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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

What a great idea Bev!!! Never thought about using a 
vehicle but you are so right, you could cook a meal inside 
one in the Texas summer. We just bought a dark-colored 
Nissan beater truck (formerly of Montana where 
dark-colored vehicles make more sense) for the farm so it 
would be perfect. Unfortunately my Honda Pilot is prone to 
mouse invasion--go figure. I am a great Honda fan, love 
the mpg, but for all the bucks the designers can't figure 
out how to keep rodents out and the dealership actually 
suggested I keep rat poison under the hood!

They once replaced an entire blower motor because I proved 
it was stuffed with shreads of upholstery from the car 
sitting next to mine while it was in their care for deer 
crunch body work...blower was working when it went into 
the shop. Then, I left a bag of birdseed overnight and the 
next day every orafice (door handles, vents, etc.) were 
stuffed full of it. Every time I turned on the air 
conditioner it rained birdseed onto us. So I don't think I 
could use this vehicle.

Maybe we have less humidity, but I've had great luck with 
zuchinni chips--I cut them as thin as possible and coat 
with tamari so they are snacks when finished. I love dried 
cantaloupe. You can make a great spinach soup for the 
trail with dehydrated spinach mixed with parmesan and some 
herbs.

When the tomatoes come in, I'll try some in the truck and 
give a report!

--Sage



On Fri, 30 May 2008 13:56:16 -0400
 EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
> I'm also a big fan of drying.  I have two cheapie 
> dehydrators that are 
> commonly found at WallyWorld, and of course, I have 
> drying screens and 
> also use the oven.  I love making jerky-it's my candy. 
> I make almost 
> all of my own dried herbs and spices.  I keep a quart 
> mason jar of dried 
> onions that I sprinkle into sauces, meatloafs, etc.  I 
> also have a 
> similar jar of garlic and celery powder that I use for 
> seasoning. I grow 
> my own basil, oregano, thyme, etc., so it is easy. My 
> hint is that 
> sometimes the size and shape of the fruit/veggie affects 
> the outcome.  I 
> had poor luck drying zuke chips-they just did not taste 
> right when 
> rehydrated-but good luck drying grated zucchini.  I dry 
> my onions in 
> rings, then crush into smaller pieces.  Chunks are 
> harder to powder for 
> me, for some reason.  I love drying stuff. There's no 
> better fruity 
> snack than dried apples or pears with a bit of cinnamon. 
> (Well, there 
> probably is, of course!<g>)
>
> To thwart ants, Sage, try drying things in your 
> truck/car.  Use window 
> screens or make something similar and simply place it in 
> the truck with 
> some towels or something underneath on the seats.  That 
> hot Texas sun 
> will do its job and you shouldn't have to deal with too 
> many ants. Of 
> course, the temps in a vehicle often hit 140 in the sun. 
> Perhaps you 
> could start it there to eliminate the bulk of the water, 
> then finish it 
> somewhere else, like in your oven where you can better 
> control the temps.
>
> Bev
>
> eureka AT hctc.net wrote:
> > We dehydrate peppers and a lot of other veggies if we 
> > can't eat them fast enough. They all make great soup, 
> > stew, and casserole additions later. I figure it costs 
> > less energy to dehydrate something and keep in on the 
> > shelf than in the freezer. We don't have much freezer 
> > space anyway, and I don't like the taste of freezer 
> > burn. 
> > I use a Harvest Maid dehydrator I bought over two 
> > decades 
> > ago (still works fine). My few attempts at sun dried 
> > anything has mostly attracted ants. According to raw 
> > food 
> > books if you dehydrate something at or below 115 degrees 
> > you do not destroy the enzymes. That's what I keep the 
> > thermostat set at on it.
> >
> > I got into dehydrating food because of the lack of 
> > vegetarian choices in available backpacking meals. Once 
> > I 
> > dehydrated an entire watermelon (this took a long, long 
> > time) and the contents could fit in half a sandwich bag. 
> > It was the best "candy" ever tasted! Broccoli is truly 
> > amazing, it rehydrates in a little boiling water to 
> > almost 
> > its original form. I remember backpacking and eating 
> > broccoli with hollandaise sauce (and other wonderful 
> > food 
> > I'd dehydrated) when others were eating macaroni and 
> > cheese. Could have sold my meals for a fortune up on the 
> > Continental Divide! The Sierra Club has a great cookbook 
> > called Simple Foods for the Pack which is great for 
> > ideas 
> > of what to do with dehydrated veggies.
> >
> > We avoid WalMart most of the time, but ocassionally it 
> > is 
> > unavoidable. It's amazing you can get a soldering iron, 
> > veggie burger, and evening bra in one place. Too bad 
> > their 
> > ethics are so deplorable.
> >
> > --Sage
> > Way Out in Texas
> >
> > On Fri, 30 May 2008 10:11:21 -0400
> >   "Lisa K.V. Perry" <lisakvperry AT gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 7:58 AM, Gene GeRue 
> > > <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On May 29, 2008, at 8:06 PM, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com 
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > So I ain't buyin' the 30% blather.
> > > > Nor I.
> > >
> > > I haven't set foot in a WalMart in close to two years, 
> > > and even then it was
> > > only one or two times per year. I was never a WalMart 
> > > grocery shopper, so I
> > > haven't checked out their prices recently.
> > >
> > > Well, I can report that inferior coffee at WalMart costs 
> > > substantially more
> > > > than superior coffee at Trader Joe's in Phoenix, which 
> > > > is not a place
> > > > where poor families go to buy their groceries.
> > > Based on this, I will happily continue living my life 
> > > without visits to
> > > WalMart.
> > >
> > > > And after viewing the fresh veggie prices I bought not a 
> > > > single thing.
> > > > Has anyone ever seen higher prices for bell peppers? 
> > > > Grow, garden!
> > >
> > > For the first time since we've lived here (8 years) the 
> > > deer got into my
> > > older fenced garden, I lost 3 bell pepper plants a 
> > > couple days ago. We
> > > repaired or shored up weaker areas of the fence to keep 
> > > them out until we
> > > can put up a new fence. Hope that does the trick.
> > >
> > > Since it's not too late, I'll get another 4-pack and 
> > > replant those lost
> > > pepper plants. I'll bet peppers are easy to dehydrate. I 
> > > usually diced and
> > > froze them to put into soups and stews.
> > >
> > > Lisa
> > > _______________________________________________
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> --
> BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
> 34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky                                   
>   
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