I started walking a lot a couple of weeks ago and just recently purchased a new pair of walking shoes. While I was desperately in need of a new pair of shoes that properly cushioned and supported my feet, the new pair of shoes was a little tighter in some areas and looser in other areas so the shoes started to form blisters during my walk yesterday. While this is a minor inconvenience for me in this situation, a blister in the middle of harvest season could mean the difference between a successful harvest and fruit rotting on the vine. In a disaster, a blister could keep you from evacuating an area on foot, or returning home in the event of a transportation outage.
Blisters are caused by repeated rubbing between shoes and skin causing friction burns. As the outer layer of skin separates from the inner layers the space between fills with lymph fluid. Of course the best practice is to prevent blisters from forming in the first place. To prevent blisters you must simply prevent the rubbing or friction that produces the heat. There are several ways to accomplish this.
The first way to minimize blistering is to wear well fitted and broken in shoes with clean dry socks. Don’t even consider a long walk or hike without taking several shorter ones in a new pair of shoes. Keeping your shoes and feet dry are critical in this prevention. There are several wicking socks manufactured that are designed to wick moisture away from the skin. This wicking action will help keep your feet drier and reduce the chance of blisters.
A tape or special skin cream can be applied to the surface of your skin where blisters are likely to form. This prevents the skin from rubbing against the inside of the shoe. They also make friction management patches that can be applied to the inside of the shoe and perform the same function in reverse. A lubricant like talcum powder or petrolium jelly can also be applied to the surface of the skin to reduce the friction between the skin and the shoe. With less friction there is less heat and therefor fewer blisters. Unfortunately this method requires a frequent reapplication of materials.
Treatment
So you took all the precautions and still ended up with a blister anyway. What now? Well the wort thing you can do in most circumstances is pop the blister. This opens the injury to infection. Wash the area with a mild soapy water and keep your skin clean and dry. A topical antibiotic like neosporin should be applied to prevent infection. The area should then be covered with a bandage or second skin type product to minimize the chance of the blister opening. If the blister should open on its own, treat the area as you would any other cut. Always leave the top layer of skin intact it helps protect the lower, still present, layers of skin.
Remember prevent them in the first place, but know how to treat them should they occur.
Well the green beans have been coming in really well for about three weeks. While we all love fresh green beans, we can only eat so many steamed and buttered green beans. I decided to start coming up with some different recipes. This one is a nice combination of some starches and vegetables. It makes it a bit more filling than the straight green beans by themselves. Another thing that makes this recipe particularly excellent is that 100% of the ingredients come from the garden or our pantry.
The ingredients:
- Fresh Green Beans
- Fresh Yellow Potatoes
- Bacon Flavored Textured Vegetable Protein (Bacos)
- Minced Garlic
- Dehydrated Onion
- Olive Oil
Dice the potato into 1/4″ to 1/2″ cubes and boil for a few minutes. The goal is to cook them without letting them get too soft. Slightly undercooked should be about perfect. Drain and set aside. Begin steaming the green beans.
In shallow pan heat the olive oil and begin to sauté the garlic and onion. Add the potatoes and lightly brown the outside edges of the potatoes. After the potatoes have browned, add the drained green beans. Mix well and serve.
Finished Beans and Potatoes
A friend from work just told me about a recipe he was trying for preserving cherry tomatoes. What makes the recipe really interesting is that it doesn’t involve freezing, canning, or dehydrating. While I consider canning and dehydrating essential skills for simplifying your life and learning to become self sufficient. There are numerous older methods of preserving food that are far less resource intensive.
Cherry Tomatoes Ready for Packing in Oil
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Small Onions
- Cider Vinegar (1.5 Tbsp/pint Jar)
- Basil to Taste
- Oregano to Taste
- Garlic to Taste
- 1/4 tsp / pint jar of Coarse Salt
- Olive Oil
- Canning Jars and Lids
Wash and dry several firm and ripe cherry tomatoes. Peel some onions. Into sanitized pint jars place cherry tomatoes and intersperse with onions and herbs. Fill to 1.5 inches from top of jar. Sprinkle salt over contents. Add cider vinegar and then cover with olive oil. Cover with a sterile lid and store in a cool (50-59 F) location for two to three months. After this the tomatoes will be ready and keep for up to a year.
I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with them in three months, but I might find a use for them. I’ve got a lot of tomatoes, so I’ll put them to good use. Some things about this method of preserving concern me. First is that olive oil is not a self sufficient resource in Michigan. I’m sure the oil could be used for cooking at the end of the storage, but being an oil there is the risk of rancidity if it is kept too long. On the plus side the oil that must tag along with the tomatoes would be an excellent addition to rather lean meats like venison or rabbit.
Cherry Tomatoes in Oil
Enjoy and consider putting up a batch of your own.
It’s peach season here in Michigan and we’ve bee drying, canning, and in general eating peaches. Tonight for dinner I made the girls some peach muffins. What is wonderful about this recipe is that you can use just about any fruit you want with it to give it come variety. Dried fruits work wonderfully with it too. I suggest you slightly rehydrate the fruits first, but if you were to add a bit of extra water things should turn out just fine.
Peach Muffins with Oatmeal Cookie Topping
Simple Muffins (Makes 6 small muffins)
- 1 cup flour
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 Tbsp oil
Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Combine the egg, milk, and oil in a second bowl and mix well. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture and stir very lightly. Do not over stir. Add your fruit of choice now. Spoon into muffin pan or cups and bake for 25 minutes. Muffins are done when a knife inserted into the center of the muffin is clean upon removal.
Good Fruit Choices
- 3/4 cup of diced peaches
- 3/4 cup of diced apples
- 3/4 cup of blueberries
- 3/4 cup of raspberries
You can also put a spoonful of any jam or jelly into the center of the batter in each cup if fresh or dehydrated fruit isn’t available.
I have some questions for you today.
- How many butchers are in your hometown?
- How many cheese makers?
- How many mills to grind grain into flour?
While self sufficiency is great. Can we realistically expect everyone to butcher their own chickens? Grind their own grains? Make their own candles? I just don’t think we can be a great nation with a few million self sufficient islands that never talk to each other and need no help from each other to make it through the week. Local farmers and gardeners are the first thought that comes to mind when people think “Eat Local”. The reality is that the farmer is but one link in a local chain that needs to be reestablished if the local food movement is to gain any significant ground. Small local bakeries, mills, deli’s and creameries need to be established and utilized if the movement if to gain ground.
As a community we need to find a balance between buying bread baked in Kansas City and shipped throughout the US, and everyone having their own little patch of wheat, grinding it into flour, and baking it into bread in their back yard. Maybe if farming isn’t your cup of tea you need to consider becoming a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker.
