What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

I was hoping someone would have an answer to this. My brother has issues with gout. Should I make sure I don't make anything using canned meats when he is here? or for family gatherings?

I suffered from gout years ago. It got so bad I could not walk for almost 2 months. Almost passed out from pain just trying to get to the bathroom. My doctor said gout can be prevented by taking a daily dose of Allopurinol, She was right. I have not had a gout attack for about 8 years.

I asked about not eating certain foods, and my doctor said the problem is in the body not ridding itself of the uric acid. Some foods might increase the uric acid in your body, but the real program was to take the daily medication and eat normally.

So, ask your brother if your canned meats will trigger a gout attack or if he is on medication for gout. I have no problem eating any kinds of foods now that I am taking Allopurinol. Before that, yeah, canned meat might trigger my gout. Now that I take a daily medication, nothing I eat will trigger my gout.

It's great that you are concerned about your brother. I would encourage you to talk to him about his current condition. If he is not taking a daily medication for gout prevention, mention to him that gout can be prevented, and life can be so much better for him with medication. As much as I hated to admit that I needed to take daily medication, I would much rather enjoy my life and not be bedridden in pain. My gout was that bad.

 

[CedarLane]

I suffered from gout years ago. It got so bad I could not walk for almost 2 months. Almost passed out from pain just trying to get to the bathroom. My doctor said gout can be prevented by taking a daily dose of Allopurinol, She was right. I have not had a gout attack for about 8 years.

I asked about not eating certain foods, and my doctor said the problem is in the body not ridding itself of the uric acid. Some foods might increase the uric acid in your body, but the real program was to take the daily medication and eat normally.

So, ask your brother if your canned meats will trigger a gout attack or if he is on medication for gout. I have no problem eating any kinds of foods now that I am taking Allopurinol. Before that, yeah, canned meat might trigger my gout. Now that I take a daily medication, nothing I eat will trigger my gout.

It's great that you are concerned about your brother. I would encourage you to talk to him about his current condition. If he is not taking a daily medication for gout prevention, mention to him that gout can be prevented, and life can be so much better for him with medication. As much as I hated to admit that I needed to take daily medication, I would much rather enjoy my life and not be bedridden in pain. My gout was that bad.

Thank you for the information.

 

[WthrLady]

Dehydrating apples as fast as the excaliber 9 will go. 18-20 apples at a go.
Round two is in the machine now.
About 30 more pounds to go, about 4 more loads. Jonathans. For snacking and schnitz pies.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I was hoping someone would have an answer to this. My brother has issues with gout. Should I make sure I don't make anything using canned meats when he is here? or for family gatherings?

I am a nurse, gout is a disease which affects people living in comfortable circumstances….poor ( hungry) people don’t suffer gout …of course there are pills against it, but…as we learned, every medicine has the potential to be a poison, so, if something works, it usually also has a negative impact I personally would prefer to eat responsibly and not take pills , as long as you don’t overdo it, you can enjoy forbidden food now and then…the best would be to forgo juice, lemonades, beer ( even alcohol free) , most fatty fish and shellfish, little meat or sausage, and to eat lots of veggies , salad and milk products..but we are all human, I totally get if it is way easier to eat well and take the pills it also takes a few years of diet for the crystals to dissolve , also, your brother may have genetic issues, so…

 

[PopoMyers]

Today, picked raspberries, scarlet runner beans for seeds, green beans. Took seeds out of now dried sunflowers, separated garlic heads into big cloves to plant, and the rest to use.

 

[saysfaa]

... inspects food ...

Yes, there are the horror stories. And the situations that look bad but aren't. And the situations that look good but aren't.

There are the rules that lessen the likelihood of horror stories. And the rules that show abysmal lack of either the basics or of common sense or both ... requiring refrigeration of canned picked vegetables, for example.

And the people who are less careful because they think the rules do more than they can do.

The idealistic answer is for everyone to have integrity and be willing to learn and do safe practices. Including the people who make the guidelines. I don't know what the realistic answer is.

 

[littledog]

When I'm cooking potatoes for anything but mashed, I don't peel them. I use a pair of exfoliating gloves on my hands to scrub them,

Brilliant! I need to get a pair - this will save me SO much time!

Personally I think there's a fine line between what food should be regulated/inspected and what is overreach. A staggering amount of perfectly good food gets thrown away because it's too small, too big, or fails to meet some other arbitrary or questionable "standard."

The idealistic answer is for everyone to have integrity and be willing to learn and do safe practices. Including the people who make the guidelines. I don't know what the realistic answer is.

I appreciate having the USDA and FDA around to inspect and make recommendations, because when people have to make a living, there will always be a few who take shortcuts or aren't careful. Personally, I think being as transparent as possible to the consumer is the key, rather than blanket banning of certain practices. For example, instead of banning say, raw milk, raw honey or meat from unvaccinated animals, the sellers should be allowed to sell it as long as they provide information on the USDA inspection results, such as "USDA inspectors found a rate of 0.01 % lysteria in eggs from this seller, compared to the national average of 0.009%." (just numbers I made up, but you get the idea.)
I wish the USDA actually had the funding to do such comprehensive inspections like this, instead of giving the big slaughter plants a pass and banning every small farmer who uses alternative methods.

Ever since the weather changed here my summer squash quit producing. I guess they don't like 50 degree nights. And that's ok. I got enough in the freezer, and I'm kind of burned out on eating them.

We're burned out on eating them too, but my plants are still producing and I have a lot in the fridge.
Does anybody have a good method for making zucchini fries? I tried them in the air fryer, but they stayed mushy and didn't really crisp up. How do you get some of the moisture out of them before you bake or air fry?

Guess I need to start looking for some free wood to bury. LOL

Just today I was cruising the craigslist free ads, looking for treated 4x4s (no luck) but there were tons of ads for free wood in your area! If you have a trailer and a free morning, you could fill it up in 3 or 4 places between Olympia and Chehalis.

 

[Sally PB]

By burying the wood, I meant moving all the existing dirt in part of the bed out of the way, putting the wood in that section of the bed, then moving all the dirt back to cover the wood. Probably dig out and move 1/4 of the bed at a time.

I'd be shoveling and moving all the dirt in each bed... twice. Like I said, a lot of digging.

Here is what I would do if I were putting in new raised beds and wanted to dig for hugelkulter beds.
1. Dig out the area for the first bed. Put the dirt into a pile where it's accessible, but not in the way of making your beds.
2. Put the logs/wood into the hole.
3. Dig the second bed, but put the dirt into the first bed.
Continue as needed for your beds. The dirt from the first bed goes into the last bed.

If you're digging out existing beds, it's the same thing. The dirt from the second bed goes into the first, etc. The dirt from the first bed goes into the last.

 

[Sally PB]

I am going to get some butternut squash after all! I have 5 on 3 vines. Three of the squash are the kind I used to get, big and hefty. The other two have scrawny necks and a smaller seed cavity, but I can get something out of them, even if it's chickie snack.

 

[littledog]

I'm impatiently waiting for my butternut squash as well. They're many, they're big, they're disease-free and perfect so far, but I wish they would get ripe already!