for reducing inflammation and speeds healing. You’ll want to keep a good growth of chickweed going all year, as it’s delicious in salads as well as excellent for your skin (along with cleavers). But this time of year, we’re talking tonic.

Fourth ingredient is rose hips, best source of vitamin C anywhere, plus A, E, K, B-complex. Generally, wild rose hips need to experience a freeze before they turn red and soften enough for harvest. First freeze in my zone should come in October, so this particular ingredient will be added later to the tonic extract.

The recipe for tonic is easy. First, wash and drain the chickweed, pat softly with paper towels. You can cut it into small pieces with kitchen scissors, go ahead and dip the blades in boiling water for a few minutes first. Put about a loose cup of chopped chickweed into a sterile quart jar. Trim and soak the dandelion roots in cold water, agitating occasionally. After the dirt is mostly off or softened, drain and scrub them carefully with a vegetable brush or old toothbrush (pre-soak brush in boiling water for 3-5 minutes). When they’re good and clean, chop them into small chunks and add to the jar(s) with the chickweed. No need to dry the roots first. You’ll want 1/2 to 1 cup of root chunks per jar. Fill the jar(s) with cider vinegar, leaving enough head space to accommodate about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of rose hips when they’re in.

Cap and store in a cool, dark place. No need to process, the vinegar will preserve and serve as solvent for the nutrients. You may wish to strain out the ingredients at some point (I don’t bother) and re-bottle. If so, wait for at least a month for the nutrients to infuse the vinegar. Take a tablespoon of the vinegar per day, however you like it. I like it on salad, but sometimes I just like to take it straight. You can use it in cooking, but that will destroy some of the nutrients you’re aiming to ingest. This tonic extract is very rich in vitamins and minerals plus anti-oxidants and flavonoids, etc. Your body will absorb more of them in this form than you’d get from a pill or capsule too.

3 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ground mixed acorns and pumpkin seeds
* [can add flax and/or sesame seeds as desired, whole, toasted]
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Now, 3 cups of pumpkin puree is about what you get out of a single mini pumpkin. If you’re growing giants, good luck (you can eat pumpkin bread and pie every day for a year from just one of those). Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds into a colander, quarter and put into an oven roasting pan with about an inch of water. Bake at 350º until soft. While the oven’s on, roast the cleaned and rinsed seeds on a baking sheet, stirring every 5 minutes to roast evenly (don’t burn). The pumpkin will be done in about 30-40 minutes.

Unless you already have acorn flour, you’ll have to make that too. First shell the acorns and half them on their natural split line, use only those with cream-colored meat. Put into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes then drain. Refill the pot and do it again until the boiling water is no longer dark with tannin. Some oaks need only one leaching, some need two or three. When the water is clear, drain the acorns well and arrange on a baking sheet, single layer. Roast at 300º (stirring occasionally) until well dried. Some like to air dry the acorns and then blender-ize into a chunky, oily-but spreadable paste. Then dry that, break into pieces, and grind again to get a finer flour.

Now, if you really want to do things the old way (and if so, you’d be using a potato masher instead of a blender, and grinding the seeds and acorns on a rock by hand), you can leach acorns in a flowing creek or stream. Once they’ve been shelled and halved, put into a burlap or mesh bag and weight the bag in the flowing water for a few days, then dry in the sun. Acorns were once a staple food crop for people as well as squirrels and such, they are very nutritious. You just have to get the bitterness out, and that’s what the leaching is for. You can mix acorn flour – which is “mealy” and somewhat oily, with fine-ground dry cattail heads to make a tasty flatbread. So if you’re out camping and ‘roughing it’ just to see if you can, there’s a good hunter-gatherer project right there! Acorn flour is also a good thickener for soups and stews (excellent, I hear, in venison stew), or mixed with oatmeal and other rolled grains for breakfast gruel.

Anyway, on with the pumpkin cracker recipe…

Put the dry roasted pumpkin seeds in the blender and grind into powder. Add the acorns and grind as fine as possible. Either or both may have high oil content, so you can freeze them in sealed containers first to get it as powdery as possible. Add this powder and the syrup, sugar, cornstarch and spices to the pumpkin puree in a saucepan and bring to a slow boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will be thick, so when it starts bubbling from underneath cook another 3 minutes still stirring, remove from heat and let cool.

Drop by spoon onto oiled sheets, spread to 1/4 inch thickness with the back of the spoon to make separate round chips. You’ll want them to be about 2.5-3 inches in diameter, as they shrink significantly when dry. Dry at 140-150º. When firm enough to flip, do so and dry until crisp.

