We seem to push the less healthy and less safe methods of vinegar flavoring pickles instead of fermenting them. WOW! Quite an accusation there! I can only hope you didn't intend it to sound so critical. We don't "push" anything here except safety. And we try to answer the questions posted. If they are about vinegar pickles then that is what gets discussed. If they are about fermenting then that is discussed. And there are many discussions here and in the past on fermenting. But there is no conspiracy on this forum to intentionally deprive others of the information. Many folks simply don't care for either the taste of or the work involved in fermenting and I would strongly dispute the claim that it is easier for beginners to do as it is a more complex process. And despite the claims made above, safety is of a much greater concern when it comes to fermentation than it is with vinegar simply because it is easy to do incorrectly; it isn't done "properly" as the author. He may not be aware of any current "documented cases of food-borne illness" from fermented foods but history is full of them. He might want to review some of the historical documents published on NCHFP about the historical practices of fermenting. Pressurized canning creates an anaerobic environment that increases the risk of deadly botulism, particularly with low-acid foods. Not if it too is done "properly". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy fermenting some things as do many others here but I sure would not go so far as to claim it is the "BEST" way to preserve food. This article, this author, has an agenda to push, one he has apparently devoted his life too studying. So much of what he says needs to be taken with at least a tsp. of salt. JMO Dave

Lima beans and butter beans are the same family but different different varieties. So no, technically lima beans do not "turn into butter beans". The confusion comes from how different regions of the country use the labels differently. For example, in the midwest folks call the big wide and flat tan limas "butterbeans" but in the south butterbeans are the small green limas (aka baby limas). Lots of different varieties of lima beans and that doesn't even get into the many field/Dixie/southern/butter/etc. peas bunch, many of which are actually beans. Dave

I've done a fair amount of research into this question and have found that the best way to preserve seeds is to ultra-dry them. Research done in this area indicates that seeds may remain viable for up to 40 years if properly preserved. The best method appears to be to seal the seeds in a container with silica gel. Normal "dry" seeds are (IIRC) in the 5%-8% moisture content range. Ultra-dry seeds are in the 1%-3% range. For long-term storage of seeds, the quality of the container matters. Plastic containers are all moisture permeable and unsuited to long-term seed storage. One study compared dozens of different kinds of containers and found that only pure glass (glass tubes sealed by melting the glass tip closed), metal cans (think "canning operation") and metal-glass containers akin to mason jars were suitable for long-term storage. Of these, the mason jar is probably the easiest to use. A little less effective, but still pretty good, would be commercial glass jars like the kind used to hold jam, that is, a container that is all-metal and glass with a good seal. The method I settled on was to use small envelopes (coin envelopes) to contain the seeds, label the envelopes and store them in wide-mouth quart mason jars with an inch or two of silica gel in the bottom. About 25 such packets to a quart jar seems to be optimal. Since I access the seeds periodically, I use more silica gel than they used in the research studies. The silica gel is blue and turns pink when it has absorbed moisture, so there is an easy indicator of when it's time to recharge the silica gel (which you can do by drying in an oven for a couple hours.) Note that heat is never a friend to seed preservation, but the literature on the subject indicates that seed drying is a better process for preservation than even the most advanced (and expensive) cryogenic storage. Apparently, even seeds cooled to near liquid nitrogen levels must be planted and their seeds harvested for re-freezing every decade or so to maintain viability. The research suggests that most seed banks around the world would benefit significantly from drying over super-freezing. Some seeds are NOT suitable for ultra-drying. They include seeds with very heavy, hard shells which may not allow the moisture to exit the seed. Fortunately, these types of seeds are relatively rare. So far, I've built my seed collection to nearly 100 different types of seeds. Rather than try to organize them into any specific order, I just label them with a name and a number, and use a database to match name/number for lookup. The jars all contain seed packets by number: 1-25 in the first jar, 26-50 in the second and so on. With a click of the mouse, I can view the seeds by name (with corresponding position in the appropriate jar) or number (which tells me which seeds are in a particular jar. I consider seed storage an important part of self-reliance, I grow a significant portion of my own produce, starting out after asking myself the question, "What would happen if the food supply system broke down?" and, "Why are peppers $1 each!?" What started as an experiment ("How much of my own food can I grow?") has become an interesting hobby and a source of superior produce. (I haven't bought a pepper in years!) The recent droughts already have experts predicting that food costs will double this year. With the dollar teetering on the edge of collapse, being able to grow your own food just seems prudent to me - and a stable supply of good seed is critical to that effort.

I dehydrated three varieties of summer squash last year in thin round slices - much thinner than one inch, which I think would be too thick for dehydrating. However, the ones I have reconstitute nicely and have a good texture for all kinds of recipes. I am still using them and enjoy them greatly. Maybe you could stack thin slices on each other to get your inch thick slice? If you can find a way to freeze it that would be wonderful but I've never heard of a way that doesn't turn it into mush. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!