Resilience Discussion: "Tomato Canning as Protest"
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2018-08-13/tomato-canning-as-protest-...
It’s mid-August, about 7:30 in the morning, and it’s going to be a hot one, probably in the mid-90s. It’s a good day to spend in a basement. A church basement, for example, where our rural neighborhood is gathering.
This is a tomato-canning day, and about 20 of us will pass in and out of the basement kitchen, “working up,” as we say in Missouri, tomatoes for the winter.
Fabulous article, actually originally published 18 years ago. I hope my community evolves into this. No hope in the local narrative until last week, I encountered two workers at our local Harbor Freight store who are avid gardeners. One of them a super gardener . . . starts plants using aquaponics!
I look forward to comments, however, this might be an article to simply absorb.
Comments
Excellent Barbara Kingsolver Article on Growing Tomatoes
... from the wayback machine - Seeing Red: Eating Locally and Debunking the Red-Blue Divide.
I wrote a diary on the Kingsolver article in 2007 and had this to say about one Hillary Clinton (DK Link). In some respects, it was a very different political era though some concerns remain the same.
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Barbara's restaurant Near Bristol VA....
The Harvest Table http://visitabingdonvirginia.com/listing/harvest-table-restaurant/
is well worth a stop if any of you are in the area.
For years there's been a community Kitchen for food processing on Sand Mountain (one ridge north of Lookout). There were grants available for these sorts of projects if y'all live in a community that might have an interest. Here's a place to get started
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/take-action-to-improve-health/what-w...
We are on to a new tomato processing trick using the crock pot. Saute onions, garlic, peppers, (whatever you like in your sauce) and add it and any herbs (basil etc you like) to the pot. Finish filling with chopped tomatoes. Turn to high and bring to a boil, turn down to low and continue cooking with the lid off till it gets to the desired thickness. You can freeze or can the sauce. We do this on the porch to keep the house cool.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
What a great comment . . .
I am still absorbing it.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
An interesting article, thanks. Not fully possible for the
urban and suburban among us without a lot of changes, but one important takeaway generalizes quite broadly:
It needn't be edibles, or fruits or whatever, but it can be. Even classic apartment buildings can sprout balcony and roof gardens, but the older suburbs are ripe for a land use revolution. Pull the ornamentals, dig up the lawns and plant edibles. Share the harvest, and, who knows, maybe some of the work too.
I'm currently surrounded by a lot of folks roughly my age, which means, for example, that there is a lot of tool lending that goes on, and when nobody has a given implement, the one who finally breaks down and acquires it usually lets the others know that one is finally on hand.
The system exploits us as consumers, so all sharing and lending is a blow against our exploitation and out exploiters. In addition, it all reduces the total societal demand for jobs and money, and the exploiters really rely upon that need to keep wages and benefits down.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
extractors
Right on, mhagle: resilience works the earth into good soil in
time.
Big thank you!
Funky computer posting extra comments, and posts in wrong
threads by other c99er's during this last hour; temporary glitch on site, or on this end?
No biggie; probably will pass.
If I hit the save button more than once
I do a double post. But I've gotten the glitch a few times lately too. No biggie, ehh?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Just don't want feelings hurt by computer errors ...
cheers, snoopy.
Tomatoes get in my mouth
I have fond memories of helping my grandma canning peaches, pears and other things, but she wouldn't let me in the room when she was canning tomatoes.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Viva la juiceción...
tomorrow, Wednesday, I'll pressure can a 14 quart batch of my world famous (well locally famous anyway) V-10 veggie/tomato juice. That will bring the total to 100 quarts and I'm not done yet. It takes about 7 hours for the whole operation but man is it worth it. Good stuff!
Ingredients:
Tomatoes - about 27-28 lbs. to make 14 quarts
Carrots
Onions
Fresh Spinach
Green Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Clove Garlic
Beets
Celery
Parsley
Seasonings:
Sugar
Salt
Black Pepper
Horseradish
Worcestershire Sauce
Yummmmmy and nutritious and better than store bought V-8! 100 quarts=2 quarts per week for wifey and I for a year. Over 100 and I share with family and friends.
