The Greening of Gavin

Wise Words Wednesday

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Well this weeks letter comes from Vicky, who is a new reader.  Here is her question.

Hi Gavin

Vicky here, I have been listening to your podcasts..FANTASTIC!!!!
As you were asking questions, to your guests, a question came up this evening with a long and dear friend about how she went out and spent $25.00 on a simple cotton nightie, so we asked “do we have a rag trade here in Australia any more or like many other manufacturing industries gone overseas.  This raises a lot of questions on what manufacturing companies are still here, and will be here for our future?

It would be interesting where our country now stands in the way of supporting our economy and way of life, or are we heading for a total dependency on other countries through loosing our manufacturing sector.

l would be really interested to see what your other readers thought if you mentioned  this …..
Curious? Vicky.

So to paraphrase, She asks a big question about how sustainable the manufacturing sector, not only in Australia, but I dare say in most western societies.  Have we taken globalisation too much, and what does that bring for the future.  

Let us know your thoughts?

Wise Words Wednesday

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It is that time of the week again where I hand the blog over to you, the reader.

This weeks question is from Anne who writes;

Hi Gavin

I am very new to the cheese making game and I am wondering if you have any tips for making cottage cheese?

Would like it to be as natural as possible.

Thank you
Anne

I have never made cottage cheese before, so am unable to answer this one myself.  Can anyone help out Anne with her question?

Wise Words Wednesday?

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I have been harping on about all things sustainable living for a long time.  Over that time I have come to realise that there are many good number of readers out there who have just so much to share in abundance.  So I would like to tap into that vast knowledge base.

As one of my goals this year is “More Maintenance, Less Projects”, I need to focus on servicing the many needs that my urban farm demands.  To do this I also need to blog less, and stop replying to the constant stream of requests for help via email.  I don’t really want to do this so I have come up with a plan.

My plan is to turn over the blog to all my readers each week for the ‘Wise Words Wednesday’ post.  Sounds exciting doesn’t it?  Well I think it is.  Here is how I see it playing out.  I post one of requests for help that I receive during the week (with the senders permission of course), and I will request that you, the reader, have a crack at answering it via a comment.  You can leave links to posts of your own if you like as well as long as it is pertinent to the question.  I don’t mind.  Take the time to promote yourselves while you are at it.  We could all do with a little self promotion in this lifestyle, that’s for sure.

So now you know the plan, here is the first question from L.

Hi Gav, 


I’m hoping you will be able to help me – I’m really new to this.

I bought an old Fowlers Vacola electric unit second-hand, similar to the one that you use.

I’ve been reading very carefully about the latest guidelines for water bath canning tomatoes, and they state that they should be processed for 85 minutes with 1/4 tsp of citric acid added (per pint jar).

Anyway, I had all my jars in the Fowlers unit and started adding the water, only to find that the water spews out the thermometer hole when the water level reaches that point. It seems it is impossible to submerge my #20 size jars completely, and it would be even worse for really large sizes.

Now I know that these Fowlers units were manufactured a long time ago and food safety knowledge wasn’t what it is today, but am I missing something? Surely the water should completely submerge the jars?

Is it impossible to water bath preserve tomatoes safely using the unit I have?

I’ve also posted my question on Rhonda’s Down to Earth forum, but I think you are my best bet because you have the same type of unit.

I’d really appreciate your thoughts if you have the time. Thanks so much!

L.

I will pass it over to you.  How do you get the most out of your Fowlers Vacola preserving system, and does anyone have the answer to L’s specific questions?


Thanks everyone!