Preserve the Harvest for Winter Meals and Holiday Gifts

 

Fermentation is an ancient food preservation technique making a comeback.Photo: Gardener’s Supply Company
Fermentation is an ancient food preservation technique making a comeback.
Photo: Gardener’s Supply Company


by Melinda Myers

 

The cucumbers have filled the vegetable drawer, you’ve run out of cabbage recipes and your family is refusing to eat one more BLT. Or maybe you just couldn’t resist that special deal on a bushel of tomatoes, potatoes or apples at the farmer’s market. So what is a gardener or shopper to do with all that produce?

Since properly stored vegetables will hold their flavor and nutritional value longer than those left in a plastic bag or set on the sunny kitchen counter, consider preserving some for the long winter ahead using one of several methods.

Storage orchard racks and slatted crates placed in a cool dark location have long been used to store squash, onions and potatoes. The stackable nature or drawers provide ample storage space, so fruits and vegetables do not touch.  Keeping stored fruit separated prevents rot from spreading from one fruit to the next. Plus, the slatted sides allow airflow to extend storage longevity.

Those in colder climates can store their carrots and parsnips right in the garden. Once the soil gets a bit crunchy, cover them with straw or evergreen boughs for easier digging in winter. Then dig as needed or harvest during the first winter thaw. If this isn’t possible or not your style, try out a root vegetable storage bin. The root crops are layered in sand or sawdust and placed in a cool dark location. Just remove and use as needed. No snow shoveling needed.

Drying is one of the oldest food preservation techniques. Most of us have grabbed a few bundles of herbs to hang and dry. Expand your drying endeavors to include fruits and vegetables. The goal is to quickly remove moisture without cooking the food.  You can make your own dehydrator or purchase one. Research has shown that blanching vegetables and fruit before drying helps destroy harmful bacteria. Blanching involves a steam or boiling water bath followed by a cold water bath. Timing varies with the fruit or vegetable you are preparing.

Another ancient food preservation technique, fermentation, is experiencing a comeback. Cultures around the world have fermented fruits and vegetables for thousands of years. Unique flavors, storage options and health benefits have many gardeners revisiting this tradition. Fermenting cucumbers into pickles, cabbage into sauerkraut, and berries into preserves are just a few options.  The ingredients can be as simple as water, salt, and spices.  All you need is a vessel, vegetables and fermenting culture. You can jump-start your efforts with a fermentation crock kit (gardeners.com) which includes the crock, cover and weights to make sure your veggies stay safely submerged in water.

Or quickly lock in the flavor and nutrition of your fruits and vegetables with freezing. You’ll need airtight containers or bags that are durable, don’t leak and won’t become brittle in cold temperatures. Some produce does not freeze well and others may need to be blanched before they are packed in the freezer bag or container. But frozen items can easily be retrieved from the freezer and included in your winter meals.

Canning is a bit more involved, but can be lots of fun. This process preserves the food and keeps it safe by preventing the growth of undesirable bacteria, yeast and mold. The sealed jars keep the flavor in and bad microorganisms out. So gather your produce, jars, pressure cooker, canner and friends to create tomato sauce, salsa, jams and jellies to enjoy or give as gifts.

Whatever method you choose, do a bit of research before you start. You’ll have greater success and a lot more fun. The National Center for Home Food Preservation website, http://nchfp.uga.edu, provides all the basic information for storage and food preservation.

Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening and the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment segments. Myers is also a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ web site, www.melindamyers.com, offers gardening videos and tips.

Native Woman Seeks to Shed the Pounds on ‘Biggest Loser’

courtesy NBCJackie Pierson says she put on a lot of weight after her father was diagnosed with cancer in 2004.
courtesy NBC
Jackie Pierson says she put on a lot of weight after her father was diagnosed with cancer in 2004.

 

Indian Country Today

 

Jackie Pierson, 36, is a former high school athlete and mother of two. She also weighs 291 pounds, and would rather not. She’ll be competing in the next season of the NBC show The Biggest Loser, which begins September 11.

This edition of the series has a theme of “Glory Days,” and features sports stars who are well over their fighting weight. Two former NFL players are among the contestants, as is former professional tennis player Zina Garrison. Pierson, who originally hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is Sagkeeng First Nation, didn’t get to the professional level, but her athletic resume is impressive. According to the official NBC website:

She was a high school basketball player who won multiple MVP, All-City and All Star awards, was captain of her team when they won the state championship and was named MVP for that game. In addition, she was a high school volleyball player and captain of her high school varsity team for two years in a row; played soccer, baseball and rugby; and threw the javelin in high school. Pierson was on track to a successful college basketball career when an ankle injury ended her dream of continuing to play.

