hummingbirdkiss

that is exactly what I would LOVE to have but can not afford anything remotely like that ..but wow! nice thanks for the validation I was not just thinking crazy here! but yes this is what I would love to have ..I am planning to spend < 1/4 of that price far less the burners I am looking at for the gas side are $200 for two ..the induction side i have no idea I am just now realizing I can maybe do this …so still trying to figure out the models and stuff ..but wow would I love to just buy this cooktop and call it good!

Thanks so much for the responses. I Have to have gas cooking in the house ..we loose power too often to be with out gas in general and it is super cheap for me hear it is our heating, water and stove (oven is electric) … if there is no realistic way of doing this that I can afford…but I think I can afford it if I am careful and figure this out .. I will stick with gas ..even thought the induction is cool it is not practical for us to have it only especially during the winter when we can loose power for days and the gas is still on always… my budget would make you laugh if I told you but I am going to make it work. I would like to find a two burner built in or built-in-able…cooktop for induction if possible I was thinking of two professional gas burners on the left side lf where I would put the cooktop and and then two induction burners built in on the right side ? I have a cheap <$50 table top induction burner that is fantastic! I am stunned at how easy this is too cook on! wow I will give it away when I put the cooktop in but for now it is getting a great deal of usage I can simmer on it ..it has a setting ..but for long low and slow i am using an "Instant pot" and that damn thing is very cool! I am not a gadget person in history but suddenly I am finding all this cool shit I want to buy and really now I need to focus on the cooktop and sink …because my husband is already setting up for the countertops …YIKES I hate when he is ahead of my brain! oh and because we are pouring concrete countertops? there is no room for error here I have to have this plan solid so the template is accurate. my head hurts but I love doing this it is really fun to have this freedom! just stressful knowing this is "IT" never again and I probably will not move until I die! So I want to think of ease and accessibility as we grown older and older

Ok DIY kitchen remodel is going very slowly but should pick up speed now because the solar tube was finally purchased and goes in this tuesday! I am so excited !!! it is the coolest thing it has a dimmer and LED light inside so this will be amazing and bring light into the third most dark spot in our home ..it literally sucks light out of the rest of the area just having such a dark spot! I have so many things running through my brain ..it gets painful in this head….but both my husband and I have agreed that we need to start with lighting and then work our way to the floor ..I wanted to replace my ceiling it has that texture crap on it ..but wow what a can of worms so no that is not happening …that was tough we had a month of battles some marital therapy and then a big ass fight… just to get this far! and yet we continue! The next thing after the lighting will be the cabinets and the countertops so I have to figure this out and land a decision. The sink and the cooktop plan ..I will not trouble you with the sink this time. But it is tormenting me as well. the cooktop is more critical and I thought it was easy had what I wanted chosen and then things changed My gas cooktop caught fire and burned a little under two weeks ago …so knowing I would be "out a kitchen" for a while .. I purchased a cheapo induction burner to keep me going and I like it! I really do ..but it is not everything to me and if it meant either or I would go with gas still but what i love is how easy clean and quick it is and my grandkids like cooking on it ..very safe for them they have both made grilled cheese and eggs on it and gave it a big thumbs up (5 years old and 9 years old) My question is has anyone done this and it is silly and unrealistic to think ??? I would like to do a side by side of induction and gas burners for a cooktop? Whatever we do I would just like to have 4-5 good strong burners of any type is fine I do not want fancy just good heavy duty burners. I am trying to imagine how to do it .there is the capacity electrical and gas to do either .…we are putting a pass through on the stove side of the kitchen I have a decent but not great sized area of planning the oven is another matter but has no relevance here because no countertop is involved (thank goodness this can be broken down into smaller chunks) I had planned to just put gas burners in .. then after using this induction I kind of like it ..a lot! I can not believe how hot it gets and how fast! …but we have to have gas burners because really the power goes out a lot here ..I love cooking on a good gas burner and am plumbed for gas. so tell me what you think and please if you have any ideas or just think I am being a nutcase it is ok I can take it …my husband funny enough was the one who thought of this first ..he REALLY likes the induction burner and said "why can't we have half and half do folks do that? " it got me thinking then asking you fine folks I have moved around a lot in the past and now this is the first time in my life i did not have to fit myself into a kitchen I am fitting this kitchen to me ..I do not care about resale I can do anything that works for me now, convention be damned …all that matters is if I am happy and can cook in there !