Store in airtight jars or zip-lock bags. If they aren’t still crisp when you want to eat some, spread them on a cookie sheet and warm them at 300º for a few minutes until they crisp up. Scrumptious with cold apple or pear butter for a dip. Perfect for fall get-togethers, include a handful of chips with a serving of apple butter or fruit leather in school lunches!

At right is the first rush of the bunching onion harvest, prepped for drying in my wonderful (but quite ugly) solar food dryer! These are just the whites – grown from seed – that have been seriously overrun by volunteer grape tomatoes. I decided to let the volunteers grow because the celeriac I’d put where they are all got washed away by torrential rains all spring. Unlike my Abe Lincolns up top, these actually are turning red about a month late. Rain and cool weather all the way through July has kept the Lincolns green-green for way too long, don’t know if they’ll ever ripen.

Seems that’s the story up and down the Eastern Seaboard this year. Cooler than normal, and wet enough to make swamps. I hear New Jersey and other states are having tomato issues, as are all my neighbors, so I’m not alone. Potatoes are taking a big hit as well, rotting in the wet ground or turning black with blight. Both crops may be total commercial losses this year, which means it’s even MORE important that mine come in and get preserved. That’s where my food dryer comes in!

I have so looked forward to not having to buy lids, boil jars, hard-prep and then water-bath this year. We don’t have AC in the cabin, since there’s no point for the perhaps 3 whole weeks of summer when it’s so hot we have to go sit under a tree instead of stay in the house, but it does get sticky and uncomfortable in the extreme when canning, even though I’ve learned to do the water-bath out on the gas grill.

The not pretty but quite serviceable dryer is something I’m more proud of due to NOT having cut off any digits or limbs with power tools than the fact that it works. So far I’ve been drying apples as they fall (Granny Smith and Macintosh) from what were supposed to be 10-foot tall single-limb “columnars” that got planted too deep and are now 20 feet tall and multi-limbed. Can’t get at the fruit with the ladder because most is too high, so must wait until they fall. They’re right outside the front porch, so I check a couple of times a day. Promptly cut off the bruised part from falling, core, peel and slice, dip in lemon juice (helps preserve color) and dry. Takes a day of full sun, or two of intermittent. Which is the story of the summer, and just my luck since I made a solar dryer. It just HAD to be a cool, wet, cloudy year. So far I’ve three quarts of dried apples and one of peels, which I’m going to powder and make applesauce, then dry into leathers strips.

So between apple batches (still waiting for ‘maters and pears, eggplant, leeks, peppers and pumpkins), I can dry the onions. The colander you see in the pic is full of cut greens. The very best thing about drying instead of canning is that nothing much goes to waste. I’ll cut and dry all the good onion greens crisp, jar them for now, then when I’m putting together powder mixtures for, say, veggie bullion or instant V-8 or potato soup or making salts and/or salt-free mixtures, I’ll blender-ize them into powder. Rather than just tossing them into the compost as usual, where they either rot or get eaten by da bear.

Greens shouldn’t take more than a day to dry, I’ll know by this evening because this is one of our rare full-sun days. If they aren’t quite dry by sundown, I’ll retrieve them and finish in the oven at 150º, which I’ve found works quite well. Dried food needs to be fully dried hard to store, as moisture will cause mold and rot. Half-dry stuff needs to go into freezer bags and frozen. The dry-dry will keep for years!

Figure I’ll half the grape tomatoes and dry those too, sort of tomato-raisins that can be added to all sorts of stuff, including a sourdough veggie-loaf I’m planning. The herbs (basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, tarragon, parsley, etc.) are doing great this year, so I’ll have plenty to add. Will let you know how that turns out! Harvested the bulb onions a couple of weeks ago, put some into storage and will slice the rest to dry and crumble into “instant onions” to add to soups and stews during the winter.

Figure after tomatoes (or during) I’ll dry sliced ‘taters too. Make scallop mixture and bottle that all up too. Have taken to saving coffee tins as well as miscellaneous jars and lids, since dry food only needs an airtight container stored in a dark cabinet, so those will hold a lot.

The very best thing about my summer project – the solar dryer – is that I’ll be able to put up most of the food grown, use almost all of it, and have a lot of good organic food on hand all winter. So much usually goes to waste! Now I’m planning a drying rack to be suspended above the wood stove, since judging by weather so far this year it’ll be getting cold enough for a fire by late September, the solar dryer’s not that big, and I’ve fall crops that should also be dried.

