rotten gherkins

[FarmerDenise]

We bought a jar of pickles in order to get the jar also, it is hard to get 1 gal glass jars.
That reminds me, I need to make some more mead. It was so nice and refreshing, when I had it last year, with a nice little fizz.

This year I even have wine making yeast. We'll see what I'll end up with.

 

[xpc]

We bought a jar of pickles in order to get the jar also, it is hard to get 1 gal glass jars.
That reminds me, I need to make some more mead. It was so nice and refreshing, when I had it last year, with a nice little fizz.

This year I even have wine making yeast. We'll see what I'll end up with.

I only have a grape mead pyment going right now but have all the parts to make some spiced ancient orange mead as soon as I clear counter space. I plan on making some hard apple cider soon too. problem is all of those take months to years of aging before being able to drink.

 

[~gd]

Thanks for the pickle lesson, though a bit more than I needed to know it was well received. Unlike a day 30 and some odd years ago when working at a pea packing plant a horn went off and all the people scrambled as if it was an air raid, I asked what was going on? a crumpled up old black man said "boy we're changing from #1 peas to #2 peas"

I riddled him for the difference and got an hour long lecture ending with the statement "boy (he always called me boy) iff'n yous hang around here long enough you finna gonna knows everything about peas" That was my first and last day at that job and even though my only task was to stack those peas 20 skids high with a forklift I have never eaten them again, the green giant is my nightmare.

Actually all the name brand peas were my nightmare as we never stopped the flow of peas into the cans but only changed the labels while on the fly. And people actually pay more for one brand name over the other - we never did generics or store brand and don't remember if they were around in the 70's.

Yep they were around since I was busy making laundry detergent for many store brands (we just changed cartons and the printing on the case), the generics were a different formulation. Since there seems to be much interest in pickles here I told what I knew as an insider. Amazing what 'back to the land people' don't know about produce and crops!~gd

 

[big brown horse]

All this 'back to the land' girl knows is there is nothing worse than a limp pickle.

 

[Occamstazer]

All this 'back to the land' girl knows is there is nothing worse than a limp pickle.

So true!
A soggy gherkin is terribly offensive.

 

[~gd]

All this 'back to the land' girl knows is there is nothing worse than a limp pickle.

So true!
A soggy gherkin is terribly offensive.

So have either of you used alum or pickleing lime to crisp them up? Old tricks that aren't used much anymore. And if your cuke is limp when you start don't use it for pickles, and always remove a bit of the blossom end to avoid limpness.~gd

 

[xpc]

So have either of you used alum or pickleing lime to crisp them up? Old tricks that aren't used much anymore. And if your cuke is limp when you start don't use it for pickles, and always remove a bit of the blossom end to avoid limpness.~gd

~gd I can't tell if your being funny, serious, or just plain caustic. Your "back to the land people" quip seems a bit denigrating to the fine folks on this forum. At least that is the way I read it and apparently so did BBH, so thanks for the info and try to add a little more honey next time.

 

[~gd]

So have either of you used alum or pickleing lime to crisp them up? Old tricks that aren't used much anymore. And if your cuke is limp when you start don't use it for pickles, and always remove a bit of the blossom end to avoid limpness.~gd

~gd I can't tell if your being funny, serious, or just plain caustic. Your "back to the land people" quip seems a bit denigrating to the fine folks on this forum. At least that is the way I read it and apparently so did BBH, so thanks for the info and try to add a little more honey next time.

So just how should I refer to people not brought up on a farm but who now want to practice the farm life. I don't want to hurt any bodys feelings so tell me the politically correct term for them and I will do my best to remember to use it
I grew up on a subsistence farm, we ate what we produced and therefore I know most of the old ways. The excess livestock was sold or traded. What we ate ourselves was butchered and processed by our self. We had a smokehouse & an icehouse, cut our own ice, and stored it away in the icehouse for use in our ice box. If we wanted to freeze anything it would be packed at home and rushed on top of ice to a freezer locker in town.
All heat was provided by burning wood which we cut, stacked, and seasoned.
Didn't even have electricity till I was 7. It was magic! No phone until I was 13 and then it was a party line you had count the rings to know if it was for you. Running water? carried it all to the house from the well about 100 feet from the house, manual pump and you always took some with you to pump in case it had lost its prime. Excess butter and eggs, the butter & egg man would come and buy every week if you didn't like the price he offered, sell to local store or neighbors.
School bus one hour each way and adults would often hook a ride to get to town. Dad got through the 6th grade and Mom was proud of graduating the high school, had the diploma hanging in her kitchen. Dad was a bear for education "Farm if you want but get an education so you have a choice" (I think he never had a choice) Four kids, my brother got a PhD and was a college prof. in MO. I became a Chemist, my younger sister a RN and my baby sister a school teacher in CO. We had a choice and only I got a "hobby farm" 6-1/2 acres while I was still employed at my day job. So in a sense I am part of the back to the land movement. I never considered that a bad thing what should I call myself xpc?~gd

