permaculture

["Robert Waldrop" <rmwj@soonernet.com>]

Since my fruit trees and berry bushes started
producing fruit, and I learned to make home-made
jams and jellies, our household consumption of the
fake maple syrup typically sold in grocery stores
has plummetted to zero.  We buy freshly ground
Oklahoma grown certified whole wheat flour via the
Oklahoma Food Cooperative, and make wonderful
light pancakes from it.  Pouring the chemicalized
fake maple syrup on such a delicious food would be
like pouring motor oil over freshly cooked new
potatoes.

So plant some fruit trees and berry bushes, and
make your own jams and jellies and you won't need
to buy fake maple syrup.  Note that the "mapleine"
flavoring that people use to make fake maple syrup
is (as far as I know anyway) an industrial
product.  You make a supersaturated sugar solution
and add the flavoring.  Using homemade jam is a
much better idea.  Making your own jam is not
rocket science and not particularly an onerous
kitchen task.  Indeed, it is fun.  Two peach
trees, two plum trees, a small thicket of sand
plums, and 4 mulberry bushes provided us with all
the fruit we needed last year to make enough jam
to last us the entire year, with some to give
away, and plenty of fruit to eat fresh and make
cobblers with during the summer.

I think this is a very good question, btw, because
for most of us, permaculture should begin in the
kitchen.

Robert Waldrop, Oklahoma City
www.bettertimesinfo.org
www.oklahomafood.coop

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Wheaton" <paul@richsoil.com>
> I'm trying to eat only organic these days and
real maple syrup costs a small fortune.
>
> I remember making syrup out of something called
"mapeline" (sp?) - but what is that
> stuff? I tried to google, but I keep getting
recipes for how to make syrup.
>
> I wonder about alternatives to maple syrup that
I might be able to make the same way:
> sugar, water and .... flavoring. Vanilla?
>
> Any ideas?