Stay tuned for developments on that end, and Happy Harvest!

Concerns about how the fall and winter are going to be shaping up with the “Novel H1N1″ version of swine/avian/1918 human flu is going to turn out. It’s already full-fledged pandemic, is less deadly so far outside of Mexico than originally feared, but is unstoppable and there is no effective vaccine on the horizon. It could do an instant replay of the 1918 pandemic, from which the human DNA elements of this novel strain are derived, meaning it will incubate as not-too-deadly all summer, then come back when the seasons turn to wipe out tens of millions.

That’s not guaranteed, of course. It could as easily piddle out and mutate itself into something not even infectious. Yet so far, that isn’t apparent either. I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry, so I’ve gone looking for the most effective natural ingredients for an immune-booster with likely antiviral properties that will also make a good day-drink just because it tastes good and is good for you generally. For regular cold viruses, bronchial/lung inflammations, sore throats, coughs, fevers, chills, etc. High in vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, plus some indications of anti-tumor agents.

Now, medicinal claims for natural herbs and such are strictly illegal per the FDA these days, so take it all with a grain of salt. Yet at the same time, many traditional herbal remedies have been and are being studied because they do appear to be effective. Many modern medicines are based upon traditional herbal remedies, even if they’re just the alkaloids artificially synthesized. First thing I did was go Googling for herbal “antivirals.”

There are several decent websites with ample enough disclaimers to get around the FDA, which I’ll list at the end of this article. But in addition to the immune-boosting, maybe anti-viral tea (cold or hot), there are some dietary things we should think about doing before we ever get sick. First, a good helping a white rice cooked with turmeric every day is a good idea. Turmeric contains curcumin, which imparts the bright yellow coloring. It’s an excellent anti-inflammatory (for any inflammatory condition), and may be helpful in mitigating the cytokine storm of flu as well as allergies like hay fever in general. Add an equal amount of cayenne or other pepper powder to the pot, as this pepper enhances absorption of the curcumin. Buy fresh powdered spice, store in the ‘fridge door – your new, improved spice rack! Or in a cool, dark place away from kitchen range heat.

When you’re food shopping, look in the fresh produce section for those nice bags of fresh cranberries. Buy as many as possible, freeze them. Not only can you make scrumptious whole cranberry sauce with these (do so, eat often, use raw honey if you can instead of sugar, 3/4 cup honey to 1 cup sugar), you can also make high molecular weight, high Non-Dialysable Material [NDM] with them. Just boil them about 5 minutes in good water, strain. Either drink a few ounces of this strong juice every day, or dilute it with more water and sweeten a bit with honey or maple sugar and drink as juice. If you’ve a blender and food dryer, make mush of the solid leftovers and turn it into fruit leather. Add blueberries (reconstituted dried or frozen) to increase the antioxidant value and enjoy like tart candy snacks!

If you can find good elderberry wine or brandy, get a bottle and drink 2-4 ounces every day as well. Elderberries are among the most ancient and valued of herbals, and may reduce the risk of contracting influenza. Do, but don’t overdo. If you can get a good organic basalmic vinegar (I make my own 1-year aged with native muscodines), take a tablespoonful every day – a healthy dose of basalmic and virgin olive oil dressing on a lunch salad will do. Throw some raw spinach and other actually valuable food-greens in while you’re at it. Good whole grape juice (with sediment) is also recommended, I bottle a couple of gallons of it every year. You’re going for your daily dose of supplements in the form of things you actually eat or drink, not taking a host of capsules or pills over the course of a day. If you’re like me, you get way more value from the real thing rather than somebody’s possibly questionable – and often expensive – supplements, and those generally go right through me.

The point of herbals and natural food-based remedies, in my opinion, is to get you to alter your daily consumption habits toward things that really are whole and good for you, as well as get you involved in preparing them for yourself. It’s a wholistic deal, this natural thing. Your thoughts, intents and actions all count toward the prevention/cure. Pretty soon you’ll find yourself healthy in spite of yourself, looking forward to your next meal or snack! Don’t forget alfalfa sprouts (grow your own) and nuts/seeds and hearty multigrain sprouted or seeded bread. Big on vitamin E.

