permaculture

["roxann" <roxann@ancientearthwisdom.com>]

what cajuns traditionally used in S.Louisiana to grind filet' for gumbo is a 
tree stump with the middle hollowed out about a foot deep, and a thick limb 
about 3 feet long, rounded on the bottom for the pestle - heavy enough to do 
a good job grinding, but not so heavy you can't lift it on your own. then 
you'd just add the dried leaves and pound them with the limb. you could do 
fairly large quantities in short order this way without using electricity. 
you can get creative with the designs to make it a pretty piece of decorative 
furniture when it wasn't being used. This would work for nuts, etc, but not 
sure how it would do for meat. you'd need to use a hardwood (maybe maple?) 
with a fine grain to keep it from absorbing flavors if you intend to do more 
than one item with it. 

Roxann, NW AR zone 6b
(originally of cajun descent from S.Lousiana)


>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Jennifer Nazak <jnazak@yahoo.com>
>  Subject: Re: [permaculture] wild edibles and wholeness
>  Sent: 26 Jun '06 21:47
>  
>  Hello Marjory and All,
>  
>  I too am interested in a non-electric grinder (like my
>  Grandma used to use - for nuts and coffee and corn and
>  meat and everything!)