I had a quart jar of rapeseed honey many years ago. White and pasty, interesting stuff.
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I’m growing Hazels and Almonds and Pecans and was thinking the same thing 
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I better get off here before I go broke. I figured it would be a good idea to start little on the Sorghum and I bought the Manual one. Should be here late next week!! I’ll post when it gets here. Man…I love this forum. Thanks for all the great ideas folks…
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@murky, I grew a couple of olive trees. They made it to about 4 feet tall. There were flowers at that small size. My deer thought the trees were delicious. No more olive trees.
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I had one arbequina and the deer ate it to death too. Jim Gilbert had said they weren’t bothered, but I supposed the deer at his nursery probably have a smorgasbord from which to choose.
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@dutch-s
Heres how sorghum is handled at the fall festival here Sweet Sorghum
My hand press is small and you can see a picture of it in this thread Sugarcane - #12 by mrsg47
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Very cool. I’m going with Sugar drip Sorghum. I have some grain sorghum too for feed…
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Saw this Tastemakers episode on local niche markets for cooking oils and thought of this thread. No mention of rape seed, but I guess that doesn’t fit the geographical region spotlighted. I was surprised they sell the byproduct for cooking applications as well.
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Hey Dutch, I was reading this thread from a year ago. Did you get the harvest right freeze dryer? I looked at those a few years ago but thought they were too expensive. And large! You need space for those it looks like.
If so, how do you like it? Did you freeze dry a lot last summer?
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I was actually overwhelmed last year. I had a knee replacement and many set backs. I did not get the freeze dried as anticipated. With the current atmosphere and having to go in public with the threat from this pandemic I am going to take saved money and purchase one. Seems far more prudent to be that kind of prepared for the future. I’ll keep you up on how it goes.
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Sorry to hear about your surgery and set backs! I hope you recovered quickly! Garden and orchard work are hard to do with a bum knee!! I will look forward to reading about your experiences with the freeze dryer. I think it has many advantages over heat dehydrating. I hope prices will come down some eventually!
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Self sufficiency is something we should all be thinking about right now. We saw the system breakdown recently and this is something i had believed would happen all my life. Grew up hearing stories of the last couple of times. Sugar rationing, food rationing etc… The depression and WWII were very difficult times. This virus i believe is the first wave of misery to follow. For us its not an issue yet we have always lived close to the land and off the land. In time what happens is supplies run thin and those who have them are threatened by those who dont. Gold was seized here and in other countries people were imprisoned and killed for one reason or another and their assets were taken. Great art works and wealth was looted all throgh Europe. People can be pretty nasty while they claim they are right. In my family these are not new ideas part of my family was killed or forced to leave their land for worthless land. The land was taken from them because they were Cherokee so believe me when i say nothing has changed that much. The cherokee were in possesion of assets white people wanted. Those assets belonged to my family and were wrongly taken. The people who occupy that land now pass laws to protect themselves but at the heart of it their great grandparents were thieves and killers and i suspect not much has changed if you have what they want. When you have what someone else wants they will find a reason to take it and make it look good. Something you do is bad according to them so that allows them to steal from you. Hope it does not come to that and hope im wrong. History does have a way of repeating itself. The truth is a hard thing to face but entertain the idea this country was settled by prisoners dumped out of England. When someone tells me their great great grandparents were some of the first people who settled this country they are proud of their heritage but i see the story very differently because my great great great grandparents wealth is what made their lives good. There is no ill feelings my family is intelligent we merely bought back our land we needed by their rules and the same reason we had possesion of the land before is the same reason we possess it now until next time someone runs out of assers and wants ours again.
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It will come to that and worse Clark. The only question, will it be this decade or in another one.
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For instance…somebody had a ‘hoard’ of face masks…and the government came and TOOK them. (They had stocked them in previous years…not after this Chinese thing came about.)
If the government knows you have a big stockpile of beans, canned food, fruit …. the time will come when you will be ‘relieved’ of it by the ‘authorities’. (You may or may not be offered a pittance of money for their taking.)
Plus, neighbors who have not prepared…will be looking to steal.
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I don’t remember when Franklin Roosevelt TOOK everybody’s gold
but that happened. It’s American history (Which is
seldom taught except in private or home schools.)
Well, somebody got off of rape production I suppose…
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@BlueBerry,
I dont think it should be called a chinese thing its a virus that appears to have originated in China but i knew what you meant. The poor people of China i feel deep sympathy for because like my family they sufferred greatly and died anyway in many cases. The reason i say that is because some people are blaming the initial victims who were killed by this thing or lost loved ones. People look for someone to blame when tbe world turns upside down. I realize that was not your intent but everyone is on edge now.
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@BlueBerry,
Getting off topic was my fault i was on the topic of self sufficiency but felt an explanation as to why my family is that way needed explained. My grandfather taught me much of these things passing it to me because he knew i understood. Making your oils can be the difference in life or death. Your right in what you say people look to steal sometimes when they have nothing and you have something. Making oils from seeds such as canola or flax can keep us alive but we have to grow them and we got to be able to process them.
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TY. I’m really looking forward to getting it and will soon as I see everyone going back to work. You know. Have to be smart about it right now. I have a dehydrator and find it a bit cumbersome to use. Everything has this time that time some things work some don’t. It’s good but I see freeze drying as being much better. Unfortunately I haven’t used my dehydrator much lately either. And right now I’m very lucky my work has been busier than ever…
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I understand, but I think until proven wrong that the Chinese government was experimenting and this virus got contracted by lab workers. (And, since Americans have experimented with corona virus to use in possible future biological weapons, also, you’re right that it’s not the Chinese fault, really.)
@BlueBerry
I dont think any of us will ever know what happened but we know its happened before. We may live long enough to figure it out we will see. Once upon a time im told the native americans were were gifted small pox infested blankets Did Colonists Give Infected Blankets to Native Americans as Biological Warfare? - HISTORY. The people in charge did not create it but they did know what to do with it. I believe that it happened. If that happened it was most likely someone targeting the Chinese since them and the USA have been close friends in trade. Once terms are reached they will be again friends in trade im confident very soon. Thankfully our death toll is as low as it is because of information they gave us to reduce the number of deaths. Threats have came from North Korea in the past. The biggest thing i think we need to solve is figuring out what plant to make some decent toilet paper from. Someone bought out all the good stuff. People someday will find a balance and live in peace i hope. Back to growing rape before we get off topic further right?