stocking up is challenging right now! I sadly will be shutting down half my garden beds because we do not have water in the northwest and we are fooling ourselves by not having a severe water restrictions right now! Yesterday! The mountains have no snow and we have no rain and ..that to me is terrifyingly real. But I still see sprinklers going hoses leaking and people letting water run while they brush teeth…not to mention golf courses .we have a lot of those …but my personal bitch aside .. one thing is my fruit trees are going to give me a record harvest! Now wouldn't that be the case the one year I have the kitchen gutted and no stove or freezer during my DIY kitchen remodeling insanity? LOL!!! I am looking at several hundred pounds of fruit I have to figure out how to "put by" differently …I probably do some canning on a propane burner outdoors but really do not want to do this at all if possible ..I will be donating a lot of this to the food bank in town for sure …. in the meant time if you guys have any unusual and fun ideas for figs grapes and plums (the three very large crops I have ) and probably 60lbs of quince I usually just dump sugar on it or make paste …mostly I like them to make my house smell good! so YES If you come up with anything fun unusual ..things you would do with out a stove or freezer to put food by I am grateful and will give them a try ..certainly have enough to work with LOL very grateful for this challenge trust me but wow talk about timing LOLOL FINALLY I get a new kitchen and a record harvest in the same summer LOL not complaint just ..wow !!! shit!!! friends have offered to do a group kitchen and help me can…. I will do that vs let food be wasted ...nothing is EVER wasted I have ducks and chickens! ) but to be honest on persons disaster is my thrill ….I would rather just embrace the struggle and find a new route this year! right now however … Raspberries have to be picked today!( actually right now instead of writing this I should be picking) and half will be eaten as I pick them but the other half will be split between a bottle of everclear and a years worth of raspberry jam (with the image of hazelnut cookies stuffed with it on my brain ) nasturtiums are seeding already I just salt the seeds when they are fat and leave them in salt until they are gone I use them just like capers. dehydrating the rest of the wild plums or cherry plums whatever folks call them as.. li hing mui… I did a test batch and they were gone so fast ! I am now using the last of the berries, cherries and early plums making sour syrup for Persian food but I do not have to can that it keeps "forever" or until it is gone! I love that stuff and use it a lot in cooking for anything sweet/tart …...they all move right over into other cultures as a sweet/sour component I have all the lavender cut and hanging along with all the fragrant herbs I routinely dry sage, rosemary ect ..I can pick most herbs year round but they do not taste as good …..so I do not leave them up much longer than it takes to dehydrate then seal them for use later when things get bitter and do not have the flavor they have now mostly I feel like physical shit from the pollen and bad air right now (RAIN PLEASE!!!) I am kind of glad to be at a stand still (between planting and harvest I time at least a few weeks of "down time" you can do that when you are old and gardened for decades ..time breaks! LOL I never used to it was bam bam bam… just waiting for rain…hoping it will not all come at once, rot and split the beautiful record harvest of fruit … but hoping it will come!

EXACTLY yup I agree 100% and yes I did read the study I am a nurse and have read tons of very good studies in my career that were subsidized with bias and used to start food trends .. "immune response " super"on trend with the dietitian community ……. still do not have proof it really matters and no that article or 19 person and the like do not convince me either ..

a left over package of ramen from a ramen hack dinner made a great ice cream topping… crumbed them and candied them in the pan like you do with almonds or pecans and added just a bit of chile then served them over vanilla ice-cream you can use ramen in all kinds of desserts as toppings for fresh fruits whatever ..noodles in general leftover from dinner if they are uncaused make puddings ..