Also have canned over 100 pints of green beans and a half a freezer full of sweetcorn. Carrots are next.
I tell people what I do with my spare time in the summer and occasionally eyes will glaze over and they'll ask, "Isn't it a lot easier to just buy it at the store"? They just don't get it. You can't buy the satisfaction of getting your hands dirty, nurturing the plants and savoring the harvest at a store.
Thanks Marilyn for a great article.
PS: Speaking of sharing, this year I experienced the nightmare of planting my garden near a Black Walnut tree. Black Walnut and its toxin, juglone, do not mix well with plants in the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant and potatoes. It devastated my tomato crop and the yield was cut at least in half but thanks to generous friends and neighbors I was gifted more than enough to reach my quota of V-10. So yeah, I need to can a lot more than 100 quarts.
Got to get back to the land. Yep, the hippies were right again.
Both You and Marilyn Are Ready for the Zombie Apocalypse, JtC
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Yep...
my thoughts exactly my friend. The Zombie Apocalypse drives my ambition. We are ready.
Wow I'm impressed...
Very productive of you. Not only does it taste better, is better for you, and is a slap in the face to big Ag, but it can also be fun. Growing food is a satisfying activity.
As to jugalone and allelopathy, my partner has for decades tried to plant flowers around some of our hickory trees (also a member of the Juglandaceae family). I finally convinced her to plant in pots around the trees and voila no problem. Might be a solution for you...or possibly straw bale planting?
Well all the best to all of you and your gardens!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The solution is...
to move the tomatoes and green bell peppers away from the Walnut tree. My neighbor and I share 3 large gardens so it will be relatively easy to relocate them. The corn, beans and carrots did really well so they'll remain there.
The pots, straw bale and raised beds are great ideas but I don't think they would work in this case as the problem was wind blown rain droplets, the garden is just a few feet west from the drip canopy of the Walnut tree so any slight wind from the east with the rain gave my garden a good juglone shower. My green bell peppers were a wash out from the day I planted them.
I nor my neighbor, also an avid gardener, had any idea about Black Walnut toxicity until this happened. Live and learn.
Outgrown my backyard garden
Have moved into the front.
Cucuzza squash overtaking the house. Have numerous new recipes for it though.
Bidding on a three acre plot tomorrow. Has 50 gpm well and plenty of sunshine. Rural. Up the Cowlitz River.
I hope I hope I hope.
Thanks Marilyn. Will need some guidance on chickens though.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Brings to mind a very warm childhood memory of mine.
I helped my aunt can tomatoes once. I think it might have been the first and last time for both of us. My SIL is a great canner. The fruit she puts up is to die for.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
What a beautiful memory
Food is love. Maybe?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Editing because I was in a hurry with crappy Internet
@JtC @earthling1 @enhydralutris @lookout @QMS @snoopydawg @smiley7 @JekyllnHyde @dkmich
Such wonderful comments. JtC = your canning efforts are a hundred miles beyond anything I have achieved and the same is true for Lookout. OMG I hope you might share your recipes on http://allrecipes.com so I can put them in my favorites folder. And earthling1 I am so envious of your Cucuzza crop. Wow. I just planted seeds I saved - not really knowing the right way to save them - and nothing produced. 3 acres is good earthling, and funky urban garden systems for you and enhydra I am glad you like it too smiley. QMS . . . what is your gardening situation? Childhood gardening memories are ones we should cling to.
JekyllnHyde . . . I am not really ready for the Zombie Apocolypse. I am not doing canning, because I am the only one in my family totally into this, so I freeze. Yes . . . it is a hazard because you need electricity.
I will post another resilience.org article soon. Much love to you all.
I edited this comment because I was writing in hast yesterday. Hope most of you see this.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo