3 people canning can handle 3 tons but not 30 tons in a season. I almost agree with Dave, the restaurant does not have any more supervision canning for on-site consumption than they do baking, etc. - general food handling/kitchen cleanliness inspections. But the NY Times (or one of the articles I found when Googling this) said that they were going to start selling the canned goods, in which case they would be subject to FDA HAACP and acidification rules. I didn't mean to start a debate, just thought it was nice to see canning get a mention in national newspaper, but if Blue Chair Jam can oven can their jams (at least that's what their cookbook recommends) I wonder how closely the recipes and processes in this kind of operation are monitored?

Worms as environmental wrecking balls is something I read about several years ago. At that time, it was Canadian scientists measuring the massive forest destruction caused by US 'night crawler' worms (as opposed to the Canadian night crawlers, which are presumed to be respectful and polite to the forest floor). The pictures were very telling, but if 'before and after' pictures are all it takes to do science, then late-night infomercials are the pinnacle of scientific enlightenment. I remember a respected worm expert stating that worm bin leachate should be disposed of as hazardous waste because it contains alcohols, phenols, and turpines, or something to that extent. You can buy a substance called humic acid to put in your garden. It's considered to be a healthy product of composting, and a benefit to plants. If you look up humic acid on Wikipedia, you will find: " Substances identified include ... linear alcohols, phenolic acids, and terpenoids.[4]" We all know that earthworms accelerate the breakdown of trash materials into fertile components of soil; and that plants can only absorb nutrients after they've dissolved in water, which can just as easily wash away if there are not enough plants to take it in, or absorbent materials to hold it. The argument that worms degrade the forest environment is usually from the standpoint of a forest without worms or understory growth, and lots of floor debris. Inclusion of worms will change the forest floor just as they do in your worm bin, but you also need to bring the plants that are compatible with the worms. If you don't, the nutrients and soil will very likely wash away. If the worms got there artificially, then the plants that take advantage of them may also need to be brought in. Since worms tend to speed up the breakdown of materials, they support fast growing plants, and animals that go dump in the night. Scientific papers are generally written on very narrow subjects, as it's harder to get published if they include broad statements and subjects. In contrast, a journalist gets their papers published by being interesting, shocking, and scary. Neither publisher benefits from giving the whole story. Though I haven't read the paper on dirt causing global warming, it sounds rather straightforward. I suspect the average gardener would agree that dark soil is preferred for food crops, and that plants require porous soil so the roots can get fresh air. ...well, dark soil - when exposed to the sun - warms up fast, and the dark compost releases carbon dioxide. It sounds like common knowledge that has been republished in a scientific paper and then republished by a journalist, each time exchanging some scientific integrity for political bias. Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia: Humic acid

I am so upset by what I am reading and what I have experienced over the last 12 years .. I am in the process of two major kitchen remodels and have 6 more to complete before I have them all done. Based on what I am reading here and on the internet blogs, I have ended up unwilling to order ANY new appliances. Over the last 12 years the only things I have purchased that have had great customer service are my Jura Capressa coffee makers and my Tempurpedic mattressses. All other purchases have been major headaches or outright nightmares. I am at the point that buying anything at all literally makes me sick at my stomach (and this is not just because I am a guy who does not enjoy shoppping in general). I have noticed that I have become openly hostile to sales people in general. With very few exceptions, I have never met a "sales" person who had even the scant ethics of even a democrat politician. The fact that I am now expected to buy appliances from one of these ingenuine sociopathic sales types is so upsetting that I have my two kitchen remodels on hold. I have great inset all wood custom cabinets with great custom granite counters ... and no appliances. Friends of mine in CA hate their Miele, friends in Henderson Nevada hate their Subzero and Dacor, friends in NY hate their Monogram, friends in Naples Florida hate their AGA and Viking, friends in the Netherlands hate their Miele, friends in Carmel Indiana hate their Traulson and Miele, friends in Arizona hate their Kitchen Aid ... and it goes on and on with nightmare after nightmare of new appliances defective out-of-the-box, incompetent installers, unethical distributors, sales people that grab the big commissions and then can't even return follow up calls, manufacturers that don't honor their warranty committments or try to stong arm the very customers that their business should be treating with dignity and integrity. To add insult to injury, many regional better business bureaus rate these retailers and businesses A+. No wonder consumers have stopped purchasing ... it is not the recession that has stopped people from making major purchases, but, rather, the expectation that after-purchase headaches will take months and months to resolve with stress levels higher than paying for your childrens' college educations. Short of having an attorney produce a contract that the appliance supplier has to sign and be held to legally, does anyone out there have any other magic process. A process that assures the customer won't be setting themselves up for an extremely stressful experience with underpaid customer disservice departments trained by the Insurance claims industry to intimidate and wear down the customer to a point of having to just give up? signed - a potential appliance customer in limbo

I'm not a teacher, but some years ago found myself teaching some health classes. 25 students or so, all the same grade. Some really wanted to 'get' what I was trying to say, some wanted recess, some were talkative, some were shy. Some couldn't seem to figure it all out, some chose to deliberately disrupt. A few did not have English as their native language. My admiration for teachers is immense. My point is not only to offer compassion to Secsteve in his posts where replies were not what was expected, but to point out that none of us have perfect understanding and we all fall down on the job sometimes but that most of us are good people and pretty lovable just like my students. Communication problems are tough. Wonderful teachers seem to have a gift so that whatever they teach or ask must go into a magical communication wave where there is more understanding and less static. That this happens must mean that the somehow the sender, as well as the receiver, is empowered to create and discern a clear message,( and that teachers are amazing in that respect because it was very hard for me to get one message received in even remotely the same way by 25 kids).