I found a wild plum tree …stripped it from the hood of my car with a rake and brined them to make the most delicious substitute for olives you can imagine ..then I put half in the fridge to use as "olives" the other half went into the dehydrator to dry out and make a form of crack seed. my stove blew up yesterday from a gas leak and my oven is dead ..and I really am not a big freezer but I adore canning and am not seeing it in the near further (DIY remodel with no appliances to be purchased until the end..it will be an interesting summer of cooking! and preserving) before the oven blew up I made gooseberry jam and chutney from this years gooseberry harvest tomorrow half of the garlic scape harvest is going to become kimchi I may dehydrate some kimchi my friend did it and brought it hiking once it was good also I am making a lot of fruit leather as well as condiment leather like chutney and ketchup leather for buyers and sandwiches on the road so we will dehydrate, smoke, pickle, brine and ferment a lot this year. not much canning and freezing while the kitchen is being remodeled

I am so excited to talk about fermented shrimp and shrimp paste ..and honestly I can not IMAGINE anything tasting better than drying in the sun or having the correct texture…like chiles from NM I know and love a specific type grown and dried in a specific place and when i roast the Hatch that make it up here and end up putting some sage in what ever I cook just to try to get some of that "environment" into my food…it is never perfect but you can hack .…but maybe dry them low and slow most of the way in the dehydrator and then put them outside during some hours of the day? or try low and slow in a smoker with some sun here and there ….we just use dried because it was how we can get more shrimp flavor into dishes that have no shrimp in them as well…(I love to drop dried shrimp into any of my back packing or camping dehydrated toss togethers) not that much fresh shrimp in my life sadly… I just can not get it and do not care for farm raised at all I have had some dried from a Korean mkt that were farm raised and thought what was the point ..no flavor at all and ..my husbands throat itches with farmed shrimp ….I know where the tiny ones I can get here are are harvested and can buy them fresh but wow they are tossed into a ceviche and all kinds of things before I could even think of drying them … see maybe in Eastern Wa people are drying shrimp and I just do not know and could be missing out on some of the best tasting stuff ever! … .. I never thought about using anything but dried to ferment and just tossed it as an "idea" assuming ..now I am kind of excited you asked me questions…and are interested in something I just take for granted so I will do more research and write down what I do and get back in or maybe start a fermented shrimp topic? if they are super crispy I mix them with salt anyway and just have shrimp salt like mushroom salt ..you know everything we are saying about shrimp could carry over to the mushrooms ..but that is a whole other can of worms maybe later …I am going to stay informed and start calling around to see if I can find out if they dry shrimp east of the mountains or here ..I like bigger dried shrimp for some things but mainly can only get the tiny ones locally sourced here …interesting subject thanks back to the garden I hear the weeds growing

sorry I buy mine dried already ..I have never had enough shrimp in my house that I could dry it …but I can buy a great big bag of locally dried and sourced for fairly good prices they use dehydrators I am sure but the temp? I woulnt worry too much just do it on the same as fruit I would think? I always assume food I prepare is healthy and try to just be super sanitary I am not overly worried about fermentation because when it has gone wrong is it REALLY EVIDENT !!! taste texture color and smell are wayyyyyy off shrimp is fine to try fermenting just remember I warned you about the smell ..I like it becuase I know what it leads to!

I never saw it used with dried shrimp either just did it ..I rehydrate the shrimp then pretend it is fresh ! have fun ! it is really yummy with or with out papaya ..fermented shrimp paste I am surprised you guys have not tried this? but glad to share something "newish"

Guys I can not figure out how to edit this to I am replying three times now how about I just do this ? ….it is a few weeks not a few days (as I first wrote I am sorry I did not proofread) and if you look online you can find some really good recipes that would be more exact and "safe"r than what I could tell you with out you being here with me when I make it ..i know folks are squeamish about fermenting seafood or fish but why? (the smell is a deterrent but only if you do not like fish sauce and how can anyone not like fish sauce unless syou are vegan ? just think fish sauce or the Khmer Prahok ..fermentation is simply about the salt and the good bacterial …and waiting unit it is stinky good smelling not rotten ..but there is a fine line so do some research or buy a jar of Mam La Hong see if you like it (how can't you it is so good! ) and then if you do like it make your own because whatever you taste in that jar? it is ten times better at home ..I can the next time I do it try to take photos and post them but so many folks have done that already a quick search and you can find it …so so good you will not want to be with out it once you start making it I promise..you can make fish or shrimp this way...then you keep a pot like sourdough LOL (I always run out and have to start again but have kept and built on it and it was to die for ...) I was taught hands on by a friend like kimchi ..if you have Khmer friends ask them if they make it and maybe they will show you? I would if I could but again Youtube has some more exact videos and recipes are online but mine is just salt and shrimp and time then I add papaya and chiles later to make it more of a condiment