Pierson currently lives in California, but early buzz on social media shows strong support from Winnipeggers for their hometown sports hero.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/15/native-woman-seeks-shed-pounds-biggest-loser-156422

How one Pacific Northwest tribe is carving out a resistance to coal — and winning

cover_coalprotest_post
Daniel Thornton

By Amber Cortes and Grist staff, Grist, 15 Aug 2014

The Lummi Nation, a Native American tribe in the Pacific Northwest, has taken an uncompromising stand against the largest proposed coal export terminal in the country: the Gateway Pacific Terminal. If completed, it would export 48 million tons of coal mined from Montana and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, and in the process threaten the Lummi’s ancestral fishing grounds and their economic survival. On Aug. 17 the Lummi people launch a totem pole journey — both a monument to protest and a traveling rally that will bring together imperiled locals, citizen groups, and other indigenous tribes for a unified front against Big Coal and Big Oil.

Grist fellow Amber Cortes visited the Lummis in the run-up to the pivotal protest to find out how they’ve been able to push back against the terminal. The result is a rich story about activism, alliances, and small victories that add up to a big resistance.

For the full story experience, click here.

Video: Communicating Through Storytelling

Pacific News CenterRoger Fernandes, of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe in Washington State, was on Guam this past week at the GOPEACE Conference held by the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

Pacific News Center
Roger Fernandes, of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe in Washington State, was on Guam this past week at the GOPEACE Conference held by the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

 

 

Indian Country Today

 

 

Roger Fernandes, of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe in Washington State, was in Guam this past week at the GOPEACE Conference held by the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

Fernandes is a master storyteller, and he told the Pacific News Center that his goal is to communicate through storytelling, which he believes is more effective than simply giving people statistics.

“Often today we look at issues like, we look at drug abuse or alcohol abuse or domestic violence. We look in terms of statistics, of numbers or reports and data. My teacher said we have enough data, we have enough reports, we have enough information, we need to act upon it,” he told PNC. “I think that once people understand that storytelling is more than cultural entertainment or just something to amuse children, when they understand that for most of human history 99 percent of human history, that’s all we did was tell stories to one another.”

The two-day conference was held August 13 and 14 at the Westin Resort on Guam. Nonprofits and volunteers listened to storytellers then broke into groups to discuss what they learned. According to PNC, the objective is to go back to their organizations and use what they learn to empower their communities.

 

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/17/video-communicating-through-storytelling-156396

Agency Reconsidering Water For Klamath Salmon

The federal agency that oversees water in Northern California's Klamath Basin is taking another look at releasing some to prevent the spread of disease among salmon. | credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The federal agency that oversees water in Northern California’s Klamath Basin is taking another look at releasing some to prevent the spread of disease among salmon. | credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

 

By: Associated Press

 

The federal agency that oversees water in Northern California’s Klamath Basin is taking another look at releasing some to prevent the spread of disease among salmon returning to spawn in drought conditions.

A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman said Friday a decision is likely next week.

The bureau had earlier denied a request from the Hoopa Valley Tribe to release some water from Lewiston Dam on the Trinity River to prevent the spread of a parasite that attacks salmon in stagnant waters, though it would release some once significant numbers of fish started dying.

Tribal scientists said by then it would be too late.

The tribe took their case to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell when she was in Redding, California, this week, and she agreed to review the situation.

Notes From A Single Mom: Texting Is the New Parenting

Lynn Armitage, Indian Country Today

 

I’m exhausted. I just had a lengthy and very heated discussion with both my daughters—at the same time, mind you. My eldest daughter and I went back and forth about nursing school and all the expenses associated with that. And the youngest wants my permission (and signature) to get her driver’s license, even though she is nowhere near ready to do so.

Yep, I’m tired from all this bickering. But mostly, my cramped fingers need a rest.

See, I don’t have actual, face-to-face conversations with my daughters anymore. Oh, no—those days are long gone, Grandma! Nowadays, I parent by way of text messaging.

It’s a sad, sad state of affairs, this new

age of “Parenting by Texting.”

Trust me. I resisted texting as long as I could. When I first heard about this texting business, I couldn’t believe that people never really talked on the phone anymore, and I refused to give in to this ridiculous fad.

I mean, what could possibly replace hearing another person’s voice on the other end of the phone? You know, REAL human interaction?

Lynn Armitage
Lynn Armitage

I even asked my daughter—who developed an entire romantic relationship with a boy long-distance by texting with him every day—why teenagers don’t like to talk to their friends on the phone, and she said, “There are just so many awkward silences. And you don’t get that with texting.”

Awkward silences? That’s what real conversations are about, for goodness sakes! Two people dancing together, and around each other, through words, nuances and timbre. Laughter, sarcasm, fear, anger, doubt, admiration, love, desire … all these beautiful emotions you can hear in someone’s voice vanish with a typed message. There’s just no soul behind it.

