Took a walk in the woods after work today with the following results:

Thought that some of you who may not be familiar with morels would like to know what they look like.  Read more 

Don’t worry! It won’t be tested! CNN:

The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.

“They want to create false assurances,” Justice Department attorney Eric Flesig-Greene told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

See, the problem is too much information.  Read more 

In a prophetic moment, Jack Webb speaks as the voice of Hillary Clinton supporters trying to explain to the rest of the Democratic Party why marijuana (Obama) is wrong for the party. Notice how he brings up Koolaid…

Now to find where he prophesies the coming of RuPaul.

As your seedlings sprout in your flats, the first greens to appear are the “seed leaves” or cotyledons. They produce food for the plant as it begins to grow true leaves and are usually distinctly different in appearance from the plant’s leaves. If you are starting your seeds in flats, once the second set of true leaves start to appear it’s time to begin potting up – transplanting your seedlings from the flats into individual containers or cells of multi-packs.

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Once you have a place to start your seeds you of course will need a growing medium and some type of container to put them in. Containers of all kinds are available, and just about anything can be used from milk cartons to egg cartons to purpose-made seeding flats as long as they meet a few criteria. They must be deep enough and sturdy enough to hold 2-3” of growing medium, they must be able to hold up to being wet, and they must provide adequate drainage. I use commercially made plastic seed flats as they are inexpensive, a convenient size, and easy to use and keep clean. Another option is peat pots, which can hold the plant until it’s ready to be set out, eliminating the need for intermediate transplanting, but they aren’t as flexible as using flats and can get costly for large numbers of plants.

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The first thing you’ll need when starting seeds is a suitable place to do it. In order to start seed successfully, you must meet the environmental requirements for initial germination and subsequent growth of the plants until they reach the stage when they are ready for transplanting. A well designed rack or other area will meet the needs of correct temperature to start germination, and sufficient light and space to stimulate healthy growth.

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Those of you who have read my previous posts know that in addition to an avid winemaker, I am a lifelong gardener. In Wisconsin, like many parts of the country, the only way to grow many types of vegetables and flowers is by setting out plants started earlier in the season from cuttings or seeds. I start most of my own plants in a seed starting rack I’ve built in my basement. This series will step you through the basics of starting plants from seed and setting them out into your garden.

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What follows is part of what’s on my flickr site.

It seems to fit right in with Corrente’s spirit.

* * *

Last summer, my friends (Art and Heidi) and I grew heirloom vegetables on our respective rooftops in Chicago using homemade "Earth boxes". Heidi would come over every few weeks and take some photos of my plants, which she then sent me along with some shots from their roof garden. I rearranged them and added this commentary.

We’re trying to show what’s possible using cheap, readily available components and also to learn from anyone who wants to share what they know.  Read more 

A while back Lambert asked me to contribute a series on butter and cheese making. I got distracted with real life (PhD finshing) and so put it off for a bit, but decided this rainy morning was a good time to start. My favorite doe, Miss Mack, gave birth to 3 doelings late last night, and I’m still up from the excitement of that. For about the first 10 or 12 hours after they are born, I have to check on them every 90 minutes or so. Can’t help myself. They are cuteness personified. Anyway…  Read more 

The Zucchini of Chastisement is one of the longstanding traditions here at Corrente (“longstanding” meaning from at least the year before last, and proven by the fact that it remains No. 1 at Google for this search topic) and was always meant as something of a joke.

The Chastisement of Zucchini on the other hand is a real problem, along with chastisement of tomatoes, watermelons, turnips and those who want to grow them to support the exploding movement to “eat locally.” Turns out—I know this will come as a shock to you—that there are Forces of Edible Evil who do not want you to do this, so they’re—again, brace for a shock—using Congress to tweak the farm subsidy rules to keep farmers from supplying the demand.

Very consise explanation in today’s NYT. The key words are “Farm Flex,” it is a Good Thing and needs to pass.  Read more 

Great headlines of our time, that one from the Guardian:

Hervé This (pronounced ’Tiss’) is a star, the country’s most famous chemist. His specialism is the science of cooking. For him, every foodstuff is ’a chemical mixture’. ’When aromatic compounds are formed on the surface of a roast,they are the result of a chemical reaction. When mushrooms turn black after being chopped, it is the fruit of a chemical reaction.’  Read more 

Post your recipes here. I stole this one from DKos poster McMom:
Put in a cast iron pan:
two cups of sugar,
1/4 cup of cocoa,
2/3 cup whole milk,
2 tbsp. white corn syrup,
a pinch of salt.

Heat slowly, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Then cook without stirring to the soft ball stage. Take pan off heat, add butter and vanilla, but DO NOT STIR. After the mixture has cooled to lukewarm, beat by hand until creamy and the mixture loses its shine. Pour onto a buttered plate and cut into squares.
p.s. You can cook it on a stainless steel skillet, as well, but it doesn’t turn out the same if cooked in a saucepan. Must be something about the distribution of heat.

