Were you in high school in the 50s? I've a query about banana peel.
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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- 8 years ago
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Fertilizers/Coffee Grounds/Egg Shells/Banana Peels
Comments (36)The word is "Hugelkultur". That's what my mom used to practice, on a small scale. When preparing a vegetable bed, she would strip the area of all the top vegetation - weeds, ferns, shrubs, saplings. She then strips the layer of top soil and put this aside. Next she would dig a trench in the ground - orientated north-south lengthwise. How deep this trench is depends on how difficult the soil is to work on. In this trench, she would throw in all the woody twigs, small trunks, and rotten debris. Next, she would cover this with the weeds/ferns/saplings that she collected from clearing the area. She compacts this down with a "hoe". She uses the top soil she had previously set aside to complete the final layer. The final result is a long mound on which she would grow her spring onions, pak choi, chilli, etc. The mound usually ends up about 20 feet long, about 3-4 feet wide, and approximately 2 feet high. It often ends up not looking all that pretty - it would be crooked, and the height and width would vary. But, boy didn't it produce good crops!! (She would grow sun/heat loving crops n the west side of the mound, and the less sun tolerant types on the east side.). She uses fern leaves to mulch the soil. A heavy tropical down pour would easily wash away the top layer of good soil if left unmulched. I did not know, until recently, that this technique of vegetable growing that my mom used to practise more than 40 years ago actually has a more fancy name "Hugelkultur", done on a much larger scale. Now-a-days, in addition to maintaining a compose bin, I collect the larger chunks of organic waste by setting them aside in a pile through the growing season. In the winter, I trench the beds, throw in all the organic materials, together with any kitchen wastes that may be sitting around, and build up my "Hugelkultur" bed - albeit on a small scale....See MoreWere you born in the 40's or 50's?
Comments (7)I grew up in the 60's in LA. It was all about surfing & the war (protest songs & peace songs). The Beach Boys were huge. The Beattles came on the scene in '64 (I think?). 'Inagodadavida' was the huge underground song. In 1963, the Kingsmen recorded Louie Louie & we sang & danced to that song a million times. Protest songs were 'Eve of Destruction' & 'One Tin Soldier' &, of course, the BIG ONE...Arlo Gunthrie's 'Alice's Restaurant' (You can get anything you want...at Alice's Restaurant...) He still performs the song each year on Thanksgiving Day in Stockbridge, MA just like the song...in the Church. Jefferson Starship recorded 'Miracles'. Wolfman Jack, on KRLA, once played 'Miracles' over & over for 24 hours! Our dream cars were "pony cars" like the Pontiac GTO & a Chevy Camaro Z-28 with a 454. We all carried surfboards in our cars...sticking out the window or tied to the roof. We wore boots (Nancy Sinatra 'These Boots Are Made for Walking') & our skirts got shorter & shorter. Our hair got longer & longer. We used to iron our hair on the ironing board to make it completely straight. In the LA area, we cruised Pasadena Boulevard & Whittier Boulevard on Friday nights. Whiskey-A-Go-Go was the place to see & be seen. Eight-track tapes were THE thing to have in your car for tunes. Bonanza was huge (Sunday nights). Jackie Kennedy did her White House Tour & President Kennedy didn't watch it on TV 'because Bonanza was on! In the later part of the decade, we attended way too many funerals of our classmates who'd come home from 'Nam in a flag-covered coffin (25% of the boys in my graduating class). So, we cried together a lot. I graduated in '68...the year MLK was killed. So was Bobby Kennedy. I've always considered myself fortunate to have spent my teen years in the '60's on the beaches of southern CA. Until the "War" ruined our innocence it was an idealic time & place to be a teen. We entered the '70's a much more subdued crowd....See MoreHigh School Iron Chef Club
Comments (40)So sorry! That I haven't followed up. I was out of town last week. On Tuesday, dear daughter went and got chicken breast and lemons. That night she made the Gordon Ramsay lemon chicken. Alas! She overcooked the chicken breast. I'd told her to cook them to no more than 140F internal, but she got so worried about food safety (footnote 1) that she cooked them more, and it turns out she'd purchased chicken tenders (I think that is what you call the little sliver that sits just inside of the breast?) which meant they overcooked even more quickly. Sad :-( So she came up with a plan B, SWMBO makes a no-cook lemon pasta sauce that takes 10 minutes. Dear daughter made regular and gluten-free pasta, whipped up the sauce, and brought that to the club meeting. It also turns out that many of the H.S. Iron Chef Club meetings, including this one, conflict with the Vivace Club she is in, which is some sort of a cappella vocal performance club. She went through the tryouts and got selected, it helps that she is a tenor/alto 2 which isn't common for girls. This meeting was one that conflicted, so she was only able to run to the Iron Chef meeting, drop off her dishes, and run off to Vivace practice. As of this point, we don't know who won. Dear daughter's dishes were received well enough to be featured in the club's Facebook page, so they weren't a total flop. But not the BONE-CRUSHING DOMINATION that the Gordon Ramsay lemon chicken would have been IF PROPERLY PREPARED. Well, live and learn. She had fun, learned some do's and don'ts for cooking chicken, and got at least an honorable mention / photo. Oh, we are not sure what the next ingredient is, but I will find out. I wish I'd been there to supervise her cooking, but I've been traveling for work most of the week, every week, for the last three weeks. Home life has become awfully discombobulated. I'm falling badly behind in my in-office work. Eating bad stuff and getting fat. And the chicken was overcooked. We'll pull it together in time for the next Iron Chef competition and, of course, the jello shot Halloween party! (footnote 1) Ever since her summer working at the camp kitchen, dear daughter has been as obsessed with food safety as any county health inspection. She wants to bleach our counters....See MoreI've noticed something about Linda...
Comments (41)Just the other day there was an article and pic in the local newspaper about a group of women who regularly got together for lunch. You could join them only if your name was Lois! "The Lois Club" - there were about 15 of them. Same thing could be done for Linda. The Linda Club. How fun would that be?...See More- 8 years ago
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