Home & Heart Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze SunFrosting Now that we have had the SunFrost RF-16 on line for awhile I have a few comments. I still love it. Some ice does build up on the ceiling and back wall of the freezer and a lesser amount on the back wall of the fridge. This was all explained in the owner's manual and, as with everything else, it was right on. The only problem is that you don't want to let your lettuce touch that back wall or it gets downright slimy. I solved this problem by purchasing some rectangular plastic baskets that fit on the shelves. Cheap and easy. Ice cream is a real delicacy in the rural lifestyle. Before the SunFrost we bought it, or made it, and had to eat it all right then. Since then we can get ice cream and keep it for a while. Not long, of course. Well, that freezer door has opened a whole new world for us. For Christmas I got Bob-O a Salton Big Chill Frozen Ice Cream/Delight Maker. It makes up to a quart and a half at a time. There is a inner canister that you remove from the case and place in the freezer for 9 to 12 hours to get cold. (We just keep ours in the freezer in case we want it. Remember, a full freezer uses less energy.) Then you put in your custard, or fruit juice, or egg nog or whatever. The canister goes into a larger case, to protect you from the cold. A paddle is inserted, lid goes on and the crank goes into that. Now crank it 3-5 times every 5-6 minutes for 20-30 minutes and you have something wonderful. Co-op Options I heard from several readers regarding natural food distributors in their areas. Bill Roush of Solar Electric Systems in Fairway, Kansas recommends Ozark Warehouse (see Access). Also, I would like to add an excerpt from a letter I received from reader Phyllis R. Girouard. She and her friends use Blooming Prairie Warehouse for their bulk food needs. "Blooming Prairie serves a large area here in the Midwest with an ever-expanding line of natural foods, nutritional supplements, organic produce, health and beauty aids, and household goods. Here in the relatively small town of Chadron, (population a little over 5,000) we have both a buying club and a store front co-op purchasing from BP. The truck comes in every other month. For those of us who live at least 100 miles from a good sized city, buying clubs provide us with a wonderful source of good food at incredibly reasonable prices. It is always fun to show up at a potluck with some exotic item ( yesterday it was hot raspberry mustard) and elicit amazed comments about 'Where did you ever get that?' ". Solar Food Drying Phyllis goes on to describe her solar oven and how she uses it. She also sent along a newspaper clipping showing her demonstrating her oven to a tour group visiting her organic garden. She would love to see something in Home Power on how to build a simple solar food dryer. Well, so would I. Her point that canning and freezing your produce takes a lot of space and energy is well taken. I want to hear from any readers who have developed a solar food dryer. If we can get it into the next issue people will have time to get it together before the garden starts producing. I look forward to testing some dryers. Send me plans, ideas, pictures or diagrams. Winter Dreams, Spring Greens I have been receiving a lot of gardening catalogs in the mail lately. I love to browse through them. I have planted my garden many times over in my head. First, I go through the catalog and circle everything that I want in red. Then after a couple of days I go back and realistically choose from those plants and seeds what I can grow here in my area. One of my favorite catalog of dreams is Seeds BlŸm (pronounced 'Bloom'). They have an amazing variety of heirloom seeds. Like Wren's Egg and Jacob's Cattle beans, Ragged Jack kale, Oxheart tomato, Moon and Stars watermelon, China Rose radishes and Shoepeg corn. There are all kinds of plant lore and advice throughout. Many books are offered on all subjects relating to gardening, food storage and preparation. They have a Garden to Garden Network that lets you become part of what they are doing. You can have a Trial Garden, Gardener's Choice, Grassroots Garden Research or Seedgrow. Each program is different. You could further the cause of plant genetic diversity by becoming a Seed Guardian or a Seed Multiplier. If you are an experienced gardener you can become an Area Advisor. If you lack experience you can contact an Area Advisor with any questions you may have. For only $3, it's 99 pages of inspiration and information. Gophers & Garlic I have received several requests for my catalog of open pollinated seeds. I don't have one. I don't sell seeds or plants. The seeds I save are for my own use. I used to grow and sell organic garlic. I am currently growing several different varieties of garlic and shallots, building up my seed supply so that I can sell garlic again in the future. I am very interested in different varieties of garlic. So are the indigenous gophers. If anyone has an organic gopher cure please tell me, I am desperate. I currently grow elephant garlic, California White, Silverskin and Homestead garlic. The Homestead garlic was brought to Agate Flat in the late 1800s by homesteaders. Karen Perez saved some from an abandoned homestead and cultivated it for several years getting heads of over a pound using organic intensive methods. She didn't have time to garden after starting Home Power so the garlic went wild again. Last year she and I were able to find two small clumps of the garlic with very small cloves. I planted it in the Fall and in Spring it came up. It is a red skinned garlic and I think it may be a Rocambole type as all the heads have stiff necks and they actually coil around as they grow up. The cloves are a little bigger this year and I have again planted them. I have also planted the small corms that grow at the top of the garlic bloom. By next year I expect to have good sized heads. Access Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze grows garlic and battles gophers at her home on the California-Oregon border. c/o Home Power Magazine, POB 130, Hornbrook, CA 96044 ¥ 916-475-3401 Sun Frost, 824 L St., Arcata, CA 95521 ¥ 707-822-9095 Ozark Warehouse, Box 1528, Fayetteville, AR 72702 ¥ 501-521-2667 Blooming Prairie Warehouse, located at 2340 Heinz Rd., Iowa City, Iowa 52240 ¥ 1-800-323-2131 (from 12 to 5 PM only, mornings are for order placement). Seeds BlŸm, Idaho City Stage, Boise, ID 83706 ¥ 208-336-8264 9am to 2pm, Mon. thru Thurs. MST FAX 338-5658 Help Line ¥ 208-342- 0858 8am to 5pm Mon. thru Thurs. MST