Now for the great tasting tea with all the antiviral, antibiotic, anti-cancer and immune-strengthening ingredients! I start with peppermint, mostly because not only is it high on the list, it’s what grows like crazy in my garden. Have tons of it, always put it in my summer iced teas and winter hots. Lemon balm is the second ingredient, it’s got even stronger immune stimulating properties. Wild and red rose leaves, wild strawberry leaves and fruit, grape leaves, muellin, Japanese honeysuckle flowers and new leaves, pineapple mint, some ground spicebush twigs. I dry thoroughly and carefully, mix it up well and put it in a well-sealed jar, keep it in a dark place. When I brew a family-size couple of green tea bags (always good for you), I toss a handful of this dry mixture into the pot. Let it steep 5-10 minutes (10 if you’re dlluting), strain into a 2-quart pitcher. It’s still hot, so add honey now, preferably local and raw. I don’t like my tea very sweet at all, so only use half a cup or less for half a gallon. When this is mixed well, add pure water (we have mountain spring water out of our tap!) to fill the pitcher and stir. Refrigerate, drink over ice. I usually have an insulated cup with a lid that keeps it cold, sip on it all through the day.

If it’s cold, you have a cold, or you just want a hot tea, use a rounded teaspoon of the herb blend with a single-serving green tea bag, strain, sweeten with honey and drink hot.

I always fluff the dried mixture to mix it well before using, as some of the ingredients will tend to sink to the bottom of the container. That way you get all of it, and you’ll want all of it. You could add more exotic ingredients like St. Johnswort (good relaxer if you’re sick) or dyer’s woad or some other favorite, even mix with that hearty cranberry juice or whole grape juice. Any way you like it, it’ll help you fend off colds and flu as well as keep you refreshed!

In January, during a particularly frigid spell, I decided to plant wheat on the bottom terrace just to see if it would grow. So I turned it under and hand-scattered the scant quarter-pound of hard, red winter wheat I had left over from my grain stash. I like to grind my own for making bread and pasta, so figured I might as well grow some. Planted in the first part of January, it should be ready for harvest sometime in June.

Lost a lot of it before I figured out that what was growing wasn’t regular turf grass, but what made it past the first mowing is looking good. Should end up with a little more than I planted, next winter I’ll do better.

Grinding grains isn’t hard. Some people even have electric grinders. Mine is just a clamp-to-the-counter sausage grinder looking thing from Poland, works great. I can grind course or fine, hard grains to softish nuts like acorns, mix and match as I see fit. Particularly like some fine rice flour in with my fine wheat pastry flour for making herbed pastas. Which actually is a lot of trouble to make even with a pasta machine, but definitely worth it.

At any rate, I got into the wheat growing business just in time, as OCA tells me Monsanto is back trying to wedge its genetically engineered varieties into fields in the U.S., Canada and Australia despite strong resistance from farmers and consumers. Perhaps this winter I’ll till a few of the up-side terraces and grow wheat. Here’s a three-part lowdown on Monsanto’s latest, a reason we should all be wary of their plans to own the world’s food supply.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 3.

In view of recent weeks’ events concerning an off-season outbreak of a new flu strain in Mexico that quickly spread around the world – and caused WHO to get all the way to 5 on its pandemic alert system before things eased somewhat – it’s a good idea for those of us in the 21st century’s “back to the land” movement to examine some issues with livestock production in general and how we get around those issues on our own homesteads. Many homesteaders avoid livestock, but many others keep chickens, a cow or more, goats, pigs, rabbits, and some pasture a few calves every year destined for the organic beef market. What does all this mean for us?

Thus far the new flu strain, which according to the CDC is a “unique” mixture of human, avian and swine flu strains, looks to have originated in the CAFO [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation] system of swine production for human food. These operations, where thousands of animals are confined in close quarters and intensively fed for maximum weight gain in minimum time, can according to researchers and epidemiologists serve as fertile genetic recombination factories for the various strains of influenza due to lack of good waste management practices and regulation, proximity of swine CAFOs to avian CAFOs, water contamination, worker contact with infected animals. Add to that the difficulty of dealing with viral rates of mutation as well as getting effective vaccines into production from one year to the next, and you end up with a situation of concern not only to public health authorities, but also to small producers who happen to live anywhere close to such intensive CAFO operations.

Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, Inc. has been linked to the current swine flu outbreak via one of its “outsourced” CAFO operations in Central Mexico. The number of Smithfield CAFOs in contiguous counties in eastern NC have long been causing problems with water and air pollution that should be of serious concern to residents both urban and rural, whether or not they eat pork (or any meat at all). And the proximity of any CAFO operation in the proximity of your homestead may affect all sorts of decisions about whether to keep livestock, what kind of livestock you will keep, and how all aspects of your involvement should be managed.