Deryn look online for a recipe for Mam La'hong that is what I do it is a must have condiment but maybe try a jar form the market first to see if you like it ? it is soooo good but it is strong and not everyones taste ..(although really I do not get that it is a great big umami bomb )

no acid it isn't pickled at all it is fermented so just salt ..it is stinky good ! it takes a total of 3 weeks for it to be perfect and I should not have said a few days I meant a few weeks of fermenting total but I can not see the edit button to fix it above so if you want details… I can detail it… but really if you do a search for Mam Lahong you will find recipes for it with papaya and that is really a wonderful condiment/ seasoning/ food to have on hand. I have not tried the dried shrimp on potatoes but really they are shrimpy so anything you like shrimp on those go on I like dipping the little things in hot sauce myself and just eating them dried

I gave up!! they are awful and they do last forever what the hell? …besides if you believe what folks are screaming ..and read the research ..really? there is WAYYY too much wrong with the tomato industry ….I just gave up some things out of season and tomatoes are a biggie for me ..I have 15 3 beds dedicated to growing various tomato and it looks like it is going to be a good year …they are garden crack and I will stretch this season as long as possible ..EVERYONE who loves food should find a way to grow at least one plant somewhere I used to grow them on the window sills in apartments with partial light and they were still better than grocery store cyborgs

I rehydrate and grind the shrimp then ferment it on the counter for a few days and then and keep that on hand for all things umami, periodically I go through bouts were fish sauce is not "right" ..or enough to finish the flavor and yes it is one of those things when you need it ..it is just the thing you need. not really cooking I guess but it will make a dinner for me grind it up or if they are little leave them whole and sprinkle in with buttered popcorn then add whatever else you want ..seaweed …chile …more butter …garlic …soy ..maggi ..whatever the dried shrimp and popcorn will change your mind about "Popcorn shrimp " that is for sure ..great beer snack ..if my shrimp are tiny and tender I just toast them in the melted butter before I pour it on the popcorn and I use a whirley pop so the popcorn is really greasy and good .

I am sorry I missed the jerky thing and while my dehydrator came yesterday and it is so lovely and just waiting for things to be quite long enough for me to prep and put something in it ..I do not make beef jerky so I can not comment on that I am sorry that was what you wanted it for and I have no idea so I all step out and off this thread… but the dehydrator is shiny new and very cool! and for sure it would make jerky it has a section in the booklet on it and plenty of room to make a lot of jerky if a person were so inclined ..it is acres away from the giant wooden box I had so much you can do with it wow! who knew? I am going to have fun with this I am sure! it is half the size of the one I had and will dry the same amount as far as I can see..I had to space things and skip shelves in the other one ..take care and happy dehydration! hope you find what you are looking for

