Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Bill Jones wrote:

> First of all, there's no "blood" in culture.  Culture means the 
> collection of handed-down ways of doing things.

Well, duh...I know that...one of the first things you learn in Social
Studies is that culture is a "way of life".  Just because I don't
express myself the same way you do doesn't make me stupid.  I might be a
redneck, but I ain't stupid. :)


> Second, there was a big IF in that sentence.  A person's culture is 
> independent of his genetic origins.  Substitute "Regardless of their
>  genetic origins, Appalachians' culture was 'born' here, as surely as
> any other."
>
> Why would you take the mitigating clause that begins "Even if..." and
>  treat it as the main point?

I didn'tthe statement.


> It is not a culture transported intact from another continent, like
> the culture of recent Irish immigrants in Boston.

I live here, I know....it's a mix.


> I realize that you might not appreciate the importance of winter 
> gardening to people gardening west of the Cascades.  Fava beans are
> the number one choice for soil improvement here, because I can plant
> them any day in winter and it's like a miracle.  Because of this it's
> one of few legumes to set seed without irrigation in our dry summer,
> after growing all the winter.  They're well known at the same
> latitude in coastal France, for the same reasons, and the English
> know them by many names.  But the main forms of agriculture practiced
> in the immediate area are limited to grazing and hay cutting (nearly
> always grass that's already there), and little planting of seed crops
> happens here at all. Yet, if a person here in Sunset Zone #5 were
> seriously into survival gardening, this would be the crop for him.
> There's just no better deal around.

Glad to know all of this...



> Usually we prefer to eat _dry_ favas Egyptian-style, cooked, peeled
> and mashed like hummus, with lemon, olive oil and lots of garlic.  A
> bed of _green_ favas, harvested much earlier, yields almost no
> caloric value as a staple, by comparison.  Cooked dry favas just
> taste exactly like the seasoning used.

Perhaps I should try them like that; it sounds good.  I grew Aquadulce,
and just ate them fresh.

Bev

--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.