Many years ago, I had to take a foster child to a specialist in a nearby county, and I took her mother as well, for morale because I thought it would be best for both of them to be together for a procedure. As you do in my area, you passed through the countryside to get there and this lady saw a cow in the flesh for the very first time. I was dumbfounded. She lives in a county with just 80 thousand residents. We are a rural community. Never saw a cow? What I think is happening is that since factories took over so much of the farming, most people don't think any more about how food is produced than how a television is produced. Many of them don't even know how it's prepared anymore, letting somebody else do that as well. We are a society of letting somebody else be responsible for almost everything we need and accepting it with no questions. Shelter, food, clothing are simple things and learning how to maintain them, make them, use them wisely isn't rocket surgery (LOL, what one of my professors used to say). They should be basic life skills and most people should know at least "something" about them. I don't talk about my gardening or life to be self righteous, I just talk about it because it is so much a part of who we are. I talk about it to encourage other people to try their hands at a home garden, or making their life simpler, because I really believe that we make our lives entirely too complicated and impersonal. I am busy, yes, but it's a good busy and an enjoyable busy, at at one time of my life a very necessary busy. I feel good that most everything we put in our mouths is pure, fresh, and I know what it contains. The added benefit is that a little work during the summer provides us with nearly 100 percent of all the fruits and vegetables we consume in a year. It's convenient, it's healthy, and it just tastes better. During WWII victory gardens provided American people with 40% of their food supply. That's an impressive amount. I really shudder when I think of communities banning things like hanging out laundry, composting, having a few chickens or putting in food gardens. These are not ugly things.

Christine, the 4 jicama I planted became a huge green monster that buried 20 feet of a 25 foot fence. It was covered with large stems of purple flowers which gave way to large stems of big seed pods. I'm wondering now if I should have allowed such prolific seed production, because in digging up the root, there were only two that were big enough to use - and were in fact, on the verge of becoming woody. I cooked part of the larger root out of curiosity. And, like my son said, the taste was 'interesting'. Very slightly sweet as when raw, but otherwise tasteless. The salt, pepper, butter and garlic just didn't help that much. So - raw it shall be from now on. cora

I can relate to some of these posts about picky eaters. My oldest son will not eat fresh tomatoes but will happily consume spaghetti, chili and pizza all of which use tomatoes in one form or another.He would not eat greens of any kind until he had a kidney transplant. Then he started eating greens. His donor's sister confirmed that her brother(kidney came from him) really like greens . My daughter said that she can eat potato salad somewhere and it will have a different taste from the one I make. She loves my potato salad. My potato salad is made with what ever kind of potato I have on hand, chopped onion, 2 or 3 hard boiled eggs , chopped ,sweet pickle relish, and mayo and mustard. The difference is most people use the old ball park yellow mustard. I don't, I use a spicy brown mustard. As a child if my mother fixed cube steak for our evening meal after she had fixed liver and onions for her lunch, I had to actually test a small piece of the steaks to make sure she was not trying to slip liver in .She was the only one in the family that liked liver and onions . I got lucky with my husband, he will eat anything placed in front of him.If he doesn't like it, he will say do not fix this very often but if it is something he likes , he will say this is a keeper.

Beets are one of my favorite vegetables. Unfortunately I don't fix them much because they are kind of expensive in an urban grocery store usually, and they are a little touchy to prepare. Don't get me wrong, they are easy, easy as far as technique, but beet juice stains and I am a clumsy cook. A lot of people like roasting them. I like roasted beets, but I also like steamed beets which I think are a little easier to prepare. Just cut off the tops and bottoms of the beets, scrub them a bit, then roast or steam, or even boil. You have to peel off the outside skin of the beet after they cool. My preferred method for cooking beets is in my steamer. I also steam the greens along with them. Very good served just with butter and salt, or a little parm. cheese. I adore beet greens, they are my favorite green, but it sounds like you don't like greens in general, so you might not like beet greens. You can also eat the stems, at least the non-woody ones. If you don't like the texture of greens, you can sneak beet greens into lasagne or soup. The classic beet soup is borscht, which I love. Once the beets have cooled and you have peeled them, you can put the beets in salads. Below are my two favorite beet salads, and I think a good way to perhaps introduce yourself to beets. Another way to serve them is sweet and sour, sometimes called harvard beets, or there's beets in orange sauce. I never have them that way since I prefer them more savory, but you might prefer them the other way. I don't have any of those type of recipies, but there are plenty out there, I once even posted a beet thread about four months back you might be able to find that. I have the recipies saved some where so I may be able to get them some time but I'm pinched for time right now. Potato Beet Salad from "Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites" cookbook 4 med. beets, scrubbd and leaf stems trimmed off 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed 1/2 cup minced red onion or scallions 1 cup non fat yogurt (when I make this I use a mix of 1/2 cup mayo and 1/2 cup yogurt or lowfat sour cream) 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (or dried dill weed to taste) 1 tsp. cider vinegar 2 small dill pickles, chopped (about 1/2 cup) (Can also use plain cukes in a pinch) 2 tsp. prepared horseradish (optional, I never use it) 1 tsp. sugar (optional) salt and ground black pepper to taste Boil or steam beets until tender, immerse in cold water to cool, then peel. Check for tenderness by piercing them with a knife. If they can be easily pierced, they are done. After peeling, when they are completely cool, chop them into bite sized pieces. (I like little half moon beet pieces) In separate pot, boil potatoes until tender for about 20 min. Drain potatoes and cool. Put the beets, potatoes, onions and pickles in a large bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Stir gently to distribute the dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill at least 30 min. before serving. Note: depending on what else you're eating, you can also add feta or goat's milk cheese crumbles to this salad, and serve over a bed of lettuce. Beets with Goat Cheese and Dill from Williams and Sonoma "Vegetable" cookbook 6-8 small beets (or 3-4 large ones) 1 1/4 lb total, approx. 2 shallots or 1/2 red onion, chopped 1 tsp. sugar salt 1 TBLSP balsamic vinegar Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 TBLSP olive oil 1-2 TBLSP chopped fresh dill (or 1-2 tsp. dried dill weed, but fresh is so much better) 3 oz. fresh goat cheese (or feta if you don't like goat cheese, I love it) Clean beets and remove stem ends. Place in baking pan just large enough to hold them. Pour water into the pan to a depth of 1/2-1 inch. Cover the pan with aluminum foil or a cover. Bake in the oven at 375 until the beets are tender (easily pierced with a fork). This will take about 40 minutes for small beets and an hour for large ones. Replace the water if the pan looks like it's getting dried out. Once done, remove beets from the pan and allow to cool enough so you can handle them. Peel the beets and cut them into wedges. Place the warm beets in a bowl, add the onion or shallots. Combine the dressing ingredients and toss to coat. (It has been my experience that you need to make twice as much dressing as the recipe calls for to get a good kicky flavor). Spoon the warm dressed beets into a serving bowl or individual plates. Can serve on a bed of lettuce. Top with dollops of the goat cheese. Serve warm or at room temperature. Can save leftover beets in the marinade, will keep for a couple of days. Both salads good with toasted sunflower seeds tossed onto them before serving, for extra protein and some crunch. I like to take the beet and potato salad to work with a lowfat swiss cheese sandwich, sometimes also add fake ham to the sandwich. The beet/goat cheese salad is good with a hummus sandwich, hummus and cukes on rye is one of my favorites. Can also serve with baked pita chips and hummus dip.