I truly believe that being picky is not a "choice" people makes and it causes them as much anxiety as it does anything else..I was a pediatric RN for 15 years in ambulatory care and most of my discussions were with parents were about the kids eating ."they are so picky" " I cannot get them to eat anything" blah blah ..I never looked at my kids diet I breast fead until 1 then put food in front of them I ate ..I believe many flavors cross the breast milk and exposing them early has its advantages ..but still biology lead me to feed my kids foods I loved the taste of and for most folks all my life what I have eaten was considered "too much work" or "too weird" for others… The sense of taste texture and what is and isn't pleasant in the mouth I think can be determined by genetics then reenforced by environment ..most folks can overcome the ability to not eat something and some folks can't and it is what it is . somehow when it comes to the table we have really strong opinions and great emotion ..the fights at dinner tables over food are endless and so sad! I am a super taster ..absolutely and it is really hard to fake I am enjoying a meal when it is stuck in the back of my throat because every single flavor in it is screaming at me and it is NOT in unison … I used to get so offended by picky eaters ..I thought "I eat everything" then my husband called me out as an absolute "bitch to take out" and it is true I can taste EVER bloody THING in food and that can be tedious ..when it works it is magic and I am in heaven but if ..like a good painting things are off ..wow it is bad bad bad ……if there is "instant" anything …I taste it …artificial flavors colors ..and while I think I am very adventuresome and love to eat all kinds of things ..true nose to toes eater here ..I am very picky with instant processed and chain food restaurants .if someone cheats at a pot luck I know it ..but never tell ….if something comes on a menu as made in house and it wasn't I can tell " ..my poor kids baked me a lovely cake from a box and I had to gag it down smiling….I felt bad I could not make myself like it that is a horrible feeling not to appreciate happy kids offering you cake for crying out loud not fair! many many kids are born this way and out grow it ..as I learned to cook and love food and the whole food adventure I realized it has advantages and disadvantages… …for me I have no doubt it is something inherited because my father was the same way he would put his fork down in a restaurant and challenge the chef about the region of the dish he was tasting because of the combo of herbs used and he was always right …. half of me loves being this way and half of me HATES it ..I feel like such a snob and really I want to eat a chicken nugget dipped in sauce once in while that is not made from scratch ….it ruins so much fun and food internally because I fake it and am "outing myself" now outside my family no one really knows because I cover it well and just keep my mouth shut when other people choose were we eat and love chain food.. ..I do not want to be a "super taster" but I am and it is hell in my mouth somedays LOL!!! …the good part ? you can not fool me with a sauce or the choice of ingredients quality and freshness… ..If I like something and have the memory of its components in my mouth and the knowledge of the ingredient I can recreate almost anything I taste after trying it only once or sometimes twice …that part is very cool and my friends love to challenge me with a lot of free meals out! they want to create something so they will take me out to try it so I can break it down! so that is it ..my dirty little secret I am an EXTREMELY picky eater ..but love to cook and eat food! all kinds of food so there in defense of picky eaters this is an all about "me" post LOL!!! and there you have it a point of view from a very picky eater… I am horrible to feed horrible to take to dinner if you know me well and know I am unhappy with the food (aka my husband and close friends …sometimes my kids I can fool them still ) …I remember as a kid swallling food to avoid tasting it if it was terrible just to avoid the embarrassment of not liking what everyone else seemed to enjoy ..but I also am a hell of a cook! double edge sword I say for every good there is a bad!

YES! I love to make fruit leather and condiment leather …I just mentioned chutney leather it is off the charts good ..every fruit in my garden has ended up in leather at one point or another..I find it easy to store, eat and use in all kinds of things. Yes I am a child of the 70's fruit leather goes wayyyy back in my life

This was timely my giant wooden tank of a dehydrator (my husband made in the late 70s' from a Mother Earth News mag plans..I think it was "Garden Way" for the folks who remember our agrarian dreams back then? ) ..it was just not usable or practical anymore …even with all the maintenance everything has its day and now it moves out to the "farm" where my friend will brilliantly up cycle it into something I am sure … so I read and reread and checked a few other forums …wanted to report back I ordered the Excalibur 9 tray and I am excited to be part of modern dehydrating society now! thanks so much for the thread I can hardly wait for it to arrive! I want to dehydrate the fig chutney I just made ..it makes the best layer in a sandwich I tell you ..chutney leather! when I found it my dehydrator went on overtime fast

I am pretty obsessed with kitchen hygiene and use mostly vinegar and baking soda with the odd bit of bleach ..I am a nurse and have worked ER trying to start an iv on someone hurling form bad food ..is not fun and really horrible can get in the lungs and kill folks ..yes it can .. but at the same time .. I NEVER assume it is food unless proven it is food… so I wait for labs myself … because more often than not? i have in my career seen it be viral it is not food in my experience it is viral still hand washing and hygiene are in issue and it comes in HUGE waves of folks thinking they were poisoned by the food and really someone did not wash hands after going to the bathroom .ew spreading a virus ..and yes bacteria but lots and lots of virus's are mistaken for food poison and visa versa … I have seen a LOT on TV about increasing food poisonings and honestly whatever ..with hygiene in the kitchen .. the struggle is real. .but it is also very easy at this point for most of us to keep our kitchens clean and healthy and not have to worry about it … I follow the health dept food handlers guidelines the health department standards work well in my kitchen and bathroom … I do go back and check their site…they have good info online. Then …suddenly I will freak the hell out about something …see germs where there are none..start worrying about my ratios of vinegar to water or bleach to water ..or mice bringing bacteria in to my chickens and the fresh eggs on the counter and and and ….my brain explodes and out come the swabs..I send samples to my friend ! ….(yes I am nuts ..I have a touch of OCD/wack-a-mole type …always helpful to a nurse…and glad folks who love me embrace it) …but he constantly threatens to cut me off and I am sure he will when if I stop sending him food and fresh eggs Each and every time I have swabbed my kitchen for deadly bacteria? …t has come back fine and I think as long as I only do this once every year or so he will humor me? hope this helps in some way ..I was looking at the UV and no more projects!..but that is very cool!

