Moral Conundrum -- The "Bartering Eggs For Coffee" WILL HAPPEN!

[dangerouschicken]

MP to the rescue!

In season is really what it is all about, that is the truth. I think we need to focus on that. We are hardcore preservers... canning and freezing and drying our harvest like crazy. That way we can still eat out of season, but without issue.

I WANT AN AMISH/MENNONITE STORE IN THE COLUMBIA GORGE!!!! I'm a Quaker who likes to farm. We'd have something to talk about down at that store

 

[tiffanyh]

You are lucky you are a sweet, fun, & smart little treehugger or I would be all
over this post.

Oil-grow sunflowers and press them
Salt-Get seawater and remove the salt
Baking powder-Ask Tiffanyh or Silkiechicken. Those girls are smart!!
Coffee-Ohh, that's hard. Grow your own tea and switch over.

Love,
PC

Thanks PC! Remind me to high five you when I see you again!!

Bakinng soda (sodium bicarbonate) is made from other chemicals currently. Although, originally it was taken from natron, which is a naturally occuring substance/stone found in lake beds. It is make up of only a small amount of baking soda, the rest is sodium carbonate or soda ash, not bicarbonate.

If it were me, Id go to the store!! ALthough, I would so the salt thing!! THat would be fun and easy!

Or research baking soda replacements for cooking....​

 

[dangerouschicken]

Super cool info! You ARE smart!

Thanks so much.....

Edited to add: I need to finish reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver to find out what her family chose to do. Anyone know?

 

[Rosalind]

Oil--see if you can find local sunflower oil. Or soybean oil.
Lemon juice--there are lots of other sources for "sour" taste. Cider vinegar, herb or fruit flavored vinegars. In tea, a couple of rose hips per cup also works.
Salt--You're outta luck there. I wouldn't trust our local seawater, it's kind polluted from all the jet-skis and stuff. Nasty stuff.
Sugar--Maple syrup and honey. Can usually be bought locally.
Coffee--You're outta luck, switch to tea. You can grow a tea plant in a sunny kitchen window, or get off the caffeine entirely and drink herbal tea.

 

[tiffanyh]

Tell me about this book you speak of!!

 

[seminolewind]

I think it would be an idea to barter for coffee, etc. That's how pioneers did it. If you can find a neighbor or someone who will exchange coffee, etc for stuff that you grow or butcher, I think that would be the same as growing your own

 

[farm_mom]

I'm in the same boat. All we can do is our best. I buy free trade coffee from a small local grocer. I buy my salt/pepper and baking soda from a local mennonite family. I actually have a small producer of soybean oil nearby, which is a rather new find for me. Before that, I bought my oil from the local grocer instead. I don't have a greenhouse, or live in a climate that I could grow my own lemons, but this year I'm growing my own lemon balm, lemon basil and lime basil to try out the flavors. I have also heard that there is an herb some locavores use to make a tea that is similar to the flavor of coffee, but I cannot remember what it is called off-hand and have never tried it myself. Good Luck!

 

[Sonia]

I have not tried this yet but I have heard that you can roast the roots of dandelions and use those as a coffee substitute.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
As much of a proponent I am of eating locally, you can't escape a few facts:

1) Wine from Italy is the best.
2) Stilton from England cannot be beat.
3) Almonds from Spain are to die for.
4) Chocolate from Switzerland is the win.

So, I say for your day-to-day eating items, you eat what you grow. But you should not deprive yourself, either, of the treats. They simply make life even more enjoyable.

To soften the blow, try to find local coffee roasters (I know of a good one in Madras) and maybe drink wine only from the gorge for the 3 months.

 

[carugoman]

I must be living in paradise since I can grow just about anything and the Gulf of Mexico yields some mighty fine salt! I use a 5 micron fiber filter to eliminate most of the junk and sand from the sea water. Then I pour the filtered sea water into a cleaned out kiddie pool to evaporate in the hot sun to get the salt. 150 gallons yield about 6 lbs. sea salt.

I have Meyer lemons ripening on 30 trees...should be ripe in six weeks and I can ship? I also have 2 acres of muscadine grapes to make some wine and jam..can ship some jam in the fall? I'm not local but I'm not Chinese or Russian either! I'm in prime peanut growing region. I have 8 acres of Spanish peanuts for oil and I process here on the farm on a worm-gear press that I machined in my own shop. The "waste" peanut mash is used as a high-protein chicken feed. I make biodiesel from a third of my oil yield. I have the tax exemption from the IRS and the permit paid for.

As I said before, this must be paradise?