Okay, everybody, your turn!  Read more 

Some people prefer milk from cows which have not been given hormones, specifically recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST. Other people don’t give a shit or have never heard of the issue and just get the cheapest cow squeezins’ they see in the dairy case. But if you as a dairyman choose not to use these hormones, shouldn’t you have a right to put a label on your milk bottles saying so?

Not in Pennsylvania you don’t. Because it makes other milk producers, who do use hormones, products look bad. Via the Allentown Morning Call:

The state Department of Agriculture is delaying ordering dairy farmers to stop labeling their products as free of an artificial hormone until it does more research on the controversial supplement injected into cows to boost milk production.

Last month, Pennsylvania became the first state to announce it was putting an end to milk sold with a label indicating it is free of a genetically engineered growth hormone. It gave the 19 farmers who do not use recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, until Jan. 1 to remove any variation of that wording from their milk containers.

The farmers will now have until Feb. 1 to comply.Opponents from Pennsylvania and across the nation flooded the agency with calls and e-mails, prompting Gov. Ed Rendell to delay the implementation by a month.

Hmm, weren’t we told that didn’t work and never made any difference? But back on topic, let’s look at the “state’s” take on the matter:  Read more 

WaPo:

A company voluntarily recalled nearly 96,000 pounds of ground beef products after two people were sickened, possibly by the E. coli bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Saturday.

The beef products by American Foods Group include coarse and fine ground beef chuck, sirloin and chop beef. They were distributed to retailers and distributors in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Virginia.

The problem surfaced after an investigation by the Illinois Department of Health, which was looking into two reports of illnesses.

This is getting to be such a non-story, isn’t it? Until President Ron Paul guts such protections as remain, of course.  Read more 

Newshoggers:

In the last few weeks federal regulators arrested 62-year-old custom hog farmer Richard Bean, and his 60-year-old wife, Jean Rinaldi, for slaughtering their own hogs, an apple cider provider was shut down on his busiest weekend and a share farm selling raw dairy products was quarantined under a regulation that shouldn’t apply to them.

There’s more at the link but in every instance, the consumer chose to cut corporate profit out of the equation. The benefit to the farmer is obvious.

Farmers who sell their cattle to processors may receive $2 a pound, compared to anywhere from $5 to $18 a pound, depending on the quantity purchased and the cut of meat, when they do their own slaughtering. Similarly, when dairy farmers sell milk to processors for pasteurization, they receive in the neighborhood of $1.50 to $2.50 a gallon (depending on bacteria counts and whether the milk is organic). When they sell direct, they receive $5 to $10 a gallon.

The good news is that some case law in favor of the farmer-to-consumer model has upheld its legality. But it’s far from a settled issue and I expect the intimidation of the farmers will continue as the consumer demand grows. Yet to my knowledge, there have been no instances of illness arising from the transactions. The same can’t be said for the corporate delivery system where it seems there’s a new round of recalls of tainted food every week.

But—but—the corporations really need the money!  Read more 

The more you take control of your own food, the better off you are. Since a turkey is cheap right now, you might want to pick up an extra bird or two for cooking when it’s not Thanksgiving week. Alton Brown and Tyler Florence (search foodtv.com) have recipes that will let you feed a family of four for a week from one 12 lb. turkey. If you don’t cotton to that notion you might try these variants on the the classic T-Bird:

Tecate Light Thanksgiving turkey

(Hey: a bird in a beer bath!)

Ingredients:

* 1 whole turkey, about 15 pounds
* 2 24 ounces of Cerveza Tecate Light
* 6 cloves of garlic
* 8 sweet chilies
* 4 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons ketchup
* 2 teaspoons hot sauce
* 2 tablespoons paprika
* 1 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1 teaspoon Mexican chili powder

Cooking Instructions:

Step one: Pour two 24 ounce cans of Tecate Light on your turkey

Step two: For optimum flavor, blend garlic cloves and sweet chilies then stuff turkey

Step three: Mix brown sugar, ketchup, hot sauce, paprika, black pepper, salt and cayenne pepper into a bowl

Step four: Lather your turkey with the sauce, throw into the oven and cook at 350 degrees F. for approximately 6 hours

I ain’t recommendin’ this, you understand.
I’d just as soon cook the turkey over a propane jet in a hot-oil bath, or double-foil it and leave it overnight in a big slow cooker; but if you’re looking for something novel, maybe this is it.

Or you could try this classic:

Texas Monthly
Featured in the November 1998 issue of Texas Monthly
Texas Deep-Fried Turkey

“I used to hate turkey because it’s always so dry,” says Grady Spears. But four years ago, the thirty-year-old chef had a change of heart: “That year we had Thanksgiving with True Redd, this artist who has a house on Caddo Lake, in East Texas. Everybody brought a dish, and True deep-fried a turkey. It was so moist that I just loved it.”