it is too much Elaina I keep hoping it will become more self sustaining …I am completely exhausted right now but love every single minute of the trials and tribulations ..more drama goes on in my garden that it used to at work LOL ….I have never blanched it I tried one year and my chickens thought it was a "fort" and started trying to get inside of it ..so I just try to eat it early but I could try it again …I think it is too late now thought it is HUGE like 5 feet tall but still in the foliage phase that is why I thought maybe I could pick some from the center ? it confuses me as a plant and I do want to eat it more I see it at the farmers mkt in tidy bunches then look at my dinosaur plant and am stunned.>I need to be patients and figure out how to post photos this plant can be startling I tell you ..when I say i grew 20 feet last year I am not exaggerating it was above my top deck …I can and do grow more tropical plants now than I ever did before. No freezing means an endless fight with bugs …argh I have had a hell of a time with saw fly and my berries

I live in a micro marine climate in Steilacoom Washington and do not mind sharing that at all …it is on the Puget sound it is in Zone 8A and B we are considered " temperate" usually very very rainy here here we do not freeze much during the winter and no snow or freeze at all this year. we have long days in the summer short in the winter sorry to frustrate you Darienne I did not even think about putting my zone in but I do not think about a lot of things I just blurt out long litanies about whateve the topic is and that is why I try not to post often because of that ....so if that make sense so forgive me please

what a great topic …I am currently remodeling my kitchen so all energy saving tips are important to me …not to mention we all need to conserve ..for us locally ..we have no snow pack in Washington now and in for a long haul with a severe water shortage so water is a huge deal ...energy is related to water and on and on……one thing we are doing after a lot of back and forth is to go ahead and install a solar tube in the with an LED solar light inside. Our kitchen sucks light out of the house into a dark pit of gloom then for several hours a day it is like a magnifying glass because of the way the house is situated a solar tube is ideal in the kitchen ..sooo we are going to do it ASAP ..just getting what we need is difficult because we have to deal with vendors and can not just order what we need …another thing I did that cost literally nothing but some good scrounging ...was I put a rain barrels right outside the doors for my kitchen…I have a kitchen garden and plants on the window sill …so why not use rainwater for them and my animals (my dog water bowl is in the kitchen and gets watered from the rain barrel along.. .... I was able to get free barrels from a friend they are food grade ..my husband plumbed them both to the rain gutters then put faucets on them (we had lots of plumbing stuff around but what we used was so cheap even if we bought it )..a rain barrel is with in anyone's reach I swear and one by the kitchen is very efficient and handy I promise! ...also ..I put a nest boxes for my chickens right outside the kitchen door so I can just reach out off the porch in the morning and some of my chickens are cooperating and lay regularly there so I do not have to waste energy running around looking for eggs LOL….that counts right?..another energy saver?…because I have chickens and a garden (both big energy savers since you do not have to get in your car and go buy food it is right outside your kitchen or even on the windowsill ..another energy saving tip bring veggies in as close as you can even growing green onions and herbs ion the windowsill ...no kitchen waste…..I .never use the disposal..everythign gets composted or fed to animals ..no waste less energy used to get rid of trash . you can even compost on your counter if you do not have a compost pile .....….there is not much left after chickens and ducks …to compost but coffee grounds….they not only eat everything but in return I get eggs…fertilizer they are my mousers around the kitchen doors (I used to have a mouse issuel living in the woods but now the chickens keep the mice out of the kitchen)… ..also I do not use the fridge for storage of anything including eggs.. that does not have to go in there (I used to shoving things in thinking a full fridge was a more efficient one and that is not true overloading causes it to work harder ..folks probably know but for me it is new....including the eggs ..I keep it clean and let the air circulation be non obstructed ..I clean my vent often. Oh hell if you keep all your appliances clean and well vented they work better and save energy …we are also installing a heating mat under the kitchen floor because the kitchen gets so cold in the winter and heating it when the house is fine is silly ..so the concrete counter top will get one as well when I pour it …so many good tips here thank you! ... I will be watching this thread. most of my appliances have to be replaced one at a time and I am really careful about the energy ratings ..the new dishwasher was not essential my other one worked but was such an energy sucker and the dishes needed rinsing prior to putting them in ..that makes no sense and defeats the point of having a dishwasher to me not to mention wastes tons of water! The new one I made sure has a very short..short cycle and that was a must for me .they run so damn long I traded my older less efficient model that required I rinse dishes first….for muscovy ducks for the garden ….the new one dried dead things stuck for days (I even tested dried on rice ) even in the short cycle i have yet to try the other ones! ….that was a huge waste … rinsing IS washing and if I go that far I will wash .with the right dishwasher finally .…I can just chuck the dishes in food and all and they come out clean. So while I had a good dishwasher previously (it has a very good home now with my friends who traded me for the muscovy ducks) win win win …ok some of this is redundant to what folks have said ..I am sorry..but such a good topic and this is all I got for now but hopefully have some great inspirations and come up with more ideas for a kitchen semi off the grid …the more we save the better both for the world and our wallets.