So I tried to stand defiantly and heroically in front of this oncoming texting train. (Any parents with me on this?) Problem was, the only way I could actually communicate with my children was through the damn text messages. Whenever I tried to call them, the call immediately went to voicemail. But when I sent a text—voila!—like magic, I would get an instant response.

“Oh, look! My teenagers are actually talking to me!” I would be giddy with disbelief. Getting a response, any response, from them sure felt good. And soon, like Pavlov’s dog, I was conditioned into becoming a full-time texting mama.

I’ll admit, it is a rather convenient medium. Type a few words, boom, communication accomplished. But I feel so compromised—especially as a writer and an editor. I have spent the majority of my professional life self-righteously cleaning up other people’s writing, punctuation and grammar. Now, like every other texting literate, I just try to find shortcuts and the quickest way to respond. “You” has become “U;”  “To” and “for” have morphed into numbers. And “See you later” has been replaced by “C Ya!”

And while it is sometimes easier and less confrontational to flex your parenting muscle through your fingertips, text messages from our children have left many of us parents bewildered and confused. With face-to-face interactions, you know when your kids are being disrespectful to you because you can hear it in their voices. With texting, you don’t know what’s punishable or not.

“Did she accidentally send that text to me in all uppercase letters, or is she sassing back?”

This new age of text-messaging has weakened our authority as parents. The stern warning of a parent’s booming voice, “Don’t you talk to me in that tone, young lady!” has now been replaced with the texting version: “DON’T YOU GET ALL UPPERCASE-Y WITH ME!” Somehow, it just doesn’t pack the same punch.

It took me a while to wise up, but I am happy to report that I’ve solved the texting/communication problem with my daughters. I’ve regained some dignity, respect and parental control. How? Well, whenever I’ve had enough of all the back-and-forth texting nonsense, I simply type back two words: “Call me.”

If my phone doesn’t ring within the time that it takes to text a response (well, I do allow a few extra seconds for the old-fashioned switchboard operator to connect the line), I let my daughters have it!

With a text message, of course—IN ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS!

Lynn Armitage is an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, who has developed a nasty case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in her right forefinger.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/16/notes-single-mom-texting-new-parenting-156337

Washington Wildfires Displace Deer

Wildfires will leave one of the Washington's largest deer herds without a place to go this winter. | credit: Flickr Creative Commons: Alan Vernon

By Courtney Flatt, OPB

Wildfires have ravaged more than a million acres across the Northwest. In central Washington, the burned landscape will leave one of the state’s largest deer herds without a place to go this winter, when deer like to eat bitterbrush and chokecherry.

Those shrubs will be hard for deer to find this year – with 25,000 acres of habitat scorched by fire, including parts of five wildlife areas.

State wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin said the so-called Carlton Complex Fire will affect feeding habitat for up to 10,000 deer.

“We’ve dealt with winter range burns before, but we’ve never had to do it on this scale,” Fitkin said.

That means many fawns and some adult deer could starve this winter. Wildlife managers are going to issue more antlerless hunting permits, possibly for up to 20 percent of adult does.

Wildlife managers will also temporarily supplement some feeding areas. They hope this will help draw deer away from crops and orchards.

Fitkin said feeding is a short-term solution.

“We really don’t like to feed to try to prop up animal populations for any length of time,” he said. “We’d rather see the landscape recover and have the animals in tune with whatever the existing capacity for the landscape is.”

Concentrating a large number of deer can cause more diseases to pop up. It also makes deer more vulnerable to predation and poachers.

Fitkin said deer could face a lack of winter range for several years, as shrubs slowly grow back.

Wild turkeys and western gray squirrels have also lost a significant amount of habitat.

Oregon wildlife managers say fires there have not caused major habitat problems, although the South Fork Complex Fire is burning parts of the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area in northeast Oregon.

That wildlife area is also a winter range for mule deer. Officials say deer there have more places to go this winter because the fire is not as large as those in Washington.

Yes bassist Squire likes touring in ‘Roundabout’ way

 

Bassist Chris Squire is the only member of Yes who has been with the band the entire time since 1969. The group will perform Aug. 21 at the Tulalip Amphitheater.— image credit: Courtesy photo
Bassist Chris Squire is the only member of Yes who has been with the band the entire time since 1969. The group will perform Aug. 21 at the Tulalip Amphitheater.
— image credit: Courtesy photo

By: Steve Powell, Arlington Times

TULALIP – Despite the “Long Distance Runaround,” original bassist Chris Squire still enjoys touring with Yes after 45 years.

The classic rock band Yes will be appearing at the Tulalip Amphitheater at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, as part of their 35-stop world tour, which ends with five shows in Japan. Tickets start at $30.

Squire said he doesn’t get tired of touring; it energizes him to see the varied ages in the crowd.