If you share a watershed, reservoir source or well aquifer with any CAFOs, or if air currents are such that your family can occasionally smell the waste from an avian (chickens, turkeys) or mammal (cattle, hogs) CAFO, the concerns are serious. If you sell milk, eggs or meat to customers in the community, you may also find yourself afoul of the NAIS (National Animal ID System) – but that’s another story.

There is no vaccine for avian flu in bird CAFOs or on the homestead. It can and often is spread by migrating wild fowl, so the best protection for your free range chickens is to keep their range to a reasonable area (which you’ll want to do anyway to keep them safe from predators), keep their coop and bedding clean even if you drag the coop regularly, keep their water supply separate and apart from ponds where wild fowl water, and cull any chickens displaying signs of illness.

There are vaccines for hogs to protect against several varieties of swine flu, though those change annually as do human viruses. There is no vaccine for the current strain, or the one begun in NC a few years ago, but if you’ve a pig or two each season, it wouldn’t hurt to get them the latest vaccine if you’re anywhere close to a swine CAFO. Again, keep their water fresh and separate from possibly contaminated sources (streams and rivers that bear a waste load from upstream intensives), never feed them raw slaughterhouse waste or uncooked meat/fat scraps.

Goats have their own share of health issues, but nothing like cattle, swine or fowl. Best to call the vet if they’re off their milk or feed, looking and acting ill, etc. You don’t want to be dosing any of the livestock on antibiotics as a regular thing, but if you’ve dairy goats or cows, beware of mastitis and such – they’ll get better with a few day’s treatment, discard their milk for the duration.

Many homesteaders raise rabbits for meat. Rabbits are almost always kept in confinement, so your best bet with them is to make sure their cages are large enough to let them move about freely, and they should also be kept clean. Whenever a cage is empty, clean it out thoroughly with bleach water before putting in new bedding and introducing new animals.

With all livestock, do NOT harvest sick animals. Sick culls and animals that die of mysterious causes should be either buried deep enough to prevent wild animals from digging them up or cremated. There is a lot of information out there for the proper care and feeding of home-grown livestock, and your area extension service will also have good advice, vet recommendations and literature you can get for free. Before going into livestock, get to know others in your area that already have stock, and talk to them at length over some nice iced tea about the details. Most are very willing to help you out, not only with information and good advice, but often with starter stock as well.

And where you get your starter stock counts. Check out the breeder and his/her operations to ensure you’re not getting animals with genetic or disease issues. Some sources are listed below, and I’ll have more information about specific types of farmstead livestock in future posts.

Links:

One Acre Farm: Homestead Livestock
Countryside: Livestock on the Homestead
Small-statured animals
Miniature Dairy Cattle
Swine flu strain has genetic roots in U.S.A.
Swine Flu Story Illuminates Disease and Injustice
La Vida Locavore: Swine Flu

Most committed modern homesteaders try to keep up with the many issues of concern to us personally, our country, and our chosen way of life. Things like rural development policies, governmental agricultural and energy policies, self-sufficiency (and roadblocks to that), management of forests and water sources, etc. It’s because we care that we are who we are and do what we do. And a good many of us try to keep up daily or weekly with the best sources of information we need to keep abreast of those issues.

One of my favorite sources is the Organic Consumers Association [OCA], which is tireless in its efforts to follow and disseminate necessary news and useful resources for homesteaders like us. If you haven’t signed up yet for their newsletters, go on over to OCA and do so. You sure won’t be sorry!

In my newsletter this week I was again informed that OCA’s website has been under sustained hacker attack, operatives for the ‘usual suspect’ [Monsanto] notwithstanding. Somebody out there doesn’t want us to have the good information OCA delivers to us for free, and is actively attempting to thwart the effort. Show ‘em some love if you’ve got some love (or money) to spare!

One of the issues OCA is on top of that should be of serious concern to all of us who grow organic fruits and veggies or raise free-range chickens, grass-fed beef or offer organic dairy products is the Obama administration’s alliance with Monsanto in matters of developing policy. The new proposals for “food safety” have proven positively draconian for small value-added producers, many of whom are having their farms raided by gestapo-type goon squads and their equipment, animals and food products seized, and are facing astronomical legal bills all in the name of corporate agribiz profits and total control of the food supply. I mean, it’s not like these people care about toxic substances, unsustainable practices, mad cows or melamine in baby formula or anything. What they want to eliminate are your choices, access to markets, and ability to make a living by sustainably tending and preserving the land instead of raping it wholesale.

Knowledge can be our most effective weapon beside our commitments to the land, our families, our way of life and our hard work to make it work. If readers have more sources for keeping up, please offer them in the comments and I’ll check them out and report back.