Sorry for your loss ElainaA I grow double from seed so when I do what you did and loose it ..I have back up as well …for me this year it was the other way so far..and by now I am "safe" the really cold nights are over and it never gets super warm here so I cover the beds with black plastic mulch for the tomatoes peppers and corn ..the corn is my last hold out ..that goes in tomorrow I just sprouted them in mulch pots so I do not have to "transplant" can just stick them in ..the tomatoes are loving it now so are the peppers everything is growing like crazy ..but I have had years where I lost everything I first put out and years I was sorry I did not put things out earlier..that is "gardening" people do not know the risks we take do they and how excited and defeated we can feel ..adn how when we are sitting out to dinner we are thinking out weeding and our watering cycles and how we need to get home and do some work ..I am going to breakfast with friends today and all I want to do is cancel and work in the garden .. I grow a lot of cardoon..does anyone know about this plant? I lost all my artichokes to the chickens who loved the ant nest under it ..they ate the plants when they were loaded with chokes ,,I cried! then they dug up the ground and got the ants and I was happy again …but no one touches the cardoon and they are the same family? what is the deal? … but rarely eat cardoon but adore it when I do ..I think it is too late now? Does anyone know how late you can eat it ? I love the plant ! …here at my house because of all the fertilizer from the ducks and chicken litter I compost and up-cycle to the garden.. it grows to my second floor! he blooms are they are the size and heavier than soft balls ….right now they have not sent up a bloom and I thought I should try to eat them again but it may be too late ? I just am not sure with cardoon love the taste but it is a pain in the ass to cook when so many other things are ready now and can be eaten easier! I am beside myself my persimmon is blooming that has NEVER happened the poor tree has been revived so many times I was ready to just cut it down and it was covered with flowers looks like another year with over 100lbs of figs I had 3 crops last year and that is unheard of so I am not defending it ..just saying I was there ..it happened! I had 150lbs of figs off one dessert king in 3 distinct crops ..blew my mind ..as large as my first crop is I am sure if we have another long summer it will happen again. We have ZERO snow pack in our mountains I look at the Olympics daily and it is terrifying to me to see people wasting water. We finished installing 3 water barrels and plan to put 5 more in as we can. The ducks use a lot of water! We added 6 baby Khaki Campbells who are ready to lay at any time I am just having problem situating nest boxes and my chickens went rogue and are laying all over he neighborhood ..oh well it cuts into my granddaughters egg profits when the chickens lay eggs on her customers steps (almost literally they are laying right near their stairs in one case) and 4 Muscovy 2 boys (one will be for meat the will be the "boy about town" ) and 2 girls ..they are darling ducks so much nicer than the KC"s who think we are "new" every time we walk out they are shocked and terrified ..but the eggs and the pleasure of enjoying ducks in the yard make them so worth the daily hysteria ..I did notices flighty as they are and as young as they are ..when we brought the muskovies home they were fussing over them a lot … My husband plumbed the duck pond so we can use the liquid gold more readily hauling buckets sucks ..I can not imagine a garden with out poultry they are win win win win win …ambulatory composing machines who eat all my kitchen waste as well …rototill and fertilize the garden and give me eggs like PEZ dispensers I wish I could figure out the way to post photos I have not had time and it looks a bit difficult … right now we are eating the grape leaves like crazy, fresh herbs everything but basil and cilantro they are just starting ..we have again successfully eaten something out of the garden all year every day ..the herbs and kale/hardy greens ..never died back it was too warm this winter…I grew a huge angelica and have no idea what to do with it? any advice would be great ..it is so pretty! .. ..I do not like the taste at all but understand you can candy it? Not even tempting.lots and lots of anise and fennel