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elkhound

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older couple gathering goods from forest and gardens for daily needs. especially going into winter when soon there wont be anything but snowballs and icicles to harvest.they did get a boost from young man on some of the giant pumpkins...community and family...figure it out...be a tribe !

 
Patch, I harvest lots of foraged mushrooms (sometimes five-gallon buckets full at a time). What I do besides using them fresh: dehydrate them at low temperatures to preserve live enzymes (below 118*F). They will keep for a long time that way. I slice them into uniformly sized pieces about 1/4" thick and dry until crispy. Some of it I powder shortly before using to add flavor and health benefits to my recipes.
 
Will watch that video soon, Elkhound! Thanks for posting it,

Those pumpkins are huge! That's a lot of food. For ease of transport and storage, I'm inclined to growing and storing smaller fare such as Seminole Pumpkins (wild type) and will be soon trying a cross between that and the butternut type.
 
... Haven't seen you around in awhile either, Ms Adams!
.....

My heart is here even if my keyboard ain't!

Most times, it's all I can do to make quick drive-by look-sees in here in between pressing responsibilities. I'm always glad to see all y'all (even though you don't always see me that often).

((((Huggles to all y'all!))))
 
older couple gathering goods from forest and gardens for daily needs. especially going into winter when soon there wont be anything but snowballs and icicles to harvest.they did get a boost from young man on some of the giant pumpkins...community and family...figure it out...be a tribe !


What country is this? Very interesting!
 
Thanks to that video, I've got pumpkins on my brain now. Long storage foods = winter/spring survival foods

Did a bit of research on which varieties has the longest storage times and found these. I want to try the first one mentioned in this list: Jarrahdale.

https://www.hobbyfarms.com/best-squash-and-pumpkin-varieties-for-storage/
From the link above:

Jarrahdale
This Australian squash is the king of winter storage. It keeps for up to two years! Each fruit weighs six to 10 pounds. The slate blue rind has deep ribs and a smooth texture. It’s squat and very dense, and the flesh is fragrant and satiny, with a dry mouthfeel and delicious flavor. This squash is so hard, you may need an axe to cut it open!

Other varieties:

Marina Di Chioggia can store for up to a year or more, and is described as very flavorful.
Musque de Provence can store for up to a year.
Triamble can store for a year or more.

Although it is a hybrid (meaning the seeds won't grow true to the parent), here is an interesting variety.

‘TETSUKABUTO,’ THE JAPANESE PUMPKIN
Tetsukabuto’ is a hybrid cross between moschata and maxima and it is the best of both worlds, very disease and pest resistant while having incredibly sweet and creamy flesh. It is the longest keeper as well. We have had them last in storage until the next summer. Its vines are such strong growers that they are used as root stock for grafting melons and cucumbers to prevent diseases. It does need a pollinator so it has to be grown with another moschata or maxima in the same vicinity.

No problem for us, since we grow butternut in the same bed with it and both do very well together. Since they are ridged, I have never tried to peel them; instead, I just cut them in half and bake with a little bit of water in the pan. They are the best tasting squash I have ever eaten!

(Above info was quoted from: Favorite Winter Squash Varieties)

I will be ordering the open-pollinated Jarrahdale pumpkin seeds from Johnny's:
Jarrahdale Large - Pumpkin Seed | Johnny's Selected Seeds

They also have the Marina Di Chioggia:
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetab...ins/marina-di-chioggia-pumpkin-seed-2625.html
 
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I almost forgot to mention that the seeds of the members of the pumpkin family (Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata, and related species) can be dried and eaten raw, used in both sweet and savory cooked dishes, or roasted.

Some species are especially suited for extracting oil from the seeds: Oilseed Pumpkins
 
What'd he say? I'm curious about the stick looking things in the plastic bag, also seen in a purchased bottle.

dont have a clue what the roots,stick things are...probably soaking in vodka for tincture of some type...who knows.
 
Will watch that video soon, Elkhound! Thanks for posting it,

Those pumpkins are huge! That's a lot of food. For ease of transport and storage, I'm inclined to growing and storing smaller fare such as Seminole Pumpkins (wild type) and will be soon trying a cross between that and the butternut type.

several days ago i ordered the butternut cross and the seminole too. i think for older folks and single households are the way to go too. i think i might have delicata squash in my seed stocks already.
 
I watched the video. Loved it!

Patch & Elk, those rootlike things in the plastic bag are pine buds harvested in spring.

It's a prized Russian remedy:

https://www.hobbyfarms.com/4-parts-of-pine-trees-that-benefit-your-health/
Collect pine buds in the spring. This is the primary part of P. sylvetris that Russian traditional medicine has used in the way other traditions use the needles: to relieve chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis and to add to baths for skin ailments and arthritis.
 
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for those wondering about the cross butternut grizzgal and i referenced. its was/is a hybrid thats been grown out and stabilized into a 'new heirloom'. many people dont understand all heirlooms were crosses at one point and they were grown out by breeder till it stabilized and reproduces true to its self. but anyway point being you can grow it and save seed from it for next seasons going forward.

South Anna Butternut Winter Squash

https://www.southernexposure.com/products/south-anna-butternut-winter-squash/
OSSI variety. (C. moschata) 100 days. A new Downy Mildew resistant butternut developed by Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed Growers. Stemming from a 2011 cross between Seminole Pumpkin and Waltham Butternut, the final stages of selection are ongoing. Expect excellent DM resistance, productivity and keeping quality, as well as rich sweet flavor. Immature fruits are mostly dark green. These ones take longer to turn fully tan, but when they do you can be sure that they are ripe. South Anna will avoid the crop failure that can occur in years when DM comes early, and provide higher, better quality yields in years with average DM pressure. Can be planted late, allowing for later harvests that will keep better into the winter and spring. Small (3 g) packet has about 23 seeds.

This is an Open Source Seed Initiative variety. The OSSI pledge: "You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives." Read more about OSSI here! >>

To hear, or read, Edmund’s conversation with Rachel Hultengren on OSSI’s podcast, Free the Seed, click here.

sidenote...its out of stock at link but you can find it at other sources. i am sure by late fall/early winter once final crops are grown and harvested and seeds dried southernexposure will have seed available for the 2021 growing season.
 

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