Rediscovering the Past

Mass marketing has obliterated much that was of value in American life because it did not lend itself to easy profitability. The "old timers" had discovered many solutions to farming problems that we are in danger of losing. Good seed is but one example. The "Alabama Red Okra" seen above came from heirloom seeds we discovered at Baker Heirloom Seeds. We believe that small though it may be, we will have a part in preserving something significant for the next generation by keeping seeds such as these alive, in transmission and out of the hands of companies like Monsanto.

All my neighbors commented on how fat the pods were. The taste is excellent. We have baked it, fried it, cooked it in succotash, but my favorite is sauteed in butter or olive oil.

Weed Beauty.

It has always seemed capricious and presumptuous for people to deem certain plants "weeds", thereby implying that they are a nuisance and have no value. This gorgeous "weed" volunteered in the middle of our garden.

It may be datura, which everyone recalls Ayla used in her medicine kit for heart conditions. It also is a bad hallucinogenic and toxic on several levels. Just goes to show you, beauty can be dangerous, too.

Fermented Foods

The Romans transported their armies using fermented cabbage. The world has forgotten much of what was learned about the methods of preserving and enjoying foods because the things we eat are always available at the grocery stores.

My good friends in the Georgia Yahoo group of the Weston A. Price foundation could write a book about their discoveries involving kefir, yogurt, cheeses, pickled anything's and a host of raw foods.

Certain books are almost standards for beginners, such as Carla Emry's "Encyclopedia of Country Living."

Ironically, the internet may revive much of the lost wisdom of the past generations. For example, I recently discovered "The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture" at Cornell University. There are books from the early 1900's that free and on-line. They detail how raw milk was best captured and processed."