both delicious now… I have already picked the gooseberries and made chutney and ketchup with last falls figs (I froze them on cookie sheet sand sealed them in 10lbs buckets they are still perfect tasting.. and the new gooseberries ..the gooseberry fig chutney is off the charts good! Rhubarb is coming up ..oh Hell everything is up and I am overwhelmed over tired and have no idea when and if I can catch up! I spend 10 hours a day out there digging weeding and moving shit around and then step back and wonder what the hell I was doing all that time! we found a wild plum tree and took as much fruit as we could carry I am making a fake ume form it ..I have done this before and they were so good you just salt the plums then dry them a bit after the juice comes out and they have pickled just a bit .. I made a trade for a top bar hive and now the bees are vibrant and the hive is thriving … I traded an old Mt Bike for it and what a deal ..wow!!! yesterday we had to remove the divider because the bees have ..in than a month… filled the space we gave them with a beautiful comb! I have read way too much online about bee death and thought I would give this a try ..if we get honey great but in the mean time my garden and the grateful neighbors are full of busy bees all over the flowers doing what bees do. Watching the hive is so relaxing it is like a train station..I never in a million years when i was a little kid growing up in the city ..thought I would have all this around me. But I do ..just living the dream now. so far set and pending grapes wild and concord loaded plums only the gold plums set this year I am not sure the name but they are a wonderful plum Asian pears are loaded quince fully loaded raspberries are overloaded more gooseberries and tons of currants just on the edge of ripening hazel nuts lava beans are about 4 ft hight and loaded with blooms garlic thriving all my greens and beans are up and going everything is early and for me that is a good sign tomatoes are outside now and thriving as well as peppers (every year I say "never again" to peppers and do it anyway this year I bought two ghost pepper plants but other wise started them all from seed thinking they would have a better chance if they were raised here. I am doing a lot of seed trading as well online for next year that is really fun if you have not done it most garden forums have it going on and I have gotten all kinds of rare and unusual seeds that way. I ordered a new dehydrator I am canning, pickling and drying as much as possible ..very little freezing this year only the figs if I have to ….the big chest freezer has to go in the name of efficiency it is a piece of crap. water is an issue and it is very worrisome I can see the snowless mountains from my window…terrifying and sad ..the gravity of this is not really seen when you have all these sunny dry days in a place known for the rain the rain barrels are a start and fill with just a small amount of rain …our ducks and chickens will be well watered even if the plants don't get quite as much this year. how fun to come read posts from other gardeners …Happy Gardening … oh and PS vinegar does work as well as any weed killing poison on the market.. I used it on English ivy, buttercups and bindweed it killed them dead and now I can just put blueberries in the nicely acidified soil ..win win ..why do people not use vinegar instead of Round Up it works perfectly costs less than $3 for a huge bottle? …and you just put it on the leaves and it kills the plant! isn't that the same thing? you do it on a dry day and let the sun help you… I do not get the whole need for Round up this works ..I have yet to try it on blackberry or bamboo that will be the big test but for now the butter cups and bind weed are making me really happy dead! if there is a reason vinegar is bad as weedkiller please do not tell me because I am so happy using it now to murder invasive shit

has she found everything she needs …because there are an endless supply of Asian food markets in Tacoma and the Spanaway neighborhood you can get most of what you need in the local grocers ..tell her to check out Waynes Mkt on Portland …the SE Asia Mkt and Hong Kong Mkts on 38th not to mention Paldo and yes the Hmart in Tacoma there is not a meal you can make you can not find the ingredients for with in 10 miles of Spanaway ..I promise you do not have to drive north or south just turn around and flip a coin!