Recent content by LaurenRitz

I did that recipe again. Each batch as listed made 3 pints. I increased the vinegar to 1/4 c to bring the acid up and it has a salt amount almost up to fermentation levels. I think I need to decrease the salt on the next batch. I ran out of pepper, so I did one batch with cumin. The batch...

I thought the false parasol was an agaricus, until I looked at the gills. Nope. Then I had to do a spore print and identify it. Green spore print, green gills. They're not always the same color.

The mushrooms you get from the store are mostly some form of agaricus. Gills will be light pink when yong to dark chocolate brown.

The problem with foraged mushrooms here is that the bugs get to them while they're still tiny. I've found agaricus, but the other most common appears to be false parasol, which isn't edible.

Pears are done! I have the opportunity to strip a friends very large garden this week. She sent her girls out a few weeks ago (she's very heavily pregnant) and they told her the bugs got it all, but apparently not. 🤰 I'm hoping for tomatoes.

Everyone needs to do their own research and set their own comfort limits. Many people don't trust home canned food at all, and that's their choice. We know far more than our ancestors did about the pathogens in food, their life cycles and how to kill them. With the understanding that no...

From my perspective there's a huge difference between "proven unsafe" and "not sufficiently tested." Most of the old practices were never tested, and people equate that with "unsafe." Not the same thing at all.

Well, so much for that. The pressure canning broke down the mucilage entirely rather thsn intensifying it as I had hoped. For medicsl use things teally need to be pressure canned, so I'll have to try the "tea" version, and possibly a small amount of tincture. I suspect that vinegar or alcohol...

I have paper cuts and chicken scratches. That will be my first test. 11 days for 2nd degree burns to heal completely in animal testing. Like aloe vera, it shouldn't be used on deep cuts because it heals the surface and can leave infection trapped. And unlike aloe, we know the plant is...

I found some research that indicates the mucilage in roselle (tea hibiscis) is equivalent or better than aloe vera for healing, so I stuck the unripe seed pods in bottles in the pressure cooker as a test. Just putting them in hot water made the water get slimy and thick, so we'll see.

Pear juice finished and pear sauce in the canner.

First batch of pears cooling.

Same process as acv, just a different flavor. I put sugar in mine so it gets higher alcohol level and high acidity, but it's not necessary. You can use the mother from another batch, or it will delop its own, it just takes longer. The mother keeps in viegar. I have done acv, pear, and...

Sorted out the bruised pears and made pear jam. Trying to decide if I want to do another batch of jam (there's just enoigh cut up pears to do it) or make vinegar next. Once they start to ripen I'll do bottled pears, pie filling, and refill my dehydrator (my car) once the current batch is dry...