Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[janiedoe]

He was a head start on cottage cheese.

Funny thing, cottage cheese was about the only thing he wouldn't eat.

 

[R2elk]

I planted 8 cabbage seeds. All 8 germinated. I transplanted the seedlings into 8 individual pots.

I have no idea why this has two heads developing.

 

[jvls1942]

Sorrel is the weed that had a sour taste.

as kids we called it wild sour kraut.
had a sweet sour flavor.

 

[bruceha2000]

I wonder how many nasty germs I consumed as a child?

Not enough to kill you apparently

Funny thing, cottage cheese was about the only thing he wouldn't eat.

Not even if it had blue/green/orange mold on it?

 

[Cynthia12]

Just last night I was talking with a friend. Discussion went into purslane. He told me he uses it to flavor when he cooks beans. He is cooking dry beans that he soaks night before.
I all kind of beans,,, but I shortcut by opening cans

My understanding with nettles,,, it is good as a tea when steeped. Have not tried it,, since no nettles around my garden.
As to dandelions,,, I have had it in salads,, but I don't harvest any from my lawn. I have many animals around,, My chickens do snack on it "mucho",,, and my dogs water it. Main reason I don't snack on my harvest of dandelions

I container grow sorrel. It is a perennial, but I also seed it each year to get a bigger harvest. It indeed has a pleasant sour taste. We use it in soups and in other cooking dishes including meatloaf.
My sorrel is definitely not a weed,,, I have to somewhat nurse it to grow well.

Janie,,, is this what you looked up as sorrel??
View attachment 3150741
this is how my sorrel looks like..
View attachment 3150855

That last plant is pretty.

 

[Cynthia12]

We always thought my dad would live forever. He'd put leftover fish in the oven and then eat it the next day. Same with any meat. He scraped mold off old cheese and ate it. He drank expired milk. The man would consume anything.

I'm sure that sadly is their are probably many countries do the same because they don't want to lose our on a meal.

 

[Cynthia12]

I've only had food poisoning one time. I never, ever, want that again. And x2 on the milk. I don't drink it at all.
My dad would drink the "chunky & slightly off" milk.

I got real sick in Mexico. Everyone that had eaten the Octopus the night before got sick. It tasted great! It had just probably been left out or obviously, compromised in some way.

 

[TooCheep]

The human body has an amazing capacity to determine if food is still good that has absolutely nothing to do with government/corporation determined dates. The "best by" date is actually defined as how long the company is willing to warrant the quality of the product- not how long it is actually good to use.

I've eaten canned fruit/vegetables that have been 2-3 years beyond their "best by" dates. They tasted fine and caused no problems. Multi-billion year old water suddenly needs an expiration date when it is put into bottles?!?! Sight, smell, and taste have determined food quality for 99.9% of human existence and still work great.

I got real sick in Mexico. Everyone that had eaten the Octopus the night before got sick. It tasted great! It had just probably been left out or obviously, compromised in some way.

Unfortunately, the cook likely knew that the octopus was questionable, but spices and cooking can cover a multitude of sins. The only time I've ever had food poisoning was from a pizza-chain pizza.

For anyone interested: I really like the following site for determining how long food is likely good for if you prefer a reference rather than your own senses. With current and expected future food system problems, it might be very helpful.
https://stilltasty.com/

One last important detail: If you are eating some canned food (home or commercial), the key thing to look out for is botulism poisoning due to a bad canning technique. If the can is bulging and/or gas escapes when you open it, then don't take a chance. Toss it. This is true if the "best by" date has passed or not.

I do a lot of food preservation- drying, canning, freezing, pickling, and fermentation primarily for fruit/vegetables and water-glass technique for eggs. Without government labeling dictates, you get used to other techniques for judging food quality.

 

[Molpet]

Multi-billion year old water suddenly needs an expiration date when it is put into bottles?

They are finding the plastic breaks down into micro particles, especially if it gets hot. Mom had a couple cases of water forgotten from y2k . 2009 I went to move the cases out of the basement and the bottles were sucked in and smelt funny. I pitched them

 

[R2elk]

It got up to 99°F today. A thunderstorm is blowing in and it is down to 85°F and still dropping. I hope it doesn't hail.