But then I thought this might be plenty for what i want to do and in retirement it would be awesome exercise!!!
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I had a quart jar of rapeseed honey many years ago. White and pasty, interesting stuff.
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Iām 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!! Iāll post when it gets here. Manā¦I love this forum. Thanks for all the great ideas folksā¦
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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 werenāt 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. Iām going with Sugar drip Sorghum. I have some grain sorghum too for feedā¦
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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 doesnāt 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. Iāll 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 etcā¦ 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 instanceā¦somebody had a āhoardā of face masksā¦and the government came and TOOK them. (They had stocked them in previous yearsā¦not after this Chinese thing came about.)
If the government knows you have a big stockpile of beans, canned food, fruit ā¦. the time will come when you will be ārelievedā of it by the āauthoritiesā. (You may or may not be offered a pittance of money for their taking.)
Plus, neighbors who have not preparedā¦will be looking to steal.
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I donāt remember when Franklin Roosevelt TOOK everybodyās gold
but that happened. Itās American history (Which is
seldom taught except in private or home schools.)
Well, somebody got off of rape production I supposeā¦
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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. Iām 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 donāt. Itās good but I see freeze drying as being much better. Unfortunately I havenāt used my dehydrator much lately either. And right now Iām very lucky my work has been busier than everā¦
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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, youāre right that itās not the Chinese fault, really.)