 

[xpc]

So just how should I refer to people not brought up on a farm but who now want to practice the farm life. I don't want to hurt any bodys feelings so tell me the politically correct term for them and I will do my best to remember to use it

I am far from being politically correct by any means, and have been on this forum for about a year longer than I should. Good thing there are millions of them as I have been banned from half. I learned that talking down to anybody regardless of education is rude - of course pure idiots need not apply.

I grew up on a subsistence farm, we ate what we produced and therefore I know most of the old ways. The excess livestock was sold or traded. What we ate ourselves was butchered and processed by our self. We had a smokehouse & an icehouse, cut our own ice, and stored it away in the icehouse for use in our ice box. If we wanted to freeze anything it would be packed at home and rushed on top of ice to a freezer locker in town. All heat was provided by burning wood which we cut, stacked, and seasoned.

I am a citified science boy who just moved to the country 3 years ago without a clue on anything that wasn't prepackaged, the only chicken I ever saw came from KFC. The only heat I have had for the last 3 winters came from an old wood burner and timber I cut from the backyard.

Didn't even have electricity till I was 7. It was magic! No phone until I was 13 and then it was a party line you had count the rings to know if it was for you. Running water? carried it all to the house from the well about 100 feet from the house, manual pump and you always took some with you to pump in case it had lost its prime. Excess butter and eggs, the butter & egg man would come and buy every week if you didn't like the price he offered, sell to local store or neighbors.

Most people couldn't comprehend that sort of living and would consider it 3rd world now. Growing up in Milwaukee in the 60's I of course had all those modern conveniences but grinned when my son asked me what kind of video game we had when I was a kid. I still have the intellivision video game console I got for xmas in the late 70's, it still worked so plugged it in to show him that every game was nothing but blurry square boxes moving around the screen.

School bus one hour each way and adults would often hook a ride to get to town. Dad got through the 6th grade and Mom was proud of graduating the high school, had the diploma hanging in her kitchen.

Neither my parents went beyond the 9th grade but what they taught us from the school of hard knocks was priceless. After having the last of 6 kids my father went back to night school and got a good supervisor job at a big company, we never had the want for anything. I remember seeing his $1 an hour paycheck stubs. Oh yeah I remember walking about 1-1/2 miles to school each way for about a month until my dad bought me a 67' mustang in 76', my insurance cost me more than he paid for the car - having a job was a requirement of ownership.

Dad was a bear for education "Farm if you want but get an education so you have a choice" (I think he never had a choice) Four kids, my brother got a PhD and was a college prof. in MO. I became a Chemist, my younger sister a RN and my baby sister a school teacher in CO.

My father offered all 6 of us kids free education on the house, but I took several years off after school just to get in trouble or so it seemed. Wanting to be a chemist myself I studied university chemistry while still in high school. After taking all the science courses offered by grade 11 and rather than spend most of my day in study hall I re-took all the chemistry and physic classes again in 12th grade but only as an audit as they gave no credit otherwise. I did take 2 years of chemistry at a local college but changed to electronics after that and spent the last 20 years in computer automation.

We had a choice and only I got a "hobby farm" 6-1/2 acres while I was still employed at my day job. So in a sense I am part of the back to the land movement. I never considered that a bad thing what should I call myself xpc?~gd

You seemed to have done everything right and are in good shape for your pending endeavors. Your advice seems spot on with a sincere want to help those who need it. What should you call yourself you ask? - how about grumpy. but then I jest as I have a wry sense of humor.

I have been on a sabbatical for a while and missed most of your initial posts but look forward to bouncing chemical questions off you - rather then those lowly people that time forgot or land people forgot or something like that.

 

[~gd]

great post but you never answered the question what is the accepted term for the people that I called "back to the land people" it is accurate but seems to be denigrating? other opinions please.