Equipment
1 turkey cooker with a propane burner (also called a catfish cooker or crawfish boiler)
1 36- to 40-quart stockpot and basket
1 large turkey injector with needle
1 deep-fryer thermometer or candy thermometer
elbow-length oven mitts

Cinnamon-Chile Rub
1/2 cup cinnamon
1/2 cup pasilla or other red chile powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Turkey
4 to 6 gallons peanut oil (depending on size of stockpot and turkey)
3 1/2 cups chicken stock (two 14.5-ounce cans)
1/2 cup Tabasco sauce
1 turkey, 12 to 15 pounds (inside removed)
2 cups cinnamon-chile rub (recipe above)

Place the peanut oil in the stockpot on the turkey cooker and preheat to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the chicken stock and Tabasco. Place the turkey in a shallow pan or bowl. Fill the syringe with stock mixture, inject all parts of the turkey (legs, breast, thighs), and then thoroughly coat the outside of the turkey with the cinnamon-chile rub. When the oil reaches 350 degrees, place the turkey in the basket and, wearing oven mitts, carefully lower it into the stockpot. Cook for 3‡ minutes per pound (for example, a 12-pound turkey will be done in 42 minutes). Remove the turkey from the oil and drain well. Place it on your favorite platter and carve away.  Read more 

They tell me goat meat is really very tasty…via AP:

Cargill Inc. said Saturday it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the second time in less than a month it has voluntarily recalled beef that may have been tainted.

No illnesses have been reported, said John Keating, president of Cargill Regional Beef.

The agribusiness giant produced the beef between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11 at a plant in Wyalusing, Pa. and distributed it to retailers across the country. They include Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans and Weis.

Cargill learned the meat may be contaminated after the Agriculture Department found a problem with a sample of the beef produced on Oct. 8, the company said. The bacteria is E. coli O157:H7.

A spokeswoman for Cargill said 10 states are included in the recall — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

This is the Very Very Bad e. coli, so don’t take a chance on this one.  Read more 

Film at 11: Desiring machines have a biological substrate.

The desiring machines in the news want chocolate—but I’m sure there are other desiring machines that desire other things.

From the abstract at the Journal of Proteome Research (PDF)

Human metabolic phenotypes link directly to specific dietary preferences in healthy individuals
Sunil Kochhar and colleagues at the Nestle Research Center (Switzerland) and Imperial College London set out to distinguish the two populations at the molecular level. The team developed a novel approach they call “nutrimetabonomics” to correlate metabolic phenotypes with a behavioral phenotype—namely, an affinity for rich, creamy chocolate.

Upon statistical analysis, the plasma metabolic profiles of those who desired chocolate could be distinguished from those who were indifferent to its charms.

All of these findings point to differences between the two groups in the functionality of gut microflora.

Bacteria that crave chocolate. I wonder if somebody did a study on fast food or soda, what they would find? Anybody remember The Space Merchants?  Read more 

Feral Liberal’s series on winemaking.

And five pints, both meat and vegan. It’s the Heirloom Familly Recipe, so I’m not sharing unless you come over for dinner.

But I will say this: I’ve got enough made to feed four people once a week for a year.  Read more 

Autumn’s coming. Time to be thinking about what / how you want to put up your garden’s harvest (or the last bargains from the farmer’s market) against winter. Ideas?  Read more 

Just in time for the Labor Day weekend! So be sure to echeck the sell-by dates and brands before you pack up the food for your picnic. CNN:

Kroger Co. said Friday the grocery chain was recalling its store-brand “Southern-Style” and “Mustard” potato salads because of concerns they have been tainted with E. coli bacteria, according to state agricultural officials.

Cincinnati-based Kroger has stores in 31 states, many under different banners. Glynn said potato salads sold in Ralphs, Fred Meyer, and QFC stores weren’t affected. Those stores are mainly in western states.
Video More video
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta informs us of yet another recall on contaminated spinach.
Play video

The Ohio Department of Agriculture and Kroger advised consumers not to eat the potato salads if they have a “best if used by” date of Sept. 5.

Beef, too:  Read more 

Very odd, very small story in Toronto Star I just saw, and post without having time to research further yet.

Loblaws Inc. is recalling No name French Style Green Beans because they may contain a dangerous bacteria.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says toxins produced by the bacteria (Clostridium) may cause botulism.

The affected product is in 398 millilitre cans, bearing the UPC code 60383 03310, and distributed in Ontario and in western provinces.

The affected cans also bear the following codes:

See link if you’re in or near Ontario. Otherwise just note the following:  Read more 

…overdoing. Meet the Tomato Fanatics of LA.

Consider this an open gardening/homegrown/raised-bed (No, CD, not that kind!) hybrid, modified, variant, panspeciesist, pureblood, mudblood, heirloom, hydroponic and related matters thread. With bees if desired.

I always knew it would come to this:  Read more