“It’s really cool to see the younger kids interested in us,” he said by phone from Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 11. “The production gets better as it goes along, making it more enjoyable.”

Yes just released a new album July 8, called “Heaven and Earth,” and that’s been invigorating for Squire as well.

“It’s musically challenging to play your own music live after being in the studio,” he said.

On the tour, Yes is playing a couple of its new songs and greatest hits, but the majority of the show is from the older albums Fragile and Close to the Edge. Some of their best-known songs are: “Roundabout, Owner of a Lonely Heart, Long Distance Runaround, I’ve Seen All Good People and Heart of the Sunrise.” Squire’s bass is featured in “The Fish,” written in 1969 and the reason for his nickname, along with him being a Pisces.

Another reason he is enjoying this tour is working with new singer Jon Davison.

“We started writing music together, and it’s made life more interesting for me,” he said.

The rest of the band consists of Steve Howe on guitar and Alan White on drums, both of whom have been with Yes for most of its existence, and Geoff Downes on keys.

Squire was born in London in 1948 and was inspired to play the bass by the Beatles Paul McCartney and to sing by the duo of Simon and Garfunkle. But the music of Yes has never sounded a bit like either of those artists. It has a complex, unique sound that is not classified as “pop.”

“We are more technocrats, using machine sounds and lots of elements. There’s a lot to get right,” Squire said.

Despite that, he said he doesn’t want people to just listen to their music. He likes for people to dance to it, too.

“I try to think of both kinds of people when writing music,” he said.

Yes has done so many songs over the years, Squire said he can’t pick one he likes to play the most.

“They’re like children. I can’t pick a favorite,” he said.

Squire also couldn’t pick a favorite performance.

“Over the years there’s been so many great shows,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate that Yes hasn’t had too much of a dark side – keep my fingers crossed.”

Squire said songs by Yes and other classic rock bands were all over the radio in the 1970s and ’80s, but stations don’t seem to play their newer music much. He was hoping satellite radio might pick up that slack, but it hasn’t.

“There’s not an outlet for it. I’m the biggest fan of The Who but I couldn’t name one track off their newest album,” he said.

Squire used to have a reputation as the wild man of the band, but that has changed now that he’s married and has a 5-year-old daughter.

In the background Squire’s wife said maybe that’s why her husband hasn’t heard new music from older bands.

“Our car radio has been tuned to Disney the last five years,” he said with a laugh.

Buzzworthy Breeding To Bring Back Bumble Bees

Preparing to inseminate a queen bee.Megan Asche
Preparing to inseminate a queen bee.
Megan Asche

 

By: Tom Banse, NW News Network

 

Some scientists are going to great lengths to help the agreeable Western bumble bee make a comeback.

You might not have noticed, but this important pollinator of both flowers and greenhouse crops has nearly disappeared from the landscape. An introduced fungal disease is suspected of decimating populations of the fat and furry Western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis).

Researchers with the U.S. Agriculture Department have identified some surviving colonies that show disease tolerance. Now a federal bee lab in Utah is collaborating with experts at Washington State University to reestablish the native pollinator. USDA entomologist Jamie Strange is leading a captive breeding project to improve stock fitness. That even includes artificial insemination of the small insects.

“We have this instrumental insemination that we’re working on developing at this point,” explained Strange. “It is still in its infancy, but we hope that we can actually remove sperm from the males and then inject it into the females like they do with certain honey bee breeding programs.”

Strange says commercial pollination companies that truck bee colonies from farm to farm are eager for him to succeed.  “As honey bees become more limited and more expensive, they’re looking for alternatives. We’re here to help them,” said Strange. “Growers are interested in using bumble bees to supplement pollination in berry crops, orchards and other places.”

“When you have both honey bees and wild bees present, you have improved yields from both working together,” observes collaborating entomologist Steve Sheppard at WSU. “There are certain crops where bumble bees are much better” pollinators, he said during a telephone interview.

Sheppard noted that British Columbia’s large industry of hot house tomato growers relies on non-native bumble bees for pollination. He said honey bees typically fly to the ceiling if released in a glass house.

In any event, sooner or later either species tends to get out. “If Jamie can develop a regionally more appropriate species… there could be a lot of interest to use it in Western states,” said Sheppard. Non-native imports “could displace or harm native bumble bees. That’s the logic to not take a species that does not occur in West and put in glass houses.”

Some states, including Oregon, do not even allow the import of non-native bumble bees to minimize the risk of unleashing disease or unwanted competition with native species.

Bumble bees and honey bees can be fairly easily distinguished. Bumble bees are fat and furry. The smaller and slimmer honey bee more closely resembles a wasp. Honey bees live in large hives, while bumble bees tend to cluster in smaller nests